Posts related to bills, laws, and other political machinery.

You are currently viewing New Texas Bill Would Require Workers Compensation in Construction

New Texas Bill Would Require Workers Compensation in Construction

This year at the Texas Legislature, two lawmakers — one in the House and one in the Senate — are proposing a bill that requires construction contractors to opt into the state worker’s compensation system. The bill is likely destined to fail. But even if it passed, it wouldn’t solve the state’s bigger problem: misclassification of employees.

SB 305 (Sen. Sarah Eckhardt)
HB 776 (Rep. Armando Walle)

What is Workers Compensation?

Workers compensation is designed to be a somewhat cookie cutter process to get injured workers paid to cover medical and other costs. It results in lower payouts than a big civil lawsuit win, but the payment is more certain. The process is more bureaucratic than adversarial. There’s no trial, just an application. You’re injured? You’re covered? Then you get paid. 

Texas is one of only two states in the country that allow businesses to “opt out” of the state worker’s compensation program. When a company opts out, it means that when workers get injured, the only thing they can do to recover costs is sue their employer. And if the employer is doesn’t have the funds, then there’s no money at all to cover the costs of injury. 

Worker’s Comp in the Texas Construction Industry

Lack of worker’s compensation is a particularly serious problem for workers in the construction industry, where onsite injuries are relatively common. Many construction contractors opt out of workers’ comp to save on the cost of premiums and keep bids low. As a result, when workers are injured, they end up in hospitals receiving uncompensated care — so ultimately the hospitals (and the local governments that subsidize them) foot the bill. As do the workers themselves, who often end up deeply in debt.

The Shortcomings of SB 305 and HB 776

So would passing this bill help make sure injured construction workers get covered?

Unfortunately, not really. The bill requires contractors to get coverage for their employees. But the vast majority of contractors in Texas classify a huge percentage of their onsite workers as “contractors” as opposed to employees — even though many are, by the legal definition, technically employees. Contractors do this for a variety of reasons, including saving on employment taxes and, not least of all, to be able to hire people without investigating their immigration status. 

To be clear: misclassification of employees as contractors is illegal. But it is a widespread practice.

These bills, if passed, may well result in coverage for more people in the construction industry. But their impact will be severely limited by the number of employees in the industry who are unlawfully misclassified.

Visit our Resources Page to check out our handy legislative search tool and see what other bills have been filed this session!

 

You are currently viewing Alcohol Bills from the Texas 86(R) Legislative Session

Alcohol Bills from the Texas 86(R) Legislative Session

This page will be updated throughout the 2019 Texas Legislative Session with bills relevant to alcohol.

Most recent update: 2019/02/04
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SB 312, Senator Buckingham:

Current Status – Filed

HB 672 Companion. This bill makes the sale of growler fills legal for breweries.
​

SB 313, Senator Buckingham: 

Current Status – Filed 

Removes the 35,000 gallon cap on total wine sales to consumers.

SB 455, Senator Alvarado:

Current Status – Filed

HB 849 Companion. Amends the definition of “alcoholic beverage” to include powdered alcohol. Levies a tax on powdered alcohol based on the recommended amount of liquid added.

HB 469, Representative Springer: 

Current Status – Filed 

Expands the hours that people can buy beer and wine on Sundays.

HB 672, Representative Rodriguez:

Current Status – Filed 

SB 312 Companion. This bill makes the sale of growler fills legal for breweries.

HB 849, Representative Guillen: 

Current Status – Filed 

Amends the definition of “alcoholic beverage” to include powdered alcohol. Levies a tax on powdered alcohol based on the recommended amount of liquid added.

HB 1083, Representative Raymond:

Current Status – Filed

Relating to an exemption from the sales tax for certain beer or ale sold on July 4.

HB 1100, Representative Raymond:

Current Status – Filed

Relating to the hours for the sale or delivery of certain alcoholic beverages. Let’s liquor be purchased on Sundays. Expands the hours of liquor sales on other days too.

HB 1154, Representative Dutton:

Current Status – Filed

Relating to the hours for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages at certain licensed or permitted premises during special events. Allows extensions of alcohol sales hours at hotels during special events, by permit.

