Amendment to address P-53 issue passes Senate

An amendment that deals with promotional and educational activities passed the Senate on May 12, 2005. The amendment, which addresses the same issues that were part of the revised negotiated rule that was sent to the Commissioner in January, was added to House Bill 2565 by Rep. Craig Eiland (D-Galveston). The TLTA Board was approached by the Texas Association of Realtors and the Texas Association of Builders asking for support to seek legislative action. The Board agreed to not oppose their attempt as long as the language was consistent to the negotiated language the TLTA Board approved in January.

Click here to view to amendment to HB 2565

Click here to view the entire bill

Background:
TLTA submitted proposed revisions to Procedural Rule P-53 during the recent TDI Rule Hearing in December. Several other proposed amendments to P-53 were submitted by other parties including the Title Professionals Association, Texas Association of Realtors and Texas Association of Builders. While there were many similarities in these revisions, there were still differences that needed to be worked out. As we previously notified you in early January, a meeting was held by the interested parties in an attempt to draft a revision that would address most of the concerns and be acceptable to everyone concerned and the result was a negotiated rule. Click here for the January 19, 2005 Special President’s Message including text of the negotiated rule. The TLTA Board of Directors met by conference call on Monday, January 24^th and voted to support the negotiated rule. The rule was sent to TDI but the commissioner has yet to take action.

Current status:
HB 2565 has passed both the House and Senate. Since there were two amendments added in the Senate, it will go back to the House for final approval. The House sponsor can either accept the Senate amendments or he can reject. If he chooses to reject, the bill will be sent to conference committee where the differences will be worked out. If he chooses to accept the senate amendments, the bill will be sent to the Governor for his signature after final House approval. We will keep you updated on the progress of this legislation.

Senate passes tax bill

On Monday, May 9, 2005, the Senate passed their version of House Bill 3, relating to property tax relief and protection of taxpayers, taxes and fees, and other matters relating to the financing of public schools. The Senate eliminated the proposed state property tax in the bill, and replaced the Business Activity Tax with a “Basket Tax.” The Basket Tax is a choice between a modified franchise tax (changing the earned surplus calculation to a business activity tax on profits and payroll) and a payroll tax. An alternative minimum tax is based on gross receipts. We believe if we are given the choice between the franchise tax and a payroll tax, we would choose the franchise where we currently have an exemption. There were no changes made to the current premium tax structure. The bill now heads to conference committee so that the House and Senate can work out the differences between the two versions. They have until May 30^th at which time, the legislative sessions ends.

Click here to view chart of Senate Tax plan:

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