The Texas Senate Committee is making moves to curtail what some are calling local government overreach here in Texas.
SB 15 would pre-empt local ordinances on cell phone usage, rolling back provisions in more than 40 Texas cities that have hands free laws on the books. Republican Texas State Representative Tom Craddick, who helped pass the statewide texting while driving ban, told KTRH he's not a fan at all.
“I think texting and hand held phones have been shown all across the nation to be a huge problem,” Craddick stated.
Joe Quintero with the Texas Public Policy Foundation says this is simply the state legislature fighting back against what they feel over attempts to take away your liberties.
“It’s pushing back against the ‘Californiazation’ of Texas that has seen a lot of bad trends happening locally, with taxes being too high and regulations being too tough,” Quintero explained.
A Senate Committee gave its approval to SB 15, which also has the support of Governor Abbott. It now heads to the full Senate.