The long-sought bill stops the state’s bluer urban areas from enacting laws that exceed state law on a number of fronts. Republicans say the patchwork of local laws were hurting businesses.
A yearslong war waged by Republicans in the Texas Legislature to erode the power of the state’s bluer urban areas escalated this year with House Bill 2127, a sweeping bill that nixes all kinds of local ordinances.
Texas lawmakers pushed through a bill long sought by Gov. Greg Abbott aimed at overturning cities’ progressive policies and preventing them from enacting them in the future. The bill was Republicans’ broadest attack yet on local governments—so broad that local officials aren’t quite sure just how many local laws on the books will soon be illegal.