How we approach the challenge of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will define the Texas that we live in going forward. We have a unique opportunity to take advantage of this moment in time and create a stronger Texas. "A Playbook for Resiliency: Creating Opportunity for All Texans" outlines nine principles and associated actions for an inclusive and more resilient Texas.
1. Build Partnerships Instead of Rivalries. Collaboration is essential if Texas is to achieve lasting resiliency. Local leaders have an invaluable view on what is happening on the ground, while the state government offers a broader picture of Texas's overall needs. Local governments can cooperate across regions, pooling their resources and sharing governance.
2. Foster Resilience Through Economic Inclusion and Diversification. Texas's business climate has made it an ideal place for investment. Let's be innovative in how we grow our export sectors when we begin to reopen the state, while supporting the small and local businesses that bring character, creativity, and authenticity to Texas communities.
3. Increase Healthcare Investments for Economic Development. Texas's hospitals are not just providers of healthcare and centers of advanced research—they are job creators and have the potential to become important community catalysts, powering our communities forward with innovations, job opportunities, and increased security stabilization. There is no doubt: we can strengthen Texas's public health capabilities while fully leveraging their economic benefits.
4. Lead the Energy Future. The demand for alternative energy across the U.S. and in Texas is growing. As the world's leading knowledge and production center for energy, Texas must seize the opportunity to innovate and develop an ecosystem for the future.
5. Protect Essential Workers to Protect Texas's Resiliency and Future. The COVID-19 pandemic brought home the fact that frontline services workers are essential workers for Texas. They need access to affordable child care, guaranteed healthcare, and family-supporting wages. Texas should lead with legislation to honor their service while addressing the longstanding inequalities in our communities.
6. Promote the Growth of Rural Communities with State-Supported Investments. With a renewed focus, Texas's rural communities can emerge as centers of entrepreneurship, improving the well-being of all Texans. The health of Texas's overarching economy depends on the success of even its smallest rural communities, but they need focused investment.
7. Invest in the Skills of Texans. Having experienced a shock as enormous as the COVID19 pandemic, now is not the time to retreat on workforce development. It's time to double down on our investments in the skills and pathways that expand economic opportunities for Texans, improving well-being across the board.
8. Leverage Texas Universities as Community Hubs and Accelerators for Talent and Thought Leadership. Working in the broadest capacity as beacons of community innovation, Texas universities can leverage local purchasing and procurement, accelerate cluster development, improve workforce readiness, and serve as laboratories for the development of practical solutions to intractable problems.
9. Advance an Infrastructure that Supports the Orderly Growth of Metropolitan Texas. Transportation investments and increased broadband access are needed across Texas. As expensive as they are, digital and physical infrastructure projects can help to jumpstart the recovery by putting people to work, while laying the groundwork for a Texas that is not only more sustainable, but has a higher ceiling for growth.