Last Week In The Texas Legislature

Bills introduced that would impact Texas employers:

H.B. 804 Charlie Geren (R - Fort Worth) Amends Texas minimum wage law to pre-empt any city ordinance setting a minimum wage. It does not apply to government contracts or tax-abatement agreements.

H.R. 810 Eddie Rodriguez(D - Austin) Prohibits discrimination by state agencies on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

H.B. 812 Roberto Gutierrez (D - McAllen) Provides that 75% of any award of punitive damage award will go to the Permanent University Fund. The plaintiff would receive 15% and plaintiff's attorney 10%, notwithstanding any other contractual agreement.

H.B. 826 Yvonne Davis (D - Dallas) Requires employers to turn over any abandoned wage payments to the State Comptroller.

H.B. 978 Dawnna Dukes (D - Austin) Restrictions on certain business entities being the designated beneficiary of life insurance policies.

The following bills have been referred to Committee for further action

H.J.R. 18 Proposing a constitutional amendment relating to a right of privacy, referred to State Affairs.

H.B. 356 Relating to the right of an employee to time off from work to participate in certain school activities of the employee's child; providing a penalty, referred to Economic Development.

H.B. 359 Relating to a restriction on the mandatory arbitration of certain employment disputes, referred to Economic Development

H.B. 371 Relating to certain restrictions on the arbitration of an employment dispute, referred to Economic Development.

H.B. 379 Relating to the right of an employee to inspect the employee's personnel records, referred to Economic Development.

H.B. 570 Relating to limiting the liability of certain employers who do not provide workers' compensation insurance coverage, referred to Business & Industry.

H.B. 574 Relating to the prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, referred to Business & Industry.

S.B. 374 Relating to the payment of certain wages by staff leasing services companies, referred to Business & Commerce.

S.B. 390 Relating to an offense of using a telephone while operating a motor vehicle, referred to Criminal Justice.