On Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) held a bill signing for capital markets legislation.
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00:00I'm sorry, you start out questions first and then it's like Alice in Wonderland.
00:06Questions first and then the substance.
00:08Listen, I want to start out by once again thanking both Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Speaker Burroughs
00:14for their remarkable leadership, their vision, their execution,
00:19the way they've been able to get things done this session,
00:21and especially as it concerns doing even more to keep Texas the best business climate in the entire country.
00:33Also, I want to thank people who are at the table with us here today,
00:36which includes Jim Lee, who is the CEO of the new Texas Stock Exchange,
00:43and Glenn Hammer, who is the head of the Texas Association of Business.
00:48Behind me is a long list of some of the most prominent business leaders
00:55and people who are activists in this area, including people inside the state, outside the state.
01:02One person we have from outside the state with us to show you how important this moment is,
01:08we have the CEO from the Intercontinental Exchange with us here today.
01:12Today, to set this up in a way, this week happens to be Economic Development Week in the state of Texas.
01:21Today we're about to put a punctuation point on that important week.
01:28Texas is widely recognized across the country, candidly across the world,
01:33as the number one state in the country for doing business.
01:36Texas ranks number one for the most new jobs.
01:38CEOs have ranked Texas as the best state for doing business for 21 years in a row.
01:46Texas is ranked as having the best business climate in the United States.
01:51And Texas has won the National Championship for Economic Development for 13 years in a row.
02:00The National Championship trophies adorn the wall on that side of the room that's blocked by my staff right now.
02:09I'll tell you this.
02:12There's a difference between becoming a champion and repeating as national champion year after year.
02:22To remain at the highest level requires constant innovation and improvement.
02:30And that's what we constantly work on to keep Texas the number one best business climate.
02:37For example, last session we passed business courts in the state of Texas
02:43that provide a greater predictability for those involved in the business arena.
02:48This session I'm about to sign three laws that solidify our status
02:53as the best state for doing business for many years to come.
02:58Laws that will make Texas the unrivaled epicenter for business headquarters.
03:05The first involves Senate Bill 29.
03:09What it does is it codifies what's called the business judgment rule.
03:14This law provides business decision makers the certainty
03:19that sound business judgments made in the best interest of shareholders
03:24will not be second-guessed by courts.
03:28Absent things like acts of crime,
03:31business decisions are to be made by the elected officers and their shareholders,
03:36not by unelected judges.
03:39Senate Bill 29 also eliminates rogue shareholders
03:44with just a handful of shares of stock in a company
03:48from being able to hold a company hostage
03:52from the ability to make sound business decisions.
03:57The next bill I'll sign is Senate Bill 1058.
04:02It will cement Texas as a premier location for stock exchanges.
04:07Senate Bill 1058 will exempt stock exchanges operating in Texas
04:13like the NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange,
04:17and our very own Texas Stock Exchange
04:19from certain franchise tax liabilities.
04:23Last and tied into all this
04:25is the extension of our collective disdain in Texas
04:31for any type of tax.
04:35We dislike it so much
04:37that we made the income tax unconstitutional.
04:41We made a wealth tax unconstitutional.
04:44We made a real estate transaction tax unconstitutional.
04:48The session we are making
04:49a capital gains tax unconstitutional.
04:53To help you understand the real-world application
04:55of what that means,
04:57in effect,
04:58in the lifetime of everybody in this room,
05:01there's never going to be any of those taxes
05:03in the state of Texas
05:04because it would require two-thirds vote
05:06to get it passed,
05:08and that's not happening
05:09in the lifetime of anybody here.
05:12But it's applicable today
05:13because we add today to those
05:16House Joint Resolution 4,
05:19making unconstitutional
05:21a stock exchange transactions tax
05:24and occupation tax.
05:27This also has the additional benefit
05:29of protecting retirement accounts
05:32from transactions taxes.
05:35As I pointed out,
05:37Texas has long been known
05:39as the best state for doing business.
05:41We are now fast becoming
05:42the best state in America
05:45for stock exchanges.
05:48I'll pass it to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.
05:51Thank you, Governor.
