Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday (13) approved a law that will eliminate city and county ordinances that eliminate local rules that require construction workers to take water breaks. The new bill, called House Bill 2127, was passed by the Legislature and received final approval from Gov. Greg Abbott. The law will take effect Sept. 1 and overturn ordinances in cities like Austin and Dallas that mandated 10-minute breaks every four hours for construction workers to drink water and protect themselves from the heat. In addition, the law prevents other cities from passing similar rules in the future.

According to an article in the Texas Tribune, supporters of the law argue that it will eliminate unnecessary local regulations and provide more freedom for businesses. However, labor unions and workers' rights advocates opposed the bill, citing the high number of heat-related deaths in Texas. The state is where the most workers die from high temperatures, and the lack of mandatory water breaks is seen as a health risk to workers. The legislation is also criticized for making it difficult to protect evicted tenants, tackling predatory lending, excessive noise, and invasive species.

The Texas Tribune article further highlights that heat waves are extreme weather events, and that climate change is amplifying their effects. Urbanization in the dry areas of Texas increases people’s vulnerability to extreme heat, due to the “urban island” effect, which concerns, and essentially, the combination of concrete and buildings, in addition to the lack of green spaces, causes the heat of the ground to radiate, increasing the temperature in cities. Rising temperatures also disproportionately affect Latino workers in the construction industry because they make up 6 in 10 workers in the industry, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Opponents of the bill claim that local regulations are necessary to ensure the safety of workers, since there is no national standard for heat-related illnesses set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The law's passage is seen to limit the power of local governments and an intrusion into democracy, critics said.

While no bill has been passed to establish mandatory water breaks for construction workers, lawmakers are expected to continue pushing for a state law to that effect. Also mentioned is the possibility of cities filing a lawsuit to uphold their water range laws, among others that protect basic workers’ rights.