Texans should be proud that we have one of the strongest economies in the world. Texas is home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state.  We are a leader in many key industries, including agriculture, energy and biomedical sciences, and our state leads the nation in foreign trade. The challenge before us, howoever, is how to extend prosperity and opportunity to all Texans. Today, sixteen percent of Texans live below the poverty line of $22,000 for a family of four, compared to thirteen percent nationally. About 1.65 million Texans, including 900,000 children, live in poverty despite a family member working most or all of the year. Many more Texans are above the poverty line but living paycheck to paycheck, working harder and harder to get ahead as they face growing economic uncertainty. 

First we must invest in education and make health care affordable.  Secondly, we must clear a path for entrepreneurship and economic growth in the following ways:

Growing New Jobs and Supporting Small Businesses

Access to Fair Lending

Building Assets and Economic Security

Protecting Texas Workers

Safe, Quality, Affordable Child Care

Growing New Jobs and Supporting Small Businesses

We need to help working Texans access fair lenders when they are looking for a loan. Individuals must take personal responsibility for their borrowing decisions.  However, government has a responsibility to ensure that companies provide consumers with basic information before they sign a loan, and that lenders follow best practices in lending. Disclosures should include the full cost of the loan in the form of APR and loan alternatives, and be communicated in the language the loan was solicited. Where possible, interest rates should be capped at reasonable rates and lenders should take the common sense step of verifying applicants’ incomes.

We took an important step in this direction when we passed my HB 1344 during the 80th Legislative Session. This bill for the first time regulates the facilitation of Refund Anticipation Loans (RAL's), high-interest rate loans to taxpayers who can't wait for their tax returns. I'm also committed to protecting borrowers from shady home mortgages, perpetual payday loans, and punishing credit cards debts. Besides regulating private industry, I have worked to provide better alternatives from credit unions and other nonprofit entities in the marketplace.

We must reward work and those who are trying to help themselves. One way to do that is encouraging Texans to file for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). In San Antonio, for example, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) centers have successfully helped working families claim their tax credits and avoid high priced tax preparation and loans, bringing over $50 million back to our community each year.

Today many Texans learn about the EITC thanks to a bill I passed in 2005, HB 630 (included in HB 401). This bill requires state agencies to notify families they work with about the EITC.  In 2009, the Legislature passed a bill that included legislation I wrote to support these community tax centers, although the Governor vetoed the bill.  We will keep working to ensure that more Texans use the EITC and other innovative programs to help Texans save for college or a down payment on a first house.

We all suffer when an employer takes advantage of our workers' compensation system. That's why I'm working to ensure that a few rotten apples don't drag our workforce down. The state budget includes language I wrote to improve compliance, requiring the Department to report on its enforcement efforts. I also filed legislation in 2007 to allow construction workers and employers to reach workers' compensation agreements that meet the particular needs of their industry.

We live in a changing world reflected in the fact that few Texas children grow up with a full-time stay at home parent, increasing the demand for safe, high-quality, affordable child care and early education.

The state can be an active partner in meeting these child care needs.  HB 1385, a bill I passed in 2007 and expanded in 2009, gives businesses a safe and effective way to set up on-site child care for their employees' kids. In 2005, I authored successful legislation to help create a one-stop system for parents looking for public early education and child care programs. I'll also continue to work to reduce the waiting list for subsidized child care, which exceeds 30,000 families, and invest in improving the quality of centers that shape the children entering our schools.