With the governor’s vetoes and approvals of bills last week, the regular session of the 85th Texas Legislature has come to an end.

Watch the latest Texas RECap for a rundown of the legislative session, a preview of the upcoming special session, and learn how you can get a chance at $1,000.

Here’s a closer look at two real estate bills Gov. Abbott finalized on June 15.

TREC bill has governor’s signature
One of the bills Gov. Abbott signed was TAR-supported Senate Bill 2212, by Sen. Kelly Hancock and sponsored by Rep. John Kuempel.

TAR worked with the Texas Real Estate Commission on this important legislation that will protect consumers from misleading real estate advertisements and require disclosure from real estate wholesalers.

Veto may not be the end for tree bills
Some municipalities charge private-property owners a fee for a permit to remove trees of a certain size from their own property as development occurs.

Gov. Abbott’s vetoes included Senate Bill 744, by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst and sponsored by Rep. Dade Phelan, which would have allowed private-property owners to apply for a credit from their city to offset removing trees from their own property instead of paying a fee.

However, the issue is likely to arise again because Abbott’s special session agenda includes a call to pass legislation that prevents cities from regulating what property owners do with trees on private land. (See the full list of special session agenda items on the governor’s website.)

Abbott’s statement on the SB 744 veto includes this explanation:

This bill was well-intentioned, but by the end of the legislative process it actually ended up doing more to protect cities than it did to protect the rights of property owners.  I applaud the bill authors for their efforts, but I believe we can do better for private property owners in the upcoming special session.

A legislative refresher
The Texas Legislature passed several pro-consumer bills during the regular session, thanks to Texas REALTORS®’ advocacy efforts.

Revisit this recap of legislative successes and this preview of what the upcoming special session means for Texas real estate.

And you can check out the breakdown of final bill stats from the Legislative Reference Library of Texas.