Austin, Texas (Oct. 12 , 2017) – At this morning’s quarterly meeting of Opportunity Austin 3.0 Investors, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus announced the formation of the House Select Committee on Economic Competitiveness. The committee is expected to begin its work immediately to explore infrastructure, education and workforce, state and local economic development tools – to include tools to access investment capital -- used to attract and retain jobs.

“This will provide a roadmap for legislative action in the next session. There should be no ambiguity that the Texas House will focus on the big issues, not the petty and the polarizing," said Texas House Speaker Joe Straus. “We need you, the business community, to share your concerns and solutions.”

In addition to the announcement, Speaker Straus thanked the Austin business community for its opposition to the bathroom bill in the last special and regular sessions. Speaker Straus, who opposed discriminatory bathroom legislation, said, “sometimes the conservative solution is for government not to take an action.” The Greater Austin Chamber Board has consistently opposed discriminatory bathroom legislation.

Speaker Straus also touted that the legislature passed a budget that balanced and did not increase state taxes. He also discussed the Texas House attempts to address school finance, which he said would have reduced some of the weight on Austin taxpayers who will send a half billion in local dollars to offset state K-12 funding reductions.

“The Austin Chamber agrees with Speaker Straus that we can't be complacent on job creation that is a critical component to making the Austin region work for everyone,” said Mike Rollins, President, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. “We look forward to working with the new House Select Committee on Economic Competitiveness to further improve state economic development tools, access to investment capital, talent, and transportation."

Opportunity Austin is the Chamber’s five-year, five-county economic development initiative aimed at fostering job-creating investment in Central Texas.

# # #

About the Greater Austin Chamber

The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce focuses on how the Austin Region works. We serve as the voice of business for 2,800 organizations representing a combined workforce of about 330,000 employees throughout Central Texas. Our mission is to provide leadership that facilitates the creation of a prosperous economy and effective advocacy for members. For more information, please visit AustinChamber.com.

Media Inquiries:

Luke Sheffield, Public Relations Manager
Austin Chamber of Commerce
512.322.5637
lsheffield@austinchamber.com