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      Obtaining licenses was a comparative breeze, and the

      costs for everything, from equipment rentals to

      meals, were much lower. People were just friendlier.

      A hotel even let us shoot on its rooftop for free.

      What is it that makes Texas so special; what

      makes it such fertile ground for entrepreneurs? An

      argument could be made that we have a lot of land

      and that we are mineral-rich. But Alaska is even

      bigger, geographically, with a wealth of minerals,

      and it is not growing like Texas. The fact is, a big

      part of what makes Texas great is not what it has but

      what it doesn’t have. Namely, it doesn’t have a

      bloated government bureaucracy with a vast regula-

      tory system that impedes the launching and growth

      of businesses. Our state constitution limits state leg-

      islative sessions to 140 days every other year,

      making for highly efficient, streamlined lawmaking.

      And yet the government we do have protects indi-

      vidual rights and private property fiercely. Texans

      have always taken justice very seriously, and we

      have some of the toughest penalties for lawbreakers

      in the country. We also have the Texas Rangers, one

      of the most illustrious law-enforcement units in

      the world.

      Actually, one of the only apprehensions I did have

      about moving to Texas was that I’d be miles away from

      my favorite burger joint, In-N-Out Burger, a Califor-

      nia-based, family-owned chain that prides itself on its

      ultrafresh, high-quality ingredients. For years the com-

      pany has resisted expanding beyond the reach of its

      California-based meat-processing facility, meaning that

      if you wanted an In-N-Out burger, you would have to

      live in either California or a nearby state such as

      Nevada, Arizona, or Utah. But in 2010, to my delight,

      In-N-Out announced that it was restructuring its

      system and opening a second processing facility just

      south of Dallas. It’s no coincidence that In-N-Out

      chose the Lone Star State for the company’s first-ever

      expansion outside its home region. It selected Texas

      for the same reasons that Chief Executive magazine has

      rated our state the number-one place to do business in

      the country (and California the worst) eight years and

      running. When it comes to being business-friendly,

      Texas puts its money where its mouth is.

      TEXAS GOT IT RIGHT!

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