Economic Impact

The Dallas Morning News

By Jason Villalba

Dallas is, by every demographic measure, a Hispanic city. Hispanics are the largest ethnic group within the city limits, at 42.6% of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Non-Hispanic whites are 27.6%. Black residents are 22.9%. Across the Dallas area, more than 2.2 million Latinos live, work, pay taxes and contribute.

From an economic perspective, Dallas’ Hispanics punch at, or above, our weight. Economists at the University of California, Los Angeles and California Lutheran University put the Latino GDP of Dallas-Fort Worth at $99 billion, with Latino consumption approaching $69 billion. That exceeds the entire economy of New Hampshire or Idaho. Nationally, Latino economic output has reached $4 trillion, which, if it were the GDP of a country, would rank as the fifth largest economy in the world.

It follows that the civic and economic leadership of Dallas should include a significant number of Hispanics. Unfortunately, that is not what the data tell us.

Let’s start with business. Dallas-Fort Worth is home to 24 Fortune 500 companies, which together generated nearly $1.1 trillion in revenue last year. Dozens of chief executives have led those companies over the past 10 years. Only one was Hispanic, and he retired in 2017.

Nationally, Hispanic executives lead only 3% of Fortune 500 companies, and Hispanics represent fewer than 5% of the members of the boards of directors of these companies.

The Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce’s four board chairs from 2024 through 2027, and the new president it installed this January, include no Hispanic leaders.

My own profession fares no better. Hispanic lawyers hold only 3% of law firm partnerships nationwide. The Dallas data largely mirror these statistics, even though our Hispanic population far exceeds that of the nation as a whole.

Dallas city government tells the same story. Sixty people have served as mayor of Dallas since 1856. Not a single one has been Hispanic. Over the last decade, three people have served as the city manager, the chief executive of Dallas. Only one was Hispanic, and he retired in January 2017. The city has had one Hispanic police chief in its history, hired in 2021, but gone by 2024. The Park and Recreation Board of Dallas, governing one of the largest municipal park systems in the country, has never had a Hispanic serve as its president. Likewise, the 15-member task force that shaped the 2024 capital bond program, which planned more than $1 billion in public investment, did not have a single Hispanic member.

Only three of the 15 Dallas Area Rapid Transit board members are Hispanic, and DART has never had a Hispanic CEO.

Exceptions exist and deserve recognition. But one or two chairmanships across 10 years prove the rule rather than refute it. In the rooms where taxation is shaped and the regional agenda is written, Hispanic representation runs at a fraction of Hispanic presence in the city.

How did we get here? Three explanations carry the most weight.

The pathways into Dallas leadership were built generations ago, through neighborhoods, schools, civic institutions and social clubs that Hispanic families largely could not enter or were prohibited from joining. The Dallas Citizens Council spent much of the 20th century effectively selecting the city’s mayors. Institutions like that recruit from the circles in which their members already circulate, and those circles were drawn long before the city’s demographic complexion changed.

Also, demography moves faster than tenure. The median Hispanic Texan is roughly six years younger than his Anglo counterpart, and leadership rewards seniority. Some of this gap will close on its own. But a city that is 42% Hispanic should not go 10 years without a Hispanic city manager, Fortune 500 chief executive, or regional chamber chair.

Finally, with tremendous respect, I say this to my own community: Many of us were taught to work hard, keep our heads down and let the results speak. In civic life, results do not speak. Positions go to those who ask for them and to those whom institutions deliberately seek out. And often, even when we do seek out these roles, the vestigial institutional networks and antiquated notions of a solely white and Black Dallas thwart our mobility into the leadership ranks.

The business case for bolstering Hispanic leadership in Dallas is straightforward. This is about market recognition, not some woke diversity exercise. Leadership that does not understand the largest community with the greatest purchasing power in its market will dramatically misread that market.

The North Texas companies and institutions that develop and cultivate their Hispanic leaders will drive the next decade of growth and prosperity in the region, not because of DEI, but because of the economic power of this growing population.

Dallas has always been a city of great promise. The data regarding Hispanic advancement in our city, however, suggests that we have more work to do to fulfill that promise and continue on our upward trajectory.

Jason Villalba is a Dallas partner with the law firm of FBT Gibbons LLP, a former member of the Texas House of Representatives and the president and CEO of the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation.

