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From Wall Street to Texas Y’all Street · Real State

0:00
Speaker 1: I want the people of this state and the nation
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Speaker 1: to know this. This is early first inning. We're just beginning.
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Speaker 1: And I'm not taking my foot off the accelerator. We're
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Speaker 1: going to continue to be the very best place to
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Speaker 1: incorporate going head to head with Delaware. We're going to
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Speaker 1: continue to be the best place anywhere in the world
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Speaker 1: to list a stock. I want to have the very
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Speaker 1: best exchanges in the world.
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Speaker 2: This is Real State, a podcast from CSG South. Join
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Speaker 2: us as we talk with policymakers and public leaders shaping
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Speaker 2: state-level decisions across the South and explore how ideas move
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Speaker 2: from policy to real impact.
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Speaker 3: Hello, and welcome to Real Estate. I'm your host, Lindsay Gray.
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Speaker 3: Across the South, economic development policy has traditionally focused on
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Speaker 3: attracting employers, building infrastructure, developing a skilled workforce, and creating
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Speaker 3: an environment where businesses can grow. But Texas is testing
1:00
Speaker 3: that strategy in another arena, capital markets. In recent years,
1:04
Speaker 3: state policymakers have made a series of changes involving corporate governance,
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Speaker 3: securities taxation, specialized business courts, and the legal framework surrounding
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Speaker 3: publicly traded companies. Our guest today has been closely involved
1:20
Speaker 3: in that policy work. Senator Tan Parker served in the
1:23
Speaker 3: Texas House of Representatives from 2007 until joining the Texas
1:26
Speaker 3: Senate in 2023. Today, he chairs the Senate Committee on Transportation,
1:33
Speaker 3: serves as vice chair of the Committee of Criminal Justice,
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Speaker 3: and chairs the Senate Republican Caucus. His professional background also
1:40
Speaker 3: includes working in technology and private equity. Senator Parker, thank
1:45
Speaker 3: you for joining us today.
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Speaker 1: Well, thank you, Lindsay. What an honor to be with
1:48
Speaker 1: you and Thank you for the time and the chance
1:51
Speaker 1: to visit today.
1:51
Speaker 3: Senator, before we jump into the Texas Stock Exchange itself,
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Speaker 3: because this appears to have developed out of a much
1:58
Speaker 3: broader question about Texas's economic future, you've worked on financial
2:03
Speaker 3: services and capital market issues for years, including during your
2:07
Speaker 3: time in the Texas House. So take us back to
2:10
Speaker 3: the beginning. How did the idea of Texas becoming a
2:13
Speaker 3: more significant center for capital markets develop for you?
2:18
Speaker 1: Well, Lindsay, thank you for that question. I was sitting
2:21
Speaker 1: as financial services chairman in the Texas House back in 2015,
2:24
Speaker 1: and that committee had responsibility over banking, over securities, and
2:30
Speaker 1: investments broadly in the state. And I'm a passionate believer
2:34
Speaker 1: that we've got to grow our economy in order to
2:36
Speaker 1: be able to reduce the burden, the tax burden that
2:39
Speaker 1: is on our people. And the only way you do
2:42
Speaker 1: that is to be able to grow more broadly your economy.
2:47
Speaker 1: And I felt that the financial services industry offered us
2:49
Speaker 1: a very unique and special opportunity to do that. I
2:52
Speaker 1: felt that folks broadly in the financial services industry would
2:55
Speaker 1: be very compatible with with Texas on multiple levels. And
2:59
Speaker 1: I always understood the importance of access to capital for innovation.
3:04
Speaker 1: And so all of those things, in my mind, made
3:08
Speaker 1: Texas and North Texas in particular the perfect place to
3:12
Speaker 1: get going. I looked around at the ecosystem in 2015,
3:16
Speaker 1: and I saw that already at that time, I had
3:19
Speaker 1: large organizations that had a bigger presence here than they
3:23
Speaker 1: did in their home state where their headquarters was. A
3:26
Speaker 1: prime example of that would be Fidelity, for example. I
3:29
Speaker 1: had more people down in the Westlake portion there of
3:34
Speaker 1: Denton and Tarrant County than we had up in Boston
3:38
Speaker 1: at that time. This is, again, 11 years ago plus.
3:42
Speaker 1: So I recognized what was going on there. And so
3:45
Speaker 1: I really set off on a mission to strengthen appropriately
3:49
Speaker 1: our banking environment. I worked very closely with who I
3:53
Speaker 1: believe to be the best banking commissioner in the country,
3:56
Speaker 1: Charles Cooper, our Texas banking commissioner. We worked to strengthen
4:00
Speaker 1: and put in place the appropriate resiliency and capabilities for
4:05
Speaker 1: our banks in the state. And then I also turned
4:08
Speaker 1: my focus in that era, that time, to the securities
4:10
Speaker 1: infrastructure as well. looking at securities and how we could
4:15
Speaker 1: bolster what we were doing there with the securities commissioner
4:17
Speaker 1: and so forth in Texas. So those were two fundamental
4:21
Speaker 1: things that we did. I also was very focused in
4:23
Speaker 1: that time and ever since the last 11, 12 years
4:26
Speaker 1: on the workforce, making certain that we had folks that
4:29
Speaker 1: were competent and capable to be great employees in the
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Speaker 1: fast-paced financial services arena. Financial services is a very broad term.
4:38
Speaker 1: There's lots of different things that comprise financial services. But
4:41
Speaker 1: I wanted to make certain we had the best and
4:43
Speaker 1: brightest folks that were prepared for the workforce. And we've
4:45
Speaker 1: been really working on that for a number of years.
