Austin’s “ban the box” ordinance, which prevents companies from asking job applicants to acknowledge their criminal history early in the hiring process, dodged a bullet Tuesday at the Texas Senate.
Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, had changed the original wording of House Bill 91 in committee to include a ban on such ordinances, telling the Senate she did not believe it was the government’s place to tell private businesses how to make hiring decisions.
Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, called a point of order, noting that the bill no longer matched its caption, which said HB 91 was about “occupational licensing requirements and an applicant’s criminal history.”
The Senate parliamentarian upheld the point of order, and Huffman was forced to withdraw the bill. FULL ARTICLE