SAN ANTONIO — A contentious bill know as HB 2127, or the "Texas Regulatory Consistency Act," is meant "to provide consistency and predictability by preempting local regulation of matters regulated by the state," according to its online summary.
So how does that proposed legislation get nicknamed the "Death Star Act"?
The bill could remove a city's authority to create its own regulations overnight, destroying many measures that local governments such as San Antonio's have already put in place.
Simply put, the bill could require cities to stick strictly to state law on certain matters without allowing additional ordinances on the subject. Those matters include agriculture, business and commerce, finance, insurance, labor, property and more.
In San Antonio, those restrictions could affect both the Proactive Apartment Inspections Program and the Tenant Bill of Rights that San Antonio City Council installed just this year. It can also affect ordinances for mandatory water breaks for workers in other cities.
San Antonio City Council members, meanwhile, say the language is so broad that it could have unintended consequences as well. Additionally, the bill encourages Texans to bring suits against cities if they believe local ordinances aren't adhering to state law.
San Antonio District 4 Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia said the bill has been a concern for some time.
"This is the most dangerous bill, in my opinion, (one) that would affect cities across the state," Rocha Garcia said. "It is top of mind and something that has taken some nights of sleep from us... we are really afraid of how this could affect our local government."
In addition to the aforementioned programs related to apartment inspections and tenants' rights, Rocha Garcia said other city policies meant to ensure renters are not evicted too quickly could be affected as well.
District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo said the bill could interrupt talks for required water breaks.
"2127 is a direct attack on local policy makers and it undermines our policy making ability. For example, we are currently having a conversation and developing a policy around a water break ordinance," Castillo said. "This undermines our ability to protect workers and that they have a right to a water break."
Jon Taylor, chair of the political science department at UTSA, said the bill is a product of repeated fights between Democratic-led cities and Gov. Greg Abbott over local ordinances. Taylor said the City of Denton had previously tried to prevent fracking in city limits, while Austin had held onto mask mandates during COVID-19, in addition to political skirmishes over homelessness ordinances.
At the same time, Taylor said, the bill's language is so vague that it would be difficult to say how far the state would take it.
"There are questions about unregulated housing," Taylor said. "You might actually see problems with such things as noise ordinances, invasive species or nondiscrimination ordinances. The state could preempt the City of Houston from enforcing it's nondiscrimination ordinance."
Taylor said water restrictions during drought and city ordinances related to evictions could also be affected.
The San Antonio City Council will hear a presentation on this bill, and others, during Thursday's council meeting. Councilmembers said they still don't know what to expect.
"Right now, the scary thing is that nobody knows. Nobody knows what it will affect," Rocha Garcia said.
Taylor said the bill has passed both the Texas House of Representatives and the Senate, and is a priority for both the governor and lieutenant governor. He said its almost certain to become law this year.
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