Rodriguez: Why Texas 2036 focuses on six policy areas

I am A.J. Rodriguez, executive vice president of Texas 2036. As I travel the state representing Texas 2036, I’m often asked how we choose the issues we focus on. 

Our approach is structured and data-driven, centering around six key policy pillars: education and workforce, health and health care, justice and safety, infrastructure, natural resources, and state government performance. 

We chose these pillars because they are the most significant drivers of prosperity and quality of life for all Texans. 

We use rigorous data analysis and conversations with top policy experts across the state to identify opportunities to move the needle each legislative session within these priorities. With 36 goals for our state’s continued economic prosperity, we take a pragmatic and strategic approach in selecting the issues we take on. Our approach ensures that we optimize our work with legislators as they pass both transformational legislation (highly impactful systems change in each legislative session) and foundational legislation (cumulative successes that build upon each other session after session).

As we approach the coming session, we will publish our legislative agenda, outlining our priorities and how we plan to address them.

We also summarize each session’s results in a legislative report. In the 2021 and 2023 legislative sessions, 120 of the bills and constitutional amendments we supported passed into law. You can read the reports and learn more about our past legislative work here.

Keep watching for emails about the policy issues we are working on and join the conversation on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram — so that together we can make Texas the best place to live, work, and raise a family. 

Thank you for your support and confidence,

Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by A.J. Rodriguez, executive vice president of Texas 2036. The column first appeared in a Texas 2036 e-newsletter. Texas 2036 is a nonprofit organization that aims to build long-term, data-driven strategies to secure Texas’ prosperity through the state’s bicentennial and beyond. Rodriguez can be reached by email via: media@texas2036.org 

About A.J. Rodriguez

Since September 2020, A.J. Rodriguez has served as Executive Vice President of Texas 2036, leading the organization’s Austin office. A.J. oversees the organization’s external affairs, strategic partnerships, and board relations, including the facilitation of the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Board of Directors. 

In his career, he has held a variety of leadership positions in the private, public and non-profit sectors. Prior to joining Texas 2036, he served as Vice President of External Affairs at Zachry Group for close to a decade, where he oversaw the organization’s community investment and philanthropic efforts, media relations, government affairs, marketing and branding. A.J. also served as Deputy City Manager for the City of San Antonio, as President & CEO of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Vice President of Public Policy & Advocacy at the San Antonio Chamber.

In 2018, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of the Texas Association of Business and served as the organization’s first Latino chairman. In 2021, A.J. agreed to serve as Chairman of the Board of the San Antonio Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news organization in San Antonio. He remains on the Board as Immediate Past Chair. 

A.J. currently serves on the Austin Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, as a member of the Austin Area Research Organization, a member of the Common Ground USA – Texas Steering Committee, the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank’s Advance Together Steering Committee and as Vice Chair of the Texas Legislative Conference.

A.J. earned his BBA and MBA from UTSA and was awarded the Alumnus of the Year in 2008.

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