On The Level: January 2021


On The Level new

Vol. 4     |  January 2021


A Note from Brian Francis

Brian Francis color

Happy 2021, and welcome to the fourth issue of On The Level. I hope this new year finds you and your families well. We at TDLR are looking forward to seeing what the new year will bring all of us -- hopefully a widely available COVID-19 virus vaccine and improved health for all of us.

While 2020 was quite challenging for our licensees and for TDLR, I am so proud of how our staff responded to the strange situation we found ourselves in. Most TDLR employees began working from home in mid-March. The heroes were the ones who continued to go to the office to process mail and work on licensing issues. Even though some of us contracted COVID-19 and we had to shut down our mailroom several times, the important work of assisting our licensees continued, with other staffers stepping in to help. Thank you for your patience during these trying times.

Our Commission and Advisory Boards continued meeting during the pandemic, gathering via teleconference to ensure that the important work of protecting consumers and business continue without interruption. I'm so proud of the flexibility our advisory boards showed; the virtual meetings were just as productive as those held in person in non-pandemic times.

We also met virtually with the Texas Sunset Commission, which has been evaluating our agency to determine whether TDLR should continue as an agency. I'm gratified to say that the Sunset Advisory Commission voted on January 13 to recommend that the Legislature also vote to extend us. 

Next on the horizon? We've been working on preparations for the 87th session of the Texas Legislature, which convenes on January 12, 2021, and will run until May 31. Legislators began pre-filing bills on Nov. 9 and will continue to introduce more bills in the next few weeks. TDLR staff have been tracking bills that could impact our agency and our licensees, and we've got a webpage devoted to a list of those bills. Be sure to bookmark the page and stop by during the session to see if any of the bills could affect your industry.

Thank you for all you do to care for the people of Texas. What you do matters, and we are proud to be associated with you. Be safe in 2021!

Yours in Service,

Brian E. Francis

Executive Director