Texas Best Lobbyist News: Texas Hotel and Lodging Association

The following Lobbyist report was created by the Texas Lobby Group for one of our clients. We offer the report here as a public service for Texas Lobbyists and Government Consultants or citizens interested in the Texas tourism and travel industry.

Texas Political Primary Date

Finally the Texas primary elections are approaching. The elections will be on May 29th, which unfortunately puts them in conflict with the traditional travel and vacation season in Texas.

Redistricting is a huge issue this season. Texas examines and changes its political districts every ten years, and there is always a fight involved. This year proposed changes have been in and out of various courts since the end of the 2011 session. This has pushed back our primary election date, which will have serious consequences on voter turnout.

What will this mean for the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association?

We are facing numerous retirements among our legislators.

We’re looking at a big turnover in the House this year. No less than 30 representatives are retiring or running for a different office. That means we will lose a lot of wisdom, knowledge, and experience in our legislature. Now is a good time for representatives of the travel industry to help educate our new legislators about issues important to Texas tourism and travel.

The redistricting delay means this election cycle will be held later

Texas typically votes on Super Tuesday in March. But this year our elections have been pushed to May. Expect a low voter turnout because of travel issues, combined with the fact that Mitt Romney has all but locked up the Republican nomination for president of the United States. We might have seen more Republicans in Texas turn out earlier when Rick Santorum was still strong.

The new districts mean that this campaign season is going to be expensive.

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Additionally, when the Session rolls around there will be a lot of opportunity and need for our industry to educate new members of the Legislature about our industry and the benefits of tourism to the State of Texas.

KEY ELECTION DATES
PRIMARY ELECTION

Deadline to register to vote: April 30
Early voting period: May 14 – May 25
Deadline to request ballot by mail: May 22
Primary elections: May 29
GENERAL ELECTION
Deadline to register to vote: October 9
Early voting period: October 22 – November 2
Deadline to request ballot by mail: October 30
General election: November 6

Texas Best Lobbying Firm Issues of Note

Be aware that interim committees and charges are happening in the House and Senate, discussing issues that will be relevant in the 2013 session. Visit www.capitol.state.tx.us to find lists of these hearings and charges.

Budget discussions are already heating up. Last session the budget was cut, but the fighting has already begun. Some want more cuts while others are trying to reclaim budget items that were cut in the last session. Medicaid costs are soaring, and the educational activists have brought suit against Texas, seeking more education funding in the next budget.

But there are several pieces of good news. Tax revenue is up in Texas, and we lead the nation again in new jobs created.

ISusan Combs (State Comptroller) has announced that our sales tax revenue in February was up $2.01 billion, which is a 14.8 percent increase over February of 2011.

“Sales tax revenue in all major industries was up, indicating growth in both business and consumer spending” Combs said. “Rapid growth in tax collections continued from oil and natural gas sectors, while revenue from retail trade, restaurants and telecommunications was also up significantly.”