Legislation addressing states' rights in Texas is still waiting to get out of a House committee in Austin.
State Rep. Cecil Bell Jr., R-Magnolia, is pushing the Texas Sovereignty Act which would allow the state to override federal laws through the same process as passing a bill.
“To the degree that we've delegated those powers and authorities to the federal government there is sovereignty, to the degree that we've retained those powers as states and citizens, there is sovereignty,” says Bell.
He believes the Tenth Amendment gives states the power to govern without interference from the feds.
“There's this idea that the Supremecy Clause was written after the Tenth Amendment, but in truth the Tenth Amendment was written because there were people who believed the Supremecy Clause overrode all of the rest of the constitution,” says Bell.
And he says it’s not just a Texas issue either.
“If California were to have an edict that said they had to roll back all of their environmental regulations because the federal government said to do so, it's not Texas' place to tell California that and it's not the federal government's place to tell them that either.”