The Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Association (TACCA) continues to be the leader in HVAC continuing education and license preparatory courses in the state of Texas as well as being an influential legislative voice at the State Capitol. Here are just a few of the things TACCA has worked on this past year:

January – April

TACCA tracked more than 100 bills throughout the 86^th Texas Legislation Session that had the potential to impact the HVACR industry or small business. Unfortunately, TACCA’s own bill, HB 4249, which provided that municipalities could not continue to charge registration fees to HVAC contractors, did not pass. The Plumbing Board Sunset bill, SB 621 which would have abolished the Plumbing Board and moved the regulation of plumbers to TDLR, also failed. Bills that passed include HB 1342 related to criminal conviction history and determining whether it directly relates to the duties and responsibilities of a licensed, HB 2452 which allows TDLR to contract with a qualified individual to assist with reviewing and investigating complaints, SB 237 related to what personal information for a license holder should be made available on an agency’s website, SB 1217 related to determining a person's fitness to perform the duties and discharge the responsibilities of a licensed occupation, and SB 1531 relating to the eligibility for certain occupational licenses and the use of a person's criminal history as grounds for certain actions related to the license.

May – August

The Board of Directors accepted the resignation of longtime Executive Director Todd McAlister and began the process of an executive director search. The search was conducted by Roland Arrisola, Randy Bellomy, Nick Watkins, Jimmy Barry, and Shannon Noble and was led by TACCA President Roy Jones. The search committee interviewed a number of qualified candidates over a two month period. A huge thank you to TACCA’s Education Coordinator Emily Valdez-Moore for all her hard work assisting members and keeping everything in the office on track during this transition period.

September – December

TACCA hired its new executive director, Devorah Jakubowsky, CAE. Since her arrival in early September, TACCA has:

• Surveyed members regarding topics for 2020 CE course and started the development of the curriculum
• Attended TDLR Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors Advisory Board meeting
• Held a reception (sponsored in part by Federated Insurance) in Irving for North Texas members prior to the quarterly TACCA board meeting
• Begun actively participating in TDLR’s sunset review process through discussions with TDLR and Sunset Review staff
• Participated in the Texas Workforce Coalition with Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Texas State Technical College and other industry organizations to discuss pathways to careers in the trades
• Started a redesign project to improve the TACCA website
• Established several committees – Education & Training, TACCAPAC (Political Action), Membership, Chapter Relations and Legislative – and encourages any member who is interested in participating to get involved

TACCA’s mission is to promote quality and professionalism, help our members become more profitable, and enhance the HVAC/R industry's image with the consumer. TACCA is focused on providing information, benefits, education and legislative representation to our members.