Legislation supporting online sports gaming also receives strong support from 47% of Texans, with Texans deadlocked at 41% for and 42% against allowing sportsbooks to operate inside professional sports venues.

(Dallas, Texas, April 30, 2024) – New polling from the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation (TxHPF) shows that Texans from all political and demographic segments are strongly in favor of legislation that authorizes the construction and operation of Texas-based destination resort casinos.

Approximately three-fifths of Democrats, Republicans and Independents support Destination Resort Casinos, while less than one-third oppose the construction and operation of these casinos in Texas. Twice as many men support than oppose destination resort casino gaming by a 61% to 27% margin, with support among women lower, but still a majority at 54%.  African Americans register 68% support for casino gaming, while Hispanics and Anglos register 58% and 54%, support respectively. Most surprising, however, was that a majority (52%) of Texans who self-identify as “Born-Again” Christians support destination resort casinos.

Legislation that would authorize online sports gaming and sports gaming occurring inside of Texas-based professional sports arenas and stadiums maintains significant support among Texans, with 47% supporting online sports gaming and 41% supporting (and 42% opposing) sportsbooks inside of Texas professional sports venues.  But men, particularly African American and Hispanic men, overwhelmingly support online sports gaming and the establishment of sportsbooks inside professional sports teams’ stadiums and arenas.

The survey, which was conducted between April 5 and April 10 among a representative sample of 1,600 Texas likely voters, has an overall margin of error of 2.45%.

“Since the reauthorization of parimutuel betting in Texas in 1991, various members of the Texas Legislature have endeavored to expand Texas-based gaming in some form or other, with the most recent initiatives being in the sports gaming and destination resort casino gaming sectors,” noted Jason Villalba, Chairman and CEO of the TXHPF.  “Given the results of this survey, it is clear that the public appetite for additional gaming opportunities now matches the political appetite, not only with traditional supporters of gaming, but also with church-going Texans and women – that is a major change from what we have seen in recent legislative cycles,” continued Villalba.

Mark P. Jones, the TxHPF’s Chief Information and Analytics Officer and the Fellow in Political Science at Rice University’s Baker Institute noted that “there is a strong majority consensus among Texans across 21 socio-demographic sub-groups in favor of the casino legislation.  Regardless of gender, ethnicity/race, age, education, level of partisanship or even religion, an absolute majority of every sub-group of Texans supports the construction and operation of Destination Resort Casinos in Texas.”

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About the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation

The Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation operates as a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated and committed to analyzing and exploring the political, economic, social, demographic, and familial attitudes and behaviors of Texas Hispanics. The Foundation conducts surveys, polls, research, data collection and analysis concerning the Hispanic population in Texas. You can find more information about the Foundation at www.TxHPF.org.

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Several GOP priorities garner support in poll.

(Dallas, Texas, May 23, 2023) — According to new statewide polling from the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation (TxHPF), at least 85 percent of Texans support both Senate Bill 3, which would increase the residential homestead exemption from $40,000 to $70,000 (if under age 65) or to $100,000 (65 and older), and House Bill 2, which would decrease the yearly appraisal cap from 10% to 5% for residential property and extend this benefit to commercial property.

Conducted earlier this month, the poll found support for Republican leaders’ approach to several issues that have been front and center at this year’s session of the Texas Legislature.

When forced to choose between SB 3 and HB 2, 50% of Texans opt for SB 3 and 38% for HB 2, with 12% of Texans opposing both property tax relief proposals.

“Texans certainly support property-tax relief,” said TxHPF President Jason Villalba, a former State Representative from Dallas. “There is more support for expanding the homestead exemption than there is for lower appraisal caps, but both ideas are very popular. Given the significant burdens that high property taxes place on Texas families, it should come as no surprise that both the Senate and the House tax proposals receive strong bipartisan support. The data from this report makes that clear.”

The tax issue is one of several being hashed out between leaders of the Texas House and Senate as the May 29 end of the regular legislative session draws near.

Another issue in the spotlight during the Legislature’s final week is that of sending students to private schools with taxpayer dollars, which is also known as private-school vouchers or Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). 58% of Texans support (25% strongly) and 42% oppose (29% strongly) legislation similar to the bill that the Texas Senate approved to create widely available Education Savings Accounts. The poll found that 70% of Black Texans support SB 8 compared to 59% of Hispanic and 55% of white Texans. And, the poll found majority support for SB 8 was relatively equal across the state, with residents in rural and semi-rural counties just as likely to support SB 8 as residents of suburban and urban counties.