05:51I want to thank Senators Parker and Hughes
05:54standing behind me
05:55and their work on these bills
05:56and our entire Senate team.
05:59Senate Bill 29
06:01is so straightforward,
06:04and it was an important piece
06:07of making the Texas Stock Exchange
06:09come into reality.
06:11All these bills
06:12are kind of tied into that.
06:14And Jim Lee and Glenn,
06:16Jim is one of the original thinkers on this,
06:18and he'll speak in a few moments.
06:19But I just want you to think about this
06:22for a second.
06:22Five years ago,
06:23ten years ago,
06:24twenty years ago,
06:25if you had said,
06:26one day Texas
06:26will have its own stock exchange.
06:29And people would have said,
06:31what do you mean?
06:32How's that going to happen?
06:33It's because in Texas,
06:34we are big and we are bold.
06:36And we take on great challenges.
06:39And we're doing a lot of that this session.
06:41And I'll let him give you the date.
06:44But before you know it,
06:45before you know it,
06:47you all will be able to buy stock
06:49on the Texas Stock Exchange.
06:53And everyone,
06:54everywhere will be.
06:55So I just think it's a great day.
06:56When I think of Texas,
06:57you know,
06:57I was a kid.
06:58I saw the movie Giant.
06:59You know,
07:00I grew up.
07:00I said,
07:00man,
07:01they do things big in Texas.
07:03And you know,
07:04here we are.
07:05I think that movie was made in 1955.
07:07Here we are in 2025,
07:08and we're doing things bigger
07:09and better than ever.
07:10It's all Texas.
07:11It's all great all the time.
07:13Great.
07:14Now,
07:14Speaker Burroughs.
07:15Look,
07:16I first want to say
07:17I'm very excited
07:19about where we are
07:20in landing
07:21a very historic,
07:22optimistic session.
07:23Working with the governor
07:24and lieutenant governor
07:25and especially
07:26the members of the House and Senate,
07:28we continue
07:29to do big things.
07:31And today
07:31is one of those
07:32that we're acknowledging.
07:34Texas is fantastic.
07:36We are
07:36business oriented.
07:39The business of Texas
07:40is business.
07:40People are moving here
07:42for that.
07:43But always
07:44the most dangerous thing
07:46about that
07:47is complacency.
07:48If we do not
07:49sit there
07:51and think forward
07:51about what we can do
07:52to continue
07:53to attract
07:53and retain
07:54new businesses
07:56and get them coming here,
07:58we will no longer be
07:59where we need to be.
08:01These bills today,
08:02in my opinion,
08:03will make Texas
08:04the most competitive state
08:06for stock exchange
08:08and bringing big business
08:09here to Texas.
08:10I am very proud
08:11of the work
08:12that the House
08:12and the Senate
08:13and the governor
08:14have done
08:14to get these
08:15across the finish line.
08:16And I think
08:17this is a historic day
08:18for what is to come.
08:20And, Mr. Speaker,
08:21just before I walked up here,
08:23we passed House Bill 9 already,
08:25which is one of the biggest
08:26tax cuts for small business,
08:28taking the personal property
08:30from $2,500 to $125,000.
08:32So it's not just big business
08:34on the stock exchange.
08:35It's the small businesses
08:37that makes our engine go, too.
08:38Very important.
08:40And now, Jim Lee,
08:42CEO of the Texas Stock Exchange.
08:44From day one, Governor,
08:46you've made Texas
08:47an economic powerhouse.
08:49This legislation
08:50will incentivize
08:52even more businesses now
08:54to move their registrations,
08:57perhaps move their listings,
08:58and ultimately
08:59to move their headquarters
09:00to Texas.
09:01It also lays the foundation
09:03for exchange operators
09:05to make meaningful investments
09:08in the state of Texas
09:09while providing greater access
09:10to our public markets.
09:12With the bills
09:13you're signing today
09:14and the others
09:15we've championed together
09:17this session,
09:18you are cementing Texas
09:20as the capital markets leader
09:22for generations.
09:24Thank you, sir.
09:25Thank you, Speaker.
09:26And thank you, Governor.
