Texas is the ring that decides what the closer rings are allowed to do. A city in Texas has only the powers the state gives it. So does a county, a school district, and a homeowners association.
The Legislature, the Governor, the state agencies, and the state courts. The Legislature meets in regular session every two years, and what it does in those weeks sets the terms every other local ring operates under for the following two years.
This is the ring that decides whether your city may annex, how your property is appraised and protested, what your school district is funded to do, and what a homeowners association may and may not forbid on your own lot.
It is the highest-leverage ring most people never contact. A single sentence added to the Property Code in Austin changes what is enforceable on every street in the state.
The Council on Local Relations does one thing: it establishes the record and keeps it honest. We do not organize, campaign, or tell you what to do about any of it — the moment we did, every fact above would be worth less.
Want to do something about it? That is Think and Act Locally — a separate organization, where residents meet about what the record shows.