Democratic Priorities in the 2019 Texas Legislature

Last week I wrote about how the election results changed the makeup of the state legislature and courts here in Texas. Here’s a look at what that change means to you and me in terms of over 400 pieces of legislation filed on opening day of pre-filing with the state legislature based on analysis by the Texas AFL-CIO.

There was more good than bad for workers in that first batch including a strong group of bills raising wages, strengthening pensions and other workplace benefits, expanding health care and improving access to higher education were filed as well as addressing sexual harassment.

First the bad, HB 222 by Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, would eliminate the ability of cities to enact earned paid sick leave ordinances. The ordinances, like those recently enacted in Austin and San Antonio, could provide hundreds of thousands of Texans the freedom to stay home when they are ill, are under challenge in court as well. Keep in mind that this issue is about more than benefitting employees since it actually protects other employees and customers from contact that could spread the disease further. Think about the restaurant worker who feels the need to work with the flu so they can pay the next month’s rent or put food on the table for their family.

SB 32 by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, would establish the Texas Promise Grant Program to pay tuition and fees for Texas students whose annual household incomes are less than $150,000; SB 33 by Zaffirini specifically addresses two-year colleges.

HB 48 by Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-El Paso, would create a publicly available database of employers who have been found to have committed wage theft. As it stands now business owners can get fined for stealing from their employees and then weeks later start it all over again with new employees who have little chance of finding out that the person hiring them is likely to steal from them. Should Rep. Gonzalez’s bill be passed into law there would be a website that prospective employees could check to see of a business makes a habit of stealing wages before it happens to them. Having such information widely available should also provide a deterrent to employers as such behavior will become widely known in the community and they’ll be shamed for it in addition to finding it harder to find good workers. In addition HB 83 by Rep. Romero raises penalties for repeated failure to pay wages and HB 106 by Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, would increase protections against employer retaliation when an employee files a claim for unpaid wages.

HB 56 by Rep. Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco, would provide for cost-of-living adjustments on pensions for retired teachers; SBs 92, 93 and 94 by Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, would add a supplemental "13th payment" for retirees and otherwise shore up the Teacher Retirement System.

HB 133 by Rep. Terry Canales, would make it state law that tips are solely the property of tipped employees and therefore the practice that some restaurant and bar operators of claiming a percentage of tips for themselves would be outlawed.

Minimum wage is a big issue that several bills address, HB 194 by Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, would raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour; HB 290 by Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, would raise the minimum to $10.10 an hour; SB 113 by Sen. Jose Menendez would set the wage at $10.10 an hour, as would SJR 5, his constitutional amendment proposal. SB 161 by Sen. Rodriguez would allow cities and counties to set local minimum wages.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - November 16, 2018