April 9, 2009

HB 818/SB 555 Indemnification Update

The House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee held a hearing on HB 818 by Representative Craig Eiland on Monday, April 6^th.  The testimony on the bill was very similar to the testimony in the Senate on SB 555.  This eleven member committee only has two holdover members from two years ago.  The committee members had a lot of questions about the legislation.  It was pretty much the same team from AGC, TCA and TCJL that testified for the bill while the railroads, several city attorneys and the homebuilders testified against the bill.  It was evident that committee members had heard from a lot of folks on both sides of the issue.

At the end of the hearing, Chairman Todd Hunter asked all the groups to get back to Vice Chairman Bryan Hughes with additional thoughts on the legislation.  Vice Chairman Hughes facilitated a meeting on Thursday morning with about 30 stakeholders to discuss their issues.  The talks do not appear to have moved the discussion much one way or the other.  Vice Chairman Hughes will report back to the full committee next week.  AGC, TCA and TCJL continue to feel very positive about the movement of this legislation.
 

Legislative Update - Key Issues

Following is an update of key bills that are being worked by AGC
Texas Building Branch.

SB 1110 by Senator Jackson/HB 2106 by Representative Geren
Consolidation of Public Alternative Delivery for Construction Projects – AGC Bill - Supports. SB 1110 is expected to move through the Texas Senate next week on the Senate Local Consent Calendar.  It will then move to the House and will be referred to the House State Affairs Committee where it will join its companion – HB 2106.

HB 3203 by Representative Hartnett
Recovery of attorney’s fees in suits with local governmental entities – AGC Bill - Supports. HB 3203 is in the House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee and it is expected to have a hearing in this committee next week.

SB 1183 by Senator Wentworth
State sovereign immunity – AGC Bill - Supports. This bill is in the Senate State Affairs Committee – AGC staff is working with Senator Wentworth’s staff to try to have this bill scheduled for a hearing.

SB 1457 by Senator Corona
Sovereign immunity waived if a governmental entity fails to make a timely payment. This bill is being carried by Senator Carona for a constituent.  It is a very good bill and is supported by AGC.  Senator Carona has been trying to get this bill set for a hearing in the Senate State Affairs Committee.

HB 3759 by Representative Smithee/SB 1551 by Senator Carona
Consolidated Insurance Program bill. These bills have not been scheduled for a hearing in their respective committees in the House and Senate.  TCA is continuing to work with AGC on concerns with the legislation.

HB 1807 by Representative Giddings
Registration of crane operators. This bill was heard in the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee last week.  AGC testified on the bill that the state should wait to see what happens at the federal level with the pending rulemaking at OSHA with the Crane and Derrick Standard that is expected to be adopted sometime in 2010.  Chairman Edmund Kuempel has asked groups to visit with Representative Giddings about their concerns.  Representative Giddings' staff asked AGC to visit with them earlier this week.

HB 2696 by Representative Gattis/SB 222 by Senator West
Arbitration proceedings. AGC is opposed to these bills as they currently stand and has been visiting with the respective bill sponsors about the construction industry’s concerns.  The bills have been referred to the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee and the Senate Jurisprudence Committee respectively and neither bill has been scheduled for a hearing at this time.
 

State Legislative Issues

State Budget
The House will tackle the budget bill for the state after it returns from the 4-day Easter break.  The House Appropriations Committee is sending a $178.4 Billion budget bill to the House for consideration.  This bill is about $4 Billion smaller than the version of the budget bill passed by the Senate – the biggest difference is $2 Billion less for transportation bonding, $1 Billion less for Medicaid and about $300 Million less for the state’s cancer prevention and research center.  The state’s rainy day funds, just like in the Senate, have not been touched.  As with the Senate version it is heavily dependent on the federal stimulus funds.  The prospects of a special session to redo the budget bill was raised by some around the Capitol this week based on the observation of those inside who are still not sure the Feds will sign off on the use of the stimulus funds by the legislature.  It was stated this week that the Feds may not weigh in on this until late May.  Stay tuned.

Sales Tax Collections Down
The Comptroller has reported that sales tax collections for March 2009 are down 3.8% when compared to March 2008.  The fall off in revenue to the state again signals that the 2011 Session for Texas Legislators is going be extremely difficult.  Many are looking ahead and projecting a revenue shortfall that will likely be higher than $10 Billion.

LBB reports School Finance Equity Issues
A report issued this week by the Legislative Budget Board raises issues with the state’s school finance system.  It appears that this is going to be another big issue that will be awaiting Legislators when they return in 2011.

Senate Clean Air Bill Almost Ready to Move to the House
SB 16 which deals with the state’s clean air issues passed a preliminary vote in the Texas Senate this past week on a 22 to 9 vote.  The Senate will have to pass this bill on third reading when it returns after the Easter break.  This has been and will continue to be a highly debated piece of legislation.  The vote to pass the bill to third reading was supported by all 12 Democrats and 10 Republicans with the remaining 9 Republicans in opposition to the bill. 

Does Green Have a Chance?
The Legislature has seen more “green bills” introduced this session than ever before.  It appears that almost all of these bills will be the victim of bad timing.  They all come with a price tag that in legislative terms is expressed as a “fiscal note”.  The fiscal notes on these bills really make them a non-starter for legislators who are struggling to hold the line on the state’s budget.  It is possible that some small piece of this pie could find its way into SB 16.  As discussed earlier, the forecast for 2011 may be even worse.
 

AGC Legislative Conference Call
Monday, April 13th at 11 AM

The next AGC Texas Building Branch staff legislative conference call will take place on Monday, April 13^th at 11 AM.  This call will last about 15 minutes.  The call is open to all AGC members – again, we only ask that you mute your phones to that everyone can hear.  Following are the details for the call.

Call 1-800-377-8846 and then enter the pass code when prompted – the pass code is 48723709 followed by the # sign.