In the heart of Texas politics, one name that has become synonymous with advocacy for Texas’ small businesses is Annie Spilman. With over 25 years experience around the Texas Capitol, Spilman’s journey has seen her lead the NFIB of Texas and now the Texas Business Coalition. 

Spilman, who described herself as “a second generation, sixth generation Texan,” began her journey in the Texas political sphere working for various state representatives. 

“I joke that I was house-trained,” Spilman says. Her start, along with the years she has spent advocating at the Capitol since, have given her a deep familiarity with the legislative process and how to get things done in Texas. 

In her most recent role with NFIB-Texas, one of the most notable legislative successes Spilman discusses is the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act, dubbed by some as the “Death Star Bill.” 

The bill, according to Spilman, aimed to limit the power of local governments who were overly ambitious in their regulatory posture toward business, often exceeding state or federal law

“As an example, in 2018, the city of Austin passed its own local paid sick leave ordinance,” Spilman says. “It was extremely burdensome on small businesses.” 

According to Spilman it caused chaos for small business owners who often lack the resources necessary to navigate and implement these types of local ordinances.

Broader than that, Spilman says she has witnessed firsthand the struggles that Texas small businesses have faced in recent years. 

“I saw those business owners through natural disasters, through a pandemic,” she says. 

And, despite all of those challenges and the importance of small business to many in legislative roles in Texas, Spilman says that passing legislation to protect small businesses from a patchwork of local regulations was very difficult. 

“You would think something like that in Texas would be very easy to pass, and it was not. It took us three sessions, plus a couple special sessions to get that passed,” says Spilman, referring to the Regulatory Consistency Act. 

One of the reasons, according to Spilman, that it was so difficult to pass legislation supported by Texas’ small business community is that despite Texas being a “right-to-work state,” unions still operate in Texas and have significant influence. 

“Absolutely. There are unions in Texas,” Spilman says. Some of them are local and may be considered associations, according to her, but others are national or supported by national unions like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the Communication Workers of America (CWA). “There’s a lot of activity in Texas. There’s a stronghold of unions in the state,” she says.  

While those unions may advocate for their members or provide services, Spilman says that the primary focus of the unions is on policy and politics. 

She says the 2018 effort to create a mandatory paid sick leave ordinance in Austin for all businesses, which was championed by Council Member Greg Casar, is one of many examples. Casar is now representing Texas’ 35th District in the U.S. Congress.  

“The city had put in that [law] that they would have complete subpoena power over employer records and their employees’ records, which is very dangerous,” says Spilman. 

The law was challenged in court and fought by both sides all the way to the Texas Supreme Court which ultimately ruled that the law conflicted with the Texas Minimum Wage Act and was unconstitutional. 

With that and the other examples,  Spilman says that the unions in Texas put substantial money and resources into organizing campaigns and legal efforts to pass their preferred policy, elect people who will, or take the fight to the courts. 

“Every single thing that these unions do is directly in the face of what small businesses … are trying to do and stand against,” she says. 

Part of the solution to this problem that Spilman believes needs to happen in Texas is to get the government out of the practice of collecting dues for public-sector employee associations or unions. She says it is time to restore the government to its proper role, one of neutrality when it comes to agreements between private individuals and the groups they want to be a part of.

“Back in the early 90s, it was codified into law that the state gave explicit right to collect dues on behalf of labor unions,” says Spilman. 

The way it works in Texas is an employee can consent to being part of a particular union or association, and the government entity that pays them will deduct the monthly or annual dues payments and remit those payments directly to the union or association. 

Other than this not being the proper role of government, Spilman sees another major issue with this practice. 

“There’s no direct line from the employee to the Comptroller’s office, as an example,” she says. She echoes the findings of a Texas Attorney General’s opinion that said that the government has no way to verify whether the employee actually agreed to be a part of a union or to pay the dues. 

This fundamental problem, among others, have led Spilman to determine that the government should not be involved at all. She argues if people want to join unions, that is their prerogative, but the government should not help facilitate those payments. In doing so, Spilman says that the government is complicit with any activity of the unions they are aiding with dues collection.