PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Burl Richards

We still won

Burl Richards ABAT President

AAt the time I write this message, it appears that our Appraisal Clause legislation – House Bill 2534 – will not be moving forward during this current legislative session. Additionally, House Bill 1131 – which would have required any part used in a repair to meet OEM standards – is officially off the table for another two years.

There’s good news and bad news with this, and the bad news is pretty obvious. When we started this session, we knew it would be extremely difficult to get either bill passed. There is a lot going on in Texas at the moment, and the Legislature got slammed with bills that were highly controversial. Ultimately, it was too easy for House Bill 2534 – a simple and straightforward consumer-protection tool – to get lost in the fray.

Here’s the good news: We are far from throwing in the towel in promoting the Appraisal Clause. If you take a look at our industry’s national media, you’ll see several news pieces discussing our efforts with this bill and the critical points we’ve raised in regard to the need for the Right of Appraisal to exist in all automotive insurance policies in Texas. We have received tremendous support and encouragement from several other collision repair associations, and we have heard feedback from consumers who are now very aware of their right to invoke appraisal in situations where they would otherwise feel backed into a corner. This is an incredible step forward for our industry here in Texas and across the country. Every person who owns a body shop in America should serve as a consumer advocate, and I know that vehicle owners and policyholders are more educated now than they were a year ago as a result of ABAT’s efforts. We should all be proud of that.

Although our chances of success in this session have come to an end, don’t think that our work is over for the next two years. Now more than ever, we need our members to get involved in the legislative arena. Now is the time to get to know your local representatives and leaders. You are constituents, taxpayers and citizens, and our politicians need to know who we are and what is on our minds. We don’t have tons of money, but we have businesses and votes. It’s too late to convince a legislator to support our causes when a vote is over; we need to reach out to these folks as early in the process as possible. We’re one of many industries hoping to achieve things politically, but every legislator in our respective districts is ultimately accountable to us. Let’s work to make sure they do the right thing for our consumers and all Texas citizens.

I’d like to give special thanks to Representative Travis Clardy, who sponsored our bills and is a true champion of our industry. He has sponsored bills for us for three sessions now, and his unwavering support is greatly appreciated. I’d also like to thank our lobbyist, Jacob Smith, for always working hard on our behalf and getting us this far.

Rest assured that the Texas Legislature knows ABAT and is familiar with our goals on behalf of our customers. I have no doubt that this will lead us to great victories in the future.

The 300 Advantage™

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burl@burlscollision.com

TXA