Bills banning local paid sick leave, employee benefits rules pass in Texas Senate

AUSTIN — Texas cities would be banned from requiring private businesses to offer paid sick leave and other employment benefits under two bills the Texas Senate approved on Thursday.

Senate Bills 2485 and 2487 would bar municipalities from mandating that private businesses offer paid sick leave and vacation time and provide health and retirement benefits to their workers. The bills passed along party line votes after senators finished their debate in the early evening.

Bill author Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, called his legislation the most important effort to protect the Texas economy this year, and denied concerns the bills could unravel local LGBT protections. Small business owners would not be required to comply with local employment mandates they see as onerous and cost-prohibitive, Creighton said, while companies operating across the state would not have to figure out how to live up to disparate benefits rules enforced in different cities.

"We want to make sure that Texas remains the strongest business climate in America and these bills will allow that to be the case," Creighton said. "When businesses are strong, jobs are created. And when jobs are created, even the most vulnerable Texans with those jobs continue to have employment."

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas-legislature/2019/04/11/bills-banning-local-paid-sick-leave-employee-benefits-rules-pass-texas-senate