New laws go into effect, groups rally against laws now challenged by lawsuits

Austin (KXAN) — As nearly 800 Texas laws go into effect Sept. 1, groups in Austin gathered to support one another and speak out against a controversial bill that effects labor in the state.

The Workers Defense Project, Texas AFT, and Nonviolent Austin were a few of several groups that demonstrated outside the Governor’s Mansion Friday night.

The group rallied against HB 2127 the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act, more well known as the Death Star Bill. The law keeps local governments from passing ordinances that are inconsistent with state law.

Daniela Hernandez, state legislative coordinator for Workers Defense Project, said the law would remove protections for laborers across the state.

“It would pre-empt ordinances like the ones that Austin and Dallas have on the books that would require a rest break for construction workers 10 minutes every four hours of work that they do,” Hernandez said.

The bill did go into effect Sept. 1 but has been challenged by lawsuits from the Cities of Houston and San Antonio. A Travis County judge has also deemed the law unconstitutional this past week.

The Death Star Bill is just one of several laws that are being challenged after this legislative session. Just this week, a federal judge temporarily blocked the new Texas law that drag show artists worry would ban performances.

“Texas is a state where, particularly among conservatives, there’s a tendency to test the boundaries of the of the law in in various ways. It’s not a new phenomenon but we have seen something of a pile up these last few days,” said James Henson director of The Texas Politics Project.

Henson said while the number of laws being challenged is not unusual, the reception to them is new.

“A big explanation for what we’re seeing is that there are groups that feel targeted by these very boundary testing laws,” Henson said.