Leg­isla­tive advo­ca­cy is a top pri­or­i­ty for Texas Forestry Asso­ci­a­tion. The Leg­isla­tive Com­mit­tee meets reg­u­lar­ly to dis­cuss ways to sup­port and devel­op state and fed­er­al leg­is­la­tion that is ben­e­fi­cial to the forestry com­mu­ni­ty. They main­tain a list of leg­isla­tive pri­or­i­ties and rela­tion­ships with state and fed­er­al leg­is­la­tors, reg­u­la­to­ry agen­cies and their staff, and con­duct tours when possible.

The Leg­isla­tive Com­mit­tee pro­tects and advances the for­est sector’s inter­ests regard­ing state and fed­er­al tax codes, includ­ing the Estate Tax and changes to the Spe­cial Use Val­u­a­tion for pri­vate tim­ber­land own­ers. In addi­tion, they advo­cate with nation­al orga­ni­za­tions to advance TFA’s posi­tions on fed­er­al issues, such as cli­mate change, tax reform, truck weights, pre­scribed fire, etc. TFA is an active mem­ber in the Texas Agri­cul­ture Coun­cil and oth­er statewide orga­ni­za­tions with sim­i­lar rur­al issues.