Tick Tock the Political Clock

Happy summer! Don’t let the warm sunshine and cool swimming pool fool you, the political clock is ticking away and session is fast approaching.

Interim committee hearings are well under way, the primary and runoff elections are done and the general election is only a few months away. The time is now, actually last week, to get organized for the upcoming session. Start your strategy meetings, line up your lobby and communications teams and get ready to rumble.

This session will not be easy. Conflicts are sure to arise: it will certainly be a tight budget year (low oil prices are only good at the gas pump – bad on the Texas state budget and likely your 401k), there will be an ever-more conservative legislature that will have to straddle the difficult line between “fiscal conservative” and “no new taxes”, and growing responsibility to have long term vision for our state and consider the importance of properly funding basic needs like infrastructure, schools, and healthcare for an expanding population.

There will be fights on bathrooms and fingerprints and patient access to life saving medicines. The out of state special interests will start flashing around big money for their pet projects and carve-outs, and though as Texans we like to say that we are in favor of a free market – level playing field and let the best business win – the definition of “free market” gets a little more fluid with every lobby dollar spent.

There will be silly stuff like every session (my personal favorite was a bill to mandate what size a slice of bread should be to be designated a slice) but in the end there is much serious work ahead. Sound fun?! The JHL public affairs and communications team is ready to help you succeed.