Temperatures hovered comfortably in the mid 80s Thursday morning as members of a City Council committee discussed potential plans for protecting local construction workers from heat-related illness.
Construction industry leaders, labor experts and health care professionals had spent roughly six months crafting the recommendations under consideration, and Planning and Community Development Committee Chair Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4) was eager to move them forward before summer arrives in a city that last year experienced 59 days of triple-digit heat.
Looming over an effort that appeared to have the support of every member of the committee, however, is a potential new state law that city leaders worry could radically reduce their ability to protect workers, regulate natural resources and crack down on unfair business practices.
House Bill 2127 has been approved by the state House and Senate, and Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign it any day.
Crafted by state Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), the bill aims to create a statewide, uniform set of regulations for businesses, which Burrows says have been hurt by a patchwork of local rules.
Broadly speaking, the bill would achieve that goal by wiping out local governments’ ability to set rules beyond what the state already specifies on issues related to agriculture, business and commerce, finance, insurance, labor, occupations, property, local government and natural resources.
Thursday’s committee meeting offered a first glimpse at...
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