Misclassification Crackdown Stalls in Texas House

After months of forward momentum, a proposed crackdown on misclassification of construction workers championed by both business and labor may have hit a serious snag.

The bill by Representative John Davis, R-Houston, would create penalties for companies that are found to be intentionally misclassifying their workers. Despite the fact that it was passed unanimously by a committee, it has yet to be placed on the calendar for a vote by the full House of Representatives. Our sources in the capitol say members of the powerful House Calendars Committee are under pressure from home builders who testified against it to keep the bill off the House floor. Make no mistake: It is crunch time for passing bills in this legislative session.

Meantime, the folks over at the conservative Texas GOP Vote are asking grassroots conservatives to contact representatives on the Calendars Committee and allow for a vote. From the site:

"The conservative leadership of Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, and Rep. John Davis, R-Houston, has resulted in what we believe is very good legislation designed to deal with this problem. But, it may be in danger. Even though almost all of the testimony on HB 1925 has been positive, the powerful House Calendars Committee might not allow it to be debated on the House floor. Some major homebuilders recently testified that unless they can continue to pay workers as subcontractors, home prices will rise. In our opinion, what they're saying is their business model is dependent on their ability to cheat."

The Calendars Committee will meet again at 5pm today at the earliest to decide what the House should vote on this Wednesday. We'll keep a close eye on what happens.

Your thoughts on all this are more than welcome in the comments section below.

Update: The House Calendars Committee did not add the bill to the calendar for Wednesday.