As we head into 2024, I’d like to take this opportunity to look back over the past year, reflect on the many challenges we faced and conquered and welcome the opportunity of a new year.

The Texas Legislature, despite having a record surplus, seemingly faced a number of conflicts between the two chambers and experienced a significant number of special sessions with limited results. For dealers, legislation was passed that will require hard plating by dealers of purchased or leased vehicles instead of using the current paper tags, which is scheduled to begin in July 2025. At the same time, legislation was defeated that would have forced dealers to accept any outside financing and that would have allowed manufacturers to play a larger role in the selling of used vehicles. Lucid filed a federal lawsuit early last year against the leadership at the Texas DMV, seeking to overturn the state’s franchise laws and allow manufacturers to sell directly to consumers.

On the federal front, the lack of collaborative work in Congress was again seen with Republicans controlling the U.S. House and Democrats controlling the U.S. Senate. Despite the lack of results on the legislative front, a number of federal agencies proposed significant changes that will impact dealers, including additional paperwork requirements by the FTC for dealers and consumers and the EPA holding to stringent electric vehicle production requirements despite a seeming lack of consumer demand.

However, there is reason for much hope and promise in a bright 2024. The year will open with inventory available for the dealers and their customers. Service for dealers has been strong and it is hopeful that a number of the persistent supply chain issues will continue to show improvement. Next year also will be busy on the political front with the national election at the forefront and numerous state races as well. The failed impeachment effort of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and failure to pass school vouchers has led Republican leaders to be more active in House primaries. They are targeting a number of the 60 House Republicans who voted to impeach Paxton, while Abbott is focusing his energy on a group of 21 Republicans who voted to strip a voucher proposal out of the broad education bill this last special session.

As of now, there are 86 Republicans serving in the Texas House and 64 Democrats. Of the 60 Republicans that voted for impeachment, 42 have primary foes. On the voucher vote, 15 of the 21 Republicans have at least one challenger. The Texas Tribune put together a really good graphic on the subject, which you can find by visiting https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/21/texas-house-republicans-paxton-abbott/.
Conversely, only 12 of the 64 House Democrats have challengers.

On the Senate side, there is one open Republican seat in north Texas to replace Drew Springer and a Democrat seat in Houston to replace now Mayor John Whitmire. There is also one competitive general election race down in the Valley for a seat currently held by Democrat Morgan LaMantia.

What does this mean for you? I would tell you it means that for our success to continue, Texas businesses MUST become more engaged in the primary elections. Your employees and vendors also need to be encouraged to engage in the primaries. Historically, many elections were competitive in November and we still have a majority of voters that only vote in November. However, there will only be a handful of seats among the 181 members of the Texas Legislature and 38 members of the Texas Congressional Delegation that will be determined then. Simply put, waiting until November is too late. Today, the primary is where most officeholders are determined.

So what do you need to do? First, make sure you are registered to vote. To find out if you are registered, visit https://www.texas.gov/living-in-texas/texas‑voter-registration/.
Primary election day is March 5, but you can vote early beginning Feb. 20, and the timeframe runs until March 1. This gives you two full weeks before March 5 to go vote. And don’t forget, the presidential election is Nov. 5.

In addition to voting, I would encourage you to visit with candidates and learn where they stand on issues that are most important to you early in 2024. I would encourage you to share this message with your employees or, better yet, invite candidates to come talk to your employees and discuss issues directly.

TADA is committed to keeping our Texas laws strong. Only by electing pro-business Democrats and Republicans to the Texas Legislature and to Congress will we continue to enjoy the “Texas Miracle” and keep the economy growing strong.

As a Texas dealer, you are part of an organization that is promoting a pro-business environment of robust competition. You are working on behalf of your customers every day to make sure they can drive the vehicles they want (and can afford), that the warranties and recalls on their vehicles are honored by the manufacturers. You are also there to help them get their vehicles serviced and repaired as quickly and efficiently as possible.

If you have any questions about a specific candidate, please feel free to reach out to Rob, Kate or me. Also, if TADA can help facilitate any meetings for you with a legislator, let us know. Texas dealers are an essential component in keeping Texas moving as both a significant employer and staunch community supporter. It is contingent on all of us to share this strong message! The March 5 Primary Elections will be here before you know it.