• February 12, 2019

PRESS RELEASE: Sen. Creighton, Rep. Goldman File Consistent Employment Regulation Bills

PRESS RELEASE: Sen. Creighton, Rep. Goldman File Consistent Employment Regulation Bills

150 150 ASSET – Alliance for Securing and Strengthening the Economy in Texas

The Alliance for Securing and Strengthening the Economy in Texas today released the following statement regarding the of filing Senate Bill 15 by Sen. Brandon Creighton and House Bill 1654 by Rep. Craig Goldman, or the Consistent Employment Regulations bills:

“Private employment regulations are a statewide issue and a critical part of what makes Texas economically competitive. It’s the Legislature’s responsibility to make sure Texas’ regulatory and economic policies are consistent and streamlined and help grow jobs, not hamper job growth,” ASSET Spokesperson Annie Spilman said. “Texans from both sides of the aisle support consistent statewide employment policies over an unnecessary patchwork of regulations. These bills are critical to cutting red tape and encouraging job growth and investment in every part of Texas.”

“Any type of regulation is a burden and a cost that business owners have to navigate in order to grow, expand and profit, but it’s particularly hard in a state as large as Texas where a patchwork quilt of regulations drives up the cost of doing business, and for some people, will drive them out of doing business,” Gov. Greg Abbott said. “That’s why I’m proud of legislation that’s being offered up by Sen. Creighton and Rep. Goldman that would slash through regulations proposed at the local level that would slow down or hinder small businesses in the state of Texas.”

Senate Bill 15 and House Bill 1654 establish consistent private employment regulations for Texas, rather than a patchwork network of local regulations that can hamper economic development and drive away jobs in certain areas of the state. The bills protect existing local nondiscrimination ordinances that have been passed by cities and chambers of commerce to attract jobs and investment.

An inconsistent patchwork of employment regulations creates massive compliance issues and bureaucratic hurdles for employers of all sizes that operate in multiple jurisdictions across the state, in addition to unnecessary confusion for their employees. Streamlined, statewide employment regulations allow job creators to spend less time fighting through a web of red tape—including differing and multiplying local policies, paperwork, city administrators, penalties, fines, employee handbooks and more—and more time investing in their employees, their businesses and their communities.

Texans overwhelmingly support consistent employment regulations. In a recent poll, 63 percent of Texans said they do not want to enact a patchwork of local regulations by allowing cities to regulate private employment practices, and 76 percent said the Legislature should make sure laws and regulations are uniform across the state. Further, 86 percent of Republicans, 73 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Independents agreed that labor regulations should not vary by city, creating confusion and compliance issues for employers and employees.

ASSET is a non-profit coalition of job creation organizations that fights for policies that fuel the engines of our economy and protect Texas businesses from invasive and burdensome government regulations. ASSET collectively represents millions of employers and employees in the Lone Star State who believe employment and business operational decisions are best left to private employers, not government. For more information, please visit www.assettexas.com.