All individuals holding occupational licenses and certifications issued by the state must follow certain laws and rules. The Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR) is the state agency that licenses and regulates various occupations. Therefore, TDLR also receives complaints about these licensees and brings disciplinary actions against them to enforce rules and laws if necessary.
Disciplinary complaints may lead to sanctions that adversely affect your career. In severe cases, you could even face a license suspension or revocation, which affects your ability to keep your job and support yourself. A Texas occupational license defense lawyer can represent your interests before TDLR and put you in the best position to handle the disciplinary proceedings against you.
The TDLR 2025-2029 Strategic Plan
TDLR released its Agency Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2025-2029 (“the plan”) on June 1, 2024, which explores the goals and strategies that TDLR intends to pursue over the next several years. The plan consists of various components in which TDLR officials explain the agency’s past, present, and future.
Who TDLR Regulates
According to the plan, TDLR regulated 919,307 individuals in 38 licensing programs through the end of FY 2023, a 41% increase since 2015. The largest individual licensing program by far is the cosmetology program, with 305,147 individual licenses, followed by the electrician program, with 167,455 licenses. A distant third is the air conditioning and refrigeration program, with 54,024 licenses. All these programs saw an increase of 7.2 to 10.8% over the number of FY 2021 licenses.
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The largest business license program belongs to the cosmetology license program, with 52,766 business licenses, with the boiler licensing program, with 52,238 business licenses, coming in a close second. The elevator and escalator licensing program are the third largest, with 35,864 business licenses. Both the boiler and elevator and escalator licensing programs have had decreases in the number of licenses issued since FY 2021.
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In the plan, TDLR also notes that since 2015, the agency has begun regulating 25 new and transferred programs. Four programs were new to licensing altogether. The other programs new to TDLR were transferred from DPS, TEA, DSHS, the Podiatry Board, TDA, and the TREC. Most of the transferred programs were from DSHS. The state legislature also temporarily attached the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners to the TDLR in 2023 for a four-year period, which is scheduled to end on August 31, 2027.
TDLR Operational Goals
The TDLR has identified the following operational goals in its Plan:
- Procure and successfully implement the Legacy Systems Replacement Project to replace TDLR’s legacy systems.
- Expand training and licensing opportunities for career and technical education (CTE) in high schools and community colleges.
- Finalize the implementation of Sunset objectives in HB 1560, which involves completing the consolidation of the barber and cosmetology license program, updating the parent-taught driver education program, completing and adopting the driver education and safety rule package, and completing the transition to a post-renewal continuing education audit for health professionals.
- Continue effectively assisting the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME).
- Explore using Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and large language models to provide automated on-demand customer service and enhance accuracy, security, training, and user experience.
- Successfully implement a regular environment for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) across Texas to standardize and ensure public safety for this emerging technology.
- Continue to build capacity and strengthen the effectiveness of TDLR’s Anti-Trafficking Effort.
TDLR Initiatives Designed to Reduce Redundancies and Impediments that Pose Barriers and/or Decrease Agency Effectiveness or Efficiency
TDLR has also identified several legislative initiatives to increase the agency’s effectiveness and efficiency. These initiatives would impact multiple statutes, depending on their substance, and include the following:
- Pass an omnibus advisory board clean-up bill to eliminate outdated statutory provisions, those inconsistent with TDLR’s regular structure, or those inconsistent with TDLR’s other advisory boards.
- Add an alternative to filing notices in newspapers of general circulation for programs that require such notice, such as online notices.
- Continue funding for the TDLR Legacy Systems Replacement Project, which aims to consolidate TDLR’s multiple legacy licensing software systems into a single modern and secure licensing system.
- Remove the Orthotists and Prosthetist provision that provides an exemption from license requirements based on “unique qualifications,” a subjective standard that is difficult to apply uniformly or equally to all applicants.
- Transfer the Property Tax Professional licensing program to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, as that office already partially regulates that profession and is responsible for many of the requirements in Tex. Occ. Code Chapter 1151.
- Allow Podiatrists to enter into delegation agreements with advanced practice registered nurses, like other medical doctors.
- Add a statutory provision allowing TDLR to work with the Texas Education (TEA) to support career and technology education programs and explore the development of apprenticeship programs in industries that TDLR regulates.
- Prevent barbering and cosmetology license holders from performing medical procedures by giving TDLR enforcement authority to discipline and sanction those who go beyond the scope of their license in this manner.
- Strengthen the financial security and consumer protection requirements of the Service Contract Regulatory Act by:
- Including indemnification for repair or replacement as part of the definition of a residential service contract;
- Specifying the types of appliances that fall under the Residential Service Contract and excluding small portable appliances;
- Eliminating separately stated consideration prong;
- Clarifying that the warranty exemption does not apply if the risk covered is not directly tied to a product defect;
- Amending or repealing the exemption in Tex. Occ. Code §1304.0041 to clarify that appliances SCP are not exempt from TDLR registration;
- Reconceptualizing the funded reserve formula to provide financial security;
- Strengthening the authority to examine financials at any time;
- Prohibiting the failure in bad faith to meet obligations to consumers and failure to initiate a service call within 48 hours; and
- Requiring SCPs to verify that any electricians, plumbers, or AR professionals are dispatched or licensed by the appropriate licensing authority, thus making the failure to verify licensure a prohibited act.
Bertolino LLP: Ready to Defend Your Interests Before the TDLR
Retaining an experienced occupational license defense attorney to represent you before the TDLR is in your best interest. We are here to protect our interests throughout every stage of your disciplinary proceedings. Contact the lawyers of Bertolino LLP today by calling (512) 515-9518 or visiting us online.
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