POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

 

(3/12/10)

 

Much has been made of how the Republican primary race for Governor of Texas focused heavily on Washington issues.  As it now stands, that same focus could move all the way down the ballot to your neighborhood state representative’s contest.

 

You had to be paying real close attention to the GOP primary race between Governor Rick Perry and USSenator Kay Bailey Hutchison to hear discussion of state issues such as public and higher education, prisons, state taxes, water, border issues, transportation, etc.  The most noise was generated when Perry (successfully) tagged his fellow Republican, Hutchison, with all the real and perceived problems of Democrat-controlled Washington. 

 

With Perry’s decisive primary victory, the pundits started speculating that Perry may be soon seeking a national post.  But there is more to it than that easy explanation.  It has to do with whether the Democrats or the Republicans will get a lock on control in Washington for the next decade.  This is why the state races for governor and lieutenant governor and local races for state senator and state representative become of paramount importance to the two parties.

 

It all comes down to re-drawing US Congressional districts in 2011.  Governors, lieutenant governors, Speakers of state houses, state senators and state representatives will re-draw those boundaries and the party that has state control will try to draw the districts to favor their party, to remain in effect until 2021.  Each party has a history of playing hardball with re-districting.

 

You want examples?  Democrats had a 17-13 majority of the Texas Congressional delegation in 2000, but the state offices and the legislature were GOP-controlled in 2001.  After re-districting, the new tally was 20-12, with Republicans the majority.  On the flip side, in Georgia, control switched from the GOP to the Dems.  It’s even more important in Texas this year.  Due to Texas’s fast population growth, it is likely Texas will add four new Congressional seats.

 

Both the Democratic and Republican national parties have fund-raising and organizational efforts in place as we speak.  Both plan to pour money and effort into governor, lieutenant governor and local legislative district races this November.  And, if the current political climate continues, you can expect that even the race for your neighborhood state representative could focus on Washington, as well as state, issues.  How will that work?  See the next item.

 

 

(2/19/10)

 

Austin has doubled in size just about every 20 years.  To provide enough jobs to keep up with this growth pace, Austin’s mayor (a man who can do something about it) says the future economic focus should be on renewable energy, creative media and medical technology.

 

These three industries, says Mayor Lee Leffingwell, “can , and will, if we play our cards right, form a new foundation of sustained economic growth into the next generation.”

 

Renewable energy is a natural fit for Austin, says the mayor.  “We have a proud legacy of environmentalism in this community.  We have the technical expertise and the drive to innovate.  And we are the capital city for the most important state in today’s energy economy,” he said.  “There’s no excuse for Austin not to be at the forefront of the global clean energy revolution happening today.”

 

Creative media is where the mayor says the “second clear opportunity for economic diversification” lies.  In this category, he includes the music industry, film and television, video gaming and “everything happening with web-based services, mobile computing, and social networking.”

 

Medical technology and life sciences is “the third big opportunity for Austin,” said Leffingwell.  He pointed out that some of Austin’s largest employers are already in the health care sector (Seton, St. David’s, Girling, etc.), and went on to say:  “One of our biggest ambitions as a city and a region is to become home to a full-fledged medical school.  There are lots of creative, dedicated folks working hard on that goal right now.  I’m absolutely determined to see it happen, and I’m extremely confident that it will happen.”

 

Speaking to the Real Estate Council of Austin, Leffingwell said “if we want to thrive into the future and we obviously do … this is the time to proactively, aggressively diversify Austin’s economy.  I can’t emphasize the urgency of this enough.”

 

The mayor has other observations on what Austin needs to do to develop the local economy as as the state, national and global economy evolves.  And he has firm views on the use of incentives to attract industry to Austin.  We’ll examine those views and look at a couple of other economic areas he feels need emphasis in the next item.

 

(2/26/10)

 

Offering incentives (like tax breaks) to companies able to provide significant job creation in Austin has been a longtime practice, albeit a controversial one.  Austin’s mayor weighs in on the hot topic.

 

The most recent public example of the city’s granting incentives to a company involved the move of Hanger Orthopedics to relocate its corporate headquarters from Bethesda, Maryland to Austin.  Mayor Lee Leffingwell said “this was a major win, bringing a marquee company and nearly 400 jobs in a targeted industry” to Austin.

 

But still, incentives were offered and accepted.  How about that, mayor?  “To be clear, I do recognize that using incentives as an economic development tool can be controversial.  And I’ll also admit that I myself haven’t always been crazy about some of our incentive deals.  For example, I opposed the Domain incentive package several years ago (before he was mayor), even though I did not support undoing that agreement at the ballot box.”

 

What about last month’s vote on incentives for Hanger Orthopedics?  “I’ll do deals like the one we did with Hanger every day of the week:  performance-based, judicious, focused on a targeted industry, good-paying jobs with good benefits, and cash-positive for taxpayers over the life of the deal.”

 

Speaking to the Real Estate Council of Austin, Leffingwell went on to say the local incentives were “tied to larger incentives from the state’s Texas Enterprise Fund, which also have performance criteria that must be met.  So I say, bring me more.”

 

In addition to the three areas of economic focus Leffingwell mentioned previously (renewable energy, creative media and medical technology), he also mentioned another area where economic development efforts should be expanded.

 

Tourism and conventions.  “From the city’s perspective, there’s hardly a more desirable industry.  Here’s how it works:  You come to Austin.  You spend your money here.  You go home.  Very good stuff.  With all that we have to offer, Austin should be on the short list for every family vacation and corporate conference.”

 

“But one critical bottleneck we have to address is accommodations,” he noted.  “We can take our convention business to a whole new level if we can ramp up the number of hotel rooms downtown.  The Marriott project that had been planned for 3^rd and Congress was going to deliver what we needed – around 800 rooms – but it didn’t happen.”

 

The Austin mayor acknowledged the difficulty in bringing such a huge project to fruition.  “It’s obviously a tough time for a hotel project of that magnitude to find the capital it needs to go, but we’re very much on the hunt for interested parties,” Leffingwell said.  “So, if you want to build a very large hotel in downtown Austin, call me and I’ll buy you lunch.”