AUSTIN – The Foundation’s Center for Local Governance Senior Policy Analyst Jess Fields and Armstrong Center for Energy & Environment Leigh Thompson issued the following statements on House Bill 40, which clarifies that the regulation of oil and gas operations is under the jurisdiction of the state:
"The passage of this bill is a triumph for Texans who have seen their property rights relentlessly eroded by local governments in recent years,” said Fields. “The Texas oil and gas revolution is creating good jobs for untold thousands of Texas families and lowering the cost of the fuel we all depend on. That revolution depends on the protection of property rights, and this bill does."
“HB 40, which is now headed for the Governor’s signature, marks a great victory for Texas and for the continued growth of the economy,” said Thompson. “With HB 40 passing 24-7 in the Senate, the Legislature has taken much-needed action against abusive municipal regulations and outright bans on fracking and solidified Texans’ right to develop the minerals beneath their land in commercially reasonable ways.”
The Hon. Jess Fields is the Senior Policy Analyst in the Center for Local Governance at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and a former College Station City Councilman.
Leigh Thompson is a policy analyst with the Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.