Erin Davis Valdez is a policy analyst with Right on Work at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. She conducts research on career and technical education at the secondary and post-secondary levels, civics education, and welfare to work programs in Texas.
As the trickle of businesses relocating to Texas becomes a flood, it is vitally important for policymakers to consider how to make hiring the existing Texas workforce more attractive to employers than importing workers, who may not share Texas values, from other states. Texans still suffering COVID-related unemployment in the hard-hit service sector could benefit from re-skilling to fill specialized roles in IT, manufacturing, construction, and healthcare.
Testimony in Support Submitted to the Texas House Committee on Higher Education