Austin News

State agencies, commissions, departments and other governmental entities have until the close of this coming holiday weekend to meet Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's deadline to cut regulations and fees on businesses and professionals.

In his letter dated Oct. 8, Abbott gave those governmental bodies until Sunday, Dec. 1, "to take all appropriate actions under existing statutory authority" to "act administratively to reduce unnecessary and burdensome licensing regulations that hurt workers and consumers."

Among other things, Abbott wants the governmental agencies to reduce license application fees by up to 75 percent of the national average "for equivalent or comparable occupations," the letter said.

"All licensing agencies, including self-directed and semi-independent agencies, should provide the Office of the Governor with a list of those fees and their amounts; show what percentage of generated fees go to the General Revenue Fund as opposed to their costs of operations; and, if fees were to be reduced, explain the impact," the letter said.

Abbott's letter has not been officially released to the public but has been widely covered since the Texas Tribune obtained a copy and published a story about it Nov. 22.

At least one government entity intends to meet that deadline. The Texas Board of Nursing included a copy of the letter as an information item for its Oct. 24-25 meeting, promising that board staff "will develop responses to the Governor and submit by the requested deadline of December 1, 2019."

Deregulating occupational licensing isn't a new idea in Texas, often referred to as "the Lodestar State" for reforms aimed at reducing regulation and unnecessary bureaucracy. Abbott's approaching deadline will arrive almost a year since the state Senate Committee on Business & Commerce issued its interim report. That report listed, in part, legislation passed during the 2017 legislative session and signed by the governor to deregulate occupational licensing.

More than 15,000 occupational licensees under the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation were successfully deregulated, "making this one of the largest deregulation efforts in Texas history," the Senate committee report said.

Legislation in the 2017 legislative session aimed at deregulating occupational licensing was Senate Bill 2065, which deregulated the licenses of 59 temporary common worker employers program, 63 vehicle protection product warrantors and 113 shampoo specialists.

House Bill 2615, also enacted following the 2017 legislative session, eliminated the dual license requirement for incident management and vehicle storage facility in more than 3,000 licenses.

Abbott's letter also acknowledged efforts by this year's legislature toward licensing deregulation.

"I commend legislators for their efforts to roll back onerous licensing rules this past session, and I was proud to sign legislation that will significantly ease those burdens on our citizens," Abbott said in his letter. "But every Texan deserves the opportunity to earn a living free from unnecessary state intrusion, and there is more work to be done to eliminate barriers to work in Texas."