In light of the meeting of the 86th legislature, the West Houston Association has come up with a list of priorities that we feel are important to the quality of the growth that happens in West Houston. After much discussion with our board of directors and our seven various committess the WHA priorities for this session are as follows:
Proposed Priorities: To further goals provided in the West Houston 2060 Plan, the West Houston Association supports
- A state-wide, merit-based resilience investment and projects funding initiative to encourage planning and construction of flood mitigation projects.
- Efforts to keep funding decisions and funding options local and predictable to support quality development.
- Preserving and improving well-regulated and well-tested funding models that have provided reliable formulas for growth, such as special districts, education, state transportation funding initiatives, and state-funded health insurance programs.
Issues to Watch: Consistent with the issues identified in the West Houston 2060 Plan, the West Houston Association seeks to Avoid
- Reform attempts likely to undermine local credit ratings in investments in infrastructure and local credit ratings, such as property tax limitations, opt-out measurers in local jurisdictions, and content mandates.
- Changes to floodplain and development regulations that fail to accurately model risk or that disregard relevant considerations.
- Educational reforms that fail to adequate address issues with pensions, district solvency, and mental health requirements.