Groves council adopts resolution opposing state bills it says would preempt local authority

The Groves City Council on April 28 adopted Resolution 2025-05 expressing the city’s opposition to Senate Bill 2858 and Senate Bill 3016 and urging the Texas Legislature to protect municipal authority.

The resolution, read into the record by a council member, states the bills would broadly prohibit cities and counties from adopting or enforcing local regulations in fields the bills say the state occupies, including certain land-use rules and matters tied to elective or penal codes. The resolution characterizes the bills as vague and as an unwarranted intrusion on municipal home-rule authority.

A staff member explained the distinction between home-rule and general-law cities: “home-rule cities can do anything except for what the state explicitly says they can't do,” and said passage of the bills would erode the city’s home-rule powers. The staff member cautioned that the bills could subject local ordinances to litigation and could force the city to realign local rules with state law at city expense.

Council discussed examples that could be affected; a staff member noted the city’s existing game-room regulations and frontage limits on duplexes could be vulnerable if the bills pass. The staff member said the bills also could allow parties who merely fear being harmed by a local ordinance to sue the city, increasing legal exposure.

Council members voted unanimously to adopt the resolution: Mayor voted aye, Mayor Pro Temkinidis aye, Council member Holmes aye, Council member Gay aye and Council member McAdams aye. Council asked staff to monitor the bills’ progress and to notify the council of developments.

The resolution directs the city clerk to forward copies to Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Speaker Dustin Burrows, Senator Brandon Creighton, Senator Robert Nichols, Representative Christian Emanuel and other Texas legislators, and it took immediate effect on passage.