“Texas Republican lawmakers could “financially handcuff” cities that do not play by their guidelines” was first printed by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media group that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public coverage, politics, authorities and statewide points.
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DALLAS — Two years after Texas lawmakers enacted a sweeping regulation geared toward sapping authority from the state’s city areas, GOP legislators as soon as extra have superior payments meant to cease native governments from adopting progressive insurance policies.
Republicans within the Texas Legislature wish to give the state the authority to successfully torpedo cities’ budgets in the event that they pursue native guidelines that may battle with state regulation — meant to discourage them from adopting left-leaning concepts within the first place. GOP legislators have focused monetary help applications for needy households, measures to scale back greenhouse fuel emissions and initiatives to promote variety, fairness and inclusion. They’ve sought to overturn strikes in cities like Austin and Dallas to decriminalize possession of small quantities of marijuana. No subject is simply too small. Some Republicans even wish to make it tougher for cities to put in bike and bus lanes.
The slate of payments marks the most recent entrance in Texas Republicans’ decade-long campaign to erode the facility of native officers within the state’s main city areas, who usually are Democrats. In that point, the GOP-controlled Legislature forbade cities from regulating oil and fuel drilling, requiring landlords to just accept federal housing vouchers and from chopping their police budgets with out going to voters. Conservatives have usually couched these strikes as methods to alleviate the burden they are saying these rules place on companies and cease the proliferation of progressive insurance policies.
Others see Republicans’ push to limit what insurance policies native governments can cross as stifling native officers’ capability to handle native issues.
“It’s the antithesis of conservative, small ‘c,’ authorities, which is that authorities on the lowest stage would be the consultant of the folks,” stated Steven Pedigo, director of the College of Texas at Austin’s LBJ City Lab, which focuses on city coverage. “Texas is just not set as much as have top-down types of authorities.”
Because the state grows, it faces mounting challenges on a number of fronts together with transportation, workforce improvement and water infrastructure. Fixing these challenges would require shut collaboration between state and native leaders, Pedigo stated. That collaboration cannot happen amid continued spats over native management, he stated.
“When you’re all the time combating at who will get the piece of the pie and who’s on the desk, you are by no means truly fixing the problems,” Pedigo stated.
Republicans’ yearslong push in opposition to localities reached a brand new stage in 2023 when legislators enacted a far-reaching regulation dubbed the “Demise Star” invoice — which lawmakers have sought to construct upon this legislative session. That regulation bars cities and counties from creating native guidelines that go additional than what’s allowed underneath broad swaths of state regulation — and offers residents the power to sue cities and counties in the event that they consider there’s overreach. Gov. Greg Abbott and enterprise lobbying teams had lengthy sought such a regulation, arguing it was wanted to roll again native rules that hurt enterprise house owners and hinder the state’s financial progress.
Opponents of the regulation argued it eradicated native labor protections and made it tougher for localities to take care of day-to-day issues like extreme noise, amongst different limitations. The regulation is in impact, however a bunch of cities has challenged the regulation’s constitutionality in court docket.
Within the meantime, GOP lawmakers this session have sought methods to broaden that regulation and stiffen penalties for localities that try to flout it. The Texas Senate final week accredited Senate Invoice 2858 — which might increase the areas of state regulation localities could not exceed, enable the state legal professional common to sue cities and counties for potential violations of the regulation and goal these localities’ pocketbooks.
The state would freeze that locality’s gross sales tax and property tax income, which make up substantial chunks of native authorities budgets, at some point of the legal professional common’s lawsuit. If the state prevailed, that metropolis or county would see important long-term blows to their funds. Not solely would the locality lose the gross sales tax it in any other case would have collected through the lawsuit, it might face stricter limits on how far more in property tax income it may well gather annually for 5 years following a loss in court docket.
Such strikes would “financially handcuff Texas cities from serving their residents,” Monty Wynn, a consultant of the Texas Municipal League, a lobbying group that represents most Texas cities, wrote to lawmakers in April. The invoice “would successfully enable the legal professional common to function a de facto councilmember in cities throughout the state and legislate on the native stage,” he stated.
“Metropolis leaders can be inclined to repeal in any other case authorized rules to keep away from the exorbitant prices to taxpayers imposed by these payments,” Wynn stated. “The outcome can be a future legal professional common dictating native rules by way of the specter of litigation.”
State Sen. Brandon Creighton, a Conroe Republican who authored the invoice, stated Wednesday as senators debated it that such measures are crucial to make sure that cities and counties aren’t overstepping their bounds.
