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Government Affairs and Advocacy Update and a special

invitation to join us for the follow-up CPS Gas Meeting scheduled
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for Wednesday, September 11 at 10:00 am at GSABA

September 1 always sticks out in my mind. It is the date that many of the new laws passed
st
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by the State Legislature go into effect. The 86 Session was a very busy one and I want to
thank each of you that were involved and reached out to our elected officials to weigh in on
critical issues. I want to extend a special thank you to every GSABA member who attended
the State Rally Day in March. Our next Rally Day will be hosted in 2021.
Property tax reform, local code product mandates, revising municipal building permit fee
calculations and a very bad bill that would allow the expansion of a sales tax on labor for
Kristi Sutterfield
Executive Vice President residential construction and remodeling were all in play at the State Capitol. Scott Norman,
Ned Munoz, and J.D. Hale with the Texas Association of Builders (TAB) did an outstanding job
in representing our interests.

We have been very busy on the local level and your Government Affairs Leadership Team has been engaged in several of the
Cities within our jurisdiction. If you are having an issue in any city or municipality in our jurisdiction, we want to hear from you.
The City of San Antonio adopted a new Contractors Connect Program and to get our members the Registered Contractor Plus
level; the GSABA team has worked with the City to get our Construction Series Classes certified for accreditation. When you fill out
your application, pay your fee, sign the Code of Ethics Acknowledgement Form, provide confirmation of your general insurance
requirement, and pass the FBI Background check, you will qualify for the Registered Contractor level.
If you want to qualify for the Registered Contractor Plus level, you must be current with all permitting fees, have no builder
related contactor infractions and a take a minimum of two training classes approved by the City’s Chief Building Official. There is
information on our upcoming classes in this issue (page 14) of the Builder Brief that will get you to the Registered Contractor Plus
level. Haley King, your Membership and Education Director, is working to get additional classes certified as well.

We had a very productive meeting with the CPS Gas Team on August 13 at the Association. We had 50+ Builder/Developer
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members in attendance. Together we brought forward the concerns of several GSABA members to include the delays in getting
gas meters installed, timely rough in inspections performed in the County, and several issues with the CPS portal and its software.
The CPS Sr. Management Team Members in attendance were very willing to address each issue and work with us on possible
solutions. I am pleased to report that they have implemented the next phase of enhancements to the Customer Service Web
Portal.

CPS also established a new email address for gas issues: GasMeterHelpDesk@CPSEnergy.com and Shawn Cobb is our direct CPS
contact. Shawn is the Director of Executive Account Management and also serves on the GSABA Board of Directors. I want to take
this opportunity to thank Shawn for all he has done for our members and his help in addressing the issues. You can reach Shawn
at 210-353-2348 or by email at BSCobb@CPSEnergy.com.

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We have a follow up meeting scheduled with the CPS Gas Team on Wednesday, September 11 from 10:00 am to 11:00 am. Coffee
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and cold drinks will be served and each issue that was raised at the August 13 meeting will be addressed. If you couldn’t attend
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the August meeting and have concerns or questions, please join us for the September 11 meeting.
Please call on me or a member of my team at any time if we can be of service to you. Thank you for your membership!

Warm regards,

8 SEPTEMBER 2019 | GREATER SAN ANTONIO BUILDERS ASSOCIATION