Restraint on local authority closer to being law

The Texas Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would bar cities and counties from regulating entire industries and professions beyond what’s in state law, putting the sweeping local crackdown on the verge of reaching Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.

A priority of Republican state leaders, the measure would limit local regulations to being no more restrictive than what’s “expressly authorized” in the state codes covering business, labor, property and other wide-ranging areas.

Local officials, labor groups and Democratic lawmakers say the bill goes too far, arguing it would prevent city and county leaders from responding to unique local needs, while wiping out policies favored by a majority of their constituents, such as worker and environmental protections.

Business groups and Republican legislators say it would give businesses much-needed consistency — so they don’t face a “patchwork of regulations” from city to city — and ensure local officials don’t overstep the powers granted them by the Legislature.

State Sen. Brandon Creighton, a Conroe Republican who carried the bill in the Senate, said it takes aim at “activist cities” whose varying ordinances have created a “compliance nightmare” for businesses, ranging from mom-and-pop stores to large corporations.

“It’s a job killer,” Creighton said. “It’s a deterrent to businesses looking to move to Texas.”

The measure, HB 2127, sailed through both chambers of the Republican-dominated Legislature, boosted by support from state leaders including Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan. Senate lawmakers gave the bill final approval Tuesday on an 18-13 vote, sending it back to the House with its core features intact.

The bill now awaits the decision of state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock and the lead author, who can either accept the Senate’s changes — sending the bill to Abbott’s desk — or have lawmakers from both chambers hash out the remaining differences in a conference committee.

HB 2127 passed over a chorus of opposition from mayors and other local leaders, including San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who said the bill would “upend” local authority and cause the city “a world of hurt.”

“This whole government system, local authority, is based on the principle that voters have a voice at the polls,” Nirenberg said last month. “And when they disagree with a particular way the council is moving, they find new elected representatives. That’s the basis of our democracy.”

Burrows has said the measure aims to ensure the Legislature no longer has to play “Whac-A-Mole” to strike down regulations one by one, as with past legislation barring cities from regulating most oil and gas drilling or forcing landlords to accept federal housing vouchers.

The broader approach is needed, Burrows said, amid what he described as a trend of liberal advocacy groups using local officials — most of whom are Democrats in large, urban areas — to “try to implement their vision of Texas that we have already rejected” at the Capitol.

The bill would stop local governments from “regulating conduct” in areas already “occupied” by eight state codes: Agriculture, Business & Commerce, Finance, Insurance, Labor, Natural Resources, Occupations and Property.

It specifies that local officials cannot regulate employment leave, hiring practices, rest breaks, employment benefits, scheduling practices or “any other terms of employment that exceed or conflict” with state or federal law.

Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy said the bill turns city councils and county commissioners courts into “note-takers for a power-mad state.”

“This brazen power grab tramples on the voices of local voters and harms working families,” Levy said. “Instead of solving local problems locally, local governments will have to come to Austin to seek permission to act from extreme state officials who have already shown that they have never met a worker-protection measure they like.”

Republicans argued that state and federal regulations already protect workers and tenants from various types of discrimination and require employers to meet certain labor standards.

They also noted that the final version of the bill allows cities and counties to maintain existing regulations for payday lending, which involves small, short-term loans that avoid legal caps on fees and interest. An initial draft of the bill had appeared to roll back rules passed by dozens of cities following an unsuccessful push to enact stronger regulations at the Legislature. jasper.scherer@houstonchronicle.com