Committee on Trade, Workforce & Economic Development

Jurisdiction:

Trade, Workforce, and Economic Development

(a) The committee shall have 11 members, with jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to:

(1) the relations between the State of Texas and other nations related to trade relations and international trade zones;
(2) commerce, trade, industry, and manufacturing, including international commerce and trade and the regulation of persons participating in international commerce and trade;
(3) industrial safety and adequate and safe working conditions, and the regulation and control of those conditions;
(4) unemployment compensation, including coverage, benefits, taxes, and eligibility;
(5) labor unions and their organization, control, management, and administration;
(6) the regulation of business transactions and transactions involving property interests;
(7) the organization, incorporation, management, and regulation of private corporations and professional associations and the Uniform Commercial Code and the Business Organizations Code;
(8) the protection of consumers, governmental regulations incident thereto, the agencies of government authorized to regulate such activities, and the role of the government in consumer protection;
(9) homeowners’ associations;
(10) oversight and regulation of the construction industry;
(11) cooperation between the state or a local governmental entity and the scientific and technological community, including private businesses, institutions of higher education, and federal governmental laboratories;
(12) weights and measures;
(13) workforce training;
(14) economic and industrial development;
(15) development and support of small businesses;
(16) job creation and job-training programs;
(17) hours, wages, collective bargaining, and the relationship between employers and employees;
(18) international and border regions (as described in Sections 2056.002(e)(2) and (3), Government Code) economic development, public health and safety issues affecting the border, tourist development, and goodwill, and economic development, tourist development, and goodwill in other areas of the state that have experienced a significant increase in the percentage of the population that consists of immigrants from other nations, according to the last two federal decennial censuses or another reliable measure;
(19) the provision of public services to persons residing in proximity to Texas’ international border or in other areas of the state that have experienced a significant increase in the percentage of the population that consists of immigrants from other nations, according to the last two federal decennial censuses or another reliable measure; and
(20) the following state agencies: the State Office of Risk Management, the Risk Management Board, the Division of Workers’ Compensation of the Texas Department of Insurance, the workers’ compensation research and evaluation group in the Texas Department of Insurance, the Office of Injured Employee Counsel, including the ombudsman program of that office, the Texas Mutual Insurance Company Board of Directors, the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office, the Texas Workforce Commission, and the Texas Workforce Investment Council.
(b) The committee has two permanent standing subcommittees:
(1) a subcommittee on Workforce, to consider all matters relating to:
(A) workforce training;
(B) job creation and job-training programs;
(C) industrial safety and adequate and safe working conditions, and the regulation and control of those conditions;
(D) hours, wages, collective bargaining, and the relationship between employers and employees; and
(E) labor unions and their organization, control, management, and administration; and
(2) a subcommittee on International Relations, to consider all matters relating to:
(A) the relations between the State of Texas and other nations related to trade relations and international trade zones;
(B) international commerce and trade and the regulation of persons participating in international commerce and trade;
(C) international and border regions (as described in Sections 2056.002(e)(2) and (3), Government Code) economic development, public health and safety issues affecting the border, tourist development, and goodwill, and economic development, tourist development, and goodwill in other areas of the state that have experienced a significant increase in the percentage of the population that consists of immigrants from other nations, according to the last two federal decennial censuses or another reliable measure; and
(D) the provision of public services to persons residing in proximity to Texas’ international border or in other areas of the state that have experienced a significant increase in the percentage of the population that consists of immigrants from other nations, according to the last two federal decennial censuses or another reliable measure.