I’ve written previously on the new controversial Texas law, HB 2127, dubbed the “Texas Regulatory Consistency Act” by its supporters and the “Texas Death Star Bill” by its detractors. In general, the bill broadly preempts and invalidates local ordinances that are “inconsistent” with State law, including arguably municipal sign codes.

In its July 7th edition, Billboard Insider reported that the City of Houston, which was joined by El Paso and San Antonio, sued the State on July 3, 2023 to hold the law unconstitutional. HB 2127 would have become effective on September 1, 2023. However, last week, on August 30, 2023, Travis County District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble signed a final judgement ordering “House Bill 2127 in its entirety is unconstitutional-facially, and as applied to Houston as a constitutional home rule city to local laws that are not already preempted under article XI, section 5 of the Texas Constitution-because, in the absence of a severability clause, no provision can be given effect without the invalid provisions and application.” The State of Texas immediately served notice of appeal.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said he was “thrilled” by the order: “HB 2127 was a power grab by the Legislature and was an unwarranted and unconstitutional intrusion into local power granted to Houston and other home rule city by the Texas Constitution.” The authors of the legislation vehemently disagreed: “The judgment today by a Democratic Travis County District Judge is not worth the paper its printed on,” said Representative Dustin Burrow, Republican from Lubbock. He went on to say: “The Texas Supreme Court will ultimately rule this law to be completely valid.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott weighed in to support the bill as well: “Texas small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Burdensome regulations are an obstacle to their success.”

While the politicians dispute the benefits or dangers of HB 2127, one thing we can all agree on is that this dispute is long from over from a legal perspective. The next step will be the State’s appeal to the Third Texas Court of Appeals in Austin, but the case will likely not be finally resolved until the Texas Supreme Court, or even the US Supreme Court, reviews it. This appellate review will take as long as a couple years. In the meantime, the enforcement of HB 2127, including as to potentially “inconsistent” municipal sign codes, will probably be abated.

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