AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s (TPPF) Center for Local Governance Director James Quintero issued the following statement on the amicus curiae brief filed earlier this week by three Texas State Senators and 17 Texas State Representatives in support of the Laredo Merchants Association’s legal challenge to the City of Laredo’s plastic bag ban. The Brief, filed in the 4th Court of Appeals, argues that current state law “preempts and invalidates” this type of plastic bag prohibition.
“The rule of law is under threat in Texas,” said James Quintero, director of the Center for Local Governance. “A number of Texas cities have some sort of plastic bag ban or fee in place, even though state law prohibits it. Yet local governments are enacting these kinds of nanny state restrictions anyway. Questionable policymaking like this needs immediate correction, just as almost two-dozen Members of the Texas Legislature argue in their newly filed amicus brief.”
Members of the Texas Legislature who submitted the brief include: State Senators Konni Burton, Bob Hall, and Don Huffines, and State Representatives Dustin Burrows, Wayne Faircloth, Dan Flynn, Bryan Hughes, Mark Keough, Matt Krause, Jodie Laubenberg, Jeff Leach, Matt Rinaldi, Matt Shaheen, Ron Simmons, David Simpson, Stuart Spitzer, Drew Springer, Jonathan Stickland, Tony Tinderholt, and Molly White.
In April, TPPF filed an amicus curiae brief in Laredo Merchants Association v. City of Laredo, Texas opposing the City of Laredo’s ordinance that directly contradicts Texas law by prohibiting retailers from providing customers with plastic bags. To read the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s amicus brief, please click here.
To schedule an interview with Mr. Quintero please contact Caroline Espinosa at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
James Quintero is Director of the Center for Local Governance at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.