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HB4447 has passed through the engrossment stage in the Texas Legislature and will now be read in the House for the 3rd time. It will hopefully then go to Senate Committee and be passed by the Senate. We are keeping a close watch on this with hopes of passing. |
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HB2350, SB814, and HB2127 are Bills that we expect to pass that could have possible ramifications to your city and county licenses, or contracts. These bills will prevent political subdivisions from having duplication of licensing if the state already issues a license. These bills could and will have a major impact on cities and counties in Texas. HB 2350, HB 2127 and SB 814 will pass. The Governor will have to sign but its effective date is 9/1/2023. Due to the complex issues of this bill, TTSA is asking Jonathan Bruce to come to the TTSA Towing Conference in Katy, TX on June 10, 2023. He will go over all the new legislation but specifically preemption bills. He knows more about this issue than anyone else in this State as he sued municipalities and was in contact with other attorneys across the country when the Supreme Court ruled on towing from the Federal Preemption. Jonathan won and Towers have contracts because of it. PLEASE COME!!! These bills will change the structure of your city or town in many ways. We are gathering information about all aspects of the Automotive Industry that will be impacted by this. – ALL!!! |
Update of the 2023 Texas Legislative Session
Beginning with the Board of Directors meeting held on October 28, 2022, your Board set the stage for the legislative priorities for the 88th session of the Texas Legislature.
Though our Texas Legislature meets every other year, the work begins in the year prior. This year bills were filed as early as November 14th of 2022. The 88th Legislature convened at noon on January 10th of this year to begin session. Bills are filed until March 10th and the TTSA Legislative committee reviews the Bills daily looking for anything that might have a positive or negative impact on our industry. Currently, we have identified eighteen bills with the potential to impact towers. Please check our website for a current list of Legislative Bills we are monitoring. We will continue to track those bills, monitor the progress and advocate for your position.
When we meet and decide TTSA’s agenda, we ask for input from our legal counsel, and our paid legislative consultant, and look for any legislative trends in other states or nationally.
As you are aware, in the past two years in response to what some call renegade towing practices, several states have passed devastating and board sweeping anti-tower legislation. Regulating everything from IM and PP rates to unfair cargo release. These efforts have been supported by the trucking industry, including state trucking associations, Owner Operators and Independent Drivers of America (OOIDA), and the American Trucking Association (ATA). They’ve brought big budgets to the table and unfortunately, they have been very successful in all too many states. The sad part is that it is only a tiny fraction of towers that motivate these associations and ultimately their lawmakers to pass such damaging legislation. The rest of us are legitimate businesses, doing our job, providing a public service, and working to lift up our industry. We don’t want or need any of this in Texas!
TTSA has been working to come up with an alternative resolution to this kind of overreaching abusive legislation in our state. HB 3478 is an attempt to create a process where a motor carrier may request mediation in a fee dispute with a towing company. Under this act, a mediator must be qualified as an impartial third party and it would only be available for towing and recovery bills that exceed $20,000.00. The program would be administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Mediation is a confidential non-binding process and would serve as an alternative to civil litigation for towers. If the two parties are unable to reach an agreement, all of the other options would still be available to both parties. We feel it is unlikely that our towers will ever have to go to a Mediation. We see this as a preventative measure against proposed damaging legislation from groups like OOIDA and the ATA. Again, we want to prevent any regulatory legislation from being proposed in Texas.
Any and all Bills related to “Slow down and Move over” will be supported by TTSA.
Lastly, we would like to express our respect for the process of Governance and Advocacy. These issues are complex and what seems simple can have far reaching and negative effects if not analyzed and thought through.
TTSA has decades of service to the towing industry, and we do things in a professional way that will have long term benefits and minimize the overreach of detrimental legislation.
If anyone has questions, we most certainly want to answer them. Please call our office and we will have a Board/Legislative Committee member get back to you. We represent YOU and we welcome all feedback.
Go to: Bill Report billreport-4.11.23 to see a list of Bills we are currently tracking.
Podcast on HB 3478 Click Here
Go to http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/Home.aspx and put in the bill number to view the complete bill.
Go to:
http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/Home.aspx
Look up who represents you in the Texas State Legislature
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/
Look up Texas statutes and codes
