Hard to believe that the Texas legislature will soon be in session. We begin to get our first look at what might be in store by the bills which are prefiled, which began this week. Among the early bird bills that are labor and employment oriented are the following:
S.B. 41 an FMLA type act that would give time off from work to participate in certain activities of the employee's child. Would define employer as any employer with 10 or more employees and would provide up to one hour a month of unpaid time for meeting with teacher or attending other school function. Judy Zaffirini. (D - Laredo)
S.B. 70 Would provide a preference for potential state vendors for those who provide medical benefits for their employees. Eliot Shapleigh (D -El Paso)
S.B. 74 A Texas version of the Equal Pay Act that would be applicable to an employer with four or more employees. Eliot Shapleigh (D - El Paso)
The filing totals for the first 3 days, Monday, November 8 (135); Tuesday, November 9 (23); and Wednesday, November 10 (19). It would be nice to think that the number of bills will continue to decline, but don't count on it.
