DALLAS — It is a busy time for municipal level officials all across Texas.
Not because of summer, but because of House Bill 2127, a measure passed by Republicans that limits the power of local governments, preventing cities and counties from enacting any local ordinance that goes beyond what’s allowed under state law.
And local attorneys are now pouring over existing ordinances trying to determine which ones will no longer be allowed.
Dallas City Councilmember Gay Willis is among those local officials who consider the legislation to be a massive overreach working against the desires of local citizens.
“I think we really like to be able to make our own decisions,” Willis told us on Inside Texas Politics. “And they (voters) elect a body, the city council, and we represent their voices at City Hall. And I don’t necessarily think they’d want to see that go too far afield.”
Critics of the legislation say it will make it much harder for local governments to respond to local problems, such as noise and nuisance complaints.
The Dallas City Council, for example, will soon vote on an ordinance that would, in essence, ban nearly all short term rentals in the city, such as an Airbnb.
But there are questions as to whether this ordinance would survive HB 2127 since the state doesn’t have the same regulations in place.
And that, Willis says, will make life harder for residents if they’re trying to get a problem addressed because they’ll now have to turn to lawmakers in Austin instead of local elected officials.
“And whenever that point starts coming up where its like, oh, you know what, I’m so sorry but the state took this right away from us, and really away from you, the constituent, so now we have to send you to Austin to be able to deal with this problem. I don’t think it’s going to be met with much pleasure from the folks that I talk to all the time,” said the councilmember.
Supporters of the legislation say it will eliminate a tangled web of regulations that hurts businesses and stunts growth in Texas.
But firms and workers continue to move to the state in large numbers, so Willis argues the bill’s backers were only looking for a justification to institute a policy that could kneecap governments in the state’s largest urban areas, typically controlled by Democrats.
“I guess you’ve got to create something like this with some sort of idea behind it. But it really feels like a straw dog. It doesn’t seem like it’s really real because, to your point, Dallas has been booming.”
Governor Abbott is expected to sign HB 2127 into law in the coming days. It would take effect Sept. 1.
The Dallas City Council is scheduled to vote on the short term rental ban on June 14.