Lawsuit Reforms Are A Huge Contributor to Texas’ Economic Boom
As a business owner, proud Texan, and former Chairman of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, I am focused not just on building and growing my own family-based business, but also on the ways we can continue to create jobs and new business opportunities throughout Texas. A key tool in our arsenal: the common-sense legal reforms we’ve passed in Texas that are widely credited with the vibrant jobs and economic growth we’ve experience in the past several years.
It’s hard to believe now, but not so long ago, businesses simply did not want to operate in Texas. We had earned a reputation as being the “Wild West” of lawsuit abuse. This was a time when frivolous lawsuits ran rampant – and small business owners, like me, lived in fear of the one lawsuit that could put us out of businesses, and our employees out of a job.
But starting in the mid-1990s, Texans had had enough of lawsuit abuse hurting the state’s economic development and job growth. We started passing legal reforms to stop the abuse, and in my roles with my company and the local chamber, I can tell you that the common-sense legal climate in Texas is a big contributor to our state’s economic success.
And I’m not the only one. Recently, Dallas Federal Reserve President and CEO Richard Fisher was on CNBC praising the policies implemented in Texas that have positioned our state for economic success. Guess what policy he singled out as “the most important thing” in helping Texas create 38 percent of all the jobs created in America since the recovery began? Legal reform.
Texas is the home to 64 Fortune 500 companies, more than any other state, and has been named the best state in which do to business by CEO Magazine eight times in a row. Legal reform works for Texas, and if we want to keep our economy strong, we must oppose efforts to weaken or roll back legal reform. Before you vote, be sure you ask your candidates how they will work to protect and strengthen legal reform.
