Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo González
At the McAllen Legislative Wrap-Up Luncheon on October 3, 2025, Veronica Gonzales, Senior Vice President for Governmental and Community Relations at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, praised the work of state legislators while emphasizing the importance of higher education and civic engagement. The luncheon, hosted by the McAllen Chamber of Commerce and the McAllen Economic Development Corporation at the Embassy Suites Convention Center, gathered lawmakers, city leaders, and business representatives to review the 89th Texas Legislative Session.
As moderator of the panel, Gonzales reminded the audience of the pace and scope of the Texas Legislature. “Every other year, the legislature goes in for 140 days. And in 140 days, they have to tackle everything from education, healthcare, the economy, transportation, criminal justice—you name it,” she said. “If they don’t finish everything they started, they get called back for special sessions, which happened this time around. So, they stay extremely busy.”
She also highlighted the challenge of lawmaking in Texas. “Each session, thousands of bills are filed, but only a small fraction—about 14%—make it through both chambers and survive the veto process,” Gonzales said. “Of those that do pass, some are considered major bills.”
When legislators discussed new funding for dementia and Alzheimer’s research, Gonzales pointed to UTRGV’s role in advancing that work locally. “We have an Institute of Neuroscience located in Harlingen, where researchers are doing cutting-edge work on dementia,” she told the audience. She noted that UTRGV faculty had recently been featured on national news for community-based research. “This kind of groundbreaking research is happening right here in your backyard,” she said.
Gonzales also thanked legislators for their continued support of higher education in the Valley, citing UTRGV’s growth and medical programs. “We are so fortunate here in the Rio Grande Valley that we have a lot of institutions of higher education, at all levels,” she said. “We have the technical school, we have the two-year colleges, and then we have four-year universities. Thank you for your support of our medical programs and our cancer center, which is opening this week.”
In her closing remarks, Gonzales stressed the importance of civic responsibility, especially as voters prepare to consider 17 statewide propositions this November. “At the end of the day, it is the voters who select the people that are going to represent them,” she said. “Please go out and vote in November.”
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