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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBlue city - red state conflict in Texas and the rest of the country
AUSTIN The grand old oak called Patsy Cline rises gracefully on three trunks. Waylon Jennings leans lazily before angling back to the sun. And Willie Nelson, tall and broad, ascends on a torso three feet thick before bursting into a dense green canopy.
Citizens here named the trees in an effort to save more than a dozen of them all protected under a city ordinance that stand in the way of a planned new mixed-use development. It is the kind of quintessentially local battle that plays out in cities across the country, albeit one with a distinctly local flavor in this quirky, musically inclined town.
But here in Texas, the bigger battle over tree ordinances is whether they represent a form of local government overreach. Gov. Greg Abbott (R), citing grave worries about socialistic behavior in the states liberal cities, has called on Texas lawmakers to gather next month for a special session that will consider a host of bills aimed at curtailing local power on issues ranging from taxation to collecting union dues.
Texas presents perhaps the most dramatic example of the increasingly acrimonious relationship between red-state leaders and their blue city centers, which have moved aggressively to expand environmental regulations and social programs often against the grain of their states.
Republican state leaders across the country have responded to the widening cultural gulf by passing legislation preempting local laws. The best-known example is North Carolinas bathroom bill, which was partially reversed this year. It was originally aimed at undercutting Charlottes efforts to expand civil rights laws to include LGBT people and to prevent cities from setting their own minimum wage.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/in-austin-the-air-smells-of-tacos-and-trees-%e2%80%94-and-city-state-conflict/ar-BBDxnKP?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=edgsp
Solly Mack
(90,758 posts)metroins
(2,550 posts)Better than Abbott.
MagickMuffin
(15,924 posts)I want Julian Castro to run against Abbott. I certainly DON'T want ANY republiCon to be our governor. Been there done that.
I was just saying Rick Perry wasn't as bad as Abbott.
Obviously a Democrat would be better.
dawg
(10,621 posts)Or at the very least, form a red-team, blue-team panel to debate the merits of doing so.
bullimiami
(13,074 posts)CanonRay
(14,080 posts)Become an independent city on the order of DC
moondust
(19,956 posts)GOP legislature and governor have blocked local minimum wage hikes.
Branstad signs bills limiting workers' compensation, blocking minimum wage hikes