Texas no longer top state for business: study

AUSTIN, Texas - A new CNBC study shows Texas is no longer a top state for business. 

The article highlights Texas' stance on abortion and LGBTQ rights as some of the reasons for its falling out. 

Democratic analyst Ed Espinoza and Matt Mackowiak, chair of the Travis County Republican Party, joined FOX 7 Austin's Mike Warren to discuss.

MIKE WARREN: Matt, what are your thoughts on this study? 

MATT MACKOWIAK: Well, the criteria that CNBC has been using for years and years and years, where Texas has always been in the top five and often being the first position was changed, and it is now included social issues that really have nothing, almost nothing to do with conducting business. You could say that some employees may like it, other employees may not. But you know, something like more than half of the states now are pro-life states. So, you know, the idea that you're going to make that the chief consideration whether a state is pro-business is absurd. Look, Texas has no state income tax-free of a regulatory burden. We have a central and widely available commercial air service. Okay. We have an outstanding state for business. That's why you see major companies moving here all the time. It's why we have four of the 15 largest cities in the country, and we're growing as fast as we are. 

MIKE WARREN: Ed Espinoza, what do you think of this study? 

ED ESPINOZA: You know, when you factor in business and the price, the cost of doing business, you also have to think about quality of life. How are the people in your business going to feel? And Texas is a good place for business, and it's a good place to live. However, the state government has just been fixated on things like work bans and banning DIY and attacking the LGBTQ community. And those are big knocks on people's quality of life, things that people believe in. Look, I go out and knock on doors in every election cycle, about a thousand doors. People do not bring these issues up. They care about education. They care about health care. And they still say the rates to damn high. 

MIKE WARREN: All right. Now, Matt Mackoiwak. Are lawmakers going to care about this sort of study? 

MATT MACKOWIAK: No, because again, as I said, they changed their criteria to inject social issues into consideration about whether a state is considered pro-business or not. Look, the challenge with this, this study is it's believed by the data. I mean, the data shows that Texas is booming. The people are voting with their feet. The corporations are moving here, whether it's in tech, whether it's in finance, whether it's in health care. Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio are among the four fastest growing metro areas in the country. And it's not just because people are moving here, it's because companies are moving here and creating jobs. So this survey simply is not backed up by what's actually happening on the ground in our state. 

MIKE WARREN: Espinoza, we got to wrap up. Do you have the last word on this subject?

ED ESPINOZA: Like, who knows if a survey is right or wrong. But what we do know is how people fee about their communities. People do love Texas, but I don't think they love how the state of Texas treats them when it comes down to the issues that people care about. It would be nice if the politicians did listen to the people a little bit more often.