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In the absence of federal action, various localities and even some states (California, Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, and Oregon) have moved to regulate workers’ heat exposure. But after Dallas and Austin imposed their own municipal heat exposure rules, the Republican-controlled Texas state legislature moved to thwart these efforts by passing HB 2127. Governor Greg Abbott signed it last June, during a heat wave. Like DeSantis, Abbott showed a disinclination to take credit. Such reticence makes me wonder whether GOP-mandated heat stroke could be a potent political issue for Democrats this fall.

As Florida did last week, Texas barred local governments from imposing regulations to limit heat exposure, making the same “patchwork of regulations” argument—even though Texas, like Florida, has no statewide regulation on heat exposure and no intention of creating one. Texas is not the hottest state—it doesn’t even crack Payless Power’s top three—but it does enjoy the distinction of killing the most workers from heat exposure, according to The Texas Tribune, at least for the years 2011 to 2022. Its passage of HB 2127, which took effect in September, will presumably help it keep the title.

At bottom, neither the Republicans in Texas nor the Republicans in Florida really object to local governments poaching on state responsibilities. As Jordan Barab, author of the indispensable Confined Space blog on worker safety, pointed out Monday, the preamble to Florida’s law gives the game away. Local regulation of heat exposure, it said, would “ignore the individual responsibility of an employee [italics Barab’s] to follow relevant guidelines and to protect himself or herself from heat-related illnesses.” If you die picking oranges from heat exposure, the state of Florida would like it to be your own goddamned fault.