I have been very honored to have represented you all these years, and I plan on continuing to advocate as one of you in the future as a member of the Texas Association of Business.
Bill Hammond
CEO
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/business/business-advocate-hammond-leaves-legacy-of-policy-/nsK8h/
Business advocate Hammond leaves legacy of ‘policy ahead of politics’
BUSINESS By Tim Eaton
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As a former Texas House member and as head of the state’s most prominent business lobby for nearly 19 years, the Texas Association of Business’ outgoing CEO Bill Hammond has been the mouthpiece for industry and has shepherded legislation through the system to make Texas attractive to businesses.
But despite his many legislative victories, one problem has remained unsolved as he prepares to leave the business lobby in the coming months.
Working with five different governors — Bill Clements, Mark White, George W. Bush, Rick Perry and Greg Abbott — Hammond has been there as lawmakers fought to keep taxes low, worked to make sure regulation was not overly burdensome and ensured that businesses wouldn’t have to stumble over other hurdles that might have hindered growth.
“There has been a lot of change,” Hammond told the American-Statesman in an interview after he announced he would be stepping down as head of the business lobby at year’s end to work as an independent contract lobbyist.
Hammond can easily rattle off a list of career successes. He talks about: reforming the workers’ comp system; reducing the franchise tax; easing the process for industries to get environmental permits; and fending off plenty of harmful proposals from the far right and left of the political spectrum. All those efforts and more have made Texas one of the most business-friendly states in the union, he said.
But when he leaves his post, he will leave one of issues most important to him unresolved.
“Education has been a roller-coaster,” he said.
Hammond said he was happy to see a new A-though-F rating system get approved last session, but still, too many students are not emerging from school with the level of education that Texas’ employers’ need, he said. And there is still quite a long way to go, he said.
For too long, Texas has relied on the flow of educated people moving here from locales to fill so many technology jobs and other skilled positions. The practice isn’t sustainable, he said, and sooner or later, Texas lawmakers will need to make sure the state can produce the talent necessary to fill the highly paid job openings across the state.
And with the explosion in the technology sector and an increased need for health care-related professionals, the importance of improving the state’s education system will only grow more dire in the ever-growing state, Hammond said.
“Boomers need care,” he said. “We have a lot of little ones, and we have a lot of old ones.”
Texas legislators must stop accepting the “we are doing the best we can” line and hold school districts accountable, Hammond said.
But for Hammond, education represent more than a way to keep Texas industries appropriately staffed for maximum growth.
“To me, personally and professionally, will children born in poverty die in poverty?” he said.
Much of Hammond’s success comes from his advocacy for big and small businesses. But sometimes it also came from playing defense. Often his defensive postures put him at odds with conservative lawmakers and without much public support from others in the Legislature.
“We have tried to put good policy ahead of politics,” Hammond said.
Jack Gullahorn, former president of the Professional Advocacy Association of Texas, a lobbyist trade organization, has known Hammond for decades and said he is “bullish” on his old friend.
As legislator and lobbyist, Hammond has always been a “philosophically-based voice of reason,” even when it was politically difficult, Gullahorn said.
One of the strengths of Hammond that has served the Texas business community so well has been his ability to look forward to the future and craft business-related policies including those related to workforce matters, education issues and health care, Gullahorn said.
“He is always forward -thinking in his analysis,” Gullahorn said.
Gullahorn sees Hammond’s impact on the state’s business climate as significant, as he has had a hand in laying the groundwork for many business policies.
“I think Hammond has been a critical part of the fabric that has led Texas to enjoy the success it has in business,” Gullahorn said. “He has been — and I hope he will continues to be — recognized as a major leader.”
Even people who don’t call Hammond a friend seem to respect him.
Tom “Smitty” Smith, state director of Public Citizen, a national consumer and environmental group, rarely found himself on the same side of an issue as Hammond, but he called him “worthy opponent” and a “smart advocate” for industry.
Smith said Hammond played a role in creating policies on tort reform, limiting consumer claims, easing the environmental permitting among others.
“He and the chemical companies and the oil and gas industry have worked hand in hand to shape a more favorable business climate in Texas,” Smith said.
Hammond’s successor, who will be chosen after a search committee at the association has time to look around, will undoubtedly be compared to his or her predecessor. But whoever it is, that person will be expected to be an effective voice and an aggressive spokesperson for multi-nationals and mom-and-pops across the state. And level of competence could take some time to achieve.
“One has to get his sea legs under him, so to speak,” Hammond said.