As the 89th Texas Legislature wraps up, I want to take a moment to recognize the leadership, engagement and grit you continue to bring to the table. Thanks to your involvement — and the strength of our collective voice — TADA remained front and center this session, advocating for policies that protect and strengthen our industry and we served as a resource to the Legislature and their staff on critical policy issues. Key Wins at the Capitol Gov. Abbott and legislative leadership achieved their top priorities this session, including property tax relief, teacher pay raises, school choice expansion, bail reform, water infrastructure investment, workforce training and a new cybersecurity hub. These big-picture wins created a backdrop for steady legislative momentum — and TADA was right in the middle of it. A Smart Fix on Permanent License Plates One of our top priorities — amending last session’s hard plate law — crossed the finish line. The updated law ensures that license plates follow the person, not the vehicle. It’s a common-sense reform that simplifies processes for everyone involved — customers, dealers and law enforcement — while preserving the public safety goals intended in the original legislation. The bill is now headed to the Governor’s desk, and implementation is expected to begin in July. We’ve prepared training webinars and resources to help your teams get up to speed — we encourage all dealer groups to participate. Warranty and Recall Reimbursement: Our Work Continues Another major push this session involved holding manufacturers accountable for fair reimbursement on warranty and recall work. Although Texas law already requires equal pay for warranty and non-warranty repairs, many OEMs continue to underpay or sidestep compliance altogether. Our proposed legislative fix ran into roadblocks in the Senate Business & Commerce Committee, where manufacturer-backed amendments would have created more problems than solutions. We stood firm — and while our bill didn’t pass, our fight isn’t over. Over the interim, we’ll be rolling out a strategic plan to engage lawmakers in their districts and ensure this issue is front and center heading into next session. It is critical for us to make clear the consumer protection issues at the heart of this discussion. Battling Bad Bills — and Advancing Good Ones With nearly 9,000 bills filed this session, our team stayed busy sifting through dozens of proposals affecting dealers — many of them threatening the franchise model. Fortunately, thanks to great collaboration with legislators and local dealers and our TADA team, we helped stop the worst of them and advanced several measures that will benefit both our industry and our customers. continued on pg. 8 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 89th Legislative Session Wrap-Up By Darren Whitehurst, President, TADA DEALERS’ CHOICE 6
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