Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3518 Latest Draft

Bill / Introduced Version Filed 03/10/2021

                            87R6945 RDS-D
 By: Dominguez H.B. No. 3518


 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to an annual 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 418.059 to read as follows:
 Sec. 418.059.  REPORT ON BUILDING TRADE SERVICES FOLLOWING
 DISASTERS. (a) Not later than November 1 of each year, 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).
 SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.