REALTOR® Day at the Texas Capitol 

88th Legislative Session 
March 22, 2023 

REALTOR® Priorities: Senate Talking Points and Key Contact Meeting Notes 
“LCT Notes” in grey are for reference only; do not read aloud 

Senator Sarah Eckhardt 

  • 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 Senator/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 pamphlet.  

  • 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. 

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. And that’s why we are happy to support SB 28 by Chair Charles Perry. 

REALTORS® have also been advocating for dependable and affordable internet access at the state and federal levels for years.  

This is a huge issue for our district, so we encourage the Senate to support measures that will add more funding to broadband development in both our rural and urban areas. 

We’d also like the Legislature to pass measures that incentivize economic development – we know you’re considering a number of options to make sure Texas remains the best place for businesses to locate in this national and global marketplace.  

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 Senator’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 SB 1786 and 1787 by Chair Paul Bettencourt. And so can other bills that provide additional housing options, like SB 1412 by Chair Bryan Hughes.  

All three of those bills have been referred to the Local Government Committee, and we’d respectfully ask you to give them your consideration.   

Our pamphlet highlights some additional bills in this area … 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.  

The property tax package the Senate is considering in SB 3 and 4 by Chair Bettencourt and SB 5 by Sen. Parker, along with Senate Joint Resolutions 2, 3 and 4, will be an incredible benefit to both residential and commercial property owners around the state. 

Thank you for coauthoring SB 3 and SJR 3 to increase the residence homestead exemption! 

  • LCT NOTE: DO NOT MENTION THIS UNLESS THEY DO – You may be asked why the REALTORS® do not support appraisal caps. This is 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 SB 279 by Sen. Phil King 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. 

That bill has also been referred to the Local Government Committee – we hope you’d consider supporting it when it comes up for a hearing.   

 

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 SB 1668 by Chair Hughes as a continuation of last session’s HOA reforms. 

  • LCT NOTE: If the senator 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 support legislation that 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 senator 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 SB 1374 by Senator Parker – 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 supporting SB 1916, also by Sen. Parker, which would ensure that property owners can easily find PID information when they look up their property on the central appraisal district’s website. That bill just got to the Local Government Committee… we hope you’ll give it a close look!

 
MEETING CONCLUSION 

Again, you can refer to our pamphlet, which outlines numerous bills we are supporting related to our priority issues. 

We appreciate your attention. Do you have any questions for us? 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!