The 88th Texas Legislative Session began, Tuesday, January 10, 2023. Representative Dade Phelan was elected to be the Texas House Speaker and Senator Kelly Hancock was elected President Pro Tempore in the Senate. According to Comptroller Glenn Hegar, Texas Biennial Revenue Estimate is projecting Texas to have approximately $32.7 billion in surplus available for spending during the biennium. 

Tommy Monaco of San Antonio will continue to serve as our Government Affairs Chair for 2023, with the addition of Mark Matheny as Vice Chair.

IEC of Texas will continue working diligently for Electrical Contractors in Texas. Some of our key issues are protecting the integrity of the Texas Electrical Safety and Licensing Act, sub-contractor contract and employment issues, workforce development, business tax issues, and maintaining chapter 133 funding for apprenticeship.

This should be another exciting Texas legislative session and we thank everyone for their continued support of our efforts here in Austin. IEC of Texas mission is to Protect and Promote the Electrical Industry through political action. IEC Legislative Alerts will be sent as needed to update and inform our membership of our actions here in Austin, as well as a call to action when we need your assistance.

Oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court will take place today that could determine whether an employer can sue a union over property damages that occurred during a protest. With the support from the Freedom Fund, IEC has joined an amicus brief in the case of Glacier Northwest, Inc v International Brotherhood of Teamsters supporting Glacier’s case that it can sue a union for property damage during the course of a labor dispute.

A strong Freedom Fund is necessary so IEC can continue to defend the merit shop on critical issues, like the one currently before the Supreme Court. Given the host of pro-union proposals coming from the Biden administration, this is just the beginning. There’s a strong possibility that court challenges will be needed to beat back its rewrite of rules governing Davis-Bacon, Joint Employer and its proposed Project Labor Agreement mandate.

We urge you to consider becoming an IEC Freedom Fund Sponsor or renew your sponsorship today!