Texas legislature holds first GA subcommittee hearing
Highlights the need to ban ADS-B billing, stop maintenance tax
AOPA is known for its strong advocacy for general aviation pilots at the federal, state, and local levels. While we regularly cover "wins" and major issues when they arise, it can be a challenge to demonstrate how AOPA advocates on behalf of members every day.
On August 18, I had the chance to join AOPA Central Southwest Regional Manager Tom Chandler at the Texas Capitol in Austin for the first meeting of the new Texas House Select Committee on General Aviation.
Just prior to the doors to the hearing room opening, dozens of aviation stakeholders gathered outside, and many that came up knew Tom—airport operators, state officials, GA pilots, and more. Many were quick exchanges, but several people started talking to him about various issues pilots are facing across the state.
I work closely with Tom and the rest of our government affairs team to ensure AOPA members are informed on our advocacy efforts, but when the issues aren't high-profile, or a bill has been passed, their day-to-day efforts don't get as much attention.
The hearing began with Texas Department of Transportation Aviation Division Director Dan Harmon giving an overview of aviation in the state, which includes 287 airports (258 of which only serve GA) and 8.8 million operations (5.8 million of which were GA).
"For every $1 invested in Texas airports, it supports $56 in annual economic benefit to the state," said Harmon.
Lawmakers then heard from a variety of stakeholders, including Tom, who highlighted the need to ban the use of ADS-B for commercial purposes, to eliminate sales tax on aircraft parts, as well as the need for more GA hangars across the state, and for additional funding for airports, particularly in rural areas.
While more than a dozen states considered or introduced bills to ban the use of ADS-B to charge fees to pilots in 2026, Texas has yet to do so, in part because the Lone Star State is unique in that its legislature only meets every other year. Lawmakers discussed the need to end this practice in the upcoming 2027 legislative session.
The elimination of sales tax for parts also generated a lot of discussion, and strong support. Rep. Pat Curry (R-Waco), who is a pilot and aircraft owner, said he knows of maintenance facilities that have moved or opened additional locations in nearby states that have no tax on parts or labor—and Curry said he flies his airplanes to one for scheduled maintenance.
There was also a debate about the benefits of providing funding for hangars, with lawmakers discussing the long-term return on investment.
I'll note, though, that AOPA's most recent hangar survey shows a continued shortage of light GA hangar space nationwide, and that communities need to look past the immediate financial investment to understand the broader benefits of building new hangars.
Curry also discussed the state billing owners of aircraft that are used for business based on ADS-B data documenting the number of hours flown in Texas.
"It is crazy, and it's a crazy bookkeeping thing for us as aircraft owners," said Curry. "It's not providing money back to support aviation, it's providing money to pay staff to go collect these things... and has been for years."
Later in the day, lawmakers heard from a number of higher education institutions—community colleges, a four-year university, and a technical college—about the demand for aviation degree programs across the state. Several people in the audience urged us to speak about the AOPA High School Aviation STEM curriculum, as it continues to grow significantly every school year. I was offered two minutes to speak about it, and I highlighted that more than 50 Texas schools applied to use the curriculum this year, and that AOPA has partnerships with aviation officials in other states including Oklahoma and Tennessee to promote the curriculum and provide resources for educators—and I encouraged Texas transportation officials to work with AOPA to do the same.
Other sessions discussed growing airline service in smaller communities, the critical role that GA airports play in responding to natural disasters, and much more.
Throughout the seven-and-a-half-hour hearing (with no breaks, I might add), I was impressed by how engaged the lawmakers were with issues affecting GA. And while nothing is guaranteed until bills are signed into law, I agree with several lawmakers who commented throughout the hearing that they are grateful the legislature formed the committee—and that it can only mean good things for the future of GA in the state.
I left that long day at the Capitol more confident than ever that AOPA is well-positioned to fight for the needs of all of us every day.
