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What I've Been Reading This Week


Difficult to narrow things down this week, but I think it is appropriate to lead this one off with a note about President-Elect Donald Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary.  To the surprise of few, 'pro-employer' groups have cheered the news while labor unions have been quick to oppose.  Given that Republicans control Congress (and this nominee likely will not produce as much of a fight as say the nominee for Secretary of State or Attorney General), I think it is safe to assume Andrew Puzder will likely be confirmed.  For those who might have thought Tom Perez, the current Labor Secretary, was too 'union friendly', Puzder will likely be a breath of fresh air.

As always, below are several articles that caught my eye this week.


A Closer Look at Andrew Puzder, Labor Secretary Nominee

Recently, President-Elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Andrew Puzder to serve as Labor Secretary in his administration.  For those unfamiliar with Puzder, The Tennessean wrote a great article that gives some background on the nominee and his position on topics such as minimum wage (spoiler, he has opposed any minimum wage hikes), his tendency to favor employers (not a surprise given his background), among other topics.  Well worth a read for those interested.


Texas Congressmen Seek to Pass Law to Prohibit Ban the Box Measures in the State

Earlier this week, several Congressmen in Texas introduced House Bill 577 which would make it illegal for local governments in the state to adopt 'ban the box' measures.  According to one of the sponsors of the bill, allowing cities across the state to choose whether to have 'ban the box' measures can lead to confusion and a lack of uniformity.  In a state as big as Texas, that is actually a fairly sound argument.  However, as Madlin Mekelberg at The Dallas Morning News writes, it is expected that a competing piece of legislation will be introduced during this legislative session that would seek to 'ban the box' across the entire state.  Note, a similar statewide 'ban the box' bill was introduced in the last legislative session in 2015 but failed to pass.  Interesting to see if either bill makes any headway.

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