HB 1337, Representative Pacheco:

Current Status – Filed

Relating to the sale of wine and beer on Sundays.

You are currently viewing Drone Bills from the Texas 86(R) Legislative Session

Drone Bills from the Texas 86(R) Legislative Session

This page will be updated throughout the 2019 Texas Legislative Session with bills relevant to drones.

Most recent update: 2019/01/02
No changes as of 2019/01/22

SB 59, Senator Zaffirini: 

Current Status – Filed
​
This bill amends Section 423.002(a) of the Texas Government Code to expand the number of situations in which capturing images with drones is legal. 
—–
(22)  if the image is:
                    (A)  captured for the purpose of delivering
 consumer goods that were ordered through an Internet website or
 mobile application and the operator of the unmanned aircraft is
 authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct
 operations within the airspace from which the image is captured;
 and
                    (B)  directly related to the purpose described by
 Paragraph (A), including images captured for purposes of navigation
 or ensuring public safety.
—–

This bill looks like it’s seeking to help out companies like Amazon who are planning on making deliveries by drone.

In order for the imaging to be legal, the company capturing the image by drone must first get approval through the FAA. It’s interesting that the bill requires FAA approval but only addresses images taken by drone. One would think that a bill requiring FAA approval would address the legality of flying rather than image capturing.

You are currently viewing Cybersecurity Bills from the Texas 86(R) Legislative Session

Cybersecurity Bills from the Texas 86(R) Legislative Session

This page will be updated throughout the 2019 Texas Legislative Session with bills relevant to cybersecurity.

​Most recent update: 2019/01/22

SB 64, Senator Nelson:

Current Status – Filed

SB 64 mostly amends the Texas Government Code, with some amendments to the Education Code, the Business and Commerce Code, and the Utilities Code. You can find the entire text in the link above.

Some of the meatier portions of the bill involve incentivizing cybersecurity education in colleges, establishing a cybersecurity information sharing program among government and private entities, and routinely assessing the cyber preparedness of various state entities.

HB 350, Representative Blanco:

Current Status – Filed

This bill amends Section 2054.512(b) of the Government Code to include “one member who is an employee of the Elections Division of the Office of the Secretary of State” on the cybersecurity council.

Essentially the bill is seeking to prioritize election security through the state’s current cybersecurity council.

HB 351, Representative Blanco:

Current Status – Filed

This bill wraps cybersecurity under the protection of the Texas Disaster Act of 1975, and it permits the Department of Information Resources to disconnect computer networks in response to cyber attacks.

HB 904, Representative Minjarez

Current Status – Filed

This bill directs the University of Texas at San Antonio to conduct a study into cyber attacks against financial institutions.

       (b)  The University of Texas at San Antonio shall conduct a
 study regarding cyber attacks against financial institutions in
 this state. The study must include:
              (1)   an evaluation of:
                    (A)  the prevalence and impact of and breaches of
 system security resulting from cyber attacks on financial
 institutions; and
                    (B)  the vulnerability of financial institutions
 to cyber attacks and the security risks cyber attacks present to
 those institutions;
              (2)  the identification of:
                    (A)  any projects necessary to modernize the
 security systems of financial institutions;
                    (B)  any recommendations to improve the
 cybersecurity infrastructure of financial institutions; and
                    (C)  best practices to prevent or lessen the
 impact of cyber attacks on financial institutions; and
              (3)  an examination of any other aspect of cyber
 attacks on the operation of financial institutions as considered
 appropriate by the university.

You are currently viewing EFF-Austin Meeting on Texas Legislative Session 86(R)

EFF-Austin Meeting on Texas Legislative Session 86(R)

I serve as the Vice President of EFF-Austin,  a Texas nonprofit. EFFA has a storied history closely tied to the genesis of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Both organizations launched at roughly the same time, and out of the same event – a government entity misunderstood technology and the people behind the technology, and the following legal battle almost bankrupted the company that was targeted. A group of technology nerds came together in Austin to defend Steve Jackson games, and the movement was born. You can read more about the beginning and go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole here.

On Monday of this week (12/10/2018), I presented our legislative agenda at one of our monthly meetups. You can watch the video here to learn how you can get involved. Slides below the player.