Shelby Sterling, JD, is a policy analyst for the Government for the People campaign at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Texas Government Code Chapter 418, also known as the Texas Disaster Act of 1975, grants broad but temporary emer- gency powers to the governor and certain local officials, albeit in unequal measure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, officials used this authority to impose a wide variety of rules and restrictions on Texans. As evidenced in the Foundation’s research, some of these new regulations imposed at the local level have been burdensome and many conflicted with state orders.*
Testimony Before the Texas House Committee on State Affairs