SAN ANTONIO – Cities across the country—and across the world— are still dealing with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and leaders from the Alamo City have testified before state leaders to prioritize local efforts in the state’s recovery.
Jaymie Mangelsdorf, the public policy council chair for the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, joined Leading SA to discuss some of the chamber’s top priority bills in the state legislature.
“Obviously what is forefront in our agenda and primarily what we’re working on now and what our president and CEO has testified on is definitely the recovery from COVID,” Mangelsdorf said. “So, all of us are trying to recover as quickly as we can to get back to where we had before.”
Mangelsdorf said the chamber’s priority is making sure that it is helping local communities by creating jobs and catapulting the Texas economy back to where it was before the pandemic.
“We have been working very closely with the state legislature also to protect the rights of private employers, which is very important for this organization,” Mangelsdorf said. “And we have been very active this session advocating legislation, appropriations really for improved infrastructure, education, improved access and affordability of health care, and also sustaining and growing our military missions.”
Mangelsdorf said that two bills making their way through the legislature are particular talking points for the San Antonio area.
“Senate Bill 6, which is relating to pandemic liability protections, and Senate Bill 14, which would restrict local governments from imposing employment benefits and policies such as hiring, scheduling benefits and wages,” Mangelsdorf said. “Senate Bill 14 is also another bill that we testified on and that we are front and center with our legislators in Austin. So, this bill was filed by Senator Grant Creighton and it would provide stability for Texas employers by preventing local governments from imposing burdensome and inconsistent mandates on private-sector employment practices.”
Senate Bill 6, or the Pandemic Liability Protection Act, passed the Texas State Senate with a vote of twenty-nine to one and is now over to the House for further discussion.
Senate Bill 14 was voted out of the Texas State Senate by a vote of 19 to 12 and was referred to the House State Affairs Committee.