Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2: We're going to turn it over now though to Bloomberg's
Speaker 2: Texas Bureau chief Julie Fine.
Speaker 1: She's live in Dallas for a special interview that's with
Speaker 1: Texas Governor Greg Amos.
Speaker 3: Julie, Governor Abbitt, thank you so much for being with us,
Speaker 3: my pleasure.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Julie, Governor Abbot.
Speaker 3: I do want to start with the news of the morning,
Speaker 3: the presidents saying that he will have some type of
Speaker 3: announcement on reciprocal terrorists in the coming days. Now he
Speaker 3: has paused tariffs for now on Mexico and Canada. Bloomberg
Speaker 3: had a story earlier this week in Laredo. Some port
Speaker 3: cities very concerned about these Are you concerned this will
Speaker 3: affect the Texas economy?
Speaker 2: Not really, And there's a reason for that, and that's
Speaker 2: because he.
Speaker 1: Had these tariff announcements during his first term as president
Speaker 1: and it didn't really impact the Texas economy. Listen, the
Speaker 1: Texas economy is the most powerful kind of in the
Speaker 1: United States, and we're able to withstand all types of
Speaker 1: challenges and we're going to make our way through this.
Speaker 2: And so to be honest, I'm not really concerned about it.
Speaker 1: Also, we've seen as everybody observed, and that is sometimes
Speaker 1: these tariffs are used strategically to achieve certain purposes, like
Speaker 1: what happened with Mexico and Canada, and it worked out
Speaker 1: to the United States advantage that certain border security measures
Speaker 1: were taken, especially by Mexico as well as Finnel issues
Speaker 1: concerning Canada. And so the United States is better now
Speaker 1: because of the use of tariffs and the ability to
Speaker 1: extract changes that are better.
Speaker 2: For the country.
Speaker 1: I have no doubt that'll be one of the goals
Speaker 1: that the President will pursue with regard to other potential tariffs.
Speaker 3: And you met with the President this week, and border
Speaker 3: security of course the topic for you. You said that
Speaker 3: Texas would offer military bases forty two hundred beds for
Speaker 3: troops as well as four thousand jail cells. Now, border
Speaker 3: crossings are down in the state of Texas. What do
Speaker 3: you envision the long term plan for the state when
Speaker 3: it comes to the border.
Speaker 1: So you know, obviously under President of Biden, Texas needed
Speaker 1: to take extraordinary steps because we had more than eleven
Speaker 1: million people across the border, more than during any president
Speaker 1: that see in the history of the United States of America,
Speaker 1: and as a result, we built two military bases.
Speaker 2: On the border, one in Del Rio, one Inegle.
Speaker 1: Pass, and we're working with the Trump administration to provide
Speaker 1: them holding facilities, detention facilities such as jail and prison
Speaker 1: cells as they apprehend people and prepare them for deportation.
Speaker 1: Bottom line, Texas is going to be all in to
Speaker 1: assist the Trump administration.
Speaker 2: But we have seen illegal.
Speaker 1: Crossings decrease to a trickle.
Speaker 2: Here's what we need to see.
Speaker 1: We need to see the ongoing success by the Trump
Speaker 1: administration reducing illegal immigration in a sustainable way, and that
Speaker 1: will help Texas calibrate what our next actions will be. Obviously,
Speaker 1: it should not be incumbent upon Texas taxpayers or any
Speaker 1: state taxpayers to have to put that bill, and as
Speaker 1: a result, that's why I've been working with members of Congress,
Speaker 1: and I'll be back next week to talk to them,
Speaker 1: to them even more about ensuring that Texas is going
Speaker 1: to be able to have the resources we need and
Speaker 1: a reimbursement for some of the costs that we incurred
Speaker 1: to better secure the board.
Speaker 3: I want to turn to the Texas economy, the newly
Speaker 3: formed Texas Stock Exchange just submitted for approval. Now, if
Speaker 3: companies dual list and the New York Stock Exchange and
Speaker 3: the Texas Stock Exchange or the Texas Stock Exchange in NASDAQ,
Speaker 3: how might that be different from other dual listings.
Speaker 1: So it may be similar to what happened historically concerning
Speaker 1: dual listings. But here I think we will see a
Speaker 1: trend change in stock markets the way that we've seen
Speaker 1: a trend change in the economy.
Speaker 2: Now, let's go back to the year two thousand for example.