09:27Congratulations.
09:28Thank you for doing your part.
09:29Thank you, sir.
09:31And now, Glenn Hammer,
09:33head of the Texas Association of Business.
09:36Well, Governor,
09:36it's an honor to be here
09:38during Economic Development Week,
09:40and I want to first by start
09:41recognizing you
09:42as the undisputed,
09:45unified champion
09:47of job creation
09:49in the United States of America.
09:50No governor does it better than you,
09:53and I want to thank
09:53the Lieutenant Governor
09:54and the Speaker
09:55for all of your leadership
09:57to keep Texas on top.
10:01This is the trifecta.
10:02These bills that are being signed today
10:04will absolutely keep Texas
10:06as the best place in the nation
10:09for jobs and to invest.
10:12And we should be proud as Texans
10:15that today we have more finance jobs
10:19than the state of New York.
10:21And this constitutional amendment
10:23is extremely important
10:24because my birth state,
10:26New York,
10:26which, by the way,
10:27when I was born,
10:28and it was less than 100 years ago,
10:29Texas had 60% of the population
10:31of New York.
10:32Now we're 31 million and growing,
10:34and New York on its best day
10:36is 19 and a half million.
10:38But this constitutional amendment
10:39is super important,
10:40and the reason why
10:41is that New York,
10:42as we speak,
10:43now they've suspended it,
10:44they have a tax
10:45on stock transactions.
10:47So this will mean Texas
10:49will never have a tax.
10:51And on the business court side,
10:52I love saying DEXIT.
10:54The fact that we're going to have
10:57the business judgment rule codified
10:59means that it's only a matter of time
11:02before we leave Delaware in the dust
11:04when it comes to reincorporations
11:06and incorporations.
11:07And in closing, Governor,
11:09it's an honor to be
11:10in the best place in the world,
11:13maybe I would say the galaxy,
11:15for job creation
11:16on this festive day.
11:19Now let me do the signing.
12:19With these laws, Texas is the reigning and undisputed national champion for doing business
12:28in the United States of America.
12:29I'd be happy to take a few questions.
12:45Governor, I understand that, you know, a lot of this is trying to attract businesses away
12:49from places like Delaware and all that, but the average person who really doesn't understand
12:55and then thinking that, oh, we just gave the keys away to big corporations, why should
12:59the average person care?
13:00Because what's important to the average person is to have a job to be able to go to work,
13:09a good-paying job to go to work, a variety of economic opportunity, a thriving economy.
13:16It's business leaders, CEOs, who make those decisions about what location they're going
13:22to be in, to be able to start a business and grow a business, and this is important for
13:27entrepreneurs who are going to start a business themselves.
13:31But all you have to do is compare and contrast Texas with New York or California.
13:38Texas is seeing rapid both population growth as well as business growth.
13:43There are businesses fleeing California every single day, businesses fleeing New York every
13:48single day.
13:49You have employees in California and New York losing their jobs because those employers
13:55are being pushed out by the heavy-handed policies of California.
14:02These policies codify, or these laws codify policies that attract businesses, attract job creators,
14:11and will ensure that Texans are going to have plentiful job opportunities to earn a great paycheck.
14:18for decades to come.
14:21How did it argue that your agenda, and Senator Patrick said the speaker's agenda as well,
14:26are going to make it in the next 20 days?
14:28We forgot to mail before, on THC, the nuclear renaissance, those thoughts.
14:33Good question.
14:35I'll come back to it in a second.
14:37I want to first take any of the questions people may have on topic.
14:41They're off-topic as usual, but it's fine.
14:45Governor Jackson was brought up there.
14:46So we've seen Delaware actually respond to Texas, and what we observe is Delaware is
15:02grasping at straws, and that they are a system of the past, whereas Texas has created the
15:08system of the future.
15:09What's happened in Delaware is a departure from the business judgment rule.
15:15What's happened in Delaware is the judges now are basically rewriting and reinterpreting
15:21what the business judgment rule is supposed to be in Delaware.
15:26What we have in Texas, both from the laws that I've signed as well as the courts that we've established,
15:31is the greatest sense of stability and predictability in business of any state in the United States of America.
