Water breaks may not be mandated, but still allowed

Regarding “Death Star bill could be a death sentence. Texas says no to requiring breaks for water. (Editorial),” (June 27): There is nothing in the bill that prevents a company from allowing water breaks for its employees. Any company could and should allow employees water breaks, especially in this heat. To not do so, to me, would make the company criminally liable. All the bill does is prevent cities or counties from mandating it. Glenn Davis, Rosharon

“Do unto yourself as you have done unto others,” is a variation of the Golden Rule that the Texas Legislature and Gov. Greg Abbott should keep in mind.

I know how it feels to do construction work outside in the hot sun during summer months. I helped my father build two new garages for our home to accommodate the needs of our family when my mother and older brothers got new cars to go to and from work. I dug the footers into the rocky soil and put tar-like roofing compound and tar paper on the roofs and then nailed roofing shingles into place. I lost several pounds of perspiration each day — an experience I haven’t forgotten.

I propose that the Texas House and Senate and our governor meet outdoors for their sessions during the summer under the hot sun without any beverages so they can endure the conditions they are so willing to impose on others.

Is the extra profit that home builders can earn by denying them a few minutes to drink and hydrate worth endangering those workers’ health and life? Since our legislators and our governor seem to believe the answer is “yes,” then let those same lawmakers suffer under the same conditions.

Peter Sacks, Pearland

Just because the law doesn’t mandate water breaks for outside workers doesn’t mean employers can’t grant them. If bosses want workers to perform well, water breaks are mandatory. Patricia Roberts, Bellaire

I find it incredible that our governor and state Legislature would get involved in workers’ water breaks. Of course, sitting in the air-conditioned State Capitol with food and drink by their side, I guess it’s hard to comprehend that the working folks could be in need.

How many of the lawmakers who voted for this horrible bill have actually worked outside in the Texas heat and humidity? Who among them has painted houses, collected trash, done yardwork, or construction or, the worst of the worst, a roofing job?

I guess it all comes down to donors’ influence, and we all know that the first order of any politician is to get re-elected.

Shame on all who voted for this bill, and shame on our governor for approving it!

William Anderson, Spring

Bureaucratic nightmare

Regarding “IRS reduces tax return backlog by 80% and is doing better job answering the phone,” ( June 21): Our government services are in such a sad state that the fissures in the Capitol’s foundation are being patched with Silly Putty and the tears of veterans, schoolchildren and old ladies on Social Security like me.

According to the executrix of my husband’s estate, the IRS owes me over $100,000 since 2020, and I have never been in arrears. After spending hours on the phone (over five, at last count) I was successful at securing an appointment for nine months later, in April 2023. At the IRS office, I waited two hours to be assisted by a gentleman who might have fallen asleep had it not been for me tapping my pen on the counter. I could tell he was slowly, very slowly peeling back layers of my problem on his computer and hoped I was close to finalizing this dilemma.

He said I was flagged as a victim of identity theft after the death of my husband and my ensuing move to Houston. I have a valid Social Security card, Texas driver’s license, U.S. passport, Global Entry, TSA PreCheck and ID.me, which the IRS has since discontinued.

I changed my address with all of these entities immediately upon my move and received no IRS notice regarding a problem. Nonetheless, I submitted an additional form he requested and thought the matter was handled.

No, not at all. With additional calls (three hours' worth) I was assigned a taxpayer advocate who will contact me within two to three weeks to let me know if my case will be taken on. When I asked if my case is not taken on, what my recourse is, she replied, “Appeal to the government.” As I was on the phone with the IRS, I thought, isn’t this what I’d been doing for the last three years?

You can bet Biden’s new IRS hires will be after me if I owe them a buck and the correspondence will flow my way. Hettie L. Folloder, Houston