HB 148

"🔴 HB 148: When Training Becomes a Gatekeeper, Not a Guide

On paper, HB 148 says it’s about “training and educating” members of appraisal district boards...the people who help oversee how your property is valued for taxes.

That might sound like a good thing. Who wouldn’t want better-trained public officials?

But dig a little deeper, and here’s what it actually does:

📋 You can’t run for a seat on the board...or even be appointed...unless you sign a detailed acknowledgment of your duties and submit it to the chief appraiser.

🎓 If you’re in a county with 75,000 people or more, you also have to complete mandatory training every single year. And not just any training...only courses provided by accredited colleges or their affiliates.

⚠️ Miss that deadline? You’re automatically labeled “incompetent” under Texas law...and you can be removed from office.

There’s no built-in appeal process. No waiver. No funding attached. Just permanent obligations for local board members… with the gatekeeping power handed quietly to higher ed institutions and chief appraisers.

Who pushed this?
✅ Texas Association of Appraisal Districts
✅ Texas Realtors
✅ Texas Taxpayers and Research Association

These are the same groups that already hold deep influence over how property values get set...and by extension, how much Texans pay in taxes.

They say this bill improves professionalism. But here’s what it also does:

➡️ Makes it harder for working-class or community-minded candidates to run, especially in counties with tight access to accredited training providers.

➡️ Lets non-elected bureaucrats decide who can serve...with no real accountability if they gatekeep access to the training or paperwork.

➡️ Creates two sets of rules...one for large counties, another for small ones. Same job, different requirements. That’s not fairness. That’s strategic filtering.

And once this structure is in place? It’s easy to expand. This kind of credentialing model can be copied across other local boards...school districts, zoning commissions, health authorities.

The big shift? From public elections and local decisions… to credential-controlled eligibility and quiet removals.

There’s no plan for how this gets funded. No review board to oversee the training curriculum. No transparency on how many people get removed or blocked from running. And no voter override.

This isn’t about education. It’s about control.

And if we let it stand, it opens the door to privatizing who gets to serve...not based on competence, but compliance.

Bottom line: HB 148 turns a training requirement into a filter...and gives unelected institutions the power to decide who’s allowed to govern your tax system. That’s a quiet but serious shift in how democracy works at the local level.

Quick ask, y’all...likes help the algorithm, but shares are what get the truth out.

If this bill affects you, your kids, your patients, your neighbors...please share it.

Too many Texans don’t know what’s being signed into law. And if we don’t share it, they won’t hear it. These bills move quietly. The consequences don’t.

It’s not about going viral. It’s about making sure the people who need to know...do know.

So if this post made you pause, think, or get fired up… don’t just like it. Send it. Share it. Say something.

#HB148 #TexasPolicy #GatekeepingByDesign #WatchTheDetails"