Recap: Allen Day at the Capitol

Last week, a delegation consisting of Allen Fairview Chamber of Commerce members and representatives from both the City of Allen and Allen ISD joined forces at the Texas Capitol to promote the Allen area's legislative priorities in Austin. The Chamber has a variety of state policy priorities ranging from education to infrastructure, business climate, and more. The Allen area Texas House delegation serves on a variety of committees analyzing different topics of legislation, making for a diverse range of conversation at the Capitol.

On Wednesday evening, the Allen Day group was joined at dinner by Senator Angela Paxton. Senator Paxton relayed to the group some of the top priorities she is working on this session and provided an overview of the Senate's top legislative priorities as a whole. On the heels of Tuesday evening's City Council meeting, where a land lease agreement was approved for Kalahari Resorts, the group discussed the importance of qualified hotel project legislation authored by Senator Paxton, a crucial step to keep the Kalahari project moving forward.

The following morning, resolutions recognizing Allen Day at the Capitol were read in both the Texas Senate and the Texas House. Immediately following the resolutions, the entire Allen Day group met in Representative Jeff Leach's Capitol office to discuss top legislative priorities. From there, the City of Allen, Allen ISD, and the Chamber groups split off into targeted Capitol office visits. The Chamber delegation visited policy staff from Senator Charles Schwertner's office (Chair of the Senate Committee on Business & Commerce) and policy staff from Senator Phil King's office (Chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development).

After lunch, the Allen Day group hosted elected officials and public policy leaders at the Texas Association of Business headquarters and met with the following:

• Representative Candy Noble
• Representative Mihaela Plesa
• Texas Association of Business CEO Glenn Hamer
• Texas 2036 Executive VP A.J. Rodriguez
• Texas Association of School Boards

Allen Day at the Capitol was a valuable opportunity to advocate for the Allen area’s key priorities while strengthening relationships with lawmakers and policy leaders. Through productive discussions on education, economic development, and business policy, our delegation helped ensure that Allen’s voice is heard in Austin. The Chamber remains committed to continued engagement throughout the legislative session to support initiatives that foster growth and opportunity for our community.