On Tuesday, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) reported on an omnibus regulatory preemption bill in Texas—where versions are currently being considered in both the Senate and the House—that would strip local governments of the ability to protect workers, consumers, and the environment. Dubbed a “death star” bill by critics, the sweeping legislation would abolish local regulations on everything from workplace discrimination, minimum wage, heat-stress protections, and mandatory breaks to predatory payday and auto title lending, pest and disease control, children’s food programs, puppy mills, hazardous materials transport, and forest and wetlands management, to name just a few of the many protections it aims to undermine. The bills are authored by state politicians with strong ties to industry groups, fossil fuels interests, and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the right-wing corporate bill mill that has long fought against “onerous” government regulations that it considers antithetical to free market capitalism. ALEC members sponsored both the broadly-written Senate Bill 814 and its companion, House Bill 2127, which stitch together a number of model preemption bills developed by the national organization. According to the Local Solutions Support Center, a preemption-tracking group, nearly 500 preemption bills have already been filed in 2023 state legislative sessions across the country. Here’s the latest on other recent CMD investigations you may have missed: |
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