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Texas Legislature's Attempt to Ban Local Paid Leave Ordinances Falters as Legislative Session Ends


On May 27th, the Texas Legislature's legislative session ended.  (For those unaware, the Texas Legislature meets only on odd numbered years and is limited to a regular session of 140 calendar days.  With that being said, the Governor may call a special session after the regular session ends.  Notably, the Governor is allowed to call as many special sessions as he/she wants.  However, a special session is limited to only 30 days and lawmakers are only able to consider those issues specifically designated by the Governor.)

During this past legislative session, the Texas Legislature was considering legislation which would have prohibited local municipalities from passing their own paid leave laws.  (Readers will recall that Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio have been at the forefront of this matter, having passed their own paid leave ordinances.)  The Texas Senate, under majority control by Republicans, indicated that passing a bill banning these local ordinances was a priority for the legislative session.  In doing so, several pieces of legislation were put forward this legislative session:

  • Senate Bill 15 sought to eliminate these local ordinances by creating a statewide framework for employment laws in Texas.  However, Senate Bill 15 faltered when Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick insisted on removing language from the bill which would have protected nondiscrimination ordinances for LGBTQ workers in the state and support for the legislation dissipated. 
  • Senate Bill 15 was subsequently split up into four separate bills, in an effort to salvage the legislation.  All four of these separate bills managed to pass the Senate.  However, these four separate bills also did not carve out any protections for nondiscrimination ordinances for LGBTZ workers in the state.  Language in regard to the nondiscrimination protection was put back into the bills by the House State Affairs Committee, but failed to advance further.

The question now turns to the inevitable:  What's next?  In short, those hoping for a reprieve from the Legislature are likely out of luck.  Texas Governor Greg Abbott has indicated he has no intent to call a special session.  With that option off the table, short of waiting for the Legislature to reconvene in 2021, employers and business groups have turned their eyes to the courts.  Last year, an appeals court in Austin found that Austin's paid sick leave ordinance was unconstitutional.  (That decision is currently being appealed by the City of Austin.)  Whether the Texas Supreme Court decides to take the case remains to be seen.  Currently, the paid leave ordinances in Dallas and San Antonio remain in place as no lawsuits have yet been filed to challenge those.



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