4:48
Speaker 1: And then also in that same era, I had the
4:52
Speaker 1: idea with a colleague that it was important that we
4:55
Speaker 1: would start, if you will, a commodities exchange. And I
5:00
Speaker 1: felt that a commodities exchange would be something that we
5:03
Speaker 1: could really get up and running in Texas. I thought
5:06
Speaker 1: we could give Chicago a run for its money initially.
5:09
Speaker 1: as we grew in our capability and wherewithal to take
5:12
Speaker 1: on New York and an equities exchange opportunity. So I
5:16
Speaker 1: started with something called the gold bullion depository. And so
5:19
Speaker 1: there are a lot of reasons why I love gold
5:21
Speaker 1: bullion and why that was important to have our own depository.
5:24
Speaker 1: But fundamentally for me, on the journey of the future,
5:28
Speaker 1: I saw that we could have a commodities exchange, that
5:31
Speaker 1: we started with the gold and moved to other precious metals,
5:33
Speaker 1: and then moved to cotton and cattle and oil and
5:36
Speaker 1: gas and other things that are unique commodities to Texas.
5:39
Speaker 1: So that was the journey. That's where we began. That bill,
5:43
Speaker 1: the Texas Gold Employee Depository, I never moved a bill faster.
5:47
Speaker 1: I think I moved it within 30 seconds of laying
5:49
Speaker 1: it out in committee and moved the process very quickly.
5:52
Speaker 1: But what that did is it enabled us, frankly, to
5:57
Speaker 1: start understanding what was going on broadly in the financial
6:00
Speaker 1: services marketplace and enabled me to go up to New
6:03
Speaker 1: York in my Texas capacity up to Wall Street. And
6:09
Speaker 1: I would do that in 18 and 19. And I
6:11
Speaker 1: would do that and talk about, hey, we need financial partners.
6:15
Speaker 1: We want technical partners. We want financial partners to help
6:19
Speaker 1: us envision and grow this great capability. And they were
6:22
Speaker 1: very nice, but I don't think they really took it seriously,
6:25
Speaker 1: to be very candid, because they dispute us as an
6:28
Speaker 1: oil and gas state and that we really couldn't do
6:30
Speaker 1: anything more. Then you saw later in the year, in 2020,
6:34
Speaker 1: the New York Assembly, looking at taxing securities transactions and transfers.
6:39
Speaker 1: And that created another opening for us, an incredible opening.
6:43
Speaker 1: And with that opening, we recognized and talking to leaders
6:48
Speaker 1: of the various exchanges that Texas provided a much better
6:51
Speaker 1: framework that we could address those issues and that we
6:55
Speaker 1: could really grow capital markets and an equities exchange in
6:58
Speaker 1: a big way. So going from the original vision of
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Speaker 1: a commodities exchange to an equities exchange, was now being
7:04
Speaker 1: accelerated because of the nonsense, frankly, in the New York
7:08
Speaker 1: Assembly that's being proposed. And that really gave us the
7:12
Speaker 1: opportunity to start pushing. And we all recognize, Governor Abbott, myself,
7:17
Speaker 1: and a handful of us that have been very keenly
7:20
Speaker 1: engaged in financial services and this vision for a long time,
7:23
Speaker 1: that this was our shot. And this was a time
7:25
Speaker 1: for us to really get serious about doing something. And
7:29
Speaker 1: that's really where the Texas Stock Exchange, therefore, was born.
7:34
Speaker 1: and all the capital markets packages and so forth that
7:37
Speaker 1: we passed in 2025. But it's building on all of
7:40
Speaker 1: these years of work to create the very best environment, frankly,
7:45
Speaker 1: anywhere in the United States, anywhere in the world, to
7:48
Speaker 1: have an exchange.
7:49
Speaker 3: And you've, strike where the iron is hot, for sure.
7:52
Speaker 3: And you've explained a little bit, or you've really kind
7:56
Speaker 3: of laid out what Texas is trying to build. The
7:58
Speaker 3: phrase Yall Street has increasingly become shorthand for something bigger
8:03
Speaker 3: than one exchange. And when you use that term, what
8:06
Speaker 3: does Yall Street mean to you?
8:09
Speaker 1: Well, Yall Street for me is always about helping people
8:13
Speaker 1: on Main Street. It's about helping real families to get ahead.
8:17
Speaker 1: It's about more access to capital for businesses that hire
8:21
Speaker 1: employees and therefore those employees have the ability to be
8:25
Speaker 1: gainfully employed and provide for their families. So it always
8:28
Speaker 1: comes back to me for the kitchen table and how
8:30
Speaker 1: we're able to help families to live the American dream.
8:33
Speaker 1: And of course, the American dream in my mind is always,
8:37
Speaker 1: you know, best lived and best practiced in the great
8:40
Speaker 1: state of Texas. It's where the American dream is most
8:42
Speaker 1: alive and well. And so that's really What it means
8:46
Speaker 1: for me ultimately is more access to capital for companies
8:50
Speaker 1: so they can engage in the capital markets and therefore
8:54
Speaker 1: drive innovation. The only way that we're going to be
8:57
Speaker 1: able to keep this country and Texas in particular healthy
9:01
Speaker 1: and strong is that as one technology develops and matures
9:05
Speaker 1: and becomes obsolete, then another one steps up to fill
9:08
Speaker 1: the void in the technology realm or in infrastructure or
9:12
Speaker 1: whatever it may be, whatever field of human endeavor you've
9:14
Speaker 1: got to have access to capital. And so the fact
9:17
Speaker 1: that now we'll have three exchanges, the Texas Stock Exchange,
9:20
Speaker 1: which is, of course, where we're going to have IPOs
9:22
Speaker 1: and all this incredible activity that's going to drive and
9:26
Speaker 1: be really the heart of the transformation of capital markets
9:29
Speaker 1: in Texas, alongside, of course, having our legacy New York
9:34
Speaker 1: Stock Exchange and NASDAQ exchanges now have a Texas satellite.
