On March 20, 2007 the Texas House Agriculture and Livestock Committee held a public hearing on HB 2458 -relating to the licensing and regulations of structural pest control by the Department of Agriculture and the abolition of the Texas Structural Pest Control Board.
The Ag & Livestock Committee heard testimony from 26 citizens, the majority of which were from the pest control industry. The majority of the speakers were against the bill and there was much discussion from the Committee and the public about how this Bill would affect the pest control industry. After two hours of testimony, Chairman Sid Miller called a recess as all Representatives were called to the House floor for a vote. The committee reconvened at 1:00 pm, where the Chair called for a vote of this bill to be sent back to the House floor. The vote was 4 to 1 to send the bill back to the house without any changes. What this means is that the Bill stands as it is written.
The companion Senate bill is still in committee and as of today it has not been scheduled for a hearing.
If both bills pass the House and Senate, changes in structural pest control will be finalized by September 1, 2008. Whereby, TDA will assume all pest control responsibilities and the Structural Pest Control Board will no longer be a state agency.