Texas Business Leader Alliance - Weekly Update
Weekly News Summary
Monday, September 28, 2026
Weekly News Summary
The Texas labor market is still expanding, yet employment growth has moderated. Artificial intelligence is already altering hiring patterns. Data-center investment is placing extraordinary pressure on electricity planning and water resources. Immigration rules are making international hiring more uncertain.
The policy response is also evolving. Texas is moving from simply attracting investment toward asking more difficult questions about infrastructure costs, workforce readiness, community benefit and long-term sustainability.
The election calendar adds urgency. With the October 5 voter-registration deadline only one week away, Texas business leaders have a timely opportunity to encourage employees and communities to verify their registration, rely on authoritative election information and participate in the November election without turning workplace civic engagement into partisan advocacy.
Meanwhile, the September 30 legislative hearing on transmission and electricity affordability will provide another important opportunity for businesses to engage before the 2027 Legislature convenes.
September 30: Senate Business & Commerce
The committee will examine several significant business issues.
Transmission and Electricity Affordability
Lawmakers will consider:
· transmission planning;
· grid congestion;
· construction costs;
· ratemaking;
· batteries;
· distributed energy;
· large-load interconnections; and
· protecting customers from unnecessary cost increases..
Texas Cyber Command
The committee will monitor implementation of the state's new Texas Cyber Command
Business relevance: Cybersecurity is increasingly a shared public-private infrastructure issue affecting banks, hospitals, utilities, local governments and businesses.
Online Ticket Sales
Lawmakers will examine transparency and competition in the primary and secondary ticket markets, including deceptive fees and consumer protections.
This has implications for Texas' growing:
· entertainment;
· tourism;
· sports;
· hospitality; and
· live-events industries.
Oyster Industry
House Culture, Recreation & Tourism will examine Texas' cultivated-oyster industry, including:
· insurance;
· financing;
· hatcheries;
· market access;
· workforce development; and
· long-term sustainability.
While more regional in scope, the issue is important to Gulf Coast economic development, tourism, restaurants, fisheries and coastal resilience.
Governmental Oversight
The House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight will examine local government contracts with consultants and nonprofit organizations, public spending, prosecutorial functions and transparency.
For business organizations, the broader relevance is government procurement, public accountability and transparency in taxpayer-funded contracting.
ELECTIONS LANDSCAPE
U.S. Senate Race Remains Closely Contested
Texas continues to receive significant national attention because recent public polling shows a competitive U.S. Senate contest between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico.
The business relevance is that next Texas senator will vote on issues including:
- federal taxes;
- energy policy;
- immigration;
- international trade;
- health care;
- banking and financial regulation;
- artificial intelligence;
- infrastructure spending; and
- federal judicial appointments.
TBLA Best Practices
The appropriate business response is not to assess which candidate should prevail, but to help leaders understand what is at stake from a policy perspective and encourage broad participation.
ONE WEEK TO TEXAS VOTER-REGISTRATION DEADLINE
The final day to register for the November 3 election is Monday, October 5.
Early voting begins October 19 and runs through October 30. Mail-ballot applications must be received by October 23.
Business organizations can continue to help reduce confusion by directing employees to official state and county election resources to:
- verify registration;
- update addresses;
- locate early-voting information; and
- understand mail-ballot requirements.
Key Election Dates
Texas Business Leader Alliance News Clips
Texas cattle groups say ICE operations disrupting beef supply chain
September 27, 2026
Three major cattle industry organizations representing producers in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas say ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations are disrupting the beef supply chain, delaying cattle shipments and creating economic uncertainty for agricultural businesses. KXAN Austin
Economic Slowdown Hides Texas’ Next Problem, Not Enough Construction Workers
September 26, 2026
An economic slowdown reveals the next big problem: not enough construction workers. Experts say the state needs more workforce development. Dallas Morning News
The U.S. economy before and after the Iran war, in five charts
September 23, 2026
On Feb. 27, the day before the United States and Israel attacked Iran, the American economy was on a steady course to lower inflation and attain greater buying power. Gas was cheap and interest rates were coming down. Today, none of those things are true anymore. When it comes to the U.S. economy, there’s before the Iran war — and since NBC News
Upcoming Events and Conferences
- September 29 TBLA 3rd Quarter Virtual Roundtable jointly with The Business and Democracy Initiative
- September 30, Bryan College Station Business Expo and Doing Business with the State of Texas Symposium
- October 1 - Greater Houston Partnership- Future of Texas Conversation with Senator Brett Ligon and Brad Bailey Register Here
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Sharon Watkins Jones
Senior Advisor
Texas Business Leader Alliance