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Speaker 1: All three of those collectively just bring attention to Texas.
9:43
Speaker 1: They bring attention to our economy, all the things that
9:46
Speaker 1: make Texas such a special place, our regulatory predictability, the
9:51
Speaker 1: fact that people can make an investment and feel good
9:53
Speaker 1: about their future and know that this is the best
9:55
Speaker 1: place to get a return.
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Speaker 3: And what makes this conversation particularly timely is that we're
10:00
Speaker 3: no longer talking about a proposal here. And so we'll
10:03
Speaker 3: jump into the Texas Stock Exchange, which began live trading
10:06
Speaker 3: this summer and completed its rollout to all national market
10:10
Speaker 3: systems securities in July. And so the TXSE reports more
10:16
Speaker 3: than 50 member firms participating in the exchange. And what
10:21
Speaker 3: is the significance from your perspective of moving from the
10:24
Speaker 3: idea of a Texas-based national exchange to an exchange that
10:28
Speaker 3: actually is operating and trading securities?
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Speaker 1: It makes all the difference in the world. You're going
10:33
Speaker 1: from the realm of the theoretical to now having the
10:36
Speaker 1: real deal. And, you know, you're going to have incredible
10:39
Speaker 1: liquidity on the Texas Stock Exchange. You're going to have
10:43
Speaker 1: all these companies that do new initial public offerings and
10:47
Speaker 1: All that activity will be incredible for the people of Texas, frankly,
10:51
Speaker 1: and for companies all across the country that want to
10:53
Speaker 1: list on the Texas Stock Exchange. You know, I believe
10:57
Speaker 1: that competition creates better outcomes. And when you now have
11:01
Speaker 1: a third major national exchange, when you have the Texas
11:05
Speaker 1: Stock Exchange alongside the New York and the NASDAQ, guess what?
11:10
Speaker 1: That's great for people. It's great for companies. It's going
11:13
Speaker 1: to reduce the costs. of going public. It's going to
11:16
Speaker 1: reduce the ongoing cost of staying public. You know, I mean,
11:20
Speaker 1: people need to fundamentally understand that we have about half
11:23
Speaker 1: the number of publicly traded companies today as we did
11:26
Speaker 1: 40 years ago. Why? It's because the regulatory regime from
11:31
Speaker 1: Washington and, frankly, the state of New York got just
11:35
Speaker 1: too burdensome, way too burdensome and out of whack and
11:39
Speaker 1: too expensive. And so as a result of that, companies
11:42
Speaker 1: chose to stay private. And that's a sad thing, frankly,
11:46
Speaker 1: because when more companies go public, what does that mean?
11:50
Speaker 1: It means more individual citizens, more regular Texas folks like ourselves, Lindsey,
11:56
Speaker 1: have the opportunity to invest as retail investors in these
12:00
Speaker 1: great companies.
12:01
Speaker 3: And the New York Stock Exchange has significantly deepened its
12:04
Speaker 3: footprint in Texas by opening its permanent headquarters in Dallas.
12:08
Speaker 3: It's my understanding, giving the state an increasingly visible presence
12:12
Speaker 3: in U.S. financial markets.
12:14
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
12:15
Speaker 3: And to lean into what you were just talking about
12:17
Speaker 3: from a policy and legal environment that surround these matters
12:21
Speaker 3: during the 2025 legislative session, you authored a series of
12:25
Speaker 3: measures dealing with capital markets and corporate governance that included
12:29
Speaker 3: Senate Bill 1057 addressing shareholder proposals, Senate Bill 1058 addressing
12:36
Speaker 3: the franchise tax treatment of certain security transactions, and Senate
12:40
Speaker 3: Joint Resolution 50 proposing a constitutional amendment. proposing constitutional protections
12:46
Speaker 3: concerning certain securities and exchange-related taxes. Senate Bill 1057 and
12:54
Speaker 3: 1058 became law. So when you look at those measures together,
12:59
Speaker 3: rather than individual bills, what was the broader policy framework
13:03
Speaker 3: you were trying to create?
13:05
Speaker 1: So all the bills that you just referenced passed, that's
13:08
Speaker 1: just a couple. There were several that we passed. And
13:11
Speaker 1: really what they are, broadly, is addressing several key areas.
13:15
Speaker 1: One is a taxation framework. I want to make certain, obviously,
13:18
Speaker 1: that an exchange operating in Texas with the unique dynamics
13:23
Speaker 1: of an exchange wasn't facing any inappropriate or undue tax burden.
13:30
Speaker 1: And so we wanted to make sure that was very
13:31
Speaker 1: clear and we wanted to stipulate that in the law.
13:34
Speaker 1: And we did so. I also, with the constitutional amendment,
13:39
Speaker 1: I mean, Lindsay, I can't as a lawmaker, as the
13:42
Speaker 1: a Republican senator here in Dallas, Fort Worth, in North Texas,
13:46
Speaker 1: I can't do something more impactful than to put something
13:49
Speaker 1: into statute in Texas on a permanent basis. That's what
13:52
Speaker 1: we did. We took my bill that I was blessed
13:55
Speaker 1: to pass in the legislature, and then we took it
13:58
Speaker 1: to the people of Texas in November of 25, and
14:01
Speaker 1: they all supported this constitutional amendment that specifically said this,
14:07
Speaker 1: we will never tax securities transactions or securities transfers to
14:12
Speaker 1: in the Lone Star State, period, end of story. It's
14:15
Speaker 1: in the Constitution. So what that does, Lindsay, is it
14:19
Speaker 1: gives us that predictability. It gives companies certainty. They know
14:23
Speaker 1: that they can come to Texas. They can headquarter here.
