Action Center: South Central Region
The action center is where information about legislative actions around the country are gathered and posted for the benefit of all members. If you have any information to add here to the South Central Region (Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana), e-mail govtaffairschair@narpm.org.
Quick
hits
%u2022
According to Quorum Report, TDHCA
Executive Director Michael Gerber is stepping down in June.
%u2022 The Hill
Visits news release and
accompanying photo showed up in Las
Vegas and in Times
Square.
Halfway to the
governor’s desk!
In a fast-paced floor session Wednesday, both SB 1000 (SDSI) and SB 1353
(DTPA) were unanimously passed out of the Senate.
SB 1353 passed with an association-supported amendment—more on that below.
SB 1000 passed with no amendments.
Many thanks to Sen. Kevin Eltife (Tyler), who authored both bills and saw them
through the process.
The bills now go to the House for consideration.
Watch
the Senate session – fast
forward to 1:07:15. SDSI is first, DTPA immediately follows.
A special note from Tom
Morgan, senior vice president of Legal Affairs
SB 1353, the DTPA bill, passed the Texas Senate Wednesday by unanimous
consent. This is a huge step forward.
To accomplish this feat, the association negotiated
a floor amendment with the
Texas Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA) that removed all objections raised by
individual Senators. Even though the TTLA agreed to the language, a few
individual Senators still had reservations about the bill, which were
eliminated with extensive work by association staff.
The bill accomplishes 100% of what the association sought to achieve with this
legislation. By clearly eliminating the right of a consumer to plead a DTPA
violation for an innocent misrepresentation by a real estate licensee, the
legislation allows Texas REALTORS® to swiftly answer frivolous and abusive
demand letters by parties who are seeking quick settlement for nuisance value.
In essence, the floor amendment allows a truly aggrieved consumer to sue a real
estate licensee for unconscionable and intentional misrepresentation—a right
the consumer also has under both common law and statutory fraud.
It was never the association’s intent to protect real estate licensees against
lawsuits for unconscionable and intentional misrepresentation, so this floor
amendment is consistent with association policy.
If the bill becomes law, it will be, by some measures, the most significant
legislative victory for Texas REALTORS® in over 35 years.
Furthermore, if the bill becomes law, the association’s legal department will
draft form-response letters that Texas REALTORS® can use as a member benefit to
respond to frivolous demands.
Bigger than the House
The Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) passed
a budget on Thursday morning.
The Senate budget is $12 billion larger than the House version, but is 5.9%
smaller than the current budget. Unlike the House version, the upper chamber's
proposal calls for the use of over $3 billion from the Rainy Day Fund.
Just Ask!
Reader question: Why does redistricting stir up so
much passion?
Liaison Answer: Here’s the short answer: The more
direct control political parties have over the drawing of district lines, the
more they are able to manipulate the lines to produce the results they want.
And try as they might, it’s impossible to remove partisan politics from the
process.
For the long answer, start
with a definition of redistricting from the Guide to Texas Legislative
Information:
“A geographical division of the state into congressional, state
representative, senatorial, or other legislative districts on the basis of the
relative distribution of the state’s total population. District boundaries are
redrawn every 10 years following the publication of the U.S. census to ensure
an appropriate number of districts of approximately equal population.”
Legislators are
constitutionally mandated to draw these lines—the process is carried out by
House and Senate committees on redistricting.
Now, according to the 2010
census, there are 25,145,561 people living in Texas. Using that number, here’s
a breakdown of ideal districts:
%u2022 US Congress (36 districts)
698,488
%u2022 State Senate (31
districts) 811,147
%u2022 State House of
Representatives (150 districts) 167,637
%u2022 State Board of Education
(15 districts) 1,676,371
Urbanization and other
demographic changes mean new districts will emerge and existing districts will
be redrawn—this is something politicians take very personally. It will also
almost definitely lead to incumbents running against each other.
To further complicate
matters, according to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Texas is one of nine
states subject to federal oversight of the redistricting process.
Republicans currently
control 101 of the 151 seats in the House (a “supermajority”) and 19 of 31
seats in the Senate. Most observers believe it’s not feasible to draw federally
approved district lines that would maintain that control.
Watch The Texas Tribune’s Evan
Smith interview the chairs of the redistricting committees, Sen. Kel
Seliger (R-Amarillo) and Rep. Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton).
