Following through on threats issued a day earlier, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Austin and Travis County on Thursday, arguing that continued enforcement of a local mask mandate was illegal.
The lawsuit, filed in state District Court in Travis County, sought quick action in the form of a court order blocking enforcement of "unlawful and invalid" mask rules for businesses and fines for violators.
An executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott took effect Wednesday, lifting a statewide mask mandate and limits on business operating capacity and — more importantly — superseded any local rules that say differently, Paxton argued.
"This case raises a pressing question: who is ultimately responsible for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergencies?" the lawsuit said. "The Texas Disaster Act charges the Governor — not an assortment of thousands of county judges, city mayors and local health officials — with leading the State’s response to a statewide emergency."
Austin Mayor Steve Adler has acknowledged that Abbott's latest order means city and county leaders can't issue pandemic-safety rules that go beyond the governor's executive order.
Continued enforcement of the local mask mandate inside businesses, however, is based on the authority of Dr. Mark Escott, the interim health authority for the city and county, Adler argued.
"Dr. Escott is the appointed public health physician and expert to whom our community entrusts our public health," Adler said. "He is committed to defeating COVID-19 in Austin and Travis County, and the city will employ whatever tools are available to support his orders for the sake of all Austin schools, businesses and residents."
With coronavirus hospitalizations continuing to decline in the Austin area, Adler said, the single most effective action residents can take is to wear a mask.
"The rules issued by Dr. Escott will serve to not only decrease the spread of disease but to also increase public confidence in the safety of local businesses," the mayor said. "The governor said that virus-related policy would be guided by the data and the doctors, and we remain committed to this end."
