Lawmakers Debate Mandatory Coverage for Construction Industry

For thousands of construction workers in Texas, this is how an injured employee is taken care of: Coworkers pass a hat and collect a little cash for the colleague and his family. That was the testimony at a House committee hearing Tuesday by the director of the Texas State Building and Construction Trades Council. Leonard Aguilar and half-dozen others at the hearing urged lawmakers to make an exception to Texas' long-standing voluntary workers' compensation system and mandate coverage for construction workers. “We are at a different time now. Passing a hat should not be the way...