Texans voice support in the poll for several high-profile bills that social conservatives have championed throughout the session, including:

• 66% of Texans support (55% strongly) Senate Bill 14, which would prohibit medical professionals from providing puberty-inhibiting drugs, cross-sex hormones and surgical interventions to children under the age of 18. One-third (34%) of Texans oppose (26% strongly) SB 14.
• 70% of Texans support (54% strongly) Senate Bill 15, which would prohibit Texas public university athletic teams from allowing a student to compete on a team designated for one biological sex if that student’s biological sex is opposite that designated for the team. One third (30%) of Texans oppose (18% strongly) SB 15.
• 64% of Texans support (49% strongly) Senate Bill 12 that would classify drag shows as sexually oriented performances, which would prohibit individuals under the age of 18 from attending. One third (36%) of Texans oppose (27% strongly) SB 12.

“Texans tend to support the socially conservative bills that state and legislative leaders are pushing this year,” said Dr. Mark Jones, TxHPF Director of Research and Analytics. “While these bills generate a very contentious debate and some fierce opposition, they are supported by fairly wide margins when you look at all Texas voters.”

Texans voice stronger support in the poll for Gov. Greg Abbott’s handling of the situation at the Texas-Mexico border than President Joe Biden’s handling of that situation. In fact, the poll found strong support for a number of specific border policies that Abbott and other Republican leaders have championed:

• 74% of Texans support (52% strongly) sending the Texas National Guard to patrol the border.
• 74% of Texans support (48% strongly) the creation of a Texas Border Protection Unit.
• 71% of Texans support (46% strongly) sending DPS officers to patrol the border.
• 62% of Texans support (46% strongly) Texas building a border wall.
• 60% of Texans support (37% strongly) Texas spending $2.5-$3.0 billion a year on border security.

“Hispanic Texans are less likely to support all five border security policies than are white and Black Texans, but more than three-fifths of Hispanics still support sending the Texas National Guard and DPS to patrol the border and creating a Texas border patrol unit,” Dr. Jones said. “Border security and immigration continue to be priority issues for many Texas voters, and Texans tend to support the Governor’s approach.”

This is the first report of three drawing on a survey of 1,000 Texas registered voters carried out between May 8 and May 17 of 2023 (confidence interval of +/- 2.9%). The responses are weighted to provide a population that is representative of Texas registered voters.

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About the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation The Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation operates as a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated and committed to analyzing and exploring the political, economic, social, demographic, and familial attitudes and behaviors of Texas Hispanics. The Foundation conducts surveys, polls, research, data collection and analysis concerning the Hispanic population in Texas. You can find more information about the Foundation at www.TxHPF.org.

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The Dallas Morning News

By Jason Villalba and Mark P. Jones

A survey of Texas Hispanics and Latinos shows that few embrace the new term.

It has become common for academics, bureaucrats, journalists and other elites to refer to people with Latin American roots as “Latinx.” It’s a gender-neutral anglicized version of the Spanish word Latino, which in Spanish (a gendered language) is used to refer to men and as the generic default when gender is unspecified.

While the term Latinx is increasingly popular among these elites, it remains unpopular among the vast majority of the people it is being used to refer to in Texas, who overwhelmingly favor the terms Hispanic and Latino. Numbering 12 million, more than the entire population of all but six states, Latin American- and Iberian-origin Texans constitute 40% of the Lone Star State’s population and, before the end of the decade, will represent the state’s plurality ethnic or racial group.

In March, the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation surveyed a representative sample of 687 Texans of Latin American and Iberian origin, in English and Spanish, on their opinions of the term Latinx. The survey asked about Latinx alone and in comparison to the two other most common terms used to refer to people of Latin American and Iberian heritage: Latino and Hispanic.

When asked to choose among the three terms, these Texans overwhelmingly prefer Hispanic (72%), followed by a quarter (25%) who prefer Latino and a mere 3% who prefer Latinx.

Across 28 different subgroups within nine sociodemographic categories (age, education, gender, immigration generation, language use, lineage, partisanship, region, religion), significantly more of the respondents of Latin American and Iberian heritage prefer the term Hispanic to Latino, and prefer Latino to Latinx.

