AUSTIN, Texas — Members of the Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce met with State representatives at the Texas State Capitol Building on Tuesday.
Some of the state leaders include representatives John Raney, Kyle Kacal, and State Senator Charles Schwertner. Chamber members emphasized education, healthcare, mandates from the State, funding opportunities, and transportation improvements.
KAGS spoke with Kacal about his role in the legislative session, his discussions with the BCS Chamber, and his hopes for the Brazos Valley going forward.
Question
“Kyle, I wanted to ask, how’s the session going so far?”
Answer
“So far, so good. You know we’re moving at the pace we normally move at. We had a little weather issue a week ago and had a week off, which made last week pretty busy. We’ve got two chambers in, we’ve got the Bryan-College Station Chamber today.”
Question
“The Bryan-College Station Chamber is here to meet with you today and talk about some of the growth in our area, job numbers, but also the opportunities that are in our area. How does that relate to your position?”
Answer
“Oh, it relates. I mean it’s so vital that we have the relationship that we have. Whether it be with Representative Raney or myself, working with the chamber, seeing the growth, I mean seeing the businesses come in, seeing the existing business-owners…my opinion, for the first time, in a long time, Texas A&M, Blinn, Bryan, College Station, and Brazos County are in sync and it’s a good time to be in Brazos County.”
Question
“Two of the things you wanted to emphasize on both sessions were our aquifers and education reforms. How is the needle moving on either of those fronts?”
Answer
“We need to make sure we have adequate water for the people that live here and for the growth that we know is coming. Whether that’s more people, more homes, or more businesses.”
Question
“Is it just more things across the board?”
Answer
“It’s all things, and I think we left off transportation which is huge. As we grow, we’ve got to have that infrastructure so people can move about the State. I think we saw last year, at the LSU game on a Saturday, it’s very difficult getting into College Station.”
Question
“I believe some of the biggest discussions take place between March and the end of the session, is that correct?”
Answer
“To some extent. Bills are being filed, we’ve got committees that were assigned last week. We know the chairman and the makeup of the committees is all about.”
Question
“It looks like, overall, we just need to do a better job on infrastructure?”
Answer
“And that’s what this session has been set up to be, an infrastructure session…and infrastructure is a broader definition than it was in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990, and I think the people that were elected for this session get that.”
