The hidden cost of a budget balanced on the backs of services featuring Doris Brown from the Northeast Action Collective

In the premiere episode of The Equity Check Podcast, host Patrick sits down with Elsa Flores, President of SEIU Texas, to discuss Harris County’s landmark decision to raise its minimum wage to twenty dollars an hour for all employees, with a higher base wage for contracted workers. They explore what this policy means for frontline workers, how it came to be, and the organizing that made it possible. From late-night meetings to public testimony, this episode highlights the people behind the policy and what it signals for the future of worker justice in Texas.