State
BY RACHEL LELAND & JESSICA SHORTEN
More than 60 Community Impact journalists across the state cover wide-ranging issues for local readers, delivering news to over 2 million mailboxes monthly and more than 100,000 inboxes daily. The stories below were curated for this community because of their impact in Texas.
Vehicle inspection to no longer be required by 2025
Texas food banks face growing need As a number of pandemic-era supplemental food programs and benefits were discontinued in early 2023, food banks have struggled meeting demand. “There’s even some people who weren’t on [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits and weren’t benefiting from those extra allotments who we’re now seeing in our lines because they’re simply not able to make ends meet,” said Celia Cole, executive director of Feeding Texas. Several related bills went into effect in September, including House Bill 1287, which provides a threshold on vehicle value for SNAP applicants, and HB 1743, allowing inmates to apply for SNAP before parole.
Beginning in 2025, Texas drivers will no longer need to get their vehicles inspected. The framework On Aug. 5, Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 3297 into law, which eliminates mandatory vehicle safety inspections for noncommercial vehicles. Drivers must still pay the annual inspection fee of $7.50 but will no longer need to take their vehicle in for inspection prior to registering it. If a vehicle was not previously registered, drivers will pay $16.75 instead and won’t be required to pay the $7.50 fee for the next registration year for the same vehicle. The 17 Texas counties that require annual emissions tests—including Dallas, Harris and Tra- vis counties, along with several counties around Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston—will continue to do so. Only 13 other states have mandatory vehicle inspections since the federal government ended
Inspection program replacement fee The $7.50 fee supports the following funds:
Texas mobility fund ($3.50): Finances the construction, reconstruction, acquisition and expansion of state highways
General revenue fund ($2): Serves as Texas’ primary operating fund
Clean air account ($2): Safeguards Texas’ air resources, recovers the costs of permitting new or modified emission sources and recovers the costs of permit reviews and renewals
SOURCES: TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT
2023 Texas SNAP benefits applications
the program requirement in 1976. According to the professionals
“I just think it defies logic,” said Larry Harris, owner of Larry’s Auto Inspection in Houston. “If nobody is making sure the vehicles are safe, there’s going to be some unsafe vehicles on the street.” Larry Harris said he was particularly concerned about people being able to drive without their steering wheel, brakes or tires up to standard.
While proponents—such as state Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, who filed the bill—have argued mandatory vehicle inspections are unnecessary, one vehicle inspector said he worries doing away with the requirement could put drivers’ safety at risk and threaten the survival of his business.
SOURCE: TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES/COMMUNITY IMPACT
$200 OFF ANY NEW GARAGE DOOR Only one per customer cannot be combined with any other coupon
50% OFF GARAGE DOOR TUNE UP ($75 VALUE) Only one per customer cannot be combined with any other coupon
281-747-6664 • WWW.GARAGEDOORDOCTOR.BIZ GARAGE DOOR REPAIR OR REPLACE
18
COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook