I AM INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL AND EXCITED to serve as the executive vice president for the AGC of Texas – an organization I truly admire and love. Many of you know me, some of you do not yet, but I look forward to working for each of you as we work together in the future. I am a native Austinite, born and raised in the “little offbeat” college town that has now grown into a major metropolitan area that embraces full-blown “weirdness,” and is struggling with big urban problems like crippling congestion.

The Texas Legislature has adjourned after 140 days of fighting, disagreements and verbal skirmishes – and without passing some necessary legislation. Fortunately, issues critical to our industry, such as highway funding, were not affected.

The watchword for the day is gizmo. A gizmo is anything you want it to be. The most recent acclaim for a gizmo came after the use of an electronic promotional device used to tell the highway funding story with the important messages of “no diversions” and “keep the promise” at our very successful Legislative Fly-In.

Every odd-numberes year, the Texas Legislature meets for 140 days to pass legislation and determine the state’s budget for the next two years. The actual work time for the legislature is even shorter -- the first 40 days are spent getting organized.