State lawmakers this session will consider bills to limit the power of cities to enact certain laws. Those local ordinances could include bans on , using at stores, and .
The effort to rein in local ordinances is a reaction to what .
That sentiment is echoed by . He co-authored a House bill this session that would prohibit cities from not already covered by state law. In Shaheen鈥檚 view, cities exist to provide basic services - like infrastructure - and nothing else.
"The state of Texas didn't put cities in place to start playing around with these social-type agendas," said Shaheen, a recent . "So if you want to see where a 鈥榥anny state鈥� is happening, it's more at the local level with these types of ordinances."
But cities with a population of 5,000 or more - and a charter - are known, under the Texas constitution, as "Home Rule" cities.
