San Angelo, Texas

A bipartisan pair of Texas lawmakers is challenging the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state's oil and gas regulator, over its decision to eliminate general public testimony at monthly meetings unless a commissioner requests it. The agency has replaced the practice with listening sessions and outreach events that commissioners aren't required to attend. A House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the matter is set for September 15.

Rep. Drew Darby, the committee's Republican chair, said the change revoked a 21-year guarantee and replaced it with unchecked discretion. Democratic Rep. Terry Canales wants the Legislature to extend mandatory public-comment rules, currently applied only to local governments, to state agencies. Commissioner Wayne Christian, who pushed the policy on a 2-1 vote, defended it as expanding access statewide rather than restricting it, noting comment had been used narrowly by a small number of speakers, including political candidates. Watchdog groups, transparency experts, and Democratic commission candidate Jon Rosenthal have criticized the move as limiting accountability over an agency with major sway over oil and gas production, pollution, and wastewater regulation.