The Inspector Committee had a full agenda for its April meeting. The meeting was accompanied by the newest appointments to the Inspector Committee, as well as the incoming General Counsel for the Real Estate Commission, Chelsea Buchholtz. There was also significant representation from multiple trade associations and education providers as well.
I would like to begin by publically welcoming the three new members to the Inspector Committee, who were appointed in February. Mike Morgan of Brownwood was appointed as a new inspector member, to serve a six-year term, and Robert John Daehn of Aransas Pass and Dave Motley of Garland were appointed as public members to serve two-year terms. In addition, Lee Warren was reappointed to another six-year inspector term and public member Barbara Evans was reappointed for an additional two-year term. I want like thank all of the inspectors who took the time to submit their applications.
Even without a legislative session, April is always a very busy month. So this year, that is especially true with our agency focused on the final steps of the Sunset review process as well. We greatly appreciate the anticipated improvements this process will bring to the services we provide to the people of Texas and the license holders we also serve. It has always been this agency’s policy to partner with our license holders in order to better serve their clients, the ultimate objective of both the profession itself and our regulatory efforts.
Due to the amount of business we needed to conduct to both meet our obligations to advance the normal work of the Commission, and consider all of the matters highlighted in the agency’s Sunset Report, the Commission met for two days in February. The Texas REALTORS Winter Meeting overlapped our dates, so we had several extra stakeholders in attendance – and they earned CE credit for attending! 
The IAC has been busy already this year. Through a substantial amount of time and hard work, the Education Subcommittee has proposed, and the IAC approved recommending changes to how one can obtain a license in Texas. Texas has had some of the strictest requirements for licensure of any state in the union. The proposed number of hours to be eligible for a license will go down significantly, but the content of those courses will change as well. Keep in mind that the intent here is not to lower the standards by any means. The focus here is on the quality of the education, and not the qua
The Inspector Committee met on February 4. Among the business items taken up by the Committee was the election of the Committee officers for the upcoming Calendar year. Lee Warren was elected as the chair of the Committee, Shawn Emerick was elected as vice-chair and Steven Rinehart was elected as secretary. I would like to thank the outgoing officers for their leadership over the last year. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank a longtime member of the Committee, Brad Phillips who has completed his second, and final term on the Committee.
So far, 2019 has offered Texas both very cold and very mild conditions – a bit unpredictable as this new year advances. Perhaps this corresponds to the unexpected combination of elements at work as the legislative session gets underway? New leadership in the House has opened up new possibilities for cooperation on advancing public policy issues – a situation we welcome and look forward to as the Sunset process holds the promise of developing new guidance on matters of concern to our agency.
I’d first like to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I hope you all had time to relax and enjoy the Holiday season. The New Year always brings with it an opportunity to reflect on the past and make a commitment to address those areas in which we might fall short. It also brings with it a renewed sense of energy to honor that commitment and a desire to look at things with fresh eyes. This New Year provides the opportunity for the agency to embrace these concepts as we complete the Agency’s Sunset review and start the 86th Session of the Texas Legislature on January 8.
Happy New Year! As we return recharged from the holidays and gear up for the season, there are some key items to keep us busy in the very near future. So let’s dive right in…
As we wrap up the calendar year, I want to again thank everyone who has attended meetings over the last year, both Inspector Committee meetings and Commission meetings.