Southern Crushed Concrete, LLC v. City of Houston

As a home-rule municipality, the City of Houston has broad powers of self-government. But the constitutional provision that confers those powers also prohibits the city from passing ordinances that “contain any provision inconsistent with” acts of the Texas Legislature. Tex. Const. art. XI, § 5. Under our state constitution, not surprisingly, statutes are superior to ordinances. Because I believe the Texas Clean Air Act preempts the ordinance in question, I respectfully dissent.

In considering the preemption question, the majority reaches two broad conclusions. First, because the Act and the…