TEXAS — The Texas Court of Appeals for the Third District has temporarily blocked Austin's paid sick leave ordinance from going into effect.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation, a right-leaning think tank, brought the lawsuit against the city.
Through its litigation center, TPPF represents a coalition of Austin businesses and business associations who say the ordinance would hurt their bottom line.
The ordinance mandates businesses with 15 or fewer employees to provide workers six days of paid sick leave a year.
That number goes up to 8 for larger businesses.
Attorney General Ken Paxton threw his support behind the lawsuit, claiming the ordinance is unlawful because it violates the Texas Minimum Wage Act.
Workers advocates continue to argue paid sick leave is needed for a wide variety of reasons.
San Antonio even just passed its own paid sick leave ordinance.
"We know that we're in the right in this issue and so we are going to fight both at the city level, at the state level and whatever it takes to make sure that we protect the dignity of workers and we protect paid sick time here in San Antonio," Joleen Garcia said.
San Antonio's ordinance is set to go into effect Jan. 1, but some are calling it dead on arrival due to the judge's blocking of Austin's ordinance
Even if the lawsuit fails, Republican lawmakers are pledging to get rid of the ordinances once back in session.