STATE ASSOCIATION

The 83^rd Texas Legislature is in the rear view mirror after 3 special sessions in the summer heat. A couple of weeks ago, ABC of Texas published its Legislative Report on the session. It was distributed via VoterVoice. If you want a copy of the report, please email jon@abctexas.org with the words "Legislative Report" in the subject line, and it will be sent to you.

One of the important things ABC of Texas continues to accomplish is to work successfully with other groups to achieve positive statutory changes for the construction industry. A good example of this is the recent passage of HB 586 by Rep. Paul Workman (a TEXO member) and Senator Bob Deuell. That legislation clears the way for architects, engineers and construction companies to sue state agencies (including universities) for breach of contract in certain circumstances. AGC-TBB led the charge on this bill with ABC of Texas, the Texas Society of Architects, and the Texas Construction Association as active partners. That’s one of the things ABC of Texas seeks constantly to foster—a sense of cooperation among construction industry interests that leads to positive results for us all.

Speaking of ABC of Texas goals, we will be convening in November to update our Strategic Plan. For those who are not familiar with our process, every 2 years after a legislative session, the ABC of Texas Board meets to set 4 year goals. Following that, the group assesses our two year goals (which were last cycle’s 4 year goals) to ensure that those goals will take us to the longer-term goals. We use that 2-year cycle because that is the cycle of the Texas Legislature and working with the Legislature is ABC of Texas’ primary role.

Certainly, if you have ideas about what you believe ABC of Texas should be doing, communicate with the State Board members in your local chapter. For TEXO, those members are Russ Garrison, Paul Lembke and GPaul Holliman (ABC of Texas Treasurer).

We’re also gearing up for the next election cycle. ABC of Texas relies on contributions from its chapters to fund the state efforts. We work with local chapters to make sure that we cover all priority races statewide. GPaul Holliman of TEXO chairs our PAC Task Force (which was created by the Strategic Plan in 2011). That task force has recommended, and the Board has adopted, a slightly different process than ABC of Texas has followed in the past. This cycle we are attempting to centralize all contributions, even those made through local effort above and beyond the state contribution, by writing all checks from the State PAC account. That way, all contributions for state offices come from the State PAC. Since this is a new procedure, the jury is still out about how well it will work or if local chapters will cooperate fully. We hope it does not result in a reduction of cumulative effort by discouraging chapters who have engaged in additional local efforts in the past from continuing such activities. Time will tell.

Speaking of political contributions, it is always tempting to respond to requests for contributions from officeholders who have been supportive of our efforts. But, it is impossible to prioritize without seeing what races develop (and, indeed, if that officeholder files for reelection or some other office). For that reason, ABC of Texas always counsels chapters to "keep their powder dry" and wait until after the filing deadline to decide where to allocate the very precious PAC resources. There is plenty of time before the next session to contribute to those who are unopposed. For that reason, ABC of Texas prefers (with very rare exceptions) to give only to those with contested primaries early in even-numbered years. We give to those with contested general elections in the fall. And, finally, we try to let our supporters who were unopposed know we appreciate their service by giving some contributions in a post-election cycle.

The process outlined above allows us to best prioritize the use of our limited PAC funds.

As always, feel free to communicate with ABC of Texas at jon@abctexas.org.