14:26
Speaker 1: They can grow here. They can do all of those
14:28
Speaker 1: things and recognize that they're not going to ever have
14:31
Speaker 1: to worry about that kind of silliness that's being talked
14:34
Speaker 1: about in Albany. And so it's important for American businesses
14:38
Speaker 1: and for the American public to know that Texas will
14:41
Speaker 1: continue to be the Lone Star State, that we will
14:44
Speaker 1: continue to lead with intelligent, predictable policy, with fair courts
14:50
Speaker 1: like our business courts that will expedite the process of
14:54
Speaker 1: any dispute that occurs. And then the other items in
14:57
Speaker 1: our bill packets, to come back to that, we specifically
15:00
Speaker 1: addressed all of these crazy activist shareholder proposals, for example.
15:05
Speaker 1: I mean, Lindsay, today, just think about this environment. Today,
15:09
Speaker 1: you can have $ 3, 000 of equity in any company on
15:14
Speaker 1: the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ, and you
15:17
Speaker 1: can come with that $ 3, 000 of equity and create complete
15:20
Speaker 1: chaos for a management team and for a board and
15:24
Speaker 1: take a company off of its focus and mission and
15:27
Speaker 1: charter and spend and waste millions of dollars over years
15:32
Speaker 1: on some silly nonsense that that has no relevance to
15:36
Speaker 1: business and to what's best for really creating shareholder value.
15:41
Speaker 1: So we had to address all those things. My bills
15:43
Speaker 1: did those things. As opposed to $ 3, 000, we now, it's
15:47
Speaker 1: a cumulative $ 1 million. You've got to solicit the cap
15:50
Speaker 1: table more broadly. There are a lot of these other
15:52
Speaker 1: protections that we put in place. But broadly, it's about protecting,
15:57
Speaker 1: if you will, free enterprise and companies and enabling them
16:01
Speaker 1: to succeed. You know, we also addressed this last session
16:05
Speaker 1: issues around proxy advisors. We want to make certain that
16:09
Speaker 1: proxy advisors are not making recommendations based on the political
16:13
Speaker 1: whim of the day. You know, one year it's this,
16:16
Speaker 1: the next year it's that. That's nonsense. You know, bottom
16:20
Speaker 1: line is that decisions need to be made based on
16:24
Speaker 1: fiscal decisions as a fiduciary. What is in the best
16:29
Speaker 1: financial interest of a company? You've got to exercise your
16:32
Speaker 1: fiduciary responsibility first and foremost. That's what our bills say
16:36
Speaker 1: as well.
16:37
Speaker 3: And you talked about the corporate governance and the tax protections.
16:40
Speaker 3: And what's interesting here is that Texas isn't simply trying
16:44
Speaker 3: to attract an exchange. It appears to be looking at
16:47
Speaker 3: the larger ecosystem in which companies decide where to incorporate, invest, litigate, list,
16:53
Speaker 3: and grow. So Texas has established a specialized business court
16:57
Speaker 3: to handle certain complex commercial disputes, which you talked about
17:01
Speaker 3: the courts a moment ago. Another piece of the broader
17:03
Speaker 3: legal environment businesses consider when looking to locate somewhere or
17:08
Speaker 3: relocate and to make investment decisions. So how do the
17:13
Speaker 3: Texas business courts fit into the larger capital market strategy
17:17
Speaker 3: we're discussing and that you helped build policy around?
17:21
Speaker 1: Well, no, great question, Lindsay. And again, look, the fundamental
17:24
Speaker 1: thing I will tell you is this. People use the
17:26
Speaker 1: term miracle, that the Texas economy is a miracle. That's nonsense.
17:31
Speaker 1: It's not a miracle. It's deliberate, clear leadership and policy
17:36
Speaker 1: decisions over the course of the last 23 years since
17:40
Speaker 1: we've had the majority, since the Republicans have had the
17:43
Speaker 1: majority of the Texas House, the majority of the Texas Senate,
17:47
Speaker 1: and we've had the statewide offices, right? That's really the
17:51
Speaker 1: time frame in which all this has been occurring is
17:53
Speaker 1: the last 23 years. And so it's not America. It's
17:57
Speaker 1: decision making. It's leadership. That's the first thing. And we've
18:00
Speaker 1: been doing all these things sequentially as really thinking about
18:04
Speaker 1: a series of steps. It's one after another that we've
18:09
Speaker 1: been doing. I've been doing it in driving capital markets
18:13
Speaker 1: and this Yall Street vision. We've been doing it with
18:16
Speaker 1: regard to tort reform. Let's talk about tort reform and
18:19
Speaker 1: the fact that tort reform created this incredible improvement to
18:23
Speaker 1: the business community as a whole. And what did that do?
18:26
Speaker 1: That really addressed our regulatory stability when we addressed and
18:30
Speaker 1: put in place tort reform in circa 2003 or so timeframe,
18:35
Speaker 1: 2003 to 2007, and none of those early days of
18:38
Speaker 1: doing tort reform. But then we've also been working on
18:42
Speaker 1: this tax environment to make it the most attractive place
18:47
Speaker 1: on earth. I mean, the fact that we put into
18:49
Speaker 1: the constitution the fact that we will never have a
18:53
Speaker 1: state income tax was a big, big deal for Texas.
