H.B. 1198 passed a committee vote in the Texas House of Representatives by 12-0. The critical step now is to get it to a vote because the session ends in one month. The bill would:

• Allow a professional corporation to organize as an ESOP as long as all of the voting trustees are licensed.
• Establish the Employee Ownership Assistance Office in the Office of the Governor, Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office.
• Allow certified Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) to transition to an ESOP structure without forfeiting HUB status.
• Create contracting preferences for ESOPs for the state, cities, counties, and special districts.

If you are in Texas and want to support the bill, please contact Corey Rosen at [email protected] as soon as possible to get the names and contact number of members to contact about the bill.