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House Approves Substitute to Clarify Real-Estate Agents’ Status After Supreme Court Ruling
Summary
The House adopted a substitute to Senate Bill 198 clarifying that real estate agents are independent contractors for licensing purposes unless a contract specifies employee status; second-substitute language also limits continuing‑education reinstatement to 12 hours for lapsed licenses.
The House considered second substitute Senate Bill 198 on March 2, a response to a Supreme Court decision that had implications for whether real-estate agents are employees or independent contractors. Representative Adams explained that the substitute narrows reinstatement requirements and clarifies that real-estate agents are independent contractors unless they sign a contract making them employees.
Under the second substitute, agents who let their licenses lapse would generally need to satisfy 12 hours of continuing education for reinstatement rather than make up every missed hour accrued during the lapse period. Representative Adams described the change as correcting what he called an erroneous implication of the court’s ruling and emphasized that the substitute restores clear statutory language about independent-contractor status.
The chamber voted on the substitute measure; the second substitute, Senate Bill 198, received 66 yes votes and 0 no votes and passed to the Senate for further consideration.
Next steps: the bill was passed by the House to the Senate as the second substitute; any further changes would be addressed in Senate consideration or subsequent conference work if necessary.
