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Legislative
report
By Walt Roberts
ASSIST EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
As we are preparing to begin our Legislative agenda for the next session we know there are a few things that need to be addressed.
Currently we are gathering allies from the Janitorial, Lawn Care and the Staffing services in an attempt to try to pass a lien bill that will help us all. Please keep in mind with all the mortgage mess law makers may be hesitant to draft and pass legislation that place someone business in jeopardy. In the past different industries has tried to pass their own version of a bill with, no luck. Our thinking is, with a united front and many industries working toward the same goal, we may get something passed.
It has been suggested to add security officer to the penal code in section 38.14 with regard to taking a weapon away from a security officer by force. I know that Keith and I are running some of the traps related to this now, we�ll see. Again, we are going to try to change the Criminal Trespass law to broaden it, allowing Security Officers to issue criminal trespass warnings. As suggested before, it may cause some problems in the beginning but the long term effect to our clients, their visitors and guests would be positive. By having the ability to issue the warnings it would discourage vagrants, criminal activity and individuals previously told to leave the property.
As always, Keith and I expect some laws may be brought forth that will hurt or at the very least effect our business�s in an adverse way. That�s why we need you and your support. When you visit with that Senator or State Representative from your district he or she remembers you�re the one that votes for them and we know that effect is felt in Austin.
ASSIST is going to work for and help sponsor the Legislative day in Austin. It was such a success last year we would be crazy not to do it the same way. Additionally, we will attend the industry meeting with DPS as we did before the last session to see what bills we can help with or be helped by our colleagues that are also regulated by DPS.
In closing, let me say it�s an honor to serve as your Executive Vice President and should you have any ideas regarding Legislation please let us know.
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