18:57
Speaker 1: But we recognized that the business courts were an enormous,
19:03
Speaker 1: if you will, opportunity for us. We had obviously courts
19:07
Speaker 1: in Texas, but not a specific business court. And we
19:10
Speaker 1: wanted to be able to take companies through the dispute
19:14
Speaker 1: process in a business-dedicated court with judges that really know business.
19:19
Speaker 1: I mean, what a novel concept. But to have judges
19:23
Speaker 1: that actually know the domain in which they are ruling.
19:26
Speaker 1: That makes all the difference that you can quickly get
19:28
Speaker 1: things resolved in the business courts. I think it will
19:31
Speaker 1: be transformational.
19:33
Speaker 3: It seems like as you all as policymakers have been
19:35
Speaker 3: talking about creating certainty for businesses that you took all
19:40
Speaker 3: the above approach, taxes, courts, regulation, governance. It's not just
19:44
Speaker 3: one piece. It's all of them in combination.
19:47
Speaker 1: Lindsay, perfect. That's exactly right. Because if I didn't in
19:50
Speaker 1: a vacuum, it's not going to move the needle. I
19:52
Speaker 1: had to do it all comprehensively. And so that's why
19:55
Speaker 1: I've been so blessed with the support of the governor,
19:57
Speaker 1: the lieutenant governor, my colleagues in the House and Senate
19:59
Speaker 1: to get these things done. What an honor it's been
20:02
Speaker 1: to carry so many of these initiatives over the years
20:04
Speaker 1: for Texas. And look, let me say this. I'll just
20:07
Speaker 1: be very clear. I want the people of this state
20:10
Speaker 1: and the nation to know this. This is early first inning.
20:13
Speaker 1: We're just beginning. And I'm not taking my foot off
20:16
Speaker 1: the accelerator. We're going to continue to be the very
20:18
Speaker 1: best place to incorporate, going head to head with Delaware.
20:21
Speaker 1: We're going to continue to be the best place anywhere
20:25
Speaker 1: in the world to list a stock. I want to
20:28
Speaker 1: have the very best exchanges in the world. And all
20:30
Speaker 1: that's going to continue to happen right here in North Texas,
20:33
Speaker 1: right here in the great state. of Texas.
20:35
Speaker 3: And you talked about this at the very beginning, so
20:37
Speaker 3: I'm going to bring it back to the beginning, but
20:40
Speaker 3: building capital markets simply for the institutions participating in them,
20:44
Speaker 3: that is not the intent. You are also building this
20:48
Speaker 3: for the people of Texas. So financial exchange and corporate
20:52
Speaker 3: governance statues can feel fairly removed from the daily lives
20:56
Speaker 3: of most people. So for a Texan who isn't working
20:59
Speaker 3: in finance or following security markets, Why should the development
21:03
Speaker 3: of this financial ecosystem matter to them and to our
21:07
Speaker 3: listeners outside of Texas?
21:08
Speaker 1: Look, I recognize this conversation you're asking me about is
21:12
Speaker 1: pretty technical and it's a lot of inside baseball with
21:15
Speaker 1: regard to the importance of this regulatory framework and capital
21:20
Speaker 1: markets and so forth. But I want to be very
21:22
Speaker 1: clear to all the hardworking men and women of the
21:24
Speaker 1: state of Texas and around the country that the entire
21:28
Speaker 1: Yall Street movement moving, if you will, The home of
21:33
Speaker 1: American finance from New York to Texas is transformative in
21:39
Speaker 1: so many ways. What does it really mean? It means,
21:42
Speaker 1: like I said earlier in the interview, it means more
21:44
Speaker 1: jobs for the people of Texas, more high paying, high
21:48
Speaker 1: quality jobs for the people of Texas. It's just that simple.
21:51
Speaker 1: I mean, the reality is, is that, you know, nobody
21:55
Speaker 1: can take care of their family without an income. and
21:59
Speaker 1: no company is going to invest its precious capital in
22:02
Speaker 1: an environment that's not predictable. And so when you've built
22:06
Speaker 1: the most predictable environment in the world for regulatory matters,
22:10
Speaker 1: as well as the best tax environment, and then on
22:13
Speaker 1: top of that, you're driving all this innovation that makes
22:16
Speaker 1: you the home to doing business in finance, the best
22:20
Speaker 1: place to run an exchange, the best place to list
22:23
Speaker 1: a company, the best place to be able to grow
22:27
Speaker 1: a company, the best place to incorporate. I don't just
22:30
Speaker 1: want you to incorporate in Texas. I want you to
22:32
Speaker 1: headquarter here, right? And so when these companies headquarter in
22:36
Speaker 1: Texas and they make these investments, they're hiring thousands and
22:41
Speaker 1: thousands of Texans and thousands of Americans, hundreds of thousands
22:45
Speaker 1: of Americans. And that's what I think will be so spectacular.
22:49
Speaker 1: Because think about all the families that will have the
22:52
Speaker 1: ability with a great tying job that's directly tied to
22:56
Speaker 1: a company that's traded here in Texas. Think about those
23:00
Speaker 1: jobs and what it will do for that family. Think
23:03
Speaker 1: about how it will help that family get a home,
23:05
Speaker 1: a beautiful home. Think about how that job will help
23:09
Speaker 1: that family provide for their family with regard to their
23:12
Speaker 1: educational needs, to be able to help those kids go
23:15
Speaker 1: to college and to live the American dream themselves for
23:18
Speaker 1: the next generation. All those things happen because you've got
23:22
Speaker 1: a job. and you've got the opportunity.
