Fellow Pool and Spa Professional:

First, let me take a moment to say thank you for your continued commitment and support of APEC!  Because of your support, we are able to promote your business and continue our grassroots advocacy for the pool and spa industry in Texas!

Since APEC was created, our goals have always been the same:  to protect the industry we all depend on from harmful or unnecessary state legislation, to promote education of the pool and spa industry in Texas, and to educate consumers and officials at state and local government.  Since its inception, APEC has welcomed many new members from throughout the pool and spa industry in Texas.  Membership now includes representatives from all segments – manufacturers, distributors, retailers, service companies, builders, and subcontractors – of the pool and spa industry, as well as associated and allied industries.  

Protecting Your Business – Educating State Leaders.  Last year, during the 2007 Texas Legislative Session, more than ten pieces of legislation were filed that directly targeted the Texas pool and spa industry.  If passed, any number of those bills would have had a terrible effect on your business and our industry as a whole, either costing significant amounts of revenue or fundamentally altering the way we do business.  At the time, a small handful of APEC volunteers spent countless hours working the halls of the Texas Capitol, visiting with legislative member’s offices, and speaking out at legislative committee hearings  against bad legislation.  While we avoided a crisis last time, APEC now must be prepared to face similar difficult or bad legislation this next session.  To address that challenge, APEC sought to fill a need for professional advocacy efforts at the Texas Capitol. 

In June 2007, APEC retained a fine professional law and lobby firm based in Austin, Texas.  The results have been exceedingly positive for you, APEC, and our industry.  The professionals advising APEC have delivered important planning and guidance involving a number of state government challenges and dilemmas. 

Important Example.  As an illustration, based on past drafting, the Texas Electrical Code says that all pool service companies, pool cleaners, pool builders, subcontractors, pool & spa retailers are required to hire a licensed electrician for every pump and motor replacement.  Full scale enforcement of this statute by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) would effectively cripple thousands of pool and spa service businesses that rely on this type of work. Not only would costs skyrocket, but scheduling a licensed electrician would also be burdensome.  This is true, particularly given the fact there are not enough available licensed electricians to handle the estimated 11 million pool related service calls in Texas per year.

In this instance, APEC’s professional lobbyists coordinated with TDLR staff to address specific concerns relating to the new electrical standards and effectively forestalled undue efforts by the TDLR to enforce the new provisions against APEC pool and spa service personnel.  The TDLR agreed to allow APEC, on behalf of the pool and spa industry, to provide a plan of action that will timely bring the pool and spa industry into compliance with these recent changes.  In short, the APEC lobby team saved our “collective bacon” and provided APEC with the foundation on which we can continue to work this issue with TDLR and the legislature.   

More Challenges, Joining Together.  Calendar year 2008 and the upcoming 2009 Texas Legislative Session will present issues from other stakeholders.  The time is now to address the many challenges requiring that we all join together, which include: 

• Licensing Your Business – The Texas Legislature is looking at all forms of Licensing of the pool and spa industry, service and construction.

• Fences and Codes – Residential fencing and barrier code changes.

• Mandates – Energy conservation bills that may restrict how we build and repair pools and spas.

Together, we can help create the guidelines and laws which will govern our industry in Texas.  Symposiums, organized by APSP and IPSSA, have been held throughout the state and have helped to yield valuable input from industry members such as yourself regarding the advantages and disadvantages of licensing for the swimming pool industry. This information, once compiled, will enable APEC will to form an opinion on this issue in our ongoing negotiations with TDLR.

Moving forward into the 2009 Legislative Session, we must remain united as an industry. It is extremely important to understand that when negotiating with any governmental entity, speaking with a unified voice presents the strongest and most effective form of advocacy. That voice at the Texas Capitol is APEC. Taking a disjointed approach to government advocacy by having several groups try to address the same issue is the primary reason other states have been unfairly and hastily regulated. As a result, it has taken our industry in other states many years and vast financial resources to help correct the problems associated with hasty and lopsided regulation of the pool and spa industry.  We, as members of the Texas pool and spa industry, should not allow this to happen in Texas. APEC has successfully fought against unfair legislative proposals in the past and with a unified voice moving forward, we will again be able to provide positive policy influence and advocacy at the Texas Capitol. Please explore the APEC website for further information about our successful work on behalf of our industry.  

Thank you for your attention and time

Sincerely,

Dan Gossage, President