Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB5203 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	By: Bell of Montgomery H.B. No. 5203
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6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to state preemption of certain municipal and county
9	9	regulation.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. The legislature finds that:
12	12	(1) the state has historically been the exclusive regulator
13	13	of many aspects of commerce, trade, elections, and criminal justice
14	14	in this state;
15	15	(2) in recent years, several local jurisdictions have
16	16	sought to establish their own regulations of commerce, trade,
17	17	elections, and criminal justice that are different than the state's
18	18	regulations; and
19	19	(3) such local regulations have led to a patchwork of
20	20	regulations that apply inconsistently across this state.
21	21	SECTION 2. The purpose of this Act is to provide additional
22	22	statewide consistency by returning sovereign regulatory powers to
23	23	the state where those powers belong in accordance with Section 5,
24	24	Article XI, Texas Constitution.
25	25	SECTION 3. This Act:
26	26	(1) may not be construed to prohibit a municipality or
27	27	county from building or maintaining a road, imposing a tax, or
28	28	carrying out any authority expressly authorized by statute;
29	29	(2) may not be construed to prohibit a home-rule
30	30	municipality from providing the same services and imposing the same
31	31	regulations that a general-law municipality is authorized to
32	32	provide or impose;
33	33	(3) does not affect the authority of a municipality or
34	34	county to conduct a public awareness campaign; and
35	35	(4) does not affect the authority of a municipality or
36	36	county to repeal or amend an existing ordinance, order, or rule that
37	37	violates the provisions of this Act for the limited purpose of
38	38	bringing that ordinance, order, or rule in compliance with this
39	39	Act.
40	40	SECTION 4. Chapter 1, Elections Code, is amended by adding
41	41	section 1.023 to read as follows:
42	42	Sec. 1.023. PREEMPTION. Unless expressly authorized by
43	43	another statute, a municipality or county may not adopt, enforce,
44	44	or maintain an ordinance, order, or rule regulating conduct in a
45	45	field of regulation that is occupied by a provision of this code.
46	46	An ordinance, order, or rule that violates this section is void,
47	47	unenforceable, and inconsistent with this code.
48	48	SECTION 5. Chapter 1, Penal Code, is amended by adding
49	49	section 1.11 to read as follows:
50	50	Sec. 1.11. PREEMPTION. Unless expressly authorized by
51	51	another statute, a municipality or county may not adopt, enforce,
52	52	or maintain an ordinance, order, or rule regulating conduct in a
53	53	field of regulation that is occupied by a provision of this code.
54	54	An ordinance, order, or rule that violates this section is void,
55	55	unenforceable, and inconsistent with this code.
56	56	SECTION 6. Section 102A.002, Civil Practice and Remedies
57	57	Code, is amended to read as follows:
58	58	Sec. 102A.002. LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN REGULATION. Any
59	59	person who has sustained an injury in fact, actual or threatened,
60	60	from a municipal or county ordinance, order, or rule adopted or
61	61	enforced by a municipality or county in violation of any of the
62	62	following provisions or a trade association representing the person
63	63	has standing to bring and may bring an action against the
64	64	municipality or county:
65	65	(1) Section 1.004, Agriculture Code;
66	66	(2) Section 1.109, Business & Commerce Code;
67	67	(3) Section 1.004, Finance Code;
68	68	(4) Section 30.005, Insurance Code;
69	69	(5) Section 1.005, Labor Code;
70	70	(6) Section 229.901, Local Government Code;
71	71	(7) Section 1.003, Natural Resources Code;
72	72	(8) Section 1.004, Occupations Code;[ or]
73	73	(9) Section 1.004, Property Code;
74	74	(10) Section 1.023, Elections Code; or
75	75	(11) Section 1.11, Penal Code.
76	76	SECTION 7. Chapter 102A, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
77	77	is amended by adding sections 102A.008 through 102A.014 to read as
78	78	follows:
79	79	Sec. 102A.008. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
80	80	(1) "Local government" means a municipality or county.
81	81	(2) "No-new-revenue tax rate" means the no-new-revenue tax
82	82	rate calculated under Chapter 26, Tax Code.
83	83	Sec. 102A.009. ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATION AND ACTION.
84	84	(a) The attorney general may investigate an alleged violation of
85	85	this chapter by a local government.
86	86	(b) If, after conducting an investigation under Subsection
87	87	(a), the attorney general determines a local government adopted,
88	88	enforced, or maintained an ordinance, order, or rule in violation
89	89	of the provisions listed in section 102A.002, the attorney general
90	90	may bring an action in the name of the state against a local
91	91	government for the violation.
