Newly elected Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson has signed a letter asking Gov. Greg Abbott to reconsider the agenda for the special session that convened on Tuesday in Austin.
As The Amarillo Globe-News reports, the letter asserts that some items on the legislative agenda could directly impede the economic growth of Texas cities by taking away the sovereign right of municipalities to govern themselves.
The letterwas signed by 17 other mayors from across the state. Others who signed the letter include the mayors of Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, El Paso, Houston, San Antonio, and Lubbock.
Controversial legislative items include a measure that would cap the amount of taxes cities could raise, another that would limit the power of cities to annex land outside their boundaries, and a third that would limit cities’ ability to enforce local tree ordinances.