15:37Doctor, the House just passed a business support bill, but we're saying a little bit about the Senate.
15:43Do you like the way that looks now?
15:45Will you sign it as it?
15:48Yes.
15:50So it obviously can still be improved upon, but here's the reality.
15:54If I understand it correctly, it expands the jurisdiction, expands the courts, and so it continues to build upon what we were able to put into effect last session.
16:04Last question.
16:05We could take a few more.
16:11Because I've got to come back to him.
16:12Hold on a second.
16:14Hold on a second.
16:15I told you I'd come back to you.
16:16I didn't say when.
16:17I didn't say would it be today or some other day.
16:19Mr. Speaker, a lot of gallows have died under your watch.
16:24The Senate has pitched an idea in regards to school finance.
16:33The Lieutenant Governor threw an idea out.
16:36Have you read it?
16:36Do you like it?
16:37And are we going to get it?
16:39So I'm very excited about it.
16:42$8 billion of funding.
16:44And if you look at the key components of when it left the house, special education funding, teacher pay, looking at full-day funding for pre-K, looking at a lot of the different component parts, what I understand, most of those are in that bill.
16:59Obviously, like any school finance bill, you've got to see the runs, but we are very optimistic and very excited where we're at.
17:06Rudy, I want to give credit to Brad Buckley and Brandon Creighton.
17:11And I really think we've been through the bill in great detail.
17:15I really think it's a masterpiece of school finance.
17:19It's prioritizing teachers.
17:21They're going to be paid more money than they've ever been paid before in Texas.
17:26It prioritizes kids' special needs and school safety.
17:32Those two guys working in collaboration with their staffs and with senators and other house members and leadership, this is a great bill.
17:40$8 billion, $8 billion.
17:45And I'm sure we'll be back here pretty soon.
17:50I'd like to add one more thing on that.
17:52That number is really important.
17:54That will be the largest school finance bill in the history of Texas.
17:58Right.
17:59And that's to double down on the largest school finance bill, providing more funding than ever before.
18:04And this is the best thing we can do for the most important part of education, and that is providing our teachers with the pay raise they need and deserve.
18:14Now, I promised you the first off-topic question, and somehow Rudy got around that.
18:19I was seeing them up.
18:22I was seeing them up.
18:23I was seeing them up.
18:23Now, basically, there are some of your parties that are still outstanding in the news of the Renaissance.
18:28The agency from the lieutenant governor, and they report for you.
18:32How come it are all of you that it can get done next to you?
18:36So we had breakfast again this morning, as we often do every Wednesday.
18:40We talked about all those things.
18:42And without revealing everything that we said, the reality is, speaking for myself and the others here,
18:51we feel very good about getting all these big, important pieces of legislation across the finish line.
18:58If I can follow up on the public school financing question, you know, the, as amended, the substitute in the Senate cuts down on the basic student allotment from $395, which is when the House passes to $55.
19:12I've heard a lot of people already making noise about that, but it sounds like you are okay with such a cut.
19:17I'd love to hear that elaborate.
19:19So what I'm going to go back to, and if you look at what we talked about from the beginning of session and talked about the component parts of the bill, teacher pay, you know,
19:27special education funding, which is so important, has been kind of the cornerstone of that, funding for full-day pre-K, small and mid-size adjustment, CTE funding, school safety.
19:38You look at the things that we have championed all throughout session, and that's what we're looking at.
19:43Looking at just one number and not what the entire bill does, I don't think is what we need to be doing.
19:49We need to look at actually how the bill gets to the different components we need to get to.
19:54And so, again, largest amount of school finance in history that's actually classroom dollars, you know,
20:01this is real money that's going to get to public education that's in need of it.
20:05And you look at the things that it does, it's the things that we identified were very important.
20:09All right.
20:09Thank you all very much.
20:14All right.
20:24how much trade deals through the SEC works as planned.
20:26We, we should put our first trades up
20:29the second week of February.
20:30Sure.
20:30Of February next year, which is a pretty good date.
20:32I think it might be an important anniversary as well.
20:35All right, thanks, guys.