AUSTIN, Texas — Elected officials, civil rights groups, and labor leaders are urging state lawmakers to vote against a bill they’re dubbing “The Death Star Bill.”
The Texas House heard debate on House Bill 2127 on Tuesday. The bill would let the state pre-empt local rules and laws on workplace safety, the environment, and renters’ rights.
The House passed the bill 92-55, sending it to the Texas Senate.
Opponents of the bill say it would instantly destroy local policies and laws on minimum wage, worker safety and paid time off.
Its author argued it would provide regulatory stability and certainty to help the Texas economy keep growing.
Houston and some of the fastest-growing cities that have mostly Democratic leadership call Texas home, but some worry state lawmakers could hurt those cities’ success and their right to self-govern.
“These bills are threats to democracy. They’re threats to civil rights and human rights,” said NAACP Houston President Bishop James Dixon.
Dixon and other community leaders and elected officials publicly condemned House Bill 2127 Tuesday morning.
It would allow the state to pre-empt local policies and ordinances in eight sections of the code. The bill would also let Texans sue officials or governments if they believe they’re being improperly regulated.
“This bill has the potential to hinder local governments’ ability to respond quickly to hurricanes and industrial fires and even basic protections like enacting requirements for carbon monoxide detectors are at risk," said Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation Executive Director Hany Khalil.
Critics said a state as large and diverse as Texas shouldn’t have one-size-fits-all laws crafted by lawmakers that meet once every two years.
“In the same way we don’t lecture Lubbock on how to deal with windstorms," said Harris County Pct. 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia. "Let’s keep the part-timers at the capitol from inserting themselves into how we operate in the Gulf Coast.”
Lubbock Republican State Rep. Dustin Burrows wrote HB 2127.
“We want those small business owners creating new jobs and providing for their families, not trying to navigate a byzantine array of local regulations that twist and turn every time they cross city limit signs," Burrows said.
Tuesday afternoon, Democrats in the Republican-majority House tried to amend the bill or stall it.
“It’s gonna be hard to have any type of legal avenue to challenge a bill like this, and so that’s why we’re very much calling on Texans to stop what’s going on right now," Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee said.
Rep. Burrows told lawmakers that cities would retain authority in zoning, daycare centers, utilities, parking and several other areas.