REALTOR® Day at the Texas Capitol
88th Legislative Session
March 22, 2023
REALTOR® Priorities: House Talking Points and Key Contact Meeting Notes
“LCT NOTES” IN GREY ARE FOR REFERENCE ONLY; DO NOT READ ALOUD
Chair Tracy King
Rep. King is Chair of the Natural Resources Committee
- LCT NOTE: Be sure to introduce yourself, explain who you are, and what REALTOR® Day at the Texas Capitol encompasses.
- LCT NOTE: This looks like a lot of content, but the meeting will go fast!
- LCT NOTE: This script has a logical flow, but you don’t need to read it word-for-word – focus on the highlighted words! And some issues may be more or less relevant to your district – it’s okay to focus on the issues that make the most sense for your area, especially if time is limited.
- LCT NOTE: Key Contacts (or someone on the team) should have the tri-fold leave-behind that was handed out at the bus drop-off – if not, let staff know in your post-meeting report and we’ll run one by the legislator’s office.
Thank you for meeting with us today to talk real estate and Texas REALTORS® legislative priorities!
We’ve put together a simple pamphlet to lay out our priorities, including quite a few specific bills Texas REALTORS® are supporting this year –
- LCT NOTE: If the Representative/staff asks questions about specific legislation that you’re not sure how to answer, DO NOT GUESS … assure them Texas REALTORS® lobby staff will follow up. Key contacts may also share Julia, Seth, or Tray’s contact information (also included in the tri-fold pamphlet).
We want to be respectful of your time, so we’ll highlight some general priorities and a few specific bills, all of which can be found on the one-pager.
- LCT NOTE: Personal stories are essential to describing why these issues matter to REALTORS®. Key Contacts can tell their own or call on other attendees to share how these issues have impacted them.
ISSUE – INFRASTRUCTURE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
People keep moving to Texas … about 1,000 per day … and we want to keep that going.
That’s why we’re so glad to see the Legislature focusing on important big-picture infrastructure issues, like broadband access and water.
REALTORS® have been advocating for dependable and affordable internet access at the state and federal level for years and we appreciate the work that the Legislature is doing.
We are proud to support House Bill 9, House Bill 2662, and HJR 125 by Chair Trent Ashby.
This is a huge issue for our district, so again, we’re glad the Legislature is continuing to take action after last session’s big broadband bill.
Perhaps the most critical part of our infrastructure is our water supply … so obviously, we’re supportive of efforts to ensure we have water for our booming population. We are happy to support your HB 10, because its so important we make sure all parts of the state have access to the resources they need. Thank you for carrying this bill!
We’d also like the Legislature to pass measures that incentivize economic development – and are supporting House Bill 5 by Chair Todd Hunter, which is a new approach to economic development agreements.
We’re also coming off a historic time in Texas real estate … and even though the market has normalized a little, demand for real estate in Texas is still very high!
- LCT NOTE: Talk briefly about your local market or highlight some local statistics (Inventory challenges, Days on Market, lack of “middle” housing, etc.)
- LCT NOTE: Offer to send the one-page Housing Report for the representative’s district (in the portal under “2022 Housing Report”.)
With that, though … we are very concerned about housing affordability … as we continue to see inventory shortages, especially at lower price points.
There are a lot of different reasons for that … and there is no silver bullet to fix it … but there are several bills that can chip away at the problem.
We think eliminating regulatory barriers to housing development can help, like HB 14 by Chair Cody Harris. And so can other bills that provide additional housing options, like HB 2789 by Representative Justin Holland.
Our pamphlet highlights some of those bills … they all have the goal of increasing housing stock and improving housing affordability.
ISSUE – Property Taxes
We can’t talk about housing affordability without mentioning everyone’s favorite subject – Property Taxes.
We remain committed to identifying different ways to lower property taxes – including expanded exemptions for property owners and businesses, as well as the continued buying down (compression) of school tax rates.
