For five years, NFIB Texas has fought on behalf of small business owners against the patchwork of regulations that make it more difficult for Texas employers to operate their businesses. Together, we got the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act to Governor Abbott’s desk for signature.

Unfortunately, this new law is under attack by a handful of misguided city officials and politically motivated labor groups.

Our fight continues.

As a member of the Alliance for Securing and Strengthening the Economy in Texas (ASSET), we filed an amicus brief in defense of the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act. Despite the Travis County District Court’s ruling, small business owners should not be deterred from availing themselves of their rights under the new law, which took effect on Friday, September 1, 2023.

While appearing on the “Beyond the Bite” podcast NFIB State Director Annie Spilman reminded listeners why small business owners support the new law, saying:

“In 2018 we started to see first the City of Austin trying to regulate private employment practices in the way of mandating paid sick leave in a very authoritarian manner. It wasn’t just to provide paid sick leave for their employees. What the ordinance would do was create subpoena power for the city. It’s very scary. And if a mere allegation was made against a small business employer, who doesn’t have in-house compliance officers, doesn’t have attorneys, these folks truly don’t even know that a new ordinance has been passed until they’re slapped with a fine, but if an allegation has been made that they’re not in compliance with this new local ordinance, and again they may not even live in Austin, now the city has subpoena power over their records.”

LISTEN: Small Business Owners Are The Face of the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act

NFIB small business owner member Lisa Fullerton celebrated the law, noting that some local mandates would make it harder for her to take care of her employees. In an interview with San Antonio’s Mariza Mendoza, Fullerton said:

“We’ve offered great benefits. We’ve had sick, vacation, paid time off, we’ve had insurance benefits. […] I had employees with six figures in their 401k plans, that I don’t think they would have had if I was forced to have a paid sick leave.”

Questions about the new law? Reach out to Spilman at annie.spilman@nfib.org.