REALTOR® Day at the Texas Capitol
89th Legislative Session
March 26, 2025
REALTOR® Priorities: House Talking Points and Key Contact Meeting Notes
Rep. Burrows was elected Speaker of the Texas House on January 14, 2025, by a majority of his House colleagues. The role of the Speaker is to oversee the House Chamber; he is in charge of committee appointments (including chairmanships), bill referrals, and management of House floor sessions. While the Speaker is not elected by voters statewide, it is considered a statewide position in its operation. Speaker Burrows also remains the Representative for House District 83.
“LCT NOTES” IN BLUE ARE FOR REFERENCE ONLY; DO NOT READ ALOUD
Text in RED is customized to this lawmaker
- 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 highlights! 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: If the Representative/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, and be sure to include that request in your report form. Key contacts may also share Julia, Seth, or Tray’s contact information (also included in the tri-fold pamphlet).
- 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.
Starting the Meeting
- LCT NOTE: Be sure to introduce yourself, explain who you are and the group, and what REALTOR® Day at the Texas Capitol encompasses.
Thank you for meeting with us today to talk real estate and Texas REALTORS® legislative priorities!
We are here today as representatives of the real estate profession and the millions of Texas homeowners, buyers, and sellers we serve. We want to discuss some of the key issues that impact housing and economic growth in our communities: housing affordability, water infrastructure, and property rights.
We’ve put together a simple pamphlet to lay out some of our priorities, including several specific bills Texas REALTORS® are supporting this year.
Many of those priorities are shared by the Office of the Speaker, and we’re incredibly grateful to find so many places where we agree on policy and goals for Texas.
- LCT NOTE: Personal stories and personal examples 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.
Because you are already integrally involved in all of the bills that are on our REALTOR® Day Support list, we want to call attention to one that is our top priority for the real estate profession specifically:
HB 3913 by Chair Harless – this is our top priority and it modernizes and clarifies agency representation agreements in real estate transactions. We are hoping to provide consumers with more clarity about their relationship with their real estate agents, offer more choices on how to work with agents, and make the real estate agent-client rules more transparent.
- LCT NOTE: Most legislators and staff will not be familiar with this concept, so for your reference: this is the bill that repeals subagency and creates a written agreement between the buyer and an agent, while still allowing property to be shown without a full representation agreement.
- LCT NOTE: Any personal stories the group can share about why these changes are important will be helpful. This is also a good place to let him know that TR staff can follow up with his office on this issue.
- LCT NOTE: we have a separate explainer document on this legislation that you can provide to Speaker Burrow’s staff. Colin is the liaison to the Licensing Committee, so it’s a great opportunity to tell him your perspective on this bill,.
We expect this bill to be referred to the Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee, and we’re looking forward to working with Chairman Phelan and his team on it… but we’d love to get your feedback to ensure this bill can successfully pass.
Housing Affordability
Homeownership is the foundation of financial security for Texas families, but we are in the beginning stages of an affordability crisis and are at risk of homeownership becoming out of reach for many people.
- LCT NOTE: This is a good place to use the 2024 Housing Report from the portal – what are the challenges your first-time buyers face? What is the housing market like in your area?
We’re proud to support Speaker priority bills HB 8, which would provide huge tax savings across the board through school tax rate compression, as well as HB 9 and HJR 1 which will help independent contractors like us ourselves exempt up to $250,000 in business
We also support policies that cut red tape, streamline the permitting process, and promote diverse housing options to meet the needs of our workforce, first-time buyers, and growing families. There are several such bills on our list; including:
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- HB 1779 (Bucy), which would let homeowners build or use an existing space as an accessory dwelling unit;
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- HB 1835 (Guillen) to allow for more HUD-compliant manufactured housing;
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- HB 3404 (Hefner) to allow multifamily housing in commercial zones; and
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- HB 3919 (Gates) to allow property owners to build more densely in certain areas.
Water Infrastructure
Reliable water access is essential for Texas’ continued viability. Our interest in this is based on this simple truth: Real estate derives its value from access to water. In fact, in simpler terms, without access to water, real estate is worthless.
We are delighted that the Legislature is proactively addressing long-term water needs and whole-heartedly support Chair Cody Harris’s HB 16 and HJR 7, which provide historic investment in the state’s water infrastructure.
Protecting Property Rights
Private property rights are a cornerstone of Texas’ economy – and Texas REALTORS® has a long history of being the leading advocate for private property rights.
Some pro-property rights bills on our REALTOR® Day support list include:
HB 1349 (Turner) continues the Legislature’s 2021 efforts to add more transparency to property owners’ associations. This bill had near-unanimous support in 2023, and was unfortunately vetoed during the property tax debate. We’re looking forward to seeing it through this session!
We’re also proud to support Speaker priority bill HB 24 (Orr) which ensures property owners are not unfairly restricted in using their property due to overly burdensome petition processes. This could be considered a housing affordability bill as well, but we like to emphasize the property rights aspect of this, since it will allow property owners to use their land the best way they see fit.
Meeting Conclusion
We appreciate your leadership and this opportunity to share our priorities.
By working together, we can ensure Texas remains a place where people can achieve the dream of homeownership, businesses can thrive, and communities can grow responsibly.
Again, you can refer to our pamphlet, which outlines numerous specific bills we are supporting related to our priority issues.
We appreciate your attention. Do you have any questions for us? In particular, 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.
Thank you for continuing to support the housing and real estate profession, and for taking the time to meet with us today!
- 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.