Temporary Injunction Hearing in Austin on City of McAllen-led Lawsuit Against State of Texas
Texas Border Business
Lawsuit regarding SB 1004 and SB1152 includes 57 other Texas cities. The coalition of cities, represented by C. Robert Heath of Bickerstaff Delgado Acosta LLP and Snapper Carr of Focused Advocacy, provided testimony and evidence at today’s temporary injunction hearing, which focused on SB 1152.
The coalition of Texas cities suing the State of Texas is challenging the constitutionality of the laws established by SB 1004 and SB 1152. The lawsuit contends that the two laws severely limit local municipalities when it comes to authority over wireless and telecommunication providers from being fairly compensated on the use of the municipal right-of-way.
A decision on the temporary injunction is pending and will likely be made in the coming weeks.
It is the hope of the coalition that the hearing will result in a just outcome, namely the prohibition of taxpayer money subsidizing telecommunications corporations with unconstitutional grants of public land.
According to attorneys for the City of McAllen, regardless of whether a temporary injunction is granted, the coalition of 48 cities is looking forward to moving forward with the lawsuit and arguing the case at trial on its merits.Â
