One of the decisions Gov. Greg Abbott is making this week is whether to call members of the Texas Legislature back to Austin for a special session, and, if so, whether that controversial measure restricting transgender use of public restrooms should be on the agenda, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The governor got some advice about the issue on Monday.
The CEOs of 14 major U.S. companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook, signed a letter to the governor urging him to flush the proposal and not allow it to go forward.
"We are writing to express our steadfast opposition to the introduction and passage of any discriminatory legislation in Texas," the letter, obtained by 1200 WOAI news, begins. "Such laws are bad for our employees and bad for business."
All 14 of the companies currently have operations in Texas.
The letter revives the debate over the 'North Carolina Option,' when that state lost several major corporate expansions and several high profile sporting events, after it passed a law which restricted public restroom use to the individual's birth gender, a law which was later watered down.
In the letter, the CEOs don't threaten to close their Texas operations or to not expand in the state, but they make it clear that they oppose the legislation.
"We are gravely concerned that any such legislation would deeply tarnish Texas' reputation as open and friendly to businesses and families," the letter states. "Our ability to attract, recruit, and retain top talent, encourage new business relocations, expansions and investment, and maintain our economic competitiveness, would all be negatively affected."
The Senate passed a robust bill banning the use of public and school restrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities by people who 'identify' as another gender. The bill passed in the House was much weaker, affecting only school restrooms and giving school districts wide latitude on how to enforce it. That bill was rejected by the Senate, but Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is encouraging a special session to pass the Senate bill, which he says is supported by far more than half of the 150 member House.
Texas' reputation as a state which is open for business is hugely valued by the state's political leaders, as well as economic development and tourism officials from across the state. Visit San Antonio, for example, has said approval of the bathroom bill would cost the city millions of dollars, and says the very fact that such a bill is even being considered has already cost the city two major conventions.
Supporters of the bathroom bill say the claims of lost business are overblown, and call hypocrisy on many of the corporations opposing it, pointing out that they have operations in Middle Eastern nations where homosexuality is punishable by death.
Patrick has also called letters like this one 'blackmail' and said if the state bows to this kind of pressure, employers could next come to the state and threaten to withdraw operations unless, for example, Campus Carry is repealed or other laws which have nothing to do with business are changed.
Abbott says he will make a decision on a special session by the end of this week.
The companies which signed the letter are:
Amazon
IBM
Apple
Gearbox Software
Microsoft
Celanese Corp
Salesforce
Cisco
GSD&M
Silicon Labs
Dell
Hewlett-Packard