Happy spring to all of you! I hope this message finds you and your families enjoying the beautiful spring weather and wildflowers. Texas truly seems to show off during this time of year.

Legislative Update  

We are about midway through the legislative session and are tracking a surprising amount of bills. The bills we are tracking and session itself changes constantly, so I have been working closely with agency staff and TREC leadership to ensure no changes will be a surprise to us. I know staff is prepared to implement the decisions made by the Legislature when the time comes.  

New Commission Appointments  

I am excited about Governor Abbott making three new appointments to the Commission.  Leslie Lerner, Mark Woodroof, and Ben Pena should be confirmed shortly.  I look forward to their input and contribution to the Commission’s work.

We also bid farewell to outgoing commission members, Rayito Stephens, TJ Turner, and Bob Leonard. They served during a unique time in our agency’s history and helped guide us well. I am grateful for their expertise and willingness to serve the people of Texas.  

May Commission Meeting and Proposed Rules

I am happy to announce that we will meet in person at the TREC headquarters for the May Commission meeting. We are working on final details, but we plan to offer both a remote and in-person option for this meeting. This is a huge step and I am looking forward to seeing my fellow commissioners in Austin next month. Be sure to provide your feedback on the proposed rules for that meeting via our website and tune into the live stream if you would like to watch the meeting remotely.

Coffee with the Commission Video

Executive Director, Chelsea Buchholtz and I hosted another successful “Coffee with the Commission” session in March. If you were unable to attend the session live, I encourage you to watch the video. We covered contract changes, proposed rules, what happened at the Commission meeting, and provided an update on the legislative session. We find these events to be a great opportunity to talk with you and plan to continue these after each Commission meeting. Be sure to look for the invite from TREC after our May meeting.

New Contracts Required for Use  

As of April 1, 2021, all of the updated contract forms are required for use. The TREC website was updated with the new forms and we have communicated this change over the last few months. You can find all the contract forms on our website here. And just in case you missed the changes and want to know more, we have the redline versions on the website here and published a helpful article here. 

We are getting close to the end of this pandemic. I thank you all for your hard work in continued professionalism in these unusual times. I am honored to be able to lead this Commission and know we are heading into a bright future.