23:25
Speaker 3: And when you look forward five, 10 years longer, what evidence,
23:31
Speaker 3: what data points are you really watching for? Is it
23:34
Speaker 3: the businesses that are moving and headquartering? Is it companies
23:39
Speaker 3: joining the stock exchange? What are your data points? What
23:44
Speaker 3: are your real points of evidence and data?
23:46
Speaker 1: I want you to realize the quality of our workforce.
23:49
Speaker 1: I want you to hire Texans. I want you to
23:51
Speaker 1: see that the Texas workforce is second to none. You know,
23:54
Speaker 1: more good jobs and more companies obviously coming to Texas.
23:59
Speaker 1: We already have more large scale companies, the Fortune 500,
24:02
Speaker 1: as they call it, in Texas than the other state.
24:05
Speaker 1: I want to continue to see that happen. And again,
24:08
Speaker 1: I just don't want incorporations. I want the headquarters here.
24:11
Speaker 1: That would be certainly one of those measurements that we
24:13
Speaker 1: look at. But I also want to see the IPO market.
24:16
Speaker 1: I want to see a very robust IPO market here
24:20
Speaker 1: in Texas on the tech sea. I think that's going
24:22
Speaker 1: to be amazing for Texas companies and for our economy
24:25
Speaker 1: as a whole. And I'll also tell you this. I don't,
24:28
Speaker 1: in terms of how I judge success ultimately 10 years
24:30
Speaker 1: from now, I will, I passionately believe that 10 years
24:33
Speaker 1: from now, we will be the financial home for America.
24:36
Speaker 1: No question in my mind, we will be. Again, I
24:39
Speaker 1: can't come back and stress enough that I want to
24:42
Speaker 1: see more retail investors in our state and in our country.
24:46
Speaker 1: I want folks from all across America and around the
24:49
Speaker 1: world to go and invest on, you know, buy these
24:53
Speaker 1: shares and these companies. They'll be right here traded today.
24:56
Speaker 1: and the middle of North Texas.
24:58
Speaker 3: Well, you're certainly thinking big and moving big in Texas.
25:01
Speaker 3: What do you think other Southern states should learn from
25:03
Speaker 3: Texas's experience, not necessarily replicating Texas, but about how states
25:09
Speaker 3: can deliberately build an economic ecosystem around an industry they
25:13
Speaker 3: want to see grow in their state?
25:15
Speaker 1: I think Texas is the blueprint for every state in
25:17
Speaker 1: the country, whether or not you're a Southern state or
25:19
Speaker 1: you're a Northern blue state. I'll always be passionate about
25:24
Speaker 1: my support for federalism. That's what the founding fathers of
25:27
Speaker 1: this country envisioned, that when the states compete with one another,
25:30
Speaker 1: that the American people have greater outcomes, that the American
25:34
Speaker 1: people win when we have enhanced competition amongst the states.
25:38
Speaker 1: I think it is a perfect blueprint for how other
25:41
Speaker 1: states can go and create a great tax and regulatory environment.
25:47
Speaker 1: That's the platform like I spoke of earlier today. And
25:50
Speaker 1: then once you do that with great precision, you can
25:53
Speaker 1: go after any particular industry and do great things and
25:57
Speaker 1: be creative. And again, the American people win when the
26:01
Speaker 1: states are thinking and creative and innovative and driving opportunity
26:06
Speaker 1: for our people.
26:07
Speaker 3: So, Senator Parker, the exchanges are operating. Much of the
26:10
Speaker 3: legislative framework is now in place. And Texas has clearly
26:13
Speaker 3: established itself as a participant in this space. What is
26:17
Speaker 3: the next chapter for Yall Street? What do you think
26:20
Speaker 3: is next for the policymakers in Texas? Where do you
26:23
Speaker 3: go from here?
26:24
Speaker 1: I think it's the early first inning of this baseball game,
26:28
Speaker 1: so to speak. They use that analogy. And, you know,
26:32
Speaker 1: you're going to see a very robust additional capital markets package.
26:38
Speaker 1: that I intend to roll out in the new year,
26:41
Speaker 1: in January. When the bell rings and the Texas legislature
26:44
Speaker 1: opens up, you know, call it January 10 of 2027,
26:48
Speaker 1: you're going to see a lot of new ideas and
26:51
Speaker 1: concepts that we're going to continue to drive that will
26:54
Speaker 1: continue to make us more competitive, that it will create,
26:58
Speaker 1: you know, again, better opportunities for the citizens of the
27:01
Speaker 1: state and frankly, a role model will continue to be
27:04
Speaker 1: a role model, a platform, a blueprint for what other
27:07
Speaker 1: states that are thinking can do for themselves if they
27:10
Speaker 1: care deeply about their people as well and want to
27:13
Speaker 1: make a difference in their lives. And so, you know,
27:15
Speaker 1: that's what I'm excited about. I'm excited about continuing to
27:19
Speaker 1: drive excellence. I'm excited about continuing to invest in our
27:23
Speaker 1: infrastructure in Texas when we get to the 2027 session
27:28
Speaker 1: in January. You've got to support the infrastructure, Lindsay. That's
27:32
Speaker 1: a whole other conversation. But that infrastructure is, yes, tax
27:35
Speaker 1: and regulatory predictability. It's all security and safety as well.
