By: Dominguez H.B. No. 1873
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a report by the Texas Division of Emergency Management
regarding building trade services following disasters.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 418, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 418.054 to read as follows:
Sec. 418.054. REPORT ON BUILDING TRADE SERVICES FOLLOWING
DISASTERS. (a) Not later than November 1, 2020, the division shall
submit a report to members of the legislature on improving the
oversight, accountability, and availability of building trade
services following disasters. The report must include:
(1) the number and economic impact of tradespeople in
communities affected by a disaster;
(2) strategies for using a workforce that has been
trained in a United States Department of Labor Industry-Recognized
Apprenticeship Program or Registered Apprenticeship Program to
increase the availability of tradespeople, including plumbers and
electricians, following a disaster;
(3) approaches to increase prosecutions of alleged
fraud relating to building trade services offered following a
disaster, including wage theft and worker misclassification; and
(4) methods to encourage performance bond
requirements in contracts for building trade services to be
performed following a disaster.
(b) The division shall consult with appropriate state
entities, including the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, local governments,
trade associations, United States Department of Labor Registered
Apprenticeship Programs, and law enforcement groups in preparing
the report described by Subsection (a).
(c) The report described by Subsection (a) must include the
methodology of the contents of the report, including the type and
nature of information provided by the entities described by
Subsection (b).
(d) This section expires January 1, 2021.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.