Texas attorney-general Ken Paxton has sued the city of Austin for maintaining its local requirement for face coverings despite the state scrapping its mask mandate.
An executive order from Greg Abbott, Texas governor, went into effect on Wednesday, forbidding jurisdictions from imposing local mask mandates on residents as part of a broader effort to roll back pandemic-era restrictions and open Texas up “100 per cent”.
Private businesses are still allowed to require customers to wear masks.
Paxton said on Thursday that he had instructed Austin, the state’s capital, and the surrounding Travis County to comply with state law.
“They blew me off. So, once again, I’m dragging them to court,” Paxton said in a Twitter message.
Steve Adler, Austin’s mayor, said in a statement that he and Travis County judge Andy Brown “will fight to defend and enforce our local health officials’ rules for as long as possible using all the power and tools available to us”.
Adler continued: “We are not aware of any Texas court that has allowed state leadership to overrule the health protection rules of a local health authority.”
The rift in Texas, the second-most populous state, is one of several that have opened up as some governors loosen restrictions faster than some cities and counties might like.
Andrew Cuomo, New York governor, announced on Thursday the state would next month drop a requirement for domestic travellers to undergo a mandatory quarantine upon entering the state.
This quickly drew criticism from Bill de Blasio, New York City mayor, who said he had “concerns about this” and that the densely populated city — one of the places hit hardest during the early days of the pandemic — “was not consulted” about the move.
Ron DeSantis, Florida governor, late on Wednesday issued an executive order waiving fines implemented by local governments over the past year for pandemic-related offences that went beyond any enforcement or Covid-19-related orders taken by the state.
Some counties have said they plan to keep enforcing local restrictions, such as mask requirements, even though there is no statewide mandate.
Last summer, Brian Kemp, Georgia’s governor sued Keisha Lance Bottoms, mayor of Atlanta, after she ordered a mask mandate for her city and for the reopening of the capital city to be wound back.
Kemp had refrained from issuing a statewide mask mandate, and eventually dropped the legal action.