Bill Text: TX HCR78 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Requesting the creation of a joint interim committee to study the development of a cruise industry on the South Texas coast.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-12 - Left pending in committee [HCR78 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HCR78-Introduced.html
85R11687 RMA-D | ||
By: Hunter | H.C.R. No. 78 |
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WHEREAS, The cruise operations in the home port of Galveston | ||
have an enormous economic impact on Texas; the city hosted some | ||
640,000 passengers in 2014, which accounted for more than $1.2 | ||
billion in direct spending; in addition, the industry was | ||
responsible for generating almost 20,000 Texas jobs and paying | ||
nearly $1.1 billion in wage income; and | ||
WHEREAS, South of Galveston, between Calhoun and Cameron | ||
Counties, from the tip of the Golden Crescent, along the Coastal | ||
Bend, to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas is home to several | ||
growing cities, robust tourism, and a wealth of natural resources; | ||
the area, with more than 150 miles of Gulf shoreline, also harbors | ||
three major deepwater ports, any of which might be a viable site for | ||
a cruise line headquarters or a port of embarkation; and | ||
WHEREAS, Florida and California, respectively, benefit the | ||
most from the North American cruise industry; Florida operates five | ||
cruise ports, including Port Canaveral, Port Everglades, | ||
Jacksonville, Miami, and Tampa, and California is home to four, in | ||
Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, and San Francisco; an | ||
additional Texas cruise ship port between Calhoun and Cameron | ||
Counties could offer an attractive vacation option for a | ||
significant portion of the state's residents and be an economic | ||
boon to the state as a whole; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby request the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house | ||
of representatives to create a joint interim committee to conduct a | ||
study regarding the development of a cruise industry on the Texas | ||
coast between Calhoun and Cameron Counties, including its potential | ||
economic impact and options for incentives to attract the cruise | ||
industry to South Texas; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That the committee's proceedings and operations be | ||
governed by such general rules and policies for joint interim | ||
committees as the 85th Legislature may adopt. |