Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2858 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	2025S0248-1 03/13/25
2	2	By: Creighton S.B. No. 2858
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to state preemption of certain municipal and county
10	10	regulation.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. The legislature finds that:
13	13	(1) the state has historically been the exclusive
14	14	regulator of many aspects of commerce, trade, elections, and
15	15	criminal justice in this state;
16	16	(2) in recent years, several local jurisdictions have
17	17	sought to establish their own regulations of commerce, trade,
18	18	elections, and criminal justice that are different than the state's
19	19	regulations; and
20	20	(3) such local regulations have led to a patchwork of
21	21	regulations that apply inconsistently across this state.
22	22	SECTION 2. The purpose of this Act is to provide additional
23	23	statewide consistency by returning sovereign regulatory powers to
24	24	the state where those powers belong in accordance with Section 5,
25	25	Article XI, Texas Constitution.
26	26	SECTION 3. This Act:
27	27	(1) may not be construed to prohibit a municipality or
28	28	county from building or maintaining a road, imposing a tax, or
29	29	carrying out any authority expressly authorized by statute;
30	30	(2) may not be construed to prohibit a home-rule
31	31	municipality from providing the same services and imposing the same
32	32	regulations that a general-law municipality is authorized to
33	33	provide or impose;
34	34	(3) does not affect the authority of a municipality or
35	35	county to conduct a public awareness campaign; and
36	36	(4) does not affect the authority of a municipality or
37	37	county to repeal or amend an existing ordinance, order, or rule that
38	38	violates the provisions of this Act for the limited purpose of
39	39	bringing that ordinance, order, or rule in compliance with this
40	40	Act.
41	41	SECTION 4. Chapter 1, Elections Code, is amended by adding
42	42	Section 1.023 to read as follows:
43	43	Sec. 1.023. PREEMPTION. Unless expressly authorized by
44	44	another statute, a municipality or county may not adopt, enforce,
45	45	or maintain an ordinance, order, or rule regulating conduct in a
46	46	field of regulation that is occupied by a provision of this code.
47	47	An ordinance, order, or rule that violates this section is void,
48	48	unenforceable, and inconsistent with this code.
49	49	SECTION 5. Chapter 1, Penal Code, is amended by adding
50	50	Section 1.11 to read as follows:
51	51	Sec. 1.11. PREEMPTION. Unless expressly authorized by
52	52	another statute, a municipality or county may not adopt, enforce,
53	53	or maintain an ordinance, order, or rule regulating conduct in a
54	54	field of regulation that is occupied by a provision of this code.
55	55	An ordinance, order, or rule that violates this section is void,
56	56	unenforceable, and inconsistent with this code.
57	57	SECTION 6. Section 102A.002, Civil Practice and Remedies
58	58	Code, is amended to read as follows:
59	59	Sec. 102A.002. LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN REGULATION. Any
60	60	person who has sustained an injury in fact, actual or threatened,
61	61	from a municipal or county ordinance, order, or rule adopted or
62	62	enforced by a municipality or county in violation of any of the
63	63	following provisions or a trade association representing the person
64	64	has standing to bring and may bring an action against the
65	65	municipality or county:
66	66	(1) Section 1.004, Agriculture Code;
67	67	(2) Section 1.109, Business & Commerce Code;
68	68	(3) Section 1.004, Finance Code;
69	69	(4) Section 30.005, Insurance Code;
70	70	(5) Section 1.005, Labor Code;
71	71	(6) Section 229.901, Local Government Code;
72	72	(7) Section 1.003, Natural Resources Code;
73	73	(8) Section 1.004, Occupations Code;[or]
74	74	(9) Section 1.004, Property Code;
75	75	(10) Section 1.023, Elections Code; or
76	76	(11) Section 1.11, Penal Code.
77	77	SECTION 7. Chapter 102A, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
78	78	is amended by adding Sections 102A.008 through 102A.013 to read as
79	79	follows:
80	80	Sec. 102A.008. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
81	81	(1) "Local government" means a municipality or
82	82	county.
83	83	(2) "No-new-revenue tax rate" means the
84	84	no-new-revenue tax rate calculated under Chapter 26, Tax Code.
85	85	Sec. 102A.009. ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATION AND ACTION.
86	86	(a) The attorney general may investigate an alleged violation of
87	87	this chapter by a local government.
88	88	(b) If after conducting an investigation under Subsection
89	89	(a), the attorney general determines that a local government
90	90	adopted, enforced, or maintained an ordinance, order, or rule in
91	91	violation of the provisions listed in Section 102A.002, the
92	92	attorney general may bring an action in the name of the state
93	93	against the local government for the violation.
