Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) signed a piece of legislation to create the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office and adopt some of Elon Musk's DOGE model at the federal level for state operations.
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00:00Well, thank you, everybody, for being here for this very important bill signing ceremony.
00:18I want to start out by thanking Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Speaker Dustin Burroughs
00:23for their leadership in general about everything they're doing in their respective chambers,
00:28but also, in particular, what they have done to marshal the forces in each chamber
00:34to make sure that we are putting in the forefront of legislation the shaping, formation, and recalibration of government
00:43in the state of Texas by making it more responsible, more responsive, less costly, and more efficient
00:48by passing the law that I'm about to sign.
00:51Also, I want to thank Senator Phil King and Representative Capricleone for their leadership
00:56in their respective chambers to work in their chambers to get this passed out so quickly and get it to my desk.
01:04And I want to thank Jeff Burdett for being here, the director of the National Federation of Independent Business.
01:10He was one of several people in the community representing small businesses in this state
01:18that care so much about regulations and having to navigate the regulatory environment.
01:26He and Glenn Hammer, the president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business,
01:30were heavily engaged and involved as well as so many other people in our state.
01:36So, CEOs are the people who make business decisions for the company for which they are a CEO.
01:46CEOs have such respect for Texas that nationally they have ranked Texas the best state for doing business for 20 years in a row.
01:58And going beyond rankings, they put their money where their ranking is because they have taken that ranking
02:06and made an investment in Texas through economic development.
02:11And the investments they have made have led to another record.
02:16Spanning across the wall in the side of the room here are trophies that Texas has received,
02:22which are the national championship trophies of economic development.
02:26Texas has won the national championship for economic development for 13 years in a row.
02:32Business could not be doing better, with one exception.
02:37Among the CEOs that I talk to every single week, there were growing concerns and concerns that were repeated time and again.
02:49The regulatory environment in Texas is getting too burdensome.
02:54The regulatory environment in Texas is well known for being good, but it seems like it's not as easy to navigate as it once was.
03:05Then I was shocked to learn that a study came out that showed that Texas had the fifth highest regulatory burden
03:16of any state in the United States completely unacceptable.
03:22We have seen this problem coming down the pathway, and we actually began working on solutions for this before the name DOGE arose.
03:33What DOGE did, however, was to crystallize exactly what we were seeking to achieve.
03:40It gave definition to it. It gave strategies to it that the members of the Texas House and Texas Senate were able to craft onto legislation so that we in Texas can have our own DOGE known as the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office.
04:01What this law will do that I'm about to sign is it will slash regulations.
04:07It will put stricter standards imposed on new regulations to hinder the imposition of regulations that could prove costly to doing business.
04:18It will put a check on the growth of the administrative state in Texas.
04:25Altogether, what this law is going to do is to make government more efficient and less costly.
04:31It will ensure that Texas is operating at the speed of business, and it will make it easier for our fellow Texans, average Texans, to deal with their own state government.
04:43Texas DOGE will lead to spending cuts, regulation cuts, and a more user-friendly government.
04:52I'm proud of everything that the Speaker, Lieutenant Governor, as well as the entire House and Senate were able to achieve to get this bill to my desk, which is now law.
05:04There's science to this.
05:30Texas regulatory reform is now law in the state of Texas.
05:51Thank you, Governor.
06:08I believe this is one of the earliest bill signings we've had in our 10 years working together.
06:14And thank you, Mr. Speaker, for making that happen and getting the bill across the line.
06:19Senate Bill 14 by Phil King, and he did all the work on this.
06:23I'd call it DOGE Texas style.
06:27It is the bill to focus on what ends up when you make government more efficient is saving taxpayers money.
06:37That's really the goal.
06:38That's really the goal.
06:39We want to reduce regulations, as the Governor said.
06:42We want to have a clear review of all of our agencies, where we can trim, and how we can save businesses money, how we can save taxpayers money, so that they will continue to come here and create jobs and add to our economic viability and competitiveness, which we do.
07:00So I think it's really interesting, DOGE Texas style.
07:05We're serious about it.
07:06And one of the things I like about the bill is it has a portal so that everyone, anyone watching right now, any citizen, can go on and see the same thing that he will see, that I and the Speaker will see, or any legislator, in simple, plain language.
07:21In Texas, we like to keep things simple.
07:24So Texas DOGE will make us more transparent than ever to every citizen, cut all the red tape, or most of the red tape, make us as efficient as possible, attracting more businesses, creating more jobs, and saving taxpayer money.
07:36I can't think of really a better bill to start off the session with.
07:42Speaker.
07:43You know, I think it's very exciting that this is the first bill signing we've had this session.
07:51But I predict this could be the first of many more that we're going to have.
07:55Governor, Lieutenant Governor, this is a fantastic bill to start with.
07:59Both these chairmen back here did yeoman's work in getting this done smoothly, efficiently, and quickly so that we can put this into law.
08:08The business of Texas is business.
08:11It clearly is.
08:13And we have a reputation around the country as being one of the most business-friendly environments out there.
08:19As the governor pointed out, that's not always exactly true when it comes to regulations.
08:25Texas businesses, Texas citizens, they deserve regulations that are plain English, that you can understand what they mean.
08:34They deserve to know what they actually do.