92	92	Sec. 102A.010. ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS DURING PENDENCY OF
93	93	ACTION. During the pendency of an action brought under Section
94	94	102A.009, with respect to a local government defending the action:
95	95	(1) the comptroller shall withhold payment of any money due
96	96	to the local government under Section 321.502 or 323.502, Tax Code,
97	97	as applicable;
98	98	(2) the local government may not adopt an ad valorem tax
99	99	rate that exceeds the local government 's no-new-revenue tax rate;
100	100	and
101	101	(3) the local government may not receive state grant funds
102	102	and any pending application for such funds shall be denied.
103	103	Sec. 102A.011. BURDEN OF PROOF; INITIAL HEARING. (a) A
104	104	local government defending an action brought under Section 102A.009
105	105	has the burden of proof to establish by a preponderance of the
106	106	evidence that the local government complied with the law the
107	107	alleged violation of which is the subject of the action.
108	108	(b) The court of original jurisdiction shall set an action
109	109	brought under Section 102A.009 for an initial hearing not later
110	110	than the 30th day after the date the local government defending the
111	111	action was served with process for the action.
112	112	Sec. 102A.012. RESOLUTION OF ACTION IN FAVOR OF ATTORNEY
113	113	GENERAL. (a) If the attorney general prevails in an action brought
114	114	under Section 102A.009:
115	115	(1) the local government defending the action may not,
116	116	during the five state fiscal years following the year in which the
117	117	judgment becomes final:
118	118	(A) adopt an ad valorem tax rate that exceeds the local
119	119	government's no-new-revenue tax rate; or
120	120	(B) receive state grant funds; and
121	121	(2) the court issuing the final judgment resolving the
122	122	action shall provide in the judgment that the state is entitled to
123	123	recover from the local government defending the action a penalty
124	124	equal to the balance of the suspense account maintained for the
125	125	local government under Section 321.501 or 323.501, Tax Code, as
126	126	applicable, that exists on the date the judgment is signed.
127	127	(b) The comptroller shall, on receipt of a copy of the final
128	128	judgment in an action brought under Section 102A.009 that includes
129	129	a provision described by Subsection (a)(2), deposit the balance of
130	130	the suspense account maintained for the local government defending
131	131	the action under Section 321.501 or 323.501, Tax Code, as
132	132	applicable, as of the date the judgment is signed to the credit of
133	133	the general revenue fund.
134	134	Sec. 102A.013. RESOLUTION OF ACTION IN FAVOR OF LOCAL
135	135	GOVERNMENT. If a local government prevails in an action brought
136	136	under section 102A.009, the comptroller shall, notwithstanding any
137	137	other law, immediately send to the local government the balance of
138	138	the suspense account maintained for the local government under
139	139	Section 321.501 or 323.501, Tax Code, as applicable, as of the date
140	140	the judgment resolving the action is signed.
141	141	SECTION 8. Section 102A.002, Civil Practices and Remedies
142	142	Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a cause of action that
143	143	accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. Section
144	144	102A.009, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as added by this Act,
145	145	applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the
146	146	effective date of this Act. Section 102A.014, Civil Practice and
147	147	Remedies Code, as added by this Act, and Section 22.220, Government
148	148	Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to an appeal initiated on
149	149	or after the effective date of this Act.
150	150	SECTION 9. Every provision, section, subsection, sentence,
151	151	clause, phrase, or word in this Act, and every application of the
152	152	provisions in this Act to every person, group of persons, or
153	153	circumstances, are severable from each other. If any application
154	154	of any provision in this Act to any person, group of persons, or
155	155	circumstances is found by a court to be invalid, preempted, or
156	156	unconstitutional, for any reason whatsoever, then the remaining
157	157	applications of the Act to all other persons and circumstances
158	158	shall be severed and preserved and shall remain in effect. All
159	159	constitutionally valid applications of the provisions in this Act
160	160	shall be severed from any applications that a court finds to be
161	161	invalid, preempted, or unconstitutional, because it is the
162	162	legislature's intent and priority that every single valid
163	163	application of every statutory provision be allowed to stand alone.
164	164	The legislature further declares that it would have enacted this
165	165	Act, and each provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause,
166	166	phrase, or word, and all constitutional applications of the
167	167	provisions of this Act, irrespective of the fact that any
168	168	provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word,
169	169	or applications of this chapter were to be declared invalid,
170	170	preempted, or unconstitutional.
171	171	SECTION 10. The Texas Supreme Court has exclusive and
172	172	original jurisdiction over a challenge to the constitutionality of
173	173	this Act or any part of this Act and may issue injunctive or
174	174	declaratory relief in connection with the challenge.
175	175	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect immediately if it
176	176	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
177	177	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
178	178	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
179	179	effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.