By the time the sun set on the 140th and final day of Texas’ 85th legislative session, officials in Austin said they felt as if their agenda—focused on opposing “legislation that strips Austin residents of their right to self-governance,” according to legislative principles adopted by the city in October—had taken a few punches.
Legislators outlawed sanctuary cities and local government officials who encourage them, overruled Austin voters by not requiring Uber and Lyft to adhere to local background check policies, provided greater and cheaper access to public rights of way for telecom companies to install equipment, and stripped the local ability to impose fees on construction to assist with housing affordability.
Liberal lawmakers and city officials throughout the state took the position that the Legislature was restricting the freedom of cities for self-governance, a philosophy Austin Mayor Steve Adler said was once highly regarded by lawmakers in Texas.
“We taxed and pressed the value of local liberty and self-determination,” Adler said. “Local control was kind of flipped on its head, where people, [who] for years had advocated that the government closest to the people was best able to govern, became an enemy of that principle.”
