CAPITOL INTEREST
IT’S A WRAP FOR NOW: The Session is Over, But the Battles Continue By Kenneth Besserman, TXCPA's Director of Government Affairs and Special Counsel
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n May 31, the Texas Legislature adjourned, concluding the tumultuous 87th regular session. The session began in a subdued fashion as legislators came to Austin after the winter holidays and the COVID-19 positive test cases were skyrocketing. There was a general unease about how the session would operate, uncertainty about vaccine availability, and a concern that the session might have to end early or be postponed because of the raging pandemic. After a few months in Austin, the legislature began to operate closer to normal, but with much less public input and transparency than in past sessions. Before we get to the final few days of session (which were exciting, dramatic and controversial – more on that later) and what is to come in a special session, let’s review TXCPA successes and other major issues that were addressed. The three major priorities of TXCPA (at the time of this writing – June 7, 2021) have been addressed. House Bill 1195 (Rep. Charlie Geren), which excludes loans forgiven under the Paycheck Protection Program from the Texas franchise tax, was signed by Governor Greg Abbott and became law immediately. This bill was important to our profession both as business owners and as CPAs so that we can properly advise our clients of the tax implications of federal forgiven loans. Another important TXCPA legislative priority is Senate Bill 297, which will extend the CPA fingerprinting deadline by one year to August 31, 2022. The bill was signed by the governor on June 7. The pandemic
8 Texas Society of CPAs
year made it difficult for CPA licensees to submit their fingerprints timely, so this extension is necessary for the State Board and for our members. Senate Bill 6 – the Pandemic Liability Act – is legislation that has been a priority of the governor, business community, health care entities, and trade/professional associations. All worked very closely since fall 2020 to ensure that businesses acting in good faith, followed government guidance, and did not maliciously or purposefully put customers and employees in harm’s way would not be subject to pandemicrelated litigation. TXCPA was involved in those working groups to craft commonsense language
to protect all during the pandemic. As of press time, SB 6 is also expected to be signed by the governor. Beyond these three major priorities, TXCPA members and our government relations team were instrumental in making sure that any harmful legislation did not pass. Before session and in the early days of session, there were some rumblings that bills would be filed to expand the sales tax to professional services and bills to lessen the CPA licensing requirements. Fortunately, neither of these issues were picked up by the legislature, but TXCPA will stay ever vigilant on these issues as they are slowly being proposed in other states and may gain some adherents in the Texas Legislature in years to come. The 87th session had a number of big and controversial issues (some of which passed, some did not, and some may be addressed in a special session) that took up much of the legislature’s time and energy. The state budget, the only bill that is required to pass each session, started out in uncertain territory when, in summer 2020, the Comptroller had indicated that the state was facing over a $3-4 billion budget deficit because of lower tax
