TACCA 88th Legislative Report June 2023

Over the last 20-plus years, the Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Association (TACCA) has enjoyed many successes at the Texas State Capitol, as well as maintaining constant defense. Along the way, TACCA worked to increase the number of investigators dedicated to the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (ACR) contractors department at Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), through the Appropriations process, and successfully fought off a proposed rule which would have required air conditioning units sold in Texas to be treated with a substance that would theoretically turn carbon dioxide to oxygen. The rule would have increased the cost to contractors and the substance was not effective. We never know what we might face next.

Do you have an established relationship with your legislator?

If so, we would love to hear from you. Personal contact with legislators helps build relationships and establish lines of communication that ensure the concerns of the HVAC/R industry are heard and addressed. Contact us today.

TACCA 88th Legislative Report

June 2023

The 88th Regular Legislative Session ended, and the first called or special session began, simultaneously on May 29.

The two biggest priorities expressed by legislative leadership at the beginning of the regular session were creating a voucher program so that parents can opt to send their kids to private schools and pay for it with taxpayer dollars; and property tax relief totaling half of the $33 billion surplus. Neither passed in the regular session.

The special session was called to address the property tax issue as well as human trafficking along the border. At this writing, the House has passed the bills and adjourned sine die ('without a day,' meaning the House is not coming back in the special session), leaving the future of this special session totally up to the Senate to pass the bills exactly as the House did, or let them die.

Disagreement between the House and Senate on vouchers and property tax reduction negatively influenced the entire legislative process in the regular session and led to many bills of each not being passed by the other body in retaliation. This happens at the end of every session to some extent, but the dissension, both public and private, between the bodies has been the most rancorous in recent memory.

This is curious, since Republicans have full control of state government, but they are not all on the same page. A high-ranking staffer for a Senate Chairperson said recently when talking about the House, ‘it’s like they’re in a different party!’

Added to the mix, the House General Investigating committee voted unanimously to refer twenty articles of impeachment against Attorney General Ken Paxton to the full House, based on their investigation into allegations of his wrongdoing, and the full House voted 121-23 to adopt the articles. The impeachment trial will be conducted by the Senate in August according to some sources. The impeachment followed just weeks after the House voted unanimously to expel one of its own members for sexual misconduct.

For the most part, the bills affecting TACCA and the HVACR industry did not get caught up in the infighting. The following is an update on bills TACCA was tracking.

Public Education - Fighting over vouchers made everyone a loser.

1. HB 100 by Chairman Ken King (R-Canadian), was the big education bill providing for teacher pay raises among other changes. Unfortunately, the House version all but eliminated funding for Career and Technology Education (CTE). The Senate restored the CTE funding but amended the voucher bill onto it, so it died and along with it, teacher pay raises.

2. HB 1859 by Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) – Under this bill the minimum age for a registered technician is lowered from 18 to 16. This is the bill TACCA worked on with Rep. Schaefer to require “direct supervision” instead of “on-site supervision” of a registered technician younger than 18 by a contractor or certified technician. It also expands the available teaching pool for HVACR CTE programs by allowing either a licensed air conditioning and refrigeration contractor or a certified air conditioning and refrigeration technician to serve as instructors. Passed.

  3. HB 1391 by Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) – Creates a new pathway to obtain a residential wireman license if the applicant successfully completes a CTE program. Currently, the only way to qualify is to complete 4,000 hours of on-the-job training under the supervision of a master electrician or residential wireman. The CTE program would either be established under the Education Code or a similar program to be determined by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) and offered by an institution of higher education or a private school. A person who successfully completes a sequence of courses in the electrical trade that is offered through a CTE program could apply for and take an examination for a residential wireman license, regardless of whether the person has completed the required number of hours of on-the-job training. Passed.

  4. SB 68 by Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) allows high school juniors and seniors to take up to two days off from school each year as excused absences to visit a professional workplace for a career investigation day. Passed.

Higher Education – TACCA was tracking several bills of note which affect institutions of higher education which provide instruction in HVACR. 

1. HB 8 by Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R-New Boston) - Establishes a public junior college state finance program that ensures community colleges across Texas can access foundational levels of funding for instruction and operations and by providing for the establishment of a program to provide financial aid to certain high school students enrolled in dual credit courses. The bill also improves efficiencies for students transferring between community colleges and four-year universities, and provides for piloting, expanding, and streamlining various grant programs. These grant programs address more efficient use of financial aid, expanding workforce partnerships, and other components of postsecondary success. Passed.

2. HB 3287 by Rep. Doc Anderson (R-Waco) – This bill cleaned up the statute determining where the Texas State Technical College System (TSTC) can operate campuses by designating the areas by county rather than individual cities. Passed.

  3. SJR 81 by Chair Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) – This is the bill that TSTC championed that would have established an endowment for a dedicated funding source for capital projects and equipment purchases for the TSTC System. The bill died at the very end of the session despite passing both chambers unanimously. However, the House version expanded the endowment to also include the Lamar University System. With the contingent $1.05 billion already included in the adopted and passed budget, Lt. Gov. Patrick and Speaker Phelan could not agree on the split between the two institutions. Lt. Gov. Patrick wanted $750M for TSTC and $300M for Lamar, while Speaker Phelan wanted $577.5M for TSTC and $472.5M for Lamar, in a great example of how their animosity plays out. Died.

Workforce Measures – A number of bills relating to workforce development and grant programs were on TACCA’s tracking list.

1. HB 1755 by Chair Angie Chen Button (R-Garland) - Establishes the Lone Star Workforce of the Future Fund grant program through which the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) will provide grants to public junior colleges and technical institutes and nonprofits that satisfy certain eligibility requirements and administer performance-based workforce training programs that lead to employment in high-demand occupations. Passed.

2. HB 4390 by Chair Angie Chen Button (R-Garland) - Revises the definition of an "industry-recognized apprenticeship program" to mean a training program certified as such by the TWC. The certification criteria would have to include that the training program: led to the attainment of certain skills; involved manual, mechanical, or technical skills or knowledge requiring significant on-the-job work experience; and required related instruction to supplement the on-the-job training. The House version excluded training programs in the construction industry, but the Senate removed that section. However, the House determined that some of the Senate amendments were non-germane (not relevant to the original bill language) and the bill died.

3. HB 4451 by Rep. Salman Bhojani (F)(D-Euless) - requires the TWC, in consultation with local workforce development boards, to submit to the legislature by September 1 of each year a report on available apprenticeship programs in Texas and make recommendations to expand the availability of apprenticeship programs in emerging and high-demand industries. The report must include data on the total number of active apprenticeship programs and active apprentices, categorized by the industries included in the North American Industry Classification System; and the total occupational demand for each industry, categorized by each occupation in the industry for which an apprenticeship program may be established. Passed.

Plumbing Bill - HB 2334 is the bill TACCA opposed in solidarity with PHCC. Unfortunately it passed. A person will no longer be required to have a plumbing license to install, service or repair mains or service lines that provide water, sewer or storm drainage services on private property in an area that extends from a public right-of-way or public easement to not less than five feet from a building or structure, with exceptions for plumbing work performed on private property designated for a one-family or two-family dwelling.