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Gov. Greg Abbott released the annual report this week in lieu of a public address. In it, the governor’s office points to multiple aspects of the Texas economy and the pieces that keep it growing.
The report looks back at 2023 and includes multiple IT and tech-sector efforts covered by Industry Insider — Texas and its sister publications. These efforts were funded through the state Legislature, through the governor’s office and via federal funds.
Here they are:
- The Comptroller of Public Accounts’ Broadband Development Office (BDO) will see $1.5 billion in voter-approved state funding from the Broadband Infrastructure Fund. Specifically, the fund may be used for development, construction, reconstruction and expansion of infrastructure or services; operating broadband and telecommunications infrastructure; provisioning broadband and telecommunications services; and fund administration and management.
- Another legislative move would ensure Texas’ spot as the national leader in semiconductor manufacturing. The Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium and Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund, created with the CHIPS Act, allows some $1.36 billion to be spent on various aspects of the industry and its workforce pipeline.
- The Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation (JETI) Act is a move to continue attracting large business to the state. “The JETI Act allows a company, school district and the Governor's Office to enter into an agreement for a 10-year school district maintenance and operations (M&O) tax appraised value limitation of 50 percent, based on qualifying job and capital investment minimums. Projects located in qualified Opportunity Zones are eligible for an additional 25 percent limitation on taxable value,” according to a news report.
- The OAG Public Safety Office distributed more than $216 million in federal and state funds in all areas of law enforcement including $28 million for surveillance systems, body cameras and video systems; $25 million for interoperable emergency communications equipment; and $4 million for information technology and cybersecurity systems and tools, according to the governor’s office.
- The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) used $20 million to launch its MyTexasFuture.org website. The effort is a comprehensive digital platform to bring together resources to ensure that 60 percent of Texans 65 and younger obtain a degree, certificate or other credential by 2030, as reported by Government Technology.*
- The One Pill Kills campaign is a $10 million multimedia awareness campaign led by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The campaign is part of the state’s effort to prevent fentanyl overdoses through public education, and there are several adjacent efforts including data gathering. The Department of State Health Services launched the Texas fentanyl data dashboard last summer to track deaths from these overdoses.
*Government Technology is a sister publication of Industry Insider — Texas.
