Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SR117 Compare Versions

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1	1	SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 117
2	2	WHEREAS, A distinguished delegation from South Texas is
3	3	visiting Austin on February 5, 2019, to celebrate Rio Grande
4	4	Valley Day at the State Capitol; and
5	5	WHEREAS, Enjoying a strategic location on the Gulf of
6	6	Mexico and along the Mexican border, the Rio Grande Valley was an
7	7	important ranching region when Texas became the nation's 28th
8	8	state in 1845; over time, the economy shifted from ranching to
9	9	agriculture, and the Valley became the state's center of citrus
10	10	and vegetable production; and
11	11	WHEREAS, In the 1960s, industry flourished and
12	12	international trade became increasingly prominent; the region
13	13	has contributed significantly to the tremendous increase in
14	14	commerce across the United States-Mexico border; each year, more
15	15	than 946,000 trucks, 11.7 million cars with 24.3 million
16	16	passengers, thousands of buses and bus passengers, and 6.2
17	17	million pedestrians cross Rio Grande Valley ports of entry; an
18	18	average of over $51 billion of commercial trade per year,
19	19	amounting to more than $140 million in goods and services per
20	20	day, flows across the region's 13 land ports of entry; the Rio
21	21	Grande Valley is an economic powerhouse for the State of Texas,
22	22	with approximately $12.5 billion in taxable sales recorded in
23	23	Reporting Year 2018; and
24	24	WHEREAS, The Valley has over 1.5 million residents, and
25	25	approximately 600,000 of these are individuals under the age of
26	26	25; local and state officials have focused on the need to expand
27	27	access to higher education and health care, strengthen the
28	28	workforce, increase transportation and ports of entry
29	29	infrastructure, and increase funding for public education; and
30	30	WHEREAS, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley serves
31	31	over 28,600 students; the School of Medicine is in its third year
32	32	of operation and has 155 medical students and 169 medical
33	33	residents in 10 Graduate Medical Education programs and over 20
34	34	patient care sites; and
35	35	WHEREAS, The Texas A&M University System recently opened
36	36	its Higher Education Center in McAllen, which will be linked to
37	37	the campus in College Station and will offer programs in
38	38	engineering, technology, biomedical sciences, agriculture, and
39	39	the laboratory sciences; and
40	40	WHEREAS, There are six higher education institutions in
41	41	the Rio Grande Valley, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley,
42	42	Texas A&M University Higher Education Center, Texas A&M
43	43	University Health Science Center McAllen, South Texas College,
44	44	Texas Southmost College, and Texas State Technical College, and
45	45	they serve a combined student population of over 70,000; and
46	46	WHEREAS, The focus for today's special legislative event is
47	47	to advocate for additional investments in public education and
48	48	workforce development through industry-driven youth
49	49	apprenticeship programs in Texas high schools, transportation
50	50	and port of entry infrastructure, economic and business
51	51	development, funding for The University of Texas Rio Grande
52	52	Valley School of Medicine, access to health care and other
53	53	community services, and securing a Level 1 trauma center; major
54	54	sponsors include The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Texas
55	55	A&M University, Texas Southmost College, the City of McAllen, the
56	56	City of Edinburg, the City of Weslaco, the City of Pharr, the City
57	57	of Brownsville, the Port of Brownsville, the Lower Rio Grande
58	58	Valley Development Council, the Starr County Industrial
59	59	Foundation, Willacy County, and the Rio Grande Valley
60	60	Partnership, as well as several private sector businesses, such
61	61	as Pathfinder Public Affairs, Atlas, Hall and Rodriguez, IBC
62	62	Bank, Texas Gas Service, UBER, and Coca-Cola, all of which are
63	63	promoting greater regional cooperation in the 21st century; and
64	64	WHEREAS, A vibrant region with a rich heritage, the Rio
65	65	Grande Valley is poised to take advantage of tremendous
66	66	opportunities for continued economic development, and it is
67	67	indeed most fitting to honor Valley residents for their
68	68	dedication to building a bright and prosperous future for the
69	69	area; now, therefore, be it
70	70	RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 86th
71	71	Legislature, hereby recognize February 5, 2019, as Rio Grande
72	72	Valley Day at the State Capitol and extend to all participants
73	73	sincere best wishes for a productive and enjoyable visit.
74	74	Hinojosa, Lucio, Zaffirini
75	75	________________________________
76	76	President of the Senate
77	77	I hereby certify that the
78	78	above Resolution was adopted by
79	79	the Senate on February 5, 2019.
80	80	________________________________
81	81	Secretary of the Senate
82	82	________________________________
83	83	Member, Texas Senate
84	84	________________________________
85	85	Member, Texas Senate
86	86	________________________________
87	87	Member, Texas Senate