A weighty divide between state regulations and boat owners might be lifted during the upcoming legislative session thanks to a Houston area lawmaker.

State Rep. Dennis Paul, R-Houston, filed a bill Wednesday amending the rules requiring annual vehicle inspections for trailers with a gross weight of more than 4,500 pounds. His district includes southeast Harris County, including Clear Lake and Seabrook where many boat dealers and owners live.

Paul’s bill would increase the gross weight to 7,500 pounds, meaning larger trailers would fall under the inspection criteria, but more boats and campers would skate below the requirement.

“These commercial trailers, there is no question in my mind they need to be inspected,” State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, said during a Senate Transportation Committee meeting in September. “(But) we are putting the public through a lot of hassle that is not much benefit.”

Lawmakers during the legislative break said they were confident eliminating inspections would not endanger drivers, because police still have discretion to pull over anyone they consider a threat because of a decrepit trailer.

Texas has always required trailer inspections, but enforcement was much more intermittent before state officials combined inspection stickers and vehicle registrations into a single sticker in 2015. For nearly the past two years, fishermen, recreational campers, ranchers and others have bristled at having to take their boat trailers and even simple hauling trailers into mechanics for the all-clear. Lawmakers have also heard extensive comments from boat retailers and trailer manufacturers in the state.

During the legislative break, many lawmakers pledged to take up the cause. Paul’s bill is the first filed specifically to change the trailer requirements. The lawmaker proposed changing the gross weight cap to 7,500 pounds to most easily mirror other regulations, Paul's chief of staff, Mitzi Stoute said.