Photo courtesy of The Texan/Ben Billups

By: Tony Guajardo – thetexan.news – April 2, 2019

The State Affairs Committee needed overflow seating for the flood of attendees that arrived at yesterday’s hearing. The bills laid out were SB 2485-2488. All four create uniform statewide policies regarding benefit packages (2485), scheduling practices (2486), paid sick leave (2487), and criminal history inquiries (2488) between employers and employees that would prohibit locally-imposed business ordinances.

Supporters of the legislation, particularly small businesses that cross city lines, routinely complain about having to juggle and comply with multiple city-imposed regulations on these issues in addition to state regulations that at times may conflict with a mandate enacted by a municipality.

All four bills were supported by members of the Alliance for Securing and Strengthening the Economy in Texas (ASSET).

Lucy Nashed, Vice President of Government Relations at McGuireWoods, spoke with the Texan on ASSET’s behalf, “It’s the Legislature’s responsibility to make sure Texas’ regulatory and economic policies are consistent and streamlined in order to grow jobs, not hamper job growth.”

However, many LGBT activist organizations and community members see the current language in these bills as a threat to municipal non-discriminatory ordinances (NDOs).

The oldest NDO in Texas was established in Austin in 1982. The city voted to protect residents from housing discrimination based on sexual orientation.

One panel of witnesses comprised both supporters and opponents of the bills. The four members of the witness panel were Justin Bragiel, Trusha Patel, Samantha Moot, and Cathryn Oakley.

“The most important thing is…city to city predictability between regulations such as wages, scheduling, etc,” said Bragiel, General Counsel at the Texas Hotel Lodging Association.

Patel added, “I own a small business with only a handful of employees. We need state consistency.”

Samantha Moot, interim executive director of Equality Texas, an organization that advocates for LGBT Texans and their families, focused on how these bills would affect their way of life:

“These bills would undercut local NDO’s…this vulnerable community’s only legal protection from discrimination is on the line.”

Cathryn Oakley, the state legislative director for the Human Rights Campaign testified, “It might technically remain illegal to fire someone for coming out, but it wouldn’t be illegal to force them out of their job by giving them the least desirable shifts or denying them benefits.”

Representatives on the committee weighed in as well. Rep. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) had a standing question for each person that testified this morning in support of the four Senate bills.

“Would you support language in these bills that would allow the protection of a NDO?” Raymond repeatedly asked.

The video below shows Shelby Sterling, a policy analyst with the Think Local Liberty project, testifying in favor of the bills. She received lengthy …

To see the video and the remaining article, click read more.

Source: Hearing on Employment Ordinances Draws Small Business Support and LGBT Activist Opposition