For the first time, Texas was last in the nation for quality of life, and it slid out of the top five best states for business in an annual CNBC ranking.
The state received a mixed report card. In addition to earning an F for “life, health and inclusion,” Texas earned C+s for education and infrastructure while notching A+s for “economy” and “access to capital.”
The report cited as weaknesses Texas’ attacks on inclusiveness, reproductive rights and voters rights. It also noted the state’s weak worker protections and poor access to health care, as well as its “thirteenth-highest violent crime rate” in the nation and rank of 37 for “licensed childcare facilities per capita.”
Various state policies — such as a ban of diversity, equality and inclusion programs in state-funded schools; a refusal to expand Medicaid; and legislation targeting transgender people — contributed to the low rankings.
There’s also the state’s continued efforts aimed at limiting cities’ self-governance, most recently the so-called Death Star bill. This is particularly striking since cities are so crucial to Texas’ economic engine.
The state has landed in the bottom half of the quality-of-life rankings for a decade while maintaining its spot in the top five for business, but this year’s rankings are a sign that Texas’ politics are bogging down the state’s economic engine.
Informal rankings such as this one from CNBC are subjective, but they also raise concerns that shouldn’t be ignored — is Texas still a place where entrepreneurialism can thrive? Will diverse talent choose to work and live elsewhere?
A spokesperson for Gov. Greg Abbott brushed off the poor rankings in an emailed statement that said, “People and businesses vote with their feet, and continually they are choosing to move to Texas more than any other state in the country.”
That might be true. However, “voting with their feet” works both ways. What entities and people will the state lose as it continues to pursue an agenda of regressive policies?
This report challenges the status quo of Texas politics, even if voters continue to accept that status quo. There is a tension at play that will eventually snap.
An ideal Texas is a place for all people to live, work and thrive. Is Texas such a place? The very question reveals the answer.
San Antonio Express-News