27:40
Speaker 1: I mean, I can't have all of these blessings of
27:43
Speaker 1: liberty and freedom if I don't have safety and security,
27:46
Speaker 1: a blanket of safety and security for our people. And
27:49
Speaker 1: so nothing keeps me up more at night than worrying
27:51
Speaker 1: about the safety and security of our people. And so
27:53
Speaker 1: that's why in 2025, I was so blessed to carry
27:56
Speaker 1: our Senate Bill 36, the Homeland Security Bill for Texas,
28:00
Speaker 1: that not only in statute secured our border, but also
28:04
Speaker 1: secured our grid and our water systems and our critical
28:08
Speaker 1: communication systems. Those are vital. And then I was so
28:12
Speaker 1: fortunate and blessed to carry and create with Governor Abbott
28:16
Speaker 1: and my colleagues in the Senate and the House, Texas
28:18
Speaker 1: Cyber Command, to be able to address the cyber threats
28:22
Speaker 1: in the world in 2026. And so All of those
28:26
Speaker 1: capabilities that I'm referencing here, all these things, you've got
28:30
Speaker 1: to have the infrastructure. You've got to have safety and security.
28:34
Speaker 1: You've got to be able to have all of these
28:36
Speaker 1: fundamental foundational items in place before you can talk about
28:40
Speaker 1: how you can grow an industry, how you can create
28:42
Speaker 1: more jobs and opportunities. And I think that's the lesson
28:45
Speaker 1: for America. I think that's the Texas way. I benchmark
28:50
Speaker 1: us against the largest and best economies anywhere in the world.
28:53
Speaker 1: You know, Texas today is the eighth largest economy in
28:55
Speaker 1: the world, Lindsay. But in less than six months, our
28:58
Speaker 1: modeling shows that we'll be number seven and we'll surpass France.
29:02
Speaker 1: So think about that for a moment. You know, we're
29:04
Speaker 1: bigger than Russia. We're bigger than Canada. We're bigger than
29:07
Speaker 1: so many other countries in the world. Again, we're number
29:10
Speaker 1: eight today. We'll be number seven within six months. So
29:13
Speaker 1: that's the mindset that I take. I try to understand
29:17
Speaker 1: and recognize that we've got to achieve excellence in all
29:20
Speaker 1: these areas, and that I've got to make certain at
29:23
Speaker 1: the end of the day, it's always about the Texan.
29:25
Speaker 1: It's about that mom and dad working hard, working multiple
29:28
Speaker 1: jobs to provide for their family to get ahead and
29:31
Speaker 1: to make ends meet. That's the focus. I want to
29:33
Speaker 1: do everything in my power to make life better for
29:35
Speaker 1: them and to create opportunity for them and for every
29:38
Speaker 1: Texan in every America.
29:40
Speaker 3: It's wonderful. And I've heard that stat before, the eighth
29:43
Speaker 3: largest economy in the world. We're proud of that. It's amazing.
29:49
Speaker 3: I've actually heard that from Governor Abbott last year, and
29:53
Speaker 3: I've said that a couple of times when talking to people.
29:55
Speaker 3: I'm like, really think about that. The state is larger
29:58
Speaker 3: than some of these countries. So it's pretty fascinating. So Senator,
30:04
Speaker 3: before we close on real estate, we ask a signature
30:08
Speaker 3: question to end out all of our podcasts. So you've
30:12
Speaker 3: spent nearly two decades in the Texas legislature, first in
30:15
Speaker 3: the House and now in the Senate, while also bringing
30:18
Speaker 3: experiences from the private sector into public service. So what
30:22
Speaker 3: is the best piece of professional advice you have ever
30:25
Speaker 3: received and how does it shape the way you approach
30:28
Speaker 3: leadership today?
30:29
Speaker 1: Wow, that's a great question. Thank you for asking me that. Look,
30:34
Speaker 1: you know, I've been a business person all my life.
30:37
Speaker 1: I've been engaged in business since I was 14 years
30:40
Speaker 1: old and my family's a restaurant and I was bussing
30:44
Speaker 1: cables and flipping steaks. And I've been in the business
30:47
Speaker 1: world every day of my life. I think it's important
30:50
Speaker 1: for Texans and for the American people to know that
30:53
Speaker 1: in my 19 years of service as a House member
30:57
Speaker 1: and leading the Republican caucus in the House and now
30:59
Speaker 1: leading the Republican caucus in the Senate as the North
31:01
Speaker 1: Texas DFW Senator, that in all of that time, I've
31:05
Speaker 1: continued to be a business practitioner every single day of
31:08
Speaker 1: my life. It may just be an hour, maybe 30 minutes,
31:11
Speaker 1: maybe two hours in a day that I'm able to
31:13
Speaker 1: squeak out. But it's important for people to understand I
31:16
Speaker 1: take a business perspective on all of these things. And
31:20
Speaker 1: being a businessman and being engaged in business every day
31:23
Speaker 1: has made me a far better lawmaker than I otherwise
31:26
Speaker 1: would have been if I didn't have real world experience
31:28
Speaker 1: in creating jobs and creating opportunities in different companies and
31:32
Speaker 1: different industries. That's made me a much stronger lawmaker, if
31:35
Speaker 1: that makes sense. And with that being said, to your
31:38
Speaker 1: question more precisely, throughout my life, I got involved in
31:42
Speaker 1: politics as a young guy. I was 16 years old
31:45
Speaker 1: and I got involved in starting the first Republican club
31:47
Speaker 1: in Tarrant County in Fort Worth as a high school student.
31:51
Speaker 1: One of my early mentors was Dick Armey, the former
31:55
Speaker 1: majority leader of the United States House of Representatives. And
31:59
Speaker 1: then I think about how blessed I was as a
32:00
Speaker 1: young man to spend time with President Reagan. And he
32:04
Speaker 1: was unbelievable to me. He was so kind and generous,
32:08
Speaker 1: shared so much of his insight with me on so
32:10
Speaker 1: many issues of domestic policy and foreign policy. So I've
32:15
Speaker 1: had so many incredible, you know, candidly public service leaders.
