In early September, the nine appointees who run the Texas Residential Construction Commission convened a meeting. The agenda: try to justify their agencyâs existence. Itâs not an easy case to make. Two weeks earlier, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, a legislative oversight committee, had recommended that state lawmakers abolish the TRCC because it does âmore harm than good.â
Few state agencies in Texas are known for aggressive regulation. Even by that lax standard, however, the Texas Residential Construction Commissionâcreated ostensibly to aid homeownersârepresents a new low. Itâs one thing to ignore consumers; itâs quite another to work against them. Since its inception in 2003, the TRCC has been criticized for helping builders skirt lawsuits from consumers seeking reparations for shoddily built homes. Some critics call it Bob Perryâs agency, in honor of the wealthy Houston homebuilder who is a top Republican donor. Indeed, the agencyâs board is dominated by representatives of the home-building industry, including Perryâs corporate counsel, who wrote the 2003 bill that created the TRCC [see âThe Agency that Bob Perry Built,â February 4, 2005].
Commissioner Mickey Redwine is the lonely voice of reform at the agency. At the public meeting, he told his fellow commissioners what most homeowners already know: âI donât feel that a fair and unbiased agency has been created to represent the public . . . I ask that every commissioner unite and vote for change to prove to consumers that we are serious about change.â
The commissioner, who owns a cable construction company in the small town of Ben Wheeler, offered up a four-page list of wide-ranging reforms such as a stipulation requiring builders to be licensed and a rule ensuring that TRCC commissioners not be associated with trade association groups that might suggest a conflict of interest.
The commissioners did uniteâand voted against most of Redwineâs reforms. Consumer advocates werenât surprised. âHis heart is in the right place,â said Alex Winslow, executive director of the consumer advocacy group Texas Watch. âBut regardless of the changes TRCC makes, it is broken and needs to be scrapped.â
Redwine, who was appointed by Gov. Perry in 2003, said he would support abolishing the agency too, if it could not be turned around in two years. (TRCC staff is asking for 12 years to reform the agency.) âI still think itâs worth saving if we can turn it around,â Redwine said. âI was appointed to look out for the best interests of consumers, and if that means abolishing the agency, then I will support that.â
The TRCC will argue for its continued existence at the next Sunset Commission meeting, on September 23. At the meeting, state lawmakers on the Sunset Commission will mull over whether TRCC is worth saving and make a recommendation. Ultimately, the Legislature will decide the fate of the TRCC during its session next year. Thatâs when homebuilders, who are some of the stateâs most prolific donors to political campaigns, will have a big say.
Winslowâwho has been working to abolish the agency for the past five yearsâsays he wouldnât be surprised if the TRCC survives. âI have no doubt that the powerful homebuilding lobby will be doing everything they can to save this agency.â
http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2845
âMelissa del Bosque