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…
