84R7173 SCL-F
By: Miller of Fort Bend H.B. No. 1556
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to prohibition of certain regulations by a county,
municipality, or other political subdivision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the
Intrastate Commerce Improvement Act.
SECTION 2. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Act is to improve
intrastate commerce by ensuring that businesses, organizations,
and employers doing business in this state are subject to uniform
nondiscrimination laws and obligations, irrespective of the
county, municipality, or other political subdivision in which the
business, organization, or employer is located or engages in
business or a commercial activity. Uniform laws will benefit the
businesses, organizations, and employers seeking to do business in
this state and will attract new businesses, organizations, and
employers to this state.
SECTION 3. PROHIBITED REGULATIONS. Chapter 250, Local
Government Code, is amended by adding Section 250.007 to read as
follows:
Sec. 250.007. PROHIBITED REGULATIONS BY POLITICAL
SUBDIVISIONS. (a) In this section, "local law" means a law,
ordinance, order, resolution, rule, policy, or similar measure
adopted by a county, municipality, or other political subdivision.
(b) A county, municipality, or other political subdivision
may not adopt or enforce a local law that creates a protected
classification or prohibits discrimination on a basis not contained
in the laws of this state.
(c) A local law that is adopted by a political subdivision
before the date this section becomes law and that violates
Subsection (b) is null and void.
SECTION 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. The heading to Chapter
250, Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 250. MISCELLANEOUS REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF
MUNICIPALITIES, [AND] COUNTIES, AND OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
SECTION 5. SEVERABILITY. (a) It is the intent of the
legislature that every provision, section, subsection, sentence,
clause, phrase, and word in this Act, and every application of the
provisions in this Act to each local law, are severable from each
other. All constitutionally valid and lawful applications of this
Act shall be severed from an application that a court finds to be
invalid, leaving the valid applications in force because it is the
legislature's intent and priority that the valid applications be
allowed to stand alone.
(b) A court may not decline to enforce the severability
requirements in this Act on the ground that the enforcement of the
severability requirements would be contrary to legislative intent.
The legislature hereby declares that it intends for the
severability requirements of this Act to be enforced as written,
without any exceptions.
(c) A court may not decline to enforce the severability
requirements of this Act on the ground that the Act's provisions or
applications are essentially and inseparably connected. The
legislature hereby declares that it intends for the severability
requirements of this Act to be enforced without regard to whether
this Act's provisions or applications are essentially and
inseparably connected.
(d) Section 311.032(a), Government Code, applies to this
Act.
SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect
immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members
elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas
Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for
immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2015.