This focuses on that specific bill which is one of a series which attempts to expand state power over local government. In this case, the state will be able to negate local regulations that go further than the state wishes it to.
- From the Texas Tribune: Texas GOP’s broadest attempt yet to erode blue cities’ power gets one step closer to becoming law.
Republican state leaders’ broadest effort to prevent Democratic-run cities and counties from enacting progressive policies — which could drastically limit local government’s ability to make rules on areas like labor rights, drought restrictions and even noise complaints — is one step closer to becoming law.
By a 18-13 vote mostly along party lines, the Texas Senate gave preliminary approval Monday to House Bill 2127. The bill must come back before the chamber for a final vote before it heads back to the House to hash out changes made to the bill.
State Sen. Robert Nichols, a Jacksonville Republican and former mayor, was the lone Republican to vote against the bill.
. . . The sweeping legislation — authored by state Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican — would bar cities and counties from issuing local ordinances that go further than what’s already allowed under broad sections of state law, including labor, agriculture, natural resources and finance.
The bill’s supporters, including Gov. Greg Abbott and business lobbying groups, have long sought such a law to push back against what they say has become a growing patchwork of local regulations that weighs heavy on business owners and harms the state’s economy.
. . . “The bill is undemocratic,” San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “It is probably the most undemocratic thing the Legislature has done, and that list is getting very long. Local voters have created city charters, and I can't imagine that they will be pleased to have their decisions usurped by lawmakers.”
But those changes might be just the start. The bill is so broadly written that no one knows exactly how much it would ultimately limit local governments’ power to make rules. Opponents say the bill’s reach would likely be determined in the courts as businesses contest ordinances they dislike, one at a time. Meanwhile, they fear, local leaders would be powerless to respond to problems in their backyard — and left at the mercy of an uncaring Republican-dominated Legislature. Democrats predicted that lawmakers would be back in two years to try to rein in unintended consequences of the law.
State Sen. John Whitmire, a longtime Houston Democrat who’s running for Houston mayor, said the bill would be the “final nail in the coffin” of local government and put an end to the concept of “local control.”
The bill in question is the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act (CSHB 2127).
- Click here for support by the National Federation of Independent Business.
- Bill Analysis:
C.S.H.B. 2127 amends the Agriculture Code, Business & Commerce Code, Finance Code, Insurance Code, Labor Code, Natural Resources Code, Occupations Code, and Property Code to preempt the municipal and county regulation of conduct in a field of regulation occupied by a provision of those codes, unless expressly authorized by another statute. The bill renders void and unenforceable and deems inconsistent with the referenced codes any ordinance, order, or rule in violation of the state preemption established by the bill.
Related Concept: State Preemption.
- The Policy Surveillance Program: State Preemption Laws.
- Preemption of Local Laws in Texas.
- LII: Preemption.
