Dallas Regional Chamber

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Public Advocacy

  • The Dallas Regional Chamber represents our regions business interests in public policy and civic arenas by:
  • Tracking legislative issues that affect the North Texas region
  • Advocating on important regional business issues to government officials at the local, state, and federal levels
  • Participating on many regional and statewide committees and advisory councils in the areas of environment, water, and transportation energy, healthcare, higher education, public education, technology and economic development.

 

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State of the City

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert delivered his annual “State of the City” address to an audience of over 400 Chamber members and business leaders in September. Mayor Leppert spoke about the importance of being competitive, pushing economic development, building our downtown, protecting the environment and improving education.
To view Mayor Leppert’s entire speech, click here.

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 In the News
  Policy and Issue Information

                        

 

 

 

  • Carona and Pickett to Hold Joint Committee Meetings
    The two have agreed to bring their committees together to lay groundwork for reaching transportation funding solutions.
    Full Story

  • DFW Leaders Fuming Over Lack of I-35 Funding
    The North Texas sections of I-35 are not getting any TxDOT money for expansion.
    Full Story

  • Pressure Mounts Over Funding of Southwest Parkway
    Dissatisfied with the tedious progress of the sweeping Southwest Parkway, Burleson officials are seeking an accounting of how NTTA plans to pay for the $2 billion road project.
    Full Story Here

  • Propositions Pass in the November 3rd Election

  • $742 Million in Road Funds Previously Promised to Texas to be Taken Back
    Earlier this year $2.25 billion dollars was promised to Texas from the federal Recovery Act dollars.  Now the Federal Highway Administration is taking some back in an effort to balance its books.
    Full Story

  • Tarrant Regional Water District and Dallas Water Utilities to Build Pipeline
    To guarantee the Metroplex has enough water during a severe drought, the Tarrant Regional Water District and Dallas Water Utilities plan to build a 1.9 billion pipeline together.
    Full Story

  • Wind Energy Transmission Lines Plan Goes to PUC
    Oncor has submitted plans to the Public Utilities Commission of Texas for the construction of wind energy transmission lines.
    Full Story

  • Supreme Court May Hear Fastrill Reservoir Case
    The City of Dallas says a new legal development indicates that the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to reconsider a ruling that prevents building the controversial Fastrill Reservoir.
    Full Story

  • Regional Water Planners Need Public Input
    Water is a critical resource-to preserve Texan's way of life, to protect the region's ecology and wildlife and, of course, to enable continued prosperity for our regions's businesses and employees.
    Full Story

  • Leaders Outline Strategy For Vision North Texas
    Business as usual won't work for a development plan as North Texas grows in population from about 6 million to 9 million in 2030 and 12 million in 2050.
    Full Story

  • Revised Fuel Standards Get Both Sides Attention
    The Obama Administration unveiled tough new fuel economy standards Tuesday.
    Full Story

  • Fight Looms in Congress on Tax Break for Home Buyers
    When Congress passed a $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers last winter, it was intended as a dose of shock therapy during a crisis.  Now the question is becoming whether the housing market can function without it.
    Full Story

  • Dewhurst Tells Supporters He Will Run for Re-election
    Full Story

  • EPA to Reject 3 Texas Air-Permitting Programs
    The EPA signaled Tuesday that it is serious about demanding changes in the way Texas issues air pollution permits to major industries.
    Full Story

  • Cornyn Expresses Optimism, Caution on 2010
    Texas Sen. John Cornyn emphasized Republican fundraising and recruiting successes
    Full Story

  • As Big Banks Repay Bailout Money, U.S. Sees a Profit
    Nearly a year after the Federal rescue of the nation's biggest banks, taxpayers have begun seeing profits.
    Full Story

  • Universities Look for Boost to Top Tier
    State lawmakers passed a bill this spring that lays out a pathway to flagship status and a pot of money for seven emerging research institutions.
    Full Story

  • Retirement of Member of TCEQ is a Blow to Environmentalist
    Environmentalists are losing a powerful friend in the state of Texas
    Full Story

  • Rick Perry: State Woefully Short of Nurses
    If you have ever encountered a medical emergency or received extended medical attention, you'll likely recall that, while doctors came and went, it was the nursing staff that got you through it.
    Full Story

  • Highway Projects on Hold for Lack of Funding Clarity
    State transportation officials say uncertainty about about future funding is forcing them to foreswear ambitious new projects in favor of simple maintenance and repairs.
    Full Story

  • Tariff Provision May Be Critical to Senate Climate Change Bill
    Writing Climate Change legislation that can win 60 votes in the Senate will hinge in part on two words "border adjustment".
    Full Story