94	94	Sec. 102A.010. ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS DURING PENDENCY OF
95	95	ACTION. During the pendency of an action brought under Section
96	96	102A.009, with respect to a local government defending the action:
97	97	(1) the comptroller shall withhold payment of any
98	98	money due to the local government under Section 321.502 or 323.502,
99	99	Tax Code, as applicable;
100	100	(2) the local government may not adopt an ad valorem
101	101	tax rate that exceeds the local government's no-new-revenue tax
102	102	rate; and
103	103	(3) the local government may not receive state grant
104	104	funds and any pending application for such funds shall be denied.
105	105	Sec. 102A.011. BURDEN OF PROOF; INITIAL HEARING. (a) A
106	106	local government defending an action brought under Section 102A.009
107	107	has the burden of proof to establish by a preponderance of the
108	108	evidence that the local government complied with the law the
109	109	alleged violation of which is the subject of the action.
110	110	(b) The court of original jurisdiction shall set an action
111	111	brought under Section 102A.009 for an initial hearing not later
112	112	than the 30th day after the date the local government defending the
113	113	action was served with process for the action.
114	114	Sec. 102A.012. RESOLUTION OF ACTION IN FAVOR OF ATTORNEY
115	115	GENERAL. (a) If the attorney general prevails in an action brought
116	116	under Section 102A.009:
117	117	(1) the local government defending the action may not,
118	118	during the five state fiscal years following the year in which the
119	119	judgment becomes final:
120	120	(A) adopt an ad valorem tax rate that exceeds the
121	121	local government's no-new-revenue tax rate; or
122	122	(B) receive state grant funds; and
123	123	(2) the court issuing the final judgment resolving the
124	124	action shall provide in the judgment that the state is entitled to
125	125	recover from the local government defending the action a penalty
126	126	equal to the balance of the suspense account maintained for the
127	127	local government under Section 321.501 or 323.501, Tax Code, as
128	128	applicable, that exists on the date the judgment is signed.
129	129	(b) The comptroller shall, on receipt of a copy of the final
130	130	judgment in an action brought under Section 102A.009 that includes
131	131	a provision described by Subsection (a)(2), deposit the balance of
132	132	the suspense account maintained for the local government defending
133	133	the action under Section 321.501 or 323.501, Tax Code, as
134	134	applicable, as of the date the judgment is signed to the credit of
135	135	the general revenue fund.
136	136	Sec. 102A.013. RESOLUTION OF ACTION IN FAVOR OF LOCAL
137	137	GOVERNMENT. If a local government prevails in an action brought
138	138	under Section 102A.009, the comptroller shall, notwithstanding any
139	139	other law, immediately send to the local government the balance of
140	140	the suspense account maintained for the local government under
141	141	Section 321.501 or 323.501, Tax Code, as applicable, as of the date
142	142	the judgment resolving the action is signed.
143	143	SECTION 8. Section 102A.002, Civil Practice and Remedies
144	144	Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 102A.009, Civil Practice
145	145	and Remedies Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a cause of
146	146	action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act.
147	147	SECTION 9. Every provision, section, subsection, sentence,
148	148	clause, phrase, or word in this Act, and every application of the
149	149	provisions in this Act to every person, group of persons, or
150	150	circumstances, are severable from each other. If any application
151	151	of any provision in this Act to any person, group of persons, or
152	152	circumstances is found by a court to be invalid, preempted, or
153	153	unconstitutional, for any reason whatsoever, then the remaining
154	154	applications of the Act to all other persons and circumstances
155	155	shall be severed and preserved and shall remain in effect. All
156	156	constitutionally valid applications of the provisions in this Act
157	157	shall be severed from any applications that a court finds to be
158	158	invalid, preempted, or unconstitutional, because it is the
159	159	legislature's intent and priority that every single valid
160	160	application of every statutory provision be allowed to stand alone.
161	161	The legislature further declares that it would have enacted this
162	162	Act, and each provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause,
163	163	phrase, or word, and all constitutional applications of the
164	164	provisions of this Act, irrespective of the fact that any
165	165	provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word,
166	166	or applications of this Act were to be declared invalid, preempted,
167	167	or unconstitutional.
168	168	SECTION 10. The Texas Supreme Court has exclusive and
169	169	original jurisdiction over a challenge to the constitutionality of
170	170	this Act or any part of this Act and may issue injunctive or
171	171	declaratory relief in connection with the challenge.
172	172	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect immediately if it
173	173	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
174	174	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
175	175	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
176	176	effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.