Around the Web %u2026
%u2022 This Houston Chronicle article discusses
the effect the state’s demographic shift is
having on a traditional powerhouse of politics—West Texas.
%u2022 The Texas Observer looks at the controversy
behind regulating natural-gas pipelines.
%u2022 In this San Antonio Express-News article, Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston)
seems open
to a statewide property tax –
see the last paragraph.
%u2022 Bill Hanna of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram examines problems legislators face
when looking
for a funding source for the State Water Plan.
%u2022 KUT News looks into a Kyle, TX company’s $44 million contract to develop a wind-power storage
solution. This system would help harness, store, and release wind-generated
power.
%u2022 The Texas Supreme Court is reconsidering
its November 2010 decision on
the Open Beaches Act.
%u2022 This list of
additional revenue sources identified
by Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) has identified does not include real estate
sources.
%u2022 Gov. Perry announces the Governor’s
Mansion will have solar panels when
the renovation project is complete. In 2008, the mansion was severely damaged
by a fire resulting from arson.
%u2022 The Texas Tribune looks at serious
drought conditions in the
Midland area.
%u2022 Just for fun, check out this Slackerwood collection of old film footage about
Texas politics.
New Meth Lab Disclosure Requirement in Oklahoma
An Oklahoma bill that would require landlords to disclose whether or not a residence was previously used to manufacture methamphetamines to potential tenants will take effect starting November 1, 2010. The statute says landlords do not have to disclose the manufacture of methamphetamines in the residence if the level of contamination has been assessed and it “does not exceed one-tenth of one microgram per one hundred square centimeters of surface materials within the dwelling unit or pertinent part of the premises.” Access the full story from Ada Evening News. Read an additional article on the legislation.
posted 10.18.10
Texas Real Estate Commission Changes Proposed
For our members in Texas, NARPM® would like to bring your attention to a long list of proposed changed being considered by the Texas Real Estate Board (TREC). Below is a brief summary of some changes; however, we encourage you to take a few minutes to review the actual language being proposed which can be found here. There are also additional proposed changes to advertising regulations which can be found here.
Comments on the proposals may be submitted to Loretta R. DeHay, General Counsel, Texas Real Estate Commission, P.O. Box 12188, Austin, Texas 78711-2188. The deadline for comments is October 10th. Thank you to Jim Smith of Austin for bringing this information to our attention.
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC or the commission) proposes amendments to §535.61, concerning examinations; §535.62, concerning Acceptable Courses of Study; and proposes new §535.63, concerning Accreditation of Core Education Schools; new §535.64, concerning Obtaining Approval to Offer a Course; new §535.65, concerning Operation of Core Education Schools; new §535.66, concerning Core Education Providers: Audits, Investigations, and Enforcement Actions; new §535.67, concerning Approval of Instructors; and new §535.68, concerning Additional Information Related to an Application. The commission renames the subchapter name from "Education, Experience, Educational Programs, Time Periods and Type of Licensure" to "Pre-License Education and Examination."
posted 09.28.10
Farmers Branch Rental Ordinance Struck Down
A federal judge has ruled that a Farmers Branch ordinance banning illegal immigrants from renting apartments is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle of Dallas ruled Wednesday that the ordinance was an attempt to enforce U.S. immigration laws, something only the federal government can do. The ordinance established a licensing system for renters in Farmers Branch. Renters would be required to pay a $5 fee and obtain a residential occupancy license issued by the city's building inspector. Under the system, the building inspector would verify a renter's immigration status with federal officials if the renter did not declare him or herself a citizen or national of the United States. The city would revoke the licenses of people the federal government said were in the country illegally. Click here to access the full story from NBC-DFW.
posted 03.26.10
Texas Legislative Network
In Texas, we are making a little progress in building a legislative network. We first sent a solicitation to all San Antonio members to submit their “pet peeves” that might be fixed by statutory changes. Didn’t get a lot of fresh ideas, but had a few of our own. With help from some friendly lawyers, we drafted an initial working list. A few senior statewide names were added to the distribution list and several of the “big boys” asked to be added to the distribution list. Mark Kreditor, MPM® RMP®, widely respected in Texas property management circles, has helped and recommended that the distribution list statewide. In short, it seems to be taking off. Attributed to: Pat Patton of San Antonio, TX Chapter