2024 is already into May. That means a new Texas Legislative Session is right around the corner. We are six months away from the beginning of bill filing for the 2025 Legislative Session, on Monday, November 11. Now, is the time to get involved in the process to ensure the POA industry has a voice, in Austin, in 2025. One organization managers and board members can become involved with ensuring the voice of the POA industry is heard in Austin is the Texas Legislative Action Committee (TLAC).
TLAC was founded following the industry shifting 2021 Legislative Session, which saw numerous new laws that brought increased regulation to a self-regulated industry. The laws, while well-intended, were left open to interpretation in many of the sections and lacked the industry voice necessary to ensure they were not only effective for POAs, but homeowners and community members as well.
In its short history, TLAC has already made an impact on the legislative process. The committee successfully navigated one of its sponsored bills through the 2023 Legislative Session, has been recognized by CAI as the Legislative Action Committee of the Year and is gearing up for what will hopefully be another successful legislative session.
TLAC combines the resources of CAI’s four Texas chapters to generate a cohesive message to state legislators on bills that could have a potential effect on POAs. TLAC members include attorneys, community managers, board members and other key industry stakeholders. The attorneys of RMWBH are represented on TLAC through the work of Clint Brown.
Clint serves as the Co-Chair of the Bill Review Committee and participates in other committees. In this role, Clint and/or other members of the committee will review the proposed bills, offer summaries and then Clint or another member of the committee will present TLAC’s position on the bill in front of the Senate or House of Representatives committee to explain why a POA bill is a good thing, why TLAC is neutral, or why there might be issues with the bill in its current composition. Having Clint’s voice on the committee is important for RMWBH to ensure that our clients’ concerns on legislative issues are addressed.
TLAC’s efforts are even now stretching beyond Austin. TLAC has partnered with other CAI Legislative Action Committees to express their concerns about the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) to lawmakers in Washington. CAI and TLAC are currently meeting with lawmakers on why an extension is needed to the deadline to come into compliance with the CTA.
Of course, TLAC is just one voice in representing POA issues to lawmakers, but it does not have to be the only one. The voices of the many managers, board members, committee members and other volunteers who are concerned about the impact legislation has on their communities are powerful tools in shaping the legislative process. The time to shape lawmakers’ thoughts on the issues to ensure the issues are addressed from the initial draft of the bills filed between November 2024 and mid-March 2025 is now. Once the legislative session begins, reaching the ears of lawmakers becomes more difficult. You can find the representatives for the communities you manage or communities you reside in by using the Who Represents Me? link on the Capitol’s website. Senate and House members can be contacted by phone, email and old-fashioned snail mail to ensure they are educated on the issues and concerns facing the POA industry going into 2025.