“We wish to ensure that our native jurisdictions are following the (Texas) Structure,” Creighton stated. “The Structure is obvious that our native governments are to observe state regulation and the Structure itself.”
Senate Democrats balked on the proposal, significantly the freeze on localities’ gross sales tax income earlier than a court docket had reached a verdict.
“It is a punishment earlier than being confirmed responsible,” stated state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, an Austin Democrat and former Travis County choose, the county’s chief govt.
Creighton pushed again. The invoice would require a trial in such a case to happen inside 90 days, he famous, and localities might repeal the disputed coverage in that time-frame. If the locality prevailed within the lawsuit, they might regain the gross sales tax plus curiosity, Creighton stated.
The invoice cleared the Senate by a 19-12 vote and now heads to the Texas Home.
Concentrating on particular applications
GOP lawmakers this yr have additionally homed in on particular native initiatives. The Senate has superior a invoice to bar cities and counties from creating assured earnings applications, which offer common money funds for needy households. Localities throughout the nation — together with Austin, San Antonio and El Paso County — have experimented with such applications in recent times to assist poorer households climate excessive housing prices and inflation.
Harris County officers sought to arrange their very own assured earnings pilot program, which aimed to make use of $20.5 million in federal COVID-19 aid funds to present month-to-month, no-strings-attached money funds of $500 to about 1,900 households residing within the county’s poorest neighborhoods. This system would have lasted about 18 months.
Conservatives blasted this system as an unfair giveaway of taxpayer {dollars}. Lawyer Basic Ken Paxton efficiently sued the county to stop it from sending funds to these households. The Senate accredited Senate Invoice 2010, the invoice outlawing such applications, earlier this month.
“Public funds ought to advance public pursuits, not be handed out as clean checks in politically motivated pilot initiatives,” state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who authored the invoice, stated in a press release after the invoice handed. “This invoice defends taxpayers and reinforces our Structure’s limits on authorities giveaways.”
Proponents of assured earnings applications have pointed to higher outcomes for individuals who obtain money. Beneficiaries of a assured earnings pilot program in Austin, which restarted its program final yr, acquired $1,000 a month for one yr. That money helped a lot of them make amends for lease, an City Institute overview of this system discovered. Their incomes elevated even after they stopped receiving money help, and 30% of recipients stated they discovered higher jobs or earned the next wage, the survey discovered.
“Why would we be eradicating instruments that might assist folks from native instrument packing containers from the state stage?” stated state Sen. Molly Prepare dinner, a Houston Democrat. “Assured earnings applications work.”
Republicans have additionally set their sights on cities’ strikes to cut back the variety of journey lanes for vehicles on some roads to cut back congestion and permit room on these roadways for devoted lanes for bicycles and buses. Some GOP lawmakers have blamed these insurance policies partially for a perceived enhance in automobile congestion, however research present decreasing automobile lanes can lower visitors and enhance street security.
A invoice by state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, would successfully make it tougher for cities to chop the variety of automobile lanes to accommodate different modes of transportation like bicycles and buses with no strong public enter course of and notifying the Texas Division of Transportation. If a metropolis did not observe that course of and went forward with decreasing automobile lanes, they might lose reasonably priced housing funds.
“We’d like extra capability for drivers, not much less,” Capriglione instructed the Home Transportation Committee Tuesday.
Lauren Prieur, who heads Fort Value’s transportation and public works division, instructed lawmakers the invoice would limit town from utilizing “key instruments for managing our city progress.”
“We respect the intent behind this Home invoice to make sure transparency and scale back congestion,” Prieur stated. “Nonetheless, we consider it may be higher balanced with town’s want for flexibility.”
A number of efforts to alter how cities do enterprise this session take intention at native guidelines that decide what sorts of houses may be constructed and the place. Lawmakers wish to spur improvement to tackle the state’s housing affordability disaster by enjoyable a few of these guidelines and making it simpler for housing builders to acquire metropolis constructing permits. Housing advocates and specialists have stated these proposals would assist relieve the state’s housing woes. Nonetheless, some cities see it as one other assault on their authority.
In a single uncommon space of settlement between Republican lawmakers and native governments, one regulation would make it tougher for residents to problem zoning modifications, offering cowl for metropolis councils to make broad modifications to permit extra housing. The Texas Home is predicted to vote on that proposal, Home Invoice 24, Monday.
Disclosure: Texas Municipal League and College of Texas at Austin have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partially by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no function within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full record of them right here.
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This text initially appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/05/texas-legislature-republicans-progressive-policies-cities/.
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