TAA endorses candidates and monitors Senate committees

Election season, as well as a new legislative session, is almost here, and TAA has endorsed a number of candidates, while monitoring changes to a number of Senate committees.

Election season, as well as a new legislative session, is almost here, and TAA has endorsed a number of candidates, while monitoring changes to a number of Senate committees.

In statewide races, the TAA Board endorsed Gov. Rick Perry for re-election, as well as Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Attorney General Greg Abbott, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples.

The association also endorsed incumbent Supreme Court Justices Eva Guzman, Debra Lehrmann and Paul Green in their races.

A complete list of endorsed candidates in contested general election races will be published in the fall issue of Texas Apartments magazine and will also be available on the TAA website, www.taa.org.

Early voting for the November 2 general election will run from October 18-29. The deadline to register for the November general election is October 4. Information about voter registration is available on the Texas Secretary of State’s website, https://team1.sos.state.tx.us/voterws/viw/faces/Introduction.jsp.

Senate committee changes

In mid-July, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R-Austin) announced major changes for a number of committee assignments, including changes for eight committee chairmanships.

From an industry perspective, the most notable change involves naming Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas) as head of the influential Business and Commerce Committee, which among other issues, often has jurisdiction over landlord/tenant issues.

Carona is a long-time friend of the rental housing industry and has carried a number of bills supported by TAA during his tenure in the Legislature. He replaces Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Marble Falls), who will now serve as head of the Natural Resources Committee. In addition, Sen. Chris Harris (R-Arlington) was named chair of the Jurisprudence Committee, which deals with issues relating to the court system. Harris also remains vice-chair of the Business and Commerce Committee.

Other changes regarding committee chairs include naming Sen. Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler) chair of Administration, Sen. Mike Jackson (R-La Porte) chair of Economic Development, Sen. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville) chair of Nominations, Sen. Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) chair of Transportation & Homeland Security and Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) chair of the Select Committee on Veterans Health.

In other Senate news, Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) was elected in a special election to fill the unexpired term of Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco) who resigned earlier this year.