08:39And they deserve to make sure they're consistent and as few as possible.
08:45What this bill is going to do is provide an efficient regulatory framework.
08:51It is going to reduce the number of regulations.
08:54What I believe is the fewer regulations we have, the more efficient they are, the easier they are to understand, is going to help Texas' business and economy continue to boom, which is why I'm excited.
09:06This is the first bill that is being signed into law.
09:09Thank you all.
09:11And now, Jeff Burdett with NFIB.
09:13Thank you, Governor.
09:14First, I'd like to say thank you to the governor for creating the Small Business Freedom Council.
09:18It was an honor to co-chair with Glen Hammer from TAB and to work with your staff on this important and fruitful endeavor.
09:25I'd like to thank you also for your leadership in keeping small businesses always on the front of your mind.
09:30And proactively keeping Texas the best place to do business.
09:33The Small Business Freedom Council was made up of business association leaders and small business owners from around the state.
09:38In early March, we released our report, and just a few items that we identified, including reducing regulatory and bureaucratic burdens, reducing taxes and fees, especially on the business personal property tax, and eliminating areas where there is fee duplication.
09:53I'm proud to say that many of these recommendations are now working their way through the legislative process, and it's an honor to be here today to see the governor sign SB 14, which is a culmination of these efforts, and will continue our good work that we created by creating the
10:08Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office under your purview.
10:11I'd also like to thank Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Senator King for shepherding this on the Senate side, Speaker Burroughs, and Representative Capriglione on the House side.
10:21And it was a very efficient process. We're here this early in the process.
10:24That's the first proof of efficiency.
10:27First proof of efficiency, exactly.
10:29Senate Bill 14 is a kickoff to what could be the best legislative session for small businesses in Texas history.
10:35And I appreciate the support of all of these legislative leaders here today that have really helped small businesses.
10:41Thank you. And thank you to all the members of NFIB for what they do to create jobs and draw a great economy.
10:47Yes, sir. Thank you.
10:48We'll take a few questions.
10:50Governor, is there a sector or an industry or some examples that you think low-hanging fruit that could be cut?
10:57I got to tell you, I think there's low-hanging fruit all over the place.
11:00When you look at the vast amount of regulations, there's so much slicing and dicing that can and needs to be done.
11:06And so we will look to accelerate the process to make sure we start slashing away to make government more efficient as quickly as possible.
11:13Governor, we're talking a lot about different bill signings that we're expecting.
11:16I wanted to see if we could get any reaction on SJR 3 getting delayed today in the House as a priority for Ian Patrick.
11:23As there's been reporting that House Democrats are going to withhold their votes on those joint resolutions.
11:29Any comments on that strategy?
11:31Well, I'm hearing it for the first time, so I don't know exactly what you're talking about.
11:34All I can say is this, and that is one thing that we have shown, being myself, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker,
11:43we are working collaboratively together better than any time that I've been governor.
11:51And I think that that same collaboration will seep into and be a part of both the House and the Senate.
12:03Listen, not everything is going to get passed on day one, and there is the give and take through this process.
12:11But I have no doubt that when the sun sets on this session, it's going to be viewed as one of, if not the most successful session,
12:19we've seen in more than a decade.
12:21Governor, you mentioned that today.
12:25Well, Dave, I was thinking about you, but I don't know what your availability is.
12:29Yeah, but he can't count.
12:31So that would be a problem.
12:33For one, I was thinking about him until here we are at a press conference and his phone goes off.
12:37And so you're all off the table.
12:43I don't.
12:47That's another example of efficiency.
12:55No, I don't.
12:56You mentioned that you were surprised by this report that said that we had a background in regards to regulations.
13:02The Texas GOP has been in charge for more than 20 years.
13:06Why did it take so long to get to this point?
13:10Candidly, what we have heard over and over again is how well Texas is run and what the regulatory environment is like.
13:20I'll give you the most prolific example.
13:22And that is in…
13:24Is that a response?
13:25No, more than that.
13:27In April of 2020, Elon Musk came to meet me here in my office and said that he wanted to create a cyber auto manufacturing company in Austin, Texas.
13:39And hadn't even turned dirt or anything like that on it.
13:43He said, here's the deal.
13:44I've got to do that in 18 months.
13:46I asked him, have you ever built a house?
13:49Yes.
13:50But we worked it out and we were able to ensure that we could move the regulations at the speed of business.
13:57And he was actually able to build that cyber factory from turning dirt to rolling vehicles off of it in less than 18 months.
14:08Since then, Elon has moved all of his businesses to Texas because he says the business environment in Texas is superior to where it is elsewhere.
14:18And people like Elon and so many CEOs that I've talked to are very pleased with the environment on a comparative basis.
14:27But really one thing we constantly work to do, one reason why we are repeatedly ranked number one, is because we perpetually seek to find ways to improve.
14:37And this regulatory environment reform is one way that we can improve to ensure that Texas is moving even faster.
14:44And in the future, there will be even more trophies behind your back, ranking Texas as the national champion for economic development.
14:51So, thanks everyone.
14:54Time line for SB2 from the Senate.
14:56Logistically, timeline for SB2, when to come to the Senate, when to be ready for the Senate?
15:01Sometime during the session.