Texas lawmakers on Thursday advanced a bill that would prevent a city from requiring private employers to give their workers certain benefits, such as paid sick leave.
鈥淭his bill creates a statewide policy for consistent regulation by giving clarity to our private employers and prohibits local governments meddling in their business for paid sick leave, predictive scheduling and benefit policies,鈥� Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) said before lawmakers voted Senate Bill 15 out of the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee.
SB 15 would unravel a passed in February 2018, which requires most private employers to give workers six to eight paid sick days a year. , though, after a Texas appeals court ruled in November it violated the state constitution.
The City of San Antonio Creighton called these ordinances 鈥渂urdensome, expensive regulations."
Austin City Council Member Greg Casar testified against SB 15 at a public hearing Thursday.
鈥淛ust like the free market did not fix child labor and minimum wage on its own, I think the morality of people fixes many of those issues on its own,鈥� said Casar, who championed Austin鈥檚 paid sick leave ordinance. 鈥淏ut in the cases where it doesn鈥檛 happen, we need to step up. And if the state would step up and give everybody a sick day than I don鈥檛 think the City of Austin would have to step up.鈥�
The bill would also prohibit cities from regulating how private employers consider a job candidate's criminal history. In 2016, Austin passed a rule prohibiting employers from checking a job candidate鈥檚 criminal history until the final round of hiring 鈥� although the city for two years because it feared the legislature would overturn it.
Sen. Pat Fallon (R-Prosper) asked Casar why he thought cities had the right to pass such laws and said the result is a patchwork of laws that could burden some employers.
鈥淪hould we all just go home and you run the city, er run the state? I just don鈥檛 get it,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he patchwork issue is a problem if you鈥檙e wiping out these protections for people,鈥� Casar responded. 鈥淚f to avoid a patchwork issue we were to have a statewide law that guaranteed everyone a basic minimum of sick days, I would be supportive of that.鈥�
The bill could now come to the full Senate for a vote.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated how SB 15 would affect a city's ability to pass laws about how employers consider a job candidate's criminal history.
Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxODQzOTgwMDEyMTcyNjI4MTAxYWQyMw004))
