Expanding red-state, blue-city divide

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 state’s liberal cities, has called on Texas lawmakers to gather this 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 Carolina’s “bathroom bill,” which was partially reversed this year. It was originally aimed at undercutting Charlotte’s efforts to expand civil rights laws to include LGBT people and to prevent cities from setting their own minimum wage.

But states also have gone after cities in more subtle ways. Ohio’s legislature last year attempted to block a Cleveland regulation that requires certain city contractors to hire local residents. A new Arizona law threatens to cut off funding to cities that take actions state officials deem to be in violation of state law.

“These preemption laws are designed to intimidate and bully local officials into doing the bidding of a smaller group of folks,” said Michael Alfano of the Campaign to Defend Local Solutions, a new nonprofit organization aimed at fending off state efforts to undermine local power.

“Once you cross the Travis County line, it starts smelling different,” Abbott joked at a recent gathering of Republicans, referring to the county that includes Austin. “And you know what that fragrance is? Freedom. It’s the smell of freedom that does not exist in Austin, Texas.”

The comments did not land well in this fast-developing city that boasts a high quality of life.

“The air in Austin is pretty sweet with an unemployment rate that is a point lower than the state, a lower violent crime rate than the state, with the highest rates of patents and venture capital in the state,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler (D) shot back. “And the air is sweet with tacos.”

What readers of the piece may not know, is that the Governor of Texas is bound to a wheelchair because of a freak accident involving a fallen tree. He sued the landowner for millions and won, only later to support legislation that protected landowners from "frivolous lawsuits" involving death or severe injury. He's lived in Austin for years and his kids grew up here. He "hates" Austin whenever it's convenient.

Abbott became a paraplegic when an oak tree fell on him while he was jogging following a storm in 1984.[6][7] He had two steel rods implanted in his spine, underwent extensive rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, and has used a wheelchair ever since.[8][9] He sued the homeowner and negotiated an insurance settlement worth more than US$10 million, resulting in payouts of US$14,000 a month.[10]

I love how Republicans scream about government having too much power. Until they end up in charge of government.

In Texas when the people of City of Denton voted and outlawed oil drilling inside city limits, Texas legislature passed a law rendering Denton city's law illegal and barred any other city from passing any such law.

Everything and anything the depraved GOP and it's voters claim to be stand for, like local control, you should know is a Trumpian depraved lie. GOP is a party pf depraved thugs.