{"id":555,"date":"2026-06-06T19:31:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T19:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=555"},"modified":"2026-06-06T19:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T19:31:18","slug":"texas-lawmakers-put-limits-on-cities-abilities-to-enact-progressive-policies-some-want-to-go-further","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=555","title":{"rendered":"Texas lawmakers put limits on cities\u2019 abilities to enact progressive policies. Some want to go further."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Confusion surrounds a sweeping law aimed at stopping Texas cities from adopting progressive policies three years after state lawmakers passed it, supporters and critics said Thursday.<\/p>\n

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The 2023 law, known as the \u201cDeath Star\u201d bill, made it illegal for cities and counties to enact local ordinances that go further than certain broad areas of state law. Texas Republicans including Gov. Greg Abbott and business groups long argued the law was needed to undo a \u201cpatchwork\u201d of local rules they said made it hard to do business in Texas and to rein in progressive policies in urban cities. Critics including local officials argued the law was overly broad and vague while wiping out key protections like water breaks for construction workers, payday lending ordinances and noise regulations.<\/p>\n

Today, it remains unclear just what local rules and regulations are out-of-bounds under the law, supporters and detractors told members of the Texas House Joint Committee on Government Oversight Thursday. Still, the law has had a chilling effect on cities, who might not pursue certain ordinances for fear that they could draw a lawsuit. At the same time, the law\u2019s proponents worry that cities aren\u2019t proactively striking ordinances from its books that could violate the law \u2014 and that outside of individual lawsuits brought by residents, there\u2019s no way to make sure they\u2019re following the law.<\/p>\n

Some Republican lawmakers in the hearing floated enhancing the law to hold cities more accountable, including giving the attorney general more power to go after the law\u2019s violators \u2014\u00a0an idea that died when legislators met last year.<\/p>\n

James Quintero, policy director at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation\u2019s Taxpayer Protection Project, told lawmakers he asked several cities and counties what steps they had taken to comply with the law. Those cities and counties \u201ccame back and effectively implied that they had done nothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes the Legislature can pass a law, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily translate into local action,\u201d Quintero said. \u201cWe don\u2019t necessarily see cities and counties executing the law faithfully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics of the law argued there\u2019s no evidence localities have openly violated the law. In fact, the law has had a chilling effect on cities, said Bill Longley, general counsel for the Texas Municipal League, a lobbying group that represents a majority of the state\u2019s 1,200-plus cities. Some cities have changed or repealed ordinances, like ordinances that regulate car towing, to avoid costly legal fights, he said, while cities have sought to closely vet newly proposed ordinances to make sure they\u2019re not running afoul of the law. But given the law\u2019s broad scope, cities may rather not pass new ordinances to address urgent problems rather than risk a lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds like there may be some frustration that cities haven\u2019t just jumped in and started repealing ordinances left and right, but we\u2019re talking about a standard that I think is not entirely clear,\u201d Longley said.<\/p>\n

Adding to the confusion is a certain amount of legal limbo. The law is in effect, but a legal fight initiated by Houston, El Paso and San Antonio challenging the law\u2019s constitutionality hasn\u2019t been settled. Meanwhile, a group of Dallas residents have sued that city to force it to repeal dozens of ordinances, including a slew of LGTBQ+ protections, that they allege violate the law. The outcome of that case is pending before the 15th Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy should they do a good faith effort to follow a law they believe is unconstitutional?\u201d said state Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood.<\/p>\n

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The law relies on private citizens to bring lawsuits, which can get tied up for years in appeals. State Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, floated the idea of allowing the Texas Attorney General to sue cities if they find evidence that suggests cities aren\u2019t following the law \u2014 and fast-track those suits through the appeals process to arrive at a quick ruling. Residents and businesses, he noted, often don\u2019t have the money to pay for long legal battles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t imagine a car mechanic or an auto shop deciding that it was a good use of its capital to sue the city of Dallas over an ordinance,\u201d Little said.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers tossed around other ideas, like requiring cities to audit their ordinances to make sure they\u2019re following the law or issuing financial penalties to cities and counties that violate it. Quintero noted a new state law that freezes cities\u2019 property taxes if they don\u2019t follow financial requirements set by the state as a potential model. Democratic lawmakers on the panel pushed back, arguing that cities and counties ultimately pass on those penalties to taxpayers.<\/p>\n

The law is seen as the high-water mark in a years-long push by GOP state lawmakers to curb the rulemaking authority of the state\u2019s urban areas, which often lean liberal.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Richard Pe\u00f1a Raymond, D-Laredo, said he supported the law in part because few people vote in municipal elections, and it makes sense for state lawmakers, elected in higher turnout elections, to correct any perceived overreach. But he was skeptical that cities were openly violating the law.<\/p>\n

Others argued that the state\u2019s cities have diverse needs specific to their communities and shouldn\u2019t be barred from meeting those needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy even have a city council?\u201d said state Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston. \u201cWhy even have a mayor if Austin is going to be the one that dictates what you do and can\u2019t do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Disclosure: Texas Municipal League and Texas Public Policy Foundation have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete\u00a0list of them here.<\/p>\n

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This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some Republican Texas House members floated want to give more power to the attorney general to sue cities and issue financial penalties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTexas lawmakers put limits on cities\u2019 abilities to enact progressive policies. 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