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Death Star Law

‘Death Star’ Law Is Struck Down In Texas

September 3, 2023 Steve Wishnia, Work-Bites. , , , ,
Austin, Texas - On Aug. 30, at the end of a summer in which the temperature in Austin topped 100° for a record 45 consecutive days, a local judge ruled unconstitutional a new state law intended to nullify local ordinances that require water breaks for construction workers. Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble held that the law violated a 1912 amendment to the state constitution that gives cities and towns with more than 5,000 people the power of self-government. “The Court DECLARES House Bill 2127 in its entirety is unconstitutional — facially, and as applied to Houston as a constitutional home rule city and to local laws that are not pre-empted under article XI, section 5 of the Texas Constitution,” she wrote in a two-page order.

Texas Cities Are Getting Ready For The State’s ‘Death Star’ Law

August 13, 2023 Christian Betancourt, Next City. , , ,
In 2015, El Paso became the second city in the country to safeguard its workers by passing a historic wage theft ordinance. As a sweeping new state law aimed at handicapping Texas’s more liberal city governments is set to take effect Sept. 1, that protection is now facing an existential threat. House Bill 2127 — also known as the Super Preemption Bill or, among opponents, the “Death Star” bill — aims to regulate many aspects of commerce and trade in local jurisdictions that differ from state-imposed directives. Passed in May and signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott a month later, the legislation could affect local policies dealing with ordinances – including agriculture, insurance, labor, natural resources, and occupation codes — that contradict the state.