Howdy WHA Members!
A day late, but not a dollar short! While most of y’all probably didn’t even notice that this newsletter came out on the first Friday of August rather than the first Thursday, it is actually a credit to the success of our Collaborating for Quality Growth Forum held last Friday. We received a lot of positive feedback and put together a longer and more detailed write-up than usual to help get the message out to those who missed the event. Rather than rush that effort, we delayed the newsletter.
Speaking of other delays, the long-awaited resolution on tax cuts came to a head last week as Gov Abbot signed off on ~$18 Billion worth of tax cuts for Texas property owners. The direct effects of these tax cuts won’t be felt immediately, as it will be up to voters this November to approve the constitutional amendments. If passed, this tax cut would make home ownership more affordable. At the local level, HISD has been dominating the news between the New Education System (NES), converting libraries to team centers, and non-certified teachers. Our forum on Friday highlighted the relationship between school quality and development, suggesting that good schools and an educated workforce leads to high quality development for a community.
Continuing to look forward, a hot topic of discussion is a push by Houston Stronger to support Harris County Flood Control District’s efforts to put forward a proposal to Congress via to USACE regarding a feasibility study on the excavation of Addicks and Barker Reservoirs to increase their storage capacity.
Speaking of flooding, on August 10th, we will be holding our annual Flood Control Forum. This year will feature a discussion between Heather Lagrone from the Texas General Land Office and Tina Peterson from the Harris County Flood Control District with a focus on funding and projects as part of the CDBG funds. The event will be moderated by WHA Flood Control and Drainage Committee Chair, Tim Buscha.
We’ll have two more big events this year so go ahead and put them on your calendar. On October 11th we will be holding our Public Officials and Awards Reception and November 16th we are planning a Texas Legislative Update with Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dade Phelan. More details on both of these events will be coming soon!
In August the Sustainable Infrastructure Committee is meeting on the 8th, Education and Workforce Committee is meeting on the 9th, Quality Planned Development Committee is meeting on the 17th, Regional Mobility Committee is meeting on the 21st and the Parks, Recreation, Open Spaces Committee is meeting on the 22nd. If you would like to be added to the email list or calendar invites for these committees, or any others, please let us know.
Thank you for your support of the West Houston Association and working to improve quality of life for the 2,000,000+ people who live, work, and play across the region!