Setting Texans up for success
The following post is adapted from a speech by Texas 2036 President and CEO David Leebron that was given Feb. 21, 2025, at the Economic Outlook Conference held by The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce.
Texas’ greatest asset isn’t its oil, land, or even the great companies which have been built or chosen to locate here — it’s our people.
If we want to keep Texas strong, if we want to make sure we attract the enterprises that promise opportunity, then we must ensure Texas students graduate with the skills they need to thrive in today’s rapidly changing workforce.
But while 63% of Texas jobs require some postsecondary education or training, only 1 in 3 Texas students earns a postsecondary credential within six years of graduation. That’s a dangerous mismatch as we plan for our future.
So, what can Texas do to ensure our people are set up for success?
We can start by aligning high school standards with real workforce needs, ensuring graduates are truly prepared for the jobs of today and tomorrow, and expanding high-value career pathways by investing in classroom-to-career programs that provide high school students with industry-recognized credentials, apprenticeships and early college credit.
One great example is the Rural Schools Innovation Zone in South Texas, a first-of-its-kind partnership between five school districts and five institutions of higher education to the south and west of Corpus Christi providing rural high school students high-quality opportunities for postsecondary success.
We also need to invest in research-backed instructional materials, effective training and competitive teacher pay like the Teacher Incentive Allotment, which allows top-performing educators to earn between $3,000 and $32,000 annually in additional pay, providing teachers a path to earning six-figure salaries.
And we must provide parents with clear, actionable data on their child’s academic progress, such as notifying parents as soon as possible when their children are not at grade level.
I was pleased to hear Gov. Abbott highlight these issues in his State of the State address, naming both teacher pay and career readiness as emergency items, and we look forward to helping the Legislature get these key reforms to the Governor’s desk.
In addition to providing our people the education and training they need to secure good jobs, we must ensure that all Texans can rely on strong and resilient critical infrastructure being there for their jobs and their families.
Infrastructure, particularly water and energy, are the bedrock of the Texas economy.
Texas took a big step last session by investing $1 billion in water infrastructure, but we need to go bigger.
As Gov. Abbott said in his State of the State address, it’s time to “Texas-size” our investment in water — both our supply and our infrastructure.
There are two critical steps the Legislature can take to solve this issue:
- Appropriate additional funds to the Texas Water Fund to jump-start long-overdue water infrastructure projects, and
- Dedicate an additional $1 billion per year in ongoing revenue to provide stability, allowing communities across Texas to plan and invest in sustainable water solutions.
Together, these steps would go a long way toward closing Texas’ long-term water infrastructure funding gap, and give our state a future competitive advantage.
As with education, I was thrilled that the Governor named water funding as an emergency item in his State of the State address, and we are delighted as well that both Lt. Gov. Patrick and Speaker Burrows have identified water funding as key priorities for their chambers.
If we do this right, we can achieve a 50-year solution — one that will ensure our children and grandchildren have the water resources they need while helping ensure our economy can continue to grow.
Texas has long been an energy powerhouse, and with the energy industry continuing to evolve at a rapid pace, Texas must adapt to ensure we remain at the forefront.
The explosion of artificial intelligence and data centers has created an energy demand that few imagined even five years ago, and technologies like the new nuclear reactors, carbon capture, hydrogen and more are changing how we can build out supply.
Meeting that demand will require energy policies that support traditional oil and gas, leverage emerging technologies and ensure we have a reliable electric grid that supports both industry and innovation.
During recent visits to Midland and Odessa, I saw firsthand the tremendous impact that region also has on the state as a whole, punching way above its weight class in the contribution it provides to sustaining Texas’ economic engine.
Forty percent of the nation’s oil production comes from this one area of Texas.
To sustain our position as a global energy leader, Texas’ rural energy producers must have the necessary state resources and support to sustain and strengthen their communities.
The Texas Energy Fund was designed to help meet those needs, and our recent Texas Voter Poll found that a majority of Texans (59%) support an additional $5 billion investment to strengthen the system that powers our future.
Once again, I was encouraged that Gov. Abbott recognized its importance by mentioning the Texas Energy Fund in this year’s State of the State address.
The legislative session only began a little over a month ago, but lawmakers are already thoughtfully taking up legislation that will secure opportunities for all Texans to benefit from a prosperous future.
And thanks to the Legislature’s history of strong fiscal stewardship, the Legislature has an estimated $194.6 billion budget for the 2025-26 budget cycle. This provides an opportunity to address long-term, statewide challenges that will have a positive effect on the state for generations to come, like addressing infrastructure problems and fulfilling our commitment to Texas’ community colleges.
We also have an opportunity to address one of today’s largest and most complex economic obstacles — the skyrocketing cost of health care, not just for Texas families but for the state. Under the status quo, it is going to take nearly $600 million just to keep TRS premiums from rising more than 10% per year.
For a fraction of that cost, we can fully fund the Texas All-Payor Claims Database and give state officials actionable information that could be used to better design high-value benefit plans for state employees, assess population health, measure utilization of health care services, and review the cost of government health care mandates.
These are the measures that will help assure prosperity and opportunity for all Texans as we approach our state’s bicentennial. This legislative session offers a timely chance — by providing the education, job training, and infrastructure needed — to assure our people’s well-being and our state’s leadership for decades to come.