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Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board: Texas Regulatory Consistency Act to ‘Relieve Some Stress’ for Small Businesses

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board: Texas Regulatory Consistency Act to ‘Relieve Some Stress’ for Small Businesses

July 26, 2023

Editorial board explores how critics’ portrayal of the regulatory law differs from reality and how state lawmakers worked with city officials on the final legislation

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board: Texas Regulatory Consistency Act to ‘Relieve Some Stress’ for Small Businesses

FORT WORTH (July, 26, 2023) – In a new editorial, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial board described how the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act will provide real relief for small business owners against ‘tedious’ rules at the local level. In the piece, the editorial board also called out critics for ‘overstating’ the consequences of the legislation, noting that workplace protections for employees will still exist once the law takes effect.

 

Finally, the editorial also acknowledges how the bill authors, Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) and Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) worked with city officials in Fort Worth on the legislation.

 

CLICK HERE to read the full editorial. Excerpts are below:

 

Texas cities fear ‘Death Star’ law will wipe out regulations. How about Fort Worth?

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Editorial Board

July 21, 2023

The “Death Star” law has drawn nationwide attention for its impact on local government regulations requiring water breaks for workers. Houston, perhaps joined by other big cities, is suing the state over the Legislature’s “Death Star” bill targeting local regulations. So, where does Fort Worth stand? […]

While Houston and Dallas are worried about losing all kinds of local regulations, City Manager David Cooke and City Attorney Leann Guzman told us that Fort Worth won’t feel much change at all, in part because it’s been less eager to regulate business to begin with.

“We think that Fort Worth fairly well came out, I won’t say totally unscathed, but not affected to the extent that you saw some of the larger cities who have been more assertive or aggressive in passing certain laws that are specific to business and that kind of a thing,” Guzman said. […]

So far, the bill has gotten a bad reputation nationally, portrayed as Gov. Greg Abbott’s way to abolish mandatory water breaks for outdoor workers. That’s overstating it; two cities had enacted such rules, and the enforcement of such ordinances was almost nonexistent. Water breaks themselves are not abolished.

Here’s an even better example: Let’s say you own an HVAC company that serves businesses up and down Interstate 35W, from Fort Worth to San Antonio. Before the new legislation, there were various, local regulations all across the state. So one company would need to be responsible for knowing those particular rules for every city and following them — and some of them are quite tedious.

Some crews would be required to earn a certain wage and have various breaks, while other crews from the same company working in a different area might be required to be paid a different wage or follow a different regulation about breaks. In this way, the legislation might relieve some stress. […]

City officials specifically worked with the bill’s co-sponsor, Republican Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock to add language that would allow Fort Worth to preserve some of its own employee policies.

Another thing the city bargained for is what relief the law would make available to plaintiffs. Originally, when someone sued the city, the relief was more open-ended. Now, it’s much more narrow. Basically, the city would just have to stop enforcing an ordinance.

Fort Worth appears to be in good shape when it comes to overbearing regulations that might cause confusion. […]

Background:

 

The Texas Regulatory Consistency Act was signed into law by Governor Abbott in June. The House approved the bill on a bipartisan basis in April, before the bill advanced out of the Senate in May. Despite the misleading claims from some local officials, cities and counties retain their authority to address local concerns.

 

WATCH: Cities & Counties Retain Local Control Under HB 2127

NFIB and local job creators testified before both the House and Senate in support of the bill, with one NFIB member saying: “We need the protection of the state, when it comes to cities telling us how to run our businesses.”

READ: FACT CHECK: Patchwork of Regulations Threatens Texas Small Business Owners

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