There’s one exception. Respondents who speak Spanish primarily or exclusively at home are equally likely to prefer the terms Hispanic (49%) and Latino (47%). In no instance across these 28 sub-groups did more than 5% of any subgroup prefer the term Latinx.

These Texans also were asked whether they approved, disapproved or neither approved nor disapproved of the use of each of these three terms to refer to people of Hispanic, Latino or Latinx heritage. While, as noted above, significantly more of these respondents favor the term Hispanic (72%) over Latino (25%) when forced to choose, an overwhelming majority approve of using both the term Hispanic (87%) and Latino (81%). Virtually none disapproves of the use of these two terms (4% and 5% respectively). The remaining 9% and 14% neither approve nor disapprove of the use of the terms Hispanic and Latino.

In sharp contrast, only one-third (33%) of these Latin American- and Iberian-origin respondents approve of the term Latinx to refer to people of Hispanic, Latino or Latinx heritage, while two-fifths (39%) disapprove, with the remaining quarter (28%) neither approving nor disapproving.

The levels of approval are low, and levels of disapproval are high, even among groups that might be expected to be more positively disposed to the use of the term Latinx. For example, among women, 35% approve and 36% disapprove of the use of the term Latinx. Among members of Generation Z (born after 1996) 40% approve and 41% disapprove. Among Democrats, 39% approve and 34% disapprove, and among those with a college or postgraduate degree 26% approve and 55% disapprove.

The terms Hispanic and Latino are favored among virtually all Texans of Latin American or Iberian origin. And, while the term Latinx may be popular among many of the elites who dominate the state’s educational and media institutions, it without question is not popular among Hispanic and Latino Texans, and is not the term that they prefer be used to refer to them and to members of their community.

Villalba is chief executive of the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation and a former Republican representative to the Texas House. Mark P. Jones is the chief information and analytics officer for the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation and a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute. They wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.

The Dallas Morning News

By Jason Villalba

U.S. Census figures show the Hispanic and white populations are about the same size.

Growing up in the suburbs of Dallas in the 1980s, I had so many places to explore with my pals in our provincial, middle-class neighborhood. There was Kirby Creek, where we could fish for crawdads until the sun set over Warrior Trail. There was an old wooded thicket where the remains of “Posey’s” house still stood — many said it was haunted, but upon closer inspection, my sister and I learned it was just a settler’s house from the late 1800s.

And there was a grand and mysterious temple that stood in the fancy part of our neighborhood at the far end. The immaculately landscaped building had a beautiful pool, an elegant vestibule entrance and, most importantly, a PGA-designed golf course that spanned the breadth of our entire neighborhood.

Of course, I never actually got to play golf on that splendidly appointed course, as my family could not afford to be members of the Wood Crest Country Club. But on a full-moon night, when no one else was paying attention, some friends of mine and I not only did a little putting on those manicured greens, but we might have even hopped the big fences and taken a late-evening skinny dip in the pool.

As my friends and I rode our bikes around the neighborhood surrounding the golf course, we couldn’t help but notice the snappily dressed locals playing golf. Always playing in perfect form and almost always white. I never forgot those moments because it was so clear to me how different wewere from the folks on the course.

When I was much older, as one of only four Hispanic Republican members of the Texas Legislature, I thought it might be informative to visit different regions of Texas so that I might better understand the Hispanic experience for Texans around the state.

I will never forget my first foray into the Rio Grande Valley, which has the highest concentration of Hispanics in Texas. I was to give a talk at the local country club that evening, and I was driven to the main dining room in a black SUV. As I approached the clubhouse, I passed the 18th green of the golf course. On that immaculately manicured green was an extremely well-dressed Hispanic family of four enjoying a round of golf.

It was a beautiful sight, and something I had never before witnessed, certainly not at our local country club back in North Texas.

As a boy, I never expected there would come a day when I would I see Hispanics playing golf on a beautiful country club course, and that it would not be all that uncommon. Yet, there I was, witnessing it with my own eyes.

I was reminded of that moment earlier this week when new U.S. Census data were released. What the data revealed was remarkable. Texas is now 39.7% white and 39.3% Hispanic. Had the former president not discouraged counting undocumented residents, Hispanics would have likely registered as the top ethnic group in Texas. Even accepting a possible undercount, Hispanics will comprise over 40% of the population of Texas within the next 36 months and become the majority by the end of the decade.

