Welcome to the latest edition of the Monday Morning Messenger!

In our first story of the morning, the association reports on monumental constitutional amendments that passed during the recent Texas election held last week.

Secondly, we report on a positive measure passed during the last Texas Legislative Session that will exempt more Texas businesses from state business taxes as well as remove the requirement for no tax due reporting with the Texas Comptroller.

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed rules to raise the salary threshold of who is eligible for overtime. Read more about the proposal in our third story of the morning.

Lastly, we have a warning for a potential issue with cylinders being packaged with newly manufactured food trucks.

Take a look at our Quick Links section, which offers access to the latest Winter Weekly newsletter update, a convenient link to our TPGA compliance store, the opportunity to sign up for the Texas Duty to Warm Program, and details about our appliance rebate program.

In this issue

• In Brief
• Sweeping Reforms
• No Tax Due Reporting
• Overtime Proposal
• Food Truck Cylinder Warning
• Quick Links

​November 23-24, 2023

TPGA Closed for

Thanksgiving

November 28, 2023

Giving Tuesday 

Support TPGA Scholarship

November 29-30, 2023

PERC Council Meeting (TX)

December 1, 2023

NPGA Award

Nomination Deadline

December 1, 2023

Texas Duty to Warn Safety Mailing Registration Deadline

Affinity Partners

Lone Star Energy Group Workers Comp Insurance

&

Basys Credit Card Processing

&

NoCell Technologies

Texans have ushered in a new era of progress by approving transformative constitutional amendments in the most recent election. With an overwhelming majority, voters endorsed measures aimed at addressing vital issues in the state. Among these landmark decisions, the allocation of billions for water infrastructure and broadband expansion stands out as a historic investment to uplift smaller, financially strained communities. Additionally, the most sweeping support was garnered by Prop 4, the $18 billion property tax relief measure, securing 83% of the vote.

Proposition 1. Requiring state and local governments to provide evidence that regulation of generally accepted farming and ranching practices is needed to protect the public from danger. PASSED

Proposition 3. Forcing lawmakers to ask voters for authorization before they could impose any new state taxes on residents that would be based on net worth or wealth. PASSED

Proposition 4. Allowing the state to spend $18 billion on property tax cuts for homeowners and businesses, cut school districts’ tax rates, and enact other tax changes. PASSED

Proposition 6. Creating a water fund administered by the Texas Water Development Board to support a wide range of projects, including fixing Texas’ aging, deteriorating pipes, acquiring more water sources, and mitigating water loss. PASSED

Proposition 8. Creating a broadband infrastructure fund where $1.5 billion would be allocated to expand internet availability in Texas, where some 7 million people currently lack access. PASSED.

As these constitutional amendments come to fruition, the Lone Star State is poised for positive initiatives.

The Texas franchise tax (a misleading name) is a privilege tax applied to every taxable entity formed or organized in Texas or engaged in business activities within the state.

Effective January 1, 2024, franchise reports submitted on or after this date will reflect changes made by Texas Senate Bill (SB) 3, 88th Legislature, Second Called Session. These changes increase the no-tax due revenue threshold to $2.47 million.

Additionally, the Comptroller's office is now prohibited from mandating taxable entities with annualized total revenue at or below this threshold to submit a No Tax Due Report.

As a result, taxable entities falling within this revenue bracket and qualifying new veteran-owned businesses are no longer obliged to file a No Tax Due Report. Consequently, the Comptroller's Office has decided to discontinue the No Tax Due Report for the 2024 report year and onwards, with the form not being available for any new reporting periods.

Despite the exemption from filing a no-tax due report, it's important to note that these businesses are still required to submit either a Public Information Report (PIR) or an Ownership Information Report (OIR).

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed a new rule to raise the threshold for overtime exemption. The current rule mandates that employees must be paid at least time and a half for hours exceeding 40 in a workweek.

Presently set at $35,568 annually, the proposed rule suggests that employees earning less than $1,059 per week or $55,068 annually would qualify for overtime pay. This adjustment is anticipated to extend overtime eligibility to approximately 3.6 million workers, marking a substantial 55% increase from the 2019 threshold of $35,568.

Under the proposal, workers can be exempt from overtime pay if they receive a salary of at least $55,068 and fulfill specific job duties for executive, administrative, and professional roles. Those earning less than $55,068 would be entitled to overtime pay for hours exceeding 40 per week.

For employers with previously exempt workers, compliance would involve raising salaries to meet the new threshold of $55,068 annually or reclassifying employees as non-exempt hourly workers, necessitating the payment of overtime for hours worked beyond 40 per week.

The DOL intends to automatically raise the earnings thresholds every three years as part of this proposal.

The association will keep members up to date when these changes go into effect.

The National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) and various propane state associations have reported that non-DOT cylinders from Mexico are being packaged and sold with new food trucks.

Notably, these cylinders lack the necessary DOT markings on the shroud, as illustrated in the images above. The regulation prohibits refilling such cylinders. In the event that a non-DOT-compliant cylinder is presented for refilling at your location, kindly inform the consumer that the cylinder is not legally approved for use.

It is essential to emphasize that cylinders intended for use must bear either DOT or ICC markings on the cylinder.

From what we read, this issue is only isolated cylinders and, specifically, cylinders packaged with new food trucks.

Last week, there was no

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