CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Most of the more than 700 new laws passed by the Texas Legislature this year will go into effect on Friday, impacting everything from healthcare to schools and even the electric grid.
One of those laws is House Bill 2127, also known as the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act. Critics call it the Death Star Law.
A state district judge in Travis County has stepped in to declare the law unconstitutional, void and unenforceable. The state has appealed the ruling and for now, the law stays on the books.
However, it does support the case that some cities are making when they said in a lawsuit that it strips them of their right to govern themselves.
The new law we're talking about bars cities and counties from having regulations that go further than what is already allowed in state law. That means the state could override local government codes in several areas.
Backers like Gov. Greg Abbott argue that having just one set of regulations to navigate, no matter where you are, will make it easier for anyone to do business in Texas.
Opponents, like the mayors of Houston, San Antonio and El Paso said that it takes away the rights of cities and counties to adopt local solutions for local problems.
“Remember, Democrats run most of the state's large cities. Republicans run the state government," said Inside Texas Politics Host Jason Whitely. "You can do the political math here. At the end of the day, 2127, this bill that's going into effect and becoming law on Friday -- is likely going to have to be sorted out by the courts."
At this point, no one is quite sure just how many local ordinances might become illegal under the new state law because of how broad it is.
It's something that local governments will still have to figure out because even though the judge declared the law unconstitutional, she did not stop it from taking effect.
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