For the first time in at least six legislative sessions, all AGC Texas Building Branch bills have been voted out of their assigned committees. Having passed that primary hurdle, these bills become closer to passage by the full House and full Senate bodies. 

Right to Repair / School Construction Defect bills scheduled for vote by the full House next week

Two bills in particular - House Bill 1734 and House Bill 1999 - are close to reaching a second milestone in the legislative process. After advancing from the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee, these two key pieces of legislation have been scheduled for a vote on the House floor next week. 

We will be contacting everyone in the AGC family on Monday, April 22, with details on contacting your chapter's House members to relay the message that we need their votes to pass these two bills. 

Bills on the move: Statute of Repose / Uniform General Conditions / Breach of Contract Attorney's Fees 

Several other major AGC-TBB bills gained positive ground this week as well. Perhaps most significantly, one of our bills, HB 1737, which would reduce the time owners have to sue contractors (known as the "statute of repose" period) from 10 to 7 years, passed out of committee this week. This is the first time a bill lowering the statute of repose has advanced from the committee stage. 

Another major bill would  require the Texas Education Agency to create uniform general conditions (UGCs) for ISD building contracts (modeled on State's UGCs). That measure - HB 1416 - got the thumbs up from the House Public Education Committee yesterday. Also receiving approval this week was HB 1185, which provides for recovery of attorney's fees for state breach of contract when the amount in controversy exceeds $250,000. 

$3.8 Billion in Higher Ed Construction Contracts

Finally, another win for the contracting industry came in the form of $3.8 billion in new tuition revenue bond (TRB) spending for higher education construction contracts. The measure, HB 2000, gained approval from the full House this week and awaits referral to a Senate committee. 

2019 Legislative Update

Here's an update on the position of major AGC-TBB bills along with legislation strongly supported by AGC-TBB:

AGC-TBB Major Bills Scheduled for House Vote

School Construction Defects  

HB 1734 by Justin Holland / SB 1907 by Eddie Lucio, Jr.

*HB 1734 passed committee by 6-2 vote*

*Scheduled for House floor vote April 23*

The Texas Senate passed its version of property tax reform on Monday, as the House is expected to take on the issue next week.

After an expected vote last week was delayed, Republican members of the Texas Senate agreed to bring a property tax bill to the floor of the upper chamber Monday. After three hours of debate, the bill passed 18-12 along party lines, with just one Republican - Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) - voting against the measure. 

Senate Bill 2, as passed on Monday, would require cities, counties, and other local taxing entities to have voters approve any budget that collects property tax revenue representing a 3.5 percent or more increase over the previous year. The Senate plan had originally set that "rollback" rate to trigger local elections at 2.5 percent. 

Gov. Greg Abbott (left)

"Today the Texas Senate took action to deliver on the promise of reining in skyrocketing property taxes," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. The governor has said reforming property taxes is one of his priorities for this legislative session. 

Under SB 2, school districts would be subject to the 3.5 percent rollback trigger, which sets up a major difference between the Senate and House bills. The lower chamber's property tax reform vehicle - House Bill 2 - has specifically carved out school districts from the rollback election requirement.  The House bill also excludes community colleges, hospital districts and emergency service districts.