Bill Text: TX SR195 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing February 22, 2023, as Lubbock Day.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-02-22 - Reported enrolled [SR195 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SR195-Enrolled.html
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WHEREAS, Many notable citizens of Lubbock are visiting | ||
Austin on February 22, 2023, to pay tribute to their city's rich | ||
heritage and to celebrate Lubbock Day at the State Capitol; and | ||
WHEREAS, A thriving region of the state, the Lubbock area | ||
is one of the oldest inhabited places in Texas; archeologists | ||
have discovered evidence of some 12,000 years of continuous | ||
habitation at the Lubbock Lake Landmark site, a national historic | ||
and state archeological preserve; and | ||
WHEREAS, The City of Lubbock was incorporated on March 16, | ||
1909; railroads stimulated the city's growth as a trade center, | ||
and residents also wanted the benefits of an institution of | ||
higher learning; when legislation creating Texas Technological | ||
College was passed in 1923, the site selection committee, | ||
impressed by the enthusiasm and hospitality of its citizens, | ||
chose Lubbock for its location; and | ||
WHEREAS, Today a city and surrounding area of more than | ||
300,000 people, Lubbock is home to the Texas Tech University | ||
System and its flagship institution, Texas Tech University, a | ||
school well-deserving of its Tier One status; and | ||
WHEREAS, The Texas Tech Health Sciences Center attracts | ||
nearly 5,000 students from around the world and is currently | ||
ranked as the number one health university in the nation by the SR | ||
Education Group, ranking higher than programs at such other | ||
notable institutions as Harvard University, Stanford University, | ||
and Yale University; and | ||
WHEREAS, Three universities, including Texas Tech and one | ||
public community college, annually draw more than 50,000 | ||
students to the area and refresh the local economy with | ||
approximately 10,000 new graduates each year, creating a | ||
community where more than 30 percent of residents over the age of | ||
25 hold a college degree or higher; and | ||
WHEREAS, Texas Tech's athletic programs have recently | ||
achieved historic successes; the men's basketball team has | ||
recently reached the Final Four, the baseball team has appeared | ||
four times in the College World Series in the past decade, and the | ||
men's outdoor track and field team has earned national | ||
championships, while Lubbock Christian University's women's | ||
basketball team won national championships in 2016, 2019, and | ||
2021; and | ||
WHEREAS, Lubbock's metropolitan-area labor force comprises | ||
165,000 workers, and the cost of doing business ranks as one of | ||
the lowest in the nation, with some of the lowest costs for | ||
electric and natural gas utilities, wage rates, affordable land, | ||
and cost of living; and | ||
WHEREAS, Lubbock is consistently recognized by national | ||
organizations for its business-friendly atmosphere, including | ||
being named the number one city for women professionals; it is | ||
ranked in the top 20 cities for young entrepreneurs starting a | ||
business and was named seventh in the Forbes list of top | ||
"Opportunity Cities," based on its low cost of living, its | ||
cultural resources, and the strength of its business | ||
community; and | ||
WHEREAS, Lubbock has a diverse economy that draws its | ||
strength from agribusiness, manufacturing, and commerce as | ||
well as from educational and health care services, boasting | ||
the largest medical infrastructure between Dallas and Phoenix; | ||
with the growth of the cotton industry on the High Plains, | ||
Lubbock has become one of the world's primary centers for the | ||
processing of cottonseed and hybrid-grain sorghum seed; the | ||
region north of Lubbock has the highest density of cattle in | ||
the entire country; and | ||
WHEREAS, Lubbock is now the home of several major | ||
award-winning wineries and vineyards that produce more than 80 | ||
percent of the state's wine grapes; and | ||
WHEREAS, Lubbock offers a wealth of cultural and | ||
recreational opportunities, including the Lubbock Symphony | ||
Orchestra, the Lubbock Civic Ballet, the Silent Wings Museum, the | ||
Museum and Planetarium of Texas Tech University and many other | ||
cultural offerings at Texas Tech University, and a new, | ||
state-of-the-art performing arts center named after local legend | ||
and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Buddy Holly; and | ||
WHEREAS, The city's meticulously planned infrastructure | ||
has resulted in a low-traffic community and more neighborhood | ||
parks per capita than any other city in Texas; and | ||
WHEREAS, Lubbock was nicknamed the "Hub City" because it is | ||
at the intersection of five major highways; it aims to continue | ||
that renown through the eventual expansion of Interstate 27, | ||
which will help to relieve the traffic congestion of other major | ||
Texas highways; and | ||
WHEREAS, Those wanting a glimpse of frontier history can | ||
find it in the restored structures at the Ranching Heritage | ||
Center, a 15-acre site tracing the evolution of ranch | ||
architecture and the history of the cattle industry; the | ||
region's history is also celebrated at the Bayer Museum of | ||
Agriculture; and | ||
WHEREAS, The talented musicians who have come from the | ||
Lubbock area include Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, the Maines family, | ||
Virgil Johnson and the Velvets, Waylon Jennings, Tanya Tucker, | ||
Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Pat Green, and Josh | ||
Abbott; their rich and diverse contributions have earned Lubbock | ||
recognition as the Music Crossroads of Texas; and | ||
WHEREAS, Lubbock's thriving business community is | ||
represented by the largest business federation on the Texas South | ||
Plains, the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, which expands and guards | ||
the prosperity of the Lubbock area; and | ||
WHEREAS, Early major achievements propelled by the chamber | ||
of commerce during more than a century of service include | ||
recruiting farmers from out of state to produce crops on the | ||
fertile soils of the Llano Estacado, working to bring the | ||
railroad to Lubbock, establishing the South Plains Fair, and | ||
drafting and delivering to the Texas Capitol the application that | ||
would result in establishing Texas Technological College, which | ||
today is the heart of the Texas Tech University System; and | ||
WHEREAS, The Lubbock Chamber of Commerce was instrumental | ||
in establishing Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, | ||
Reese Air Force Base, and outstanding transportation | ||
infrastructure and was the first chamber of commerce in Texas to | ||
introduce an Association Health Plan for 34 West Texas counties, | ||
which became a model nationwide; and | ||
WHEREAS, Among the delegation visiting the Capitol today | ||
are members of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce's 47th Leadership | ||
Lubbock Class who represent the business and community leaders of | ||
Lubbock; and | ||
WHEREAS, The citizens of Lubbock have truly kept faith with | ||
the founders of their West Texas community; renowned for their | ||
hospitality and warmth as well as their hardiness and | ||
determination, they have helped to build a vital urban center | ||
that serves not only a large part of West Texas but also the | ||
surrounding regions; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 88th | ||
Legislature, hereby recognize February 22, 2023, as Lubbock Day | ||
at the State Capitol and extend to the members of the visiting | ||
delegation and all their fellow citizens sincere appreciation | ||
for the bright luster they add to the Lone Star State. | ||
Perry | ||
________________________________ | ||
President of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that the | ||
above Resolution was adopted by | ||
the Senate on February 22, 2023. | ||
________________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
________________________________ | ||
Member, Texas Senate |