THE HOME BUILDER
July 2023
Page Two
David Lehde Director of Government Affairs From D.C. to Texas, June Was Productive on Regulatory Front The HomeFront Government Affairs News and Info
Texas Legislature. Governor Greg Ab- bott recently signed the three pieces of legislation into law. House Bill 3492, authored by Representative Lynn Stucky and car - ried in the Senate by Senator Drew Springer, was Dallas BA’s priority leg - islation for the 88th Texas Legislature. Dallas BA teamed with the Texas Association of Builders, who also listed HB 3492 as priority legislation, to secure a bill author and sponsor. HB 3492 ensures that munici - palities and counties base develop- ment review and inspection fees on the governmental entity’s cost of performing these services as opposed to the valuation of the plans, project or components being assessed. The legis- lation also helps ensure transparency. Under the Texas Constitution, regulatory fees assessed by a mu - nicipality that are not proportional to the operating costs of the program for which the fee is charged and that return more than what it costs to run the program in association with the regulation can result in a fee that is an unauthorized occupations tax. HB 3492 provides methods that will lead to reduced fees which will ultimately be passed on to future home buyers. The law becomes effective on Sept. 1, 2023. House Bills 2022 and 2024, au - thored by Representative Jeff Leach and sponsored by Senator Phil King, were the top legislative priorities for the Texas Association of Builders for the 88th session. HB 2022, which makes the first substantive changes to the Texas Residential Construction Liability Act (RCLA) in 20 years, improves the dispute resolution process by which a builder makes an offer to repair con - struction defects. HB 2024 helps the
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homeowner by incentivizing that a written warranty be offered by build - ers and remodelers in order to reduce the length of the statute of repose for residential construction. If a written warranty is offered, the statute of repose is lowered from 10 to 6 years. If no written warranty is offered, the statute of repose remains at 10 years. This brings Texas in line with many of its peer states that have reduced times in their similar statutes. Members are strongly encour - aged to consult with legal counsel before making changes to contracts, especially the duration of warranties offered. HB 2022 becomes effective
on Sept. 1 and HB 2024 is effective immediately. House Bills 3492, 2022 and 2024 will help address the affordability is - sues facing homeowners and potential home buyers across the state. Dallas BA will now turn its focus to monitoring how local government entities enforce measures in light of the new laws and advocate that the protections those statutes offer home builders and home buyers are inter - preted correctly. Members who have questions about these and other advocacy efforts are urged to contact the Director of Government Affairs .
importance of continuing the effort to repeal a provision from the 2021 Inflation Reduction Act that would force municipalities to adopt, possibly unknowingly, more stringent energy codes in return for grants. The caveat of not being able to amend the codes to best match a local jurisdiction’s needs will not only limit energy choices for consumers, but also worsen the current housing affordability crisis. Dallas BA also informed our members of Congress about the need for 2.2 million new construction work - ers that will be needed to keep up with the nation’s housing demand over the next 3 years. With the DFW region already facing a shortage of 25,000 workers, we asked Congress to reauthorize the Workplace Innovation and Opportu- nity Act to help ease the shortage and fully fund the Job Corps program, which helps train skilled labor for the industry. During our time in Washington, D.C. members and staff rom Dallas BA met with U.S. Representatives Colin Allred, Michael Burgess, Jasmine Crockett, Jake Ellzey, Pat Fallon, Lance Gooden, Ronny Jackson, Beth Van Duyne, Marc Veasey and the staff of Representative Keith Self. Dallas BA’s congressional meet- ings were part of the National Asso- ciation of Home Builders Legislative Conference which saw hundreds from our industry advocate for home building. Governor Abbott Signs Builder Priority Legislation June also saw the finish line for three priority home builder bills that had made it through a challenging 88th
Don Allen, David Lehde, Frank Murphy, Congress- woman Beth Van Duyne, Kent Conine, Heather Lami- nack
David Lehde, Micheal Turner, Congressman Colin Allred, Michelle Carter- Love
Tim Lans- ford, John Porizek, Joshua Correa, Phil Crone Michell Carter-Love, Congress- woman Jasmine Crockett, Mi- chael Turner
The Home Builder is published monthly by the Dallas Builders Association at 5816 W. Plano Pkwy., Plano, Texas 75093. Telephone 972-931-4840. BARCIE VILCHES, Editor
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