To be clear, these are not undocumented residents, or “illegals,” as the former president and his supporters often characterize them. These are born-in-the-USA American citizens who are or soon will be eligible to vote.

Based solely on these numbers, in just a few short years, these U.S.-citizen, Hispanic Texans could well determine the outcome of nearly every election in Texas. They will control purchasing power at all levels and drive the Texas economy. Hispanics will sit more regularly on our school boards, county commissions and city councils, and they will more frequently occupy our state and federal elected positions. Texas Hispanics are now in the position to shape every political policy in Texas.

Yet, among our state and local leaders in government, business and the media, few are taking the actions necessary to respond to this consistent and exponential growth of Hispanic influence in our communities.

The population of Dallas County is well over 40% Hispanic, yet only a handful of Hispanics sit on the boards of directors or occupy the C-suites of Dallas’ largest companies. Likewise, with respect to Dallas’ influential Citizens Council and Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic representation on the boards and as officers doesn’t reflect the population of Dallas, and that is both striking and disappointing.

Further, take a few moments this morning to inspect the websites of Dallas’ most prestigious law firms, accounting firms and marketing firms to see how many equity partners or top-level directors are Hispanic. There is much discussion about commitment to D&I (diversity and inclusion) within these organizations, but with respect to Hispanic representation at the top levels, the representation is spotty.

I was born in Dallas, raised a family in Dallas, represented Dallas in the Texas Legislature, and even ran for mayor of this great city. Dallas is a vibrant, sophisticated and growing city. But Dallas is also less than egalitarian when it comes to the engagement and elevation of its Hispanic population.

Now that we are confronted with the official census data for the last decade, I am hopeful that today marks a new beginning for Dallas to cultivate and support its growing Hispanic population.

Jason Villalba is chairman of the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.

(Dallas, Texas, August 24, 2020) – Texans are deeply divided along racial lines over whether the state has relaxed coronavirus-related restrictions too quickly and whether getting the economy going or slowing the spread of the virus should be a higher priority, according to new polling from the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation and Rice University’s Baker Institute.

The poll, also sponsored by the Dallas Morning News, found 44% of registered voters believe Texas has relaxed restrictions on business openings and social distancing requirements too quickly. But only 34.5% of Anglos believe things have moved too quickly, compared to 55.5% of Hispanics and 61.0% of African Americans.

Similarly, Texans are almost evenly split between those who believe the country’s top priority should be to get the economy going by sending people back to work and those who believe the top priority should be slowing the spread of the virus. However, while 77.7% of African Americans and 66.1% of Hispanics believe slowing the spread of the virus should be the top priority, only 40.2% of Anglos share that opinion.

The COVID-related findings come from a survey conducted between August 4 and August 13 among a representative sample of 846 Texas registered voters with a Hispanic oversample. The first set of results looked at voter preferences in the races for president and the U.S. Senate.

“People of color express much more concern about the speed with which Texas has lifted restrictions,” said Jason Villalba, President of the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that analyzes opinions and behaviors among Hispanic Texans. “Texans are deeply split in our evaluation of how the state has responded to the pandemic and what the priority should be going forward. These divides highlight the difficulty of building consensus around the state’s response.”

Hispanic (29.4%) and African American (23.7%) poll respondents were significantly more likely than Anglos (12.3%) to say they or an immediate family member has tested positive for COVID-19. These findings track with state and national public health data showing that minority communities are disproportionately affected by the disease.

“The coronavirus has taken a severe toll on minority communities and exacerbated inequities in health care,” said THPF Board Member and former state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte. “This virus has been especially devastating for Hispanics and other people of color.”

While 9 out of 10 registered voters in Texas say they are likely or extremely likely to wear a mask when entering a grocery store or other retail space, according to Dr. Mark P. Jones, the THPF Director of Research and Analytics, “a majority of Texans report they are unlikely to wear a mask when entering the home of a friend or relative, with this behavior significantly more common among Anglos than among either Hispanics or African Americans.”

About the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation
The Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation operates as a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated and committed to analyzing and exploring the political, economic, social, demographic, and familial attitudes and behaviors of Texas Hispanics. In collaboration with Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, the Foundation conducts surveys, polls, research, data collection and analysis concerning the Hispanic population in Texas. You can find more information about the Foundation at www.TxHPF.org.

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