Tag Archives: sick leave

Austin’s sick leave ordinance is officially dead

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Killed by the State Supreme Court, which should come as a surprise to no one. Austin still cannot enforce a mandatory paid sick leave ordinance its city council passed in February 2018 after the Texas Supreme Court on Friday declined to … Continue reading →

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The fight over sick leave has to be at the state level

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I get this, but it’s not going to work. The coronavirus outbreak is sparking a debate over paid sick leave in Houston, the largest U.S. city without a law requiring businesses to provide paid time off for workers who fall … Continue reading →

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Coronavirus and delivery workers

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a very obvious answer for this. Couriers delivering online orders of household essentials have become a lifeline for Houstonians hunkering down at home to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. But a growing number of workers responsible for … Continue reading →

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Abbott declares a state of emergency

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like it’s called for. Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday declared that the new coronavirus is a statewide public health disaster and said that Texas is on the verge of being able to significantly ramp up its testing capacity. At … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Sometimes, bad bills do die

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The calendar giveth, and the calendar taketh away. One of the the biggest priorities for Texas Republicans this session appears to be on the verge of legislative death. A series of bills that would broadly prohibit local governments from regulating … Continue reading →

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One anti-worker bill made slightly less bad

Posted on May 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s still a bad bill, just not maximally bad. Republicans’ legislative efforts to ban cities from mandating benefits for employers’ workers took another twist late Wednesday night after a Texas House committee added protections for LGBTQ workers that the state … Continue reading →

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Senate passes all of its SB15 alternatives

Posted on April 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

When one big bill won’t do but four smaller bills will. The Texas Senate on Tuesday preliminarily approved the last two bills in a package of splintered legislation aimed at limiting the ability of cities to regulate private companies’ employment … Continue reading →

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The Lege versus the polls

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There are reasons for this. Politicians are often said to be chasing the polls, but sometimes they run the other way. According to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, at least two issues popular with a majority of Republican … Continue reading →

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Getting the band back together

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I feel like they were a little slow getting off the bench, but the business lobby is back warning about anti-equality bills lurking in the Lege, mostly but not entirely in the Senate. In the spring of 2015, 80 companies … Continue reading →

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Some business opposition to SB15

Posted on March 22, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a start. A coalition of business groups and convention and tourism leaders, which includes ASAE, is expressing concern that a pending bill in the Texas Legislature could weaken protections for the state’s LGBTQ workers. ASAE is joining a coalition … Continue reading →

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Is the anti-sick leave bill also anti-equality?

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Could be. Whose word do you take for it? What started as seemingly simple state legislation hailed as good for Texas businesses is drawing skepticism from legal experts and outrage from advocates worried it would strike employment protections and benefits … Continue reading →

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It’s bill-filing season

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Here are some highlights from Day One: House Bill 49, by Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, would get rid of daylight saving time in Texas. Some lawmakers have tried to do this in past sessions. House Bill 63, by Rep. … Continue reading →

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Too many people don’t get sick leave

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From the CPPP: All Texans should be able to care for themselves or a loved one if they get sick, regardless of what kind of job they do or how much they earn. Approximately 4.3 million Texas workers – or … Continue reading →

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Of course Ken Paxton opposes the sick leave ordinance

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

He wouldn’t be Ken Paxton if he didn’t. Less than a week after a conservative think tank sued Austin over the city’s paid sick leave ordinance, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has thrown the state’s support behind the suit, calling … Continue reading →

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Why do business groups want to force sick people to go to work?

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

This is bad for society. The city’s new ordinance mandating that most private businesses in Austin provide paid sick leave to employees — heralded by supporters as the most progressive labor policy in Texas when it won approval two months ago — is … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Local control and local races

Posted on February 25, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Monthly: At the end of last week, the Austin City Council voted to pass a new ordinance requiring local businesses to give their employees paid sick leave. It was the end result of a long and intense fight, … Continue reading →

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