  • Deadline for Obama's High Speed Rail Stimulus
    Monday marked the deadline for states to submit applications for some of the $8 billion in high speed rail funding contained in the economic stimulus package.
    Full Story

  • Washington View: Texas Economy Shining Brightly Despite Recession
    Full Story

  • Lobbyists Turn Up Heat on Climate Change
    Ah August: When Washington's torrid temperatures and humidity settle in and Congress scurries out for a monthlong recess.
    Full Story

  • President Obama signs off on "Cash for Clunkers" $2billion refill
    President Obama on Friday, signed a bill to refill the "Cash for Clunkers" program, extending it through Labor Day.
    Full Story

  • Texas Lakes Pump Millions of Dollars into Economy
    Recreational fishing is big business in Texas. How big?  In 2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that 2.5 million Texas anglers spent 3.2 billion on their favorite spot.
    Full Story

  • 'Cash For Clunkers' Clears One Roadblock in the Senate, But Obstacles Remain
    There was new hope for Cash for Clunkers late Monday when two senators lifted their objections to an emergency bill passed by the House of Representatives last week to pump funding for the popular program.
    Full Story

  • Spending Stimulus Funds Turns Challenging in Dallas-Fort Worth
    As billions of dollars in stimulus trickles down to North Texas from Capitol Hill, some communities are nursing cases of whiplash, given the speed and volume of dollars flowing in.
    Full Story

  • U.S. Economic Contraction Slowed in Quarter
    The American economy's long decline leveled off significantly April through June.
    Full Story

  • Senate Panel Endorses Sotomayer in 13-6 Vote
    WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee voted, 13 to 6, on Tuesday to endorse the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, easing her path to likely confirmation as the first Hispanic member of the tribunal.
    Full Story 

  • Ben Bernake Says Fed Didn't Act Quickly Enough to Stop Reckless Mortgage Lending
    But the central bank's chairman defends its role in rescuing giant firms such as insurer AIG, saying that it needed to take steps to stave off an economic collapse.
    Full Story

  • CFTC Shuts "Enron Loophole" for Gas and Limits ICE Swaps
    July 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission imposed rules on natural gas swaps on the Intercontinental Exchange Inc., tightening the so-called “Enron loophole” that exempted the contracts from regulation.
    Full Story

  • Texas Scorched by Worst Drought in 50 Years
    Crop and Livestock Losses Reach $3.6 Billion, and Tourism Industry Takes a Hit; Meteorologists Predict Relief in the Fall.
    Full Story

  • Employers Are Far From Unified Against Overhaul
    Even as the national business lobby ramps up its opposition to health-care reform, there are signs that employers around the country are divided on the issue, reducing the force of an opposition push.
    Full Story

  • Barton and Burgess: A better remedy for health reform
    The president and many Democrats are urging Congress to quickly pass their idea of health reform because they say it is key to economic recovery and better health. We fail to see how creating scores of new bureaucracies will revitalize anything except the governing class in Washington.
    Full Story

  • Oklahoma AG seeks dismissal of Texas water lawsuit
    OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Legal Newsline) - The Oklahoma attorney general's office asked a federal judge Friday to toss out a lawsuit filed by a Texas water district that claims it has the right to buy billions of gallons of water in Oklahoma.
    Full Story 

  • Democrats Drop Key Part of Bill to Assist Unions
    A half-dozen senators friendly to labor have decided to drop a central provision of a bill that would have made it easier to organize workers.
    Full Story

  • EPA Announces $179 Million in Recovery Act Funds for Wastewater Infrastructure Projects in Texas to Boost Economy, Create Jobs and Protect the Environment
    Dallas, Texas – July 14, 2009) In a move that stands to create jobs, boost local economies, improve aging water infrastructure and protect human health and the environment for the people in the State of Texas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded over $179 million to the Texas Water Development Board.
    Full Story

  • House Passes Waxman-Markey Climate Change Bill, but Just Barely
    Late on Friday, June 26, 2009, as Congress was about to leave Washington for its Fourth of July recess, the House of Representatives passed, by a margin of 219 to 212, The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454).
    Full Story

  • Legislature '09 Special Session
    AUSTIN – State lawmakers quickly wrapped up a two-day special session Thursday by approving $2 billion in highway bonds and extending the operations of five agencies – but they spiked Gov. Rick Perry's continued push for toll roads.
    Full Story 

  • Texas requests federal funds for high-speed rail line
    Texas has submitted preliminary requests for nearly $2 billion in federal funds designed to put fast trains on the fast track across the U.S.
    Full Story