How Fort Worth sparked a movement to limit local control in Texas

FORT WORTH – After Denton residents took the unprecedented step of banning hydraulic fracturing in the North Texas city a decade ago, the powerful oil and gas industry and allies in the state Legislature wasted little time in striking back, according to the Fort Worth Report. House Bill 40 went into effect the next year, not only overturning Denton’s fracking ban but blocking all Texas cities and counties from asserting regulatory authority over oil and gas drilling. As it turned out, the retaliatory strike by the Texas Legislature was hardly a one-off. Players on both sides of the issue now look back on House Bill 40 as the starting point of a yearslong legislative assault, embraced by Gov. Greg Abbott, that has transferred a succession of local powers into the hands of state government. The most sweeping power realignment emerged from last year’s Texas Regulatory Consistency Act, designed to bar cities and counties from passing ordinances that challenge state authority in a broad range of policy categories, including business and commerce, finance, labor and agriculture.

Architects of House Bill 2127 say the measure was needed to replace a patchwork of often conflicting local laws with a predictable regulatory framework developed and governed by the state. Dubbed by opponents as “The Death Star” because of its broad impact on local governments, House Bill 2127 was declared unconstitutional by Austin State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble days before it took effect on Sept. 1, 2023. The ruling is being appealed by Attorney General Ken Paxton and is likely to be ultimately decided by the Texas Supreme Court. In earlier years, the Republican-led Legislature also overrode local governments in preempting ordinances that included banning puppy mills, curtailing plastic bags and establishing local policies regarding sick leave and evictions. Abbott also signed a 2017 law transferring regulatory authority over ride-sharing companies to the state from local governments after companies like Uber and Lyft protested local requirements such as fingerprinting drivers.