Speaker 1: You know, New York City was still the home of
Speaker 1: finance at that time, and other states were larger than
Speaker 1: Texas economically. These days, Texas has the most powerful economy
Speaker 1: in the United States. As well as we have more
Speaker 1: people moving here at than any other state. We have
Speaker 1: the fastest growing financial sector in the United States. Add
Speaker 1: to that, the way you could subdivide the United States
Speaker 1: into quadrants. If you look at the Southeastern quadrant from
Speaker 1: Texas up to Oklahoma, over to the East Coast down
Speaker 1: to Florida, then back over to Texas, that quadrant represents
Speaker 1: almost all of the positive GDP growth in the United
Speaker 1: States of America, and as a result, there would be
Speaker 1: a kinship in that region for businesses that will be
Speaker 1: far more likely to be aligned with the stock exchange
Speaker 1: that we have in Texas than stock ex changes up
Speaker 1: in New York. One last thing about that is we
Speaker 1: need to ensure access to capital or oil and gas businesses,
Speaker 1: businesses that are unique and important to just not only
Speaker 1: the state of Texas, but also to this entire region.
Speaker 1: We think that with the growing financial expertise that's going
Speaker 1: to be taking place in Dallas in Texas, as well
Speaker 1: as the growing accounting in the Southeastern quadrant, we're going
Speaker 1: to see a lot of businesses that are interested in
Speaker 1: locating here for access to capital. And know this, You've
Speaker 1: already seen this jeerly with regard to incorporation. You've seen
Speaker 1: Space ex for example, move their in corporation from Delaware
Speaker 1: to Texas. We're seeing a lot of that take place
Speaker 1: across the board with businesses because they see Texas as
Speaker 1: a more business friendly state, especially after math of a
Speaker 1: new law that assigned two years ago creating business course
Speaker 1: in the state of Texas that now rival and some
Speaker 1: businesses feel are superior to the business course in Delaware.
Speaker 3: President Trump has a very broad education agenda, so do you,
Speaker 3: thirty three states have some form of school choice. If
Speaker 3: it happens in Texas, it would be the biggest. You've
Speaker 3: tried to get this done for several sessions this time around.
Speaker 3: Do you think Texas will have school choice at the
Speaker 3: end of the session.
Speaker 2: I really do, and there's several reasons for it, one
Speaker 2: as you know, but others may not.
Speaker 1: I campaigned this last election cycle to ensure that we
Speaker 1: elect to the Texas House representatives who are going to
Speaker 1: support school choice, and we were successful in that effort
Speaker 1: and now should have more than enough posts of the
Speaker 1: Texas House to get it passed. It's already passed the
Speaker 1: Texas Senate, it passed the Texas Senate just this week,
Speaker 1: and so we are on a pathway where it should
Speaker 1: get passed.
Speaker 2: And know this, as you.
Speaker 1: Pointed out, the school choice in one form or another
Speaker 1: exists in more than thirty states, and in those thirty
Speaker 1: states there's not been a collapsing of the public school
Speaker 1: system and said the public school system gets more competitive
Speaker 1: while at the very same time giving parents' ability to
Speaker 1: choose the school dis best for their child.
Speaker 3: You were with the President earlier this week as he
Speaker 3: signed some executive orders along the lines of the Texas legislature.
Speaker 3: You have signed one as well regarding DEI that would
Speaker 3: be in public offices. There is also a ban on
Speaker 3: DEI in public universities. Are you hearing any feedback? What
Speaker 3: are companies saying to you about this?
Speaker 1: I think companies are tired of having dictate some posts
Speaker 1: of them, such as DEI mandates, because their real goal
Speaker 1: is to be a success for their shareholders, and the
Speaker 1: way they can do that is to increase their paternal
Speaker 1: investment without having to invest in social programs.
Speaker 2: That may not be beneficial to.
Speaker 1: The bottom line. And so I will say I've heard
Speaker 1: nothing negative about it. I've heard many positive things about it.
Speaker 1: We need to get back to core value sets. But
Speaker 1: understand this also, and that is what di I programs
Speaker 1: often promote is discrimination. Is a violation of the US Constitution,
Speaker 1: of the Texas Constitution, of the civil rights laws to
Speaker 1: discriminate on the basis of race.
Speaker 2: What many d I programs do.
Speaker 1: They promote one race while not advancing others, and that
Speaker 1: violates the Constitution of Texas and federal laws.
Speaker 3: In the very short time I have left with you, you
Speaker 3: touched on this earlier elon Musk arguably texas most well
Speaker 3: known residents. What do you think of his influence right now?
Speaker 1: Listen, he's doing to the government sector what he's done
Speaker 1: in the private sector, and he's going to have success
Speaker 1: in the government sector like he has in the private sector.
Speaker 1: One thing we desperately need in our country is to
Speaker 1: shrink government. The government has grown too large, and one
Speaker 1: way to save money for taxpayers and make government more
Speaker 1: efficient is to do exactly what Elon is doing. And
Speaker 1: I think most Americans are very proud of what he's acomplishing.
Speaker 3: Governor Rabbits, see you in Austin soon. Thanks so much
Speaker 3: for your time.