88th Legislative Session

Cities across Texas have continued to adopt ordinances and policies that have create a patchwork of regulations related to a number of issues including: employment leave, hiring practices, employment benefits, scheduling or other terms of employment. HB 2127 and SB 814 assert the state's authority on these matters by prohibiting cities from adopting any ordinances, resolutions, orders, or policies on certain matters that the state has not expressly authorized them to regulate.

During the 86th Legislative session, the Legislature passed HB 1999 which created the Right to Repair Statute (Chapter 2272) for Government Projects. Unfortunately, many of the governmental entities identified in this statute have been circumventing this section by requiring contractors waive this section in its entity in contract. ABC Texas supports legislation that clearly states that Chapter 2272 cannot be waived by contract.

While it is impossible to predict every delay on a construction site, the goal is to always remain on schedule. However, on occasion the delay is caused by the property owner or their representative. In this scenario, the general contractor should not be held financially responsible for the delay. HB 2265 and SB 803 prohibit contractual language forbidding or limiting compensable damages for delays caused solely by the owner or its agent.

Courts have recently held that general contractors or subcontractors who pay their subcontractors cannot pursue the individuals that stole the money and refused to pay their subcontractors and suppliers. ABC Texas supports changing the trust fund statute (Property Code 162) to allow general contractors and subcontractors to get assignments of the rights of the parties they have to pay, when they pay a second time.

Support legislation that declares the International Plumbing Code (IPC) as the sole plumbing code governing construction in Texas. Currently the state operates under 2 codes, which has led to confusion as well as increased cost. Nearly every municipality and county in Texas utilize the International Plumbing Code for all requirements, however there are still about 10 cities that still operate using the Uniform Code including Austin, Schertz, Alpine, and several large MUDs in Houston.

Current statute (Section 271.060 LGC) states that any contract over $1 Million may not be increased by more than 25 percent without a vote by the governing body. With the current costs increases due to inflation and labor challenges, the $1 million dollar cap is too low and has caused some unintended consequences and complications with repeated meetings for governmental entities. ABC Texas would support legislation that increases this limit.

Similar to HB 633 filed during the 87(R) legislative session, ABC Texas supports legislation that would amend Chapter 2258 (prevailing wage) to clarify the use of the acceptable alternatives to determine the prevailing wage of public projects, including utilizing the surveys from the Texas Workforce Commission. This has already been an established method, but it has never been codified which has led to some legal challenges.

On December 1, 2022, Austin City Council passed an ordinance that allows for any person to make a complaint concerning wage theft and created a new position of Wage Theft Coordinator. In addition to Austin, there are other local ordinances in El Paso and Houston. ABC Texas will support legislation that clarifies who may file complaints related to wage theft to align with state statute and existing case law. We will also support legislation that does not limit a city's coordination or collection of information to only labor organizations.

In 2019, ABC Texas supported passage of HB 985 which prohibited government entities from limiting who could bid on certain projects based on the fact that they had a collective bargaining agreement with a labor organization. SB 936 would expand this prohibition to include projects that receive local funding.