2017 #TXLEGE Tesla Bills look MUCH Stronger!!!

"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”
Mark 2:22

Yes, thank you:

Instead of looking to create any kind of carve-out that favors the high-end electric car maker, legislation filed Friday would simply allow any vehicle manufacturer to sell directly to Texans — bypassing the middleman dealers — in Tesla's biggest challenge yet to a longstanding state ban on the practice.

The proposal "will allow manufacturers of vehicles any weight, class, size or shape to sell direct to consumers," said state Rep. Jason Isaac, the Dripping Springs Republican who filed the legislation in the House. "It’s a simple, free-market bill to allow that to happen."

State Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, is carrying the legislation in the upper chamber. He and Isaac filed their bills, Senate Bill 2093 and House Bill 4236, on Friday with hours to go until the deadline to submit legislation for the biennial session.

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This time around, Tesla is hopeful the legislation is written in a way that assuages concerns that it is giving preferential treatment to the company.

"There are no carve-outs, incentives, subsidies, breaks or deals for any manufacturers here," tweeted David White, who has previously served as a spokesman for Tesla in Texas. "This is all about the consumer and it’s the direct sales model Texans have been asking for."

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For Isaac, the issue goes beyond Tesla. He recalled having something of an epiphany after recently touring an Amazon facility in Texas and seeing robots zip around with pallets: What if similar technology could one day be used to haul containers up and down the state's highways?

"I really believe in the next 10 to 20 years we are going to see a complete change in our transportation system," Isaac said, "and the last thing I want is any barrier to that technology being available."

We read the bill here, and we can't find anything to dislike; read the full Trib piece here.

Bottom Line: Sometimes, when you have to wait a session or two you just end up with a stronger final product (Note: Something similar might be in the process over parental educational choice).  It might not be necessary, or right, but it's also reality as long as the roster looks the way it does.  This might be one of those cases.