- LCT NOTE: DO NOT MENTION THIS UNLESS THEY DO – House members (particularly Republicans) may ask you why the REALTORS® do not support the House’s property tax relief plan, HB 2/HJR 1 by Chair Morgan Meyer. There were a few things in that bill that we do support, i.e., rate compression and escrow options for all property owners. Our opposition is based on the 5% appraisal caps – a position TR has held for years. Appraisal caps sound like a good idea, but they:
- Will not reduce local government spending (and therefore merely shift the tax burden around, instead of lowering it)
- Create long-term distortions in the market and discourage people from selling or moving
- Can exacerbate housing affordability issues by decreasing the number of homes on the market
- Treat property owners differently based on how long they’ve owned the property
- Inject unfair competition in the commercial leasing market
We are also happy to support bills like HB 1027 by Rep. Shelby Slawson that eliminates change-of-use taxes – which you might hear called “lookback taxes.” These are the additional, retroactive taxes that are charged when a property changes from agricultural use to residential or commercial.
ISSUE – PROPERTY RIGHTS
Property rights are the foundation upon which all our association advocacy efforts are built, and we always track any legislation that adds to or takes away private property rights…
As real estate professionals, we certainly see the value in property owners’ associations … but some communities had gone unchecked for too long and had begun infringing on core private property rights. Thankfully the legislature made a lot of progress to rein in that behavior last session.
This year, we’re supporting HB 3503 by Rep. Turner as a continuation of last session’s HOA reforms.
- LCT NOTE: If the representative asks specifics, please inform Texas REALTORS® staff ASAP – our lobby team will want to visit the office.
This bill reinforces property owner rights by making sure the transparency measures included in the 2021 legislation apply to all property owners’ associations, including condos. It also extends resale fee caps to condos, as well. We respectfully request that you consider supporting these reforms.
Perhaps our strongest property tradition is farming. Texas has more than 248,000 farms and more than 127 million acres of farmland… that’s almost 75% of the state’s total square miles! The importance of agricultural activities in this state is immeasurable. That’s why we are supporting HB 1750 by Chair DeWayne Burns. This bill, which was voted out of committee last week, protects Texans’ Right-To-Farm by limiting a city’s ability to restrict personal agricultural operations.
ISSUE – TRANSACTIONS
Finally, there are a few bills we’re focusing on that deal directly with the business of real estate transactions. Specifically, public improvement districts, or PIDs, have become a hot topic of conversation in recent years.
- LCT NOTE: The representative or staff might not be familiar with PIDs. These districts are created by cities or counties and cover a particular neighborhood or region – the district is established to provide specific types of improvements or maintenance and is financed by assessment against the property owners within the area.
In 2021, then-Representative Tan Parker carried legislation to require that sellers provide buyers with a notice if their property is in a PID. After seeing that law at work over the last two years, we’ve identified a few areas where it could be improved.
We’re supporting HB 4277 by Chair Oscar Longoria, and Senator Tan Parker has the companion bill – this minor change just makes sure a seller is protected if the property is in a PID, but the city or county hasn’t recorded the PID information with the county clerk like they’re supposed to.
- LCT NOTE: This legislation is a bit technical, but the bottom line is to make sure that sellers can’t be penalized for not disclosing something they weren’t aware of.
That notice requirement also made us think further about how PID information could be easier to find. That’s why we’re strongly supporting HB 4232 by Rep. Hugh Shine, which would ensure that property owners can easily find PID information when they look up their property on the central appraisal district’s website.
MEETING CONCLUSION
Again, you can refer to our pamphlet, which outlines numerous specific bills we are supporting related to our priority issues.
We appreciate your attention. Do you have any questions for us? In particular, is there anything you need from the REALTORS®?
Our legislative staff’s contact information is on this pamphlet … they’re always available to answer questions about Texas REALTORS® stance on specific legislation.
- LCT NOTE: Be sure to thank the legislator’s staff for all they do (legislative staff are tremendously important but are mostly behind the scenes). They keep this whole process moving!
- LCT NOTE: Seek permission from the lawmaker or staff to grab a photo for use on social media.
- LCT NOTE: Grab staffs’ cards if you or TR staff would like to follow up on any issues.
- LCT NOTE: We recommend sending a handwritten thank-you note to the lawmaker and the staff.
Thank you for continuing to support the housing and real estate profession, and for taking the time to meet with us today!