Texas Senate panel advances bill banning cities from adopting sick leave ordinances

[Elderberry]

Texas Tribune by Alex Samuels 2/28/2019

The bill would also nullify mandates some local city councils in major Texas cities have already tried to put in place. The measure is now eligible to be taken up by the full Senate.

The Texas Senate State Affairs Committee this morning speedily advanced the first bill that’s not dubbed an emergency item by Gov. Greg Abbott: one that prevents cities from requiring paid sick leave for their employees.

The amended version of Senate Bill 15, which passed the committee with a 5-1 vote after nearly two hours of testimony, would prevent individual cities and counties from adopting local ordinances related to employment leave, paid days off for holidays and, most notably, sick days.

The bill would nullify mandates some local city councils in major Texas cities have already tried to put in place. A priority item for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the bill is now eligible to be taken up by the full Senate.

“Private employment regulations are a statewide issue, not something that political subdivisions should decide,” said the bill’s author, state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe. “Senate Bill 15 provides consistency across the state to help businesses continue to grow and to keep patchwork laws that can change in a matter of miles from being put into place.”

The battle lines over the sick leave issue were drawn after Austin passed an ordinance last year requiring the city's employers to offer paid sick leave. Under the mandate — which was blocked by a state appeals court after a coalition of business groups sued — each private employer in the city would’ve been required to allow workers to accrue up to 64 hours of paid sick leave per year. Small businesses with 15 or fewer employees could've offered 48 hours, or six work days. The San Antonio City Council approved a similar ordinance last summer.

Creighton called the ordinances “costly, prohibitive, intrusive and at odds with the Texas Constitution.”

Ordinances such as the ones put into place in Austin and San Antonio drew sharp rebukes from some business leaders and top Republican officials, including Attorney General Ken Paxton — who argued only the state could implement such a law.

And while not dubbed an emergency item by the governor, Abbott assured business leaders weeks ago that the Legislature would take action.

More: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/02/28/texas-senate-committee-sick-leave-ordinance-austin-san-antonio/

[Sanguine]

I see this referred to as stopping the Californication of Texas.