Texas Senate revives push to block cities' paid sick leave ordinances
The Texas Senate has revived a push to ban cities and counties from requiring companies to provide specific employee benefits like paid sick leave.
Supporters say Senate Bill 14 will prevent regulatory confusion in a way that helps businesses regain their footing as the economy tries to recover from the pandemic’s devastating financial effects. But opponents say it reduces workers’ access to paid sick leave after they’ve been navigating the pandemic for more than a year.
“You have people on TV saying the most important thing to protect yourself from this virus is to stay at home if you don’t feel well, but we’re not going to do sick leave, so you can choose between going to work and eating,” said Rick Levy, the president of the Texas AFL-CIO.
The Senate passed the bill in a 19-12 vote Tuesday. It targets attempts by several Texas cities to mandate benefits for employees. In the past three years, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio passed paid sick leave ordinances, but court rulings have kept them from being enforced. Last session, business leaders fought for similar legislation on the basis that it would eliminate confusion for businesses operating across cities and leave decision making to employers.
Read more: https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2021/04/14/texas-senate-revives-push-to-block-cities-paid-sick-leave-ordinances
(San Antonio Current)
