It's hard to think that a new bill is anything other than a slap in the face of towns like Austin.

Here's the problem with Texas, it's too big. In fact, it's so big, some people think it should be split into five states. Five might not even be enough because the state is so big that we all have different needs and ideas on how we should do things.

A bill called "The Texas Regulatory Consistency Act", under the guise of "standardizing things" takes away our ability to govern as local cities or communities.

The very reason given for the "act" smells of Texas longhorn droppings. Supposedly it's so small businesses don't have to deal with confusing local laws. Well, if they're "small businesses" wouldn't the "local laws" be all that matters? What's confusing? Lawmakers are implying that going from town to town would be confusing, but small businesses really don't do that, only BIG businesses do.

All of this seems to be targeted at, and bourne out of local stuff that is/was happening in Austin. I don't have to tell you that Austin is a very special, very weird place, and I don't blame them for having very special, very weird laws and ordinances.

This is another feeble, yet heavy-handed approach to "show Austin who's boss".  I really don't expect lawmakers from all over the state to know what's best for Austin,  Lubbock,  Abilene, Houston, or anywhere else because we're all so very different. Putting this even more clearly, if you were opening a business, would you rather deal with the state, or with a guy you know down at the local city office?

This bill is nonsense, ill-intentioned, and a very transparent attempt at getting Austin and the like "under control".

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