32:20
Speaker 1: My dear friend, God rest his soul, Tex Lazar, who
32:24
Speaker 1: was really effectively the attorney general, the deputy attorney general
32:27
Speaker 1: of the United States under President Reagan. President Bush 41
32:31
Speaker 1: was amazing to me. I'd go on and on and on.
32:34
Speaker 1: And then I think about my dear friend, Harry Longwell.
32:37
Speaker 1: He ran, at that time, the biggest company in the world.
32:40
Speaker 1: He was the vice chairman of ExxonMobil, had been the
32:42
Speaker 1: president of Exxon. And the fact that I've had him
32:45
Speaker 1: in my life as well as a mentor since I
32:47
Speaker 1: was a young man, along with all these great political
32:50
Speaker 1: heroes and so forth, that really shaped my view of
32:53
Speaker 1: what's going on in the world, shaped my view of
32:56
Speaker 1: public policy and of government. And the common theme for
32:59
Speaker 1: me from those incredible leaders, from President Reagan, right, and from,
33:04
Speaker 1: you know, obviously, you know, one of the greatest presidents
33:06
Speaker 1: in our history, to someone like Tex Lazar and Dick
33:10
Speaker 1: Garmey and Harry Longwell, running at that time the biggest
33:13
Speaker 1: company and the biggest oil and gas company in the world,
33:16
Speaker 1: was that there's nothing, there's no substitute for hard work. Nothing.
33:21
Speaker 1: Nothing will ever be a substitute for hard work and
33:23
Speaker 1: for integrity and for working hard. And that character matters.
33:29
Speaker 1: Character counts. And those are the things that I took
33:32
Speaker 1: away as a young man that you must always never forget.
33:37
Speaker 1: You know, the only way you're going to achieve success
33:39
Speaker 1: in this life is through decades of hard work and
33:42
Speaker 1: the importance they also taught me of serving other people.
33:45
Speaker 1: And it's one of the things I think it's so
33:47
Speaker 1: important that every Texan listening to this, every American listening,
33:51
Speaker 1: make certain that you mentor a young man or woman
33:53
Speaker 1: in your life. Get out of your normal day-to-day routine
33:57
Speaker 1: and go find a young person that will benefit from
34:00
Speaker 1: your knowledge, your experiences, and all that you've done in
34:03
Speaker 1: your life. Spend time with them, mentor them, guide them,
34:07
Speaker 1: encourage them. We have that obligation to the next generation.
34:11
Speaker 1: I think it's so vitally important. So thank you for
34:13
Speaker 1: the great question, Lindsay.
34:15
Speaker 3: Thank you, Senator Parker. You've had some amazing mentors, it
34:17
Speaker 3: sounds like, and you've certainly put in the work. So
34:20
Speaker 3: nobody can argue your work ethic without question. Thank you
34:24
Speaker 3: for joining us and for helping take what can be
34:27
Speaker 3: a fairly technical subject, capital markets, corporate governance, taxation, business courts,
34:32
Speaker 3: not everyday conversations for everyone. And connecting those pieces to
34:36
Speaker 3: the larger economic strategy Texas is pursuing. But you have also,
34:42
Speaker 3: I've noticed throughout this whole conversation, just carried it back
34:45
Speaker 3: to the people of Texas. You've really thread that needle
34:48
Speaker 3: and it always comes back to the people of Texas.
34:50
Speaker 3: So that's wonderful.
34:51
Speaker 1: It always does. It needs to, Lindsay. It needs to.
34:54
Speaker 1: If it's not about the people, then this is all
34:57
Speaker 1: out of whack. It's all about our citizens. It's all
34:59
Speaker 1: about what's the best interest of the people of the
35:01
Speaker 1: great state of Texas.
35:03
Speaker 3: Well, it's wonderful. You certainly lived that in our conversation today,
35:06
Speaker 3: and I'm sure every day in the work that you're doing.
35:08
Speaker 3: And so Texas is now putting the theory and policies
35:11
Speaker 3: to the test in capital markets, and it will be
35:13
Speaker 3: fascinating to watch what comes next. We'll certainly be listening
35:16
Speaker 3: and watching to what Texas does when you gavel in
35:18
Speaker 3: in January. And y'all are always doing big things. And
35:21
Speaker 3: a lot of our states have a lot to learn
35:22
Speaker 3: and to watch. So we will continue to do that
35:26
Speaker 3: here at CSG South. So Senator Parker, thank you again
35:29
Speaker 3: for spending some time with us today. I know you're
35:31
Speaker 3: a busy man. So we really appreciate you being here.
35:33
Speaker 1: Well, Lindsay, what an honor to spend time with you.
35:35
Speaker 1: Thanks for all you do. Thank you for sharing these
35:38
Speaker 1: stories and helping to be such a great innovator for
35:41
Speaker 1: all of our states, but particularly our southern states to
35:45
Speaker 1: lead for America and to lead for a better future
35:47
Speaker 1: for all of us. So Thank you for all you do.
35:49
Speaker 1: God bless you, my friend.
35:51
Speaker 3: Thank you. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning
35:53
Speaker 3: in to Real Estate Today. We look forward to continuing
35:56
Speaker 3: these conversations about leadership, policy, and the ideas shaping state
36:01
Speaker 3: governments across the South. For more episodes and policy conversations,
36:05
Speaker 3: visit csgsouth.org. I'm Lindsay Gray. Let's keep it real.
36:11
Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us today on Real Estate, where
36:14
Speaker 2: we keep it real about what really matters.