The Legislature convened the 86th Legislative Session on Tuesday, January 8th and a lot of legislative “housekeeping” items have been going on since.
The House voted unanimously to elevate Dennis Bonnen as their Speaker of the House. Speaker Bonnen gave a very moving acceptance speech. Last week the Governor and Lieutenant Governor were inaugurated and George Strait played at the Inaugural Ball.
As of this email, 1,471 pieces of legislation have been filed by legislators. Of those, we are tracking 5 bills that will have an impact on the towing industry. Two of those bills will have a detrimental impact to your business.
HB 625 by Victoria Neave Relating to notice and request for a hearing regarding a vehicle that has been towed or booted. HB 625 would allow a vehicle owner 60 days, instead of the current law of 14 days, to request a hearing.
HB 626 by Victoria Neave Relating to notice of a person’s right to a hearing placed on a sign prohibiting unauthorized vehicles on a parking facility. This bill would require a statement describing a person’s right to request a court hearing to determine whether probable cause existed to remove, or install a boot on, a vehicle.
Last week, Senator Nelson filed Senate Bill 1, the budget bill. Likewise, the Legislative Budget Board released, what we believe will be, the House budget bill. The House budget will not be filed until the House Committee assignments come out later this month, but I would anticipate that the language will be identical.
Additionally, the Lieutenant Governor issued committee assignments on Friday. You may access the complete list with this link. https://senate.texas.gov/_assets/pdf/86th_Senate_Committees.pdf Senate bills will start being referred to the committees of jurisdiction this week and the Senate Finance Committee will begin their budget hearings tomorrow with an organization meeting.
There are key dates that we will be working under. As soon as we have a copy of the House Rules Calendar, I will provide a copy to you. As many of you may know, the House and Senate are not allowed, under the Constitution to pass any bills during the first sixty days, unless it is declared an emergency item by the Governor. That being said, the committees can hold hearings on bills during that time.
Southwest Tow Operators