With San Antonio facing likely passage of bill that would strip Texas cities of the power to enact a wide variety of business regulations, District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez tore into one of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s top execs at Thursday’s council meeting for backing the proposal.
“So, Martin, I see you over there,” Pelaez said, referring to Hispanic Chamber government relations honcho Martin C. Gutierrez Jr., according to the Express-News. “I don’t think a glib, smug smile is the appropriate response to having an entire council telling the world that this is an emergency situation that is going to hurt the city and leave us with a lot of questions.”
Republican-based House Bill 2127 was approved by the GOP-controlled lower chamber on Wednesday over the objections of Democrats. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott — who’s engaged in repeated efforts to quash the power of Texas’ predominantly blue big cities — has pledged to sign the legislation.
“This is the wrong way to approach partnership with the city,” Pelaez — a labor attorney — continued, according to the daily. “The Hispanic Chamber, you guys are better than this and you guys should do better than this.”
HB 2127 would prohibit cities and counties from adopting regulations that go further than state law in regulating labor, agriculture, natural resources and businesses’ finances. It also would retroactively kill off existing city and county regulations that are determined to have exceeded state statutes.
Big city leaders including Mayor Ron Nirenberg have joined labor groups, environmental advocates and progressive organizations in blasting the measure. They call it an unconstitutional bid by the Texas GOP to decimate local control and hand a win to deep-pocketed business backers.
“They’re short-circuiting the democratic process by taking away the voice of local citizens who have adopted charters that will be upended by pre-emption bills,” Nirenberg said in a statement texted to the Current about HB 2127 and an almost identical measure also filed in the Texas House. “These bills are an attempt to win political fights we aren’t even having.”
Nirenberg continued: “That’s an affront to democracy. It is probably the most undemocratic thing the Legislature has done.”
Experts also argue the bills are so broadly written they’re likely to face immediate court challenge if Abbott signs one of them into effect.
“We’re just going to have to go to the courts to figure this out,” Luis Figueroa, head of legislative affairs at progressive advocacy group Every Texan, told the Texas Tribune. “There’s going to be lawsuits filed all over the place.”
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This article appears in Apr 19 – May 2, 2023.
