FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - They held spirited rallies in San Antonio and a "Texas tea party" in Fort Worth, but protesting annexation plans didn't do much good for hundreds of Texans last year.

Residents are taking their fight to Austin, and at least one state lawmaker is paying attention.

Rep. Anna Mowery, R-Fort Worth, has filed a bill that wouldn't allow cities to forcibly annex an area unless people who live there voted to approve it.

About 50 people gathered Wednesday at a rally on the Capitol steps, some holding signs with the messages "What will annexation cost you?" or "No Forced Annexation."

"It is a credit card deal. I'm out there. They need money. I'm a credit card," said Kathleen Wood, who lives in Eagle Mountain Lake and fears that nearby Fort Worth will try to annex her land.

Parts of Eagle Mountain Lake were slated for annexation early last year when Fort Worth unveiled plans to bring 55 square miles into the city.

Fort Worth officials later scaled back the plan that would have been the largest annexation in city history, affecting some 10,000 people in parts of three counties.

Fort Worth leaders ended up annexing about 18.5 square miles and fewer than 500 people near an industrial park.

Annexation opponents say their rallies may have made an impact -- including one in June, where about 500 people dumped fish food in the Trinity River from boxes labeled "tea." But they couldn't stop Fort Worth from annexing entirely.

"It's time leaders started listening to the people they serve and not their own interests," City Councilman Chuck Silcox, who supported the protesters, said Wednesday.

The grassroots group Citizens Against Forced Annexation said leaders in Fort Worth, San Antonio and other cities rushed to avoid a Texas law that took effect Jan. 1.

Now, a city that announces intent to annex property must wait three years before it can bring the land into the city. Previous rules mandated only a 90-day waiting period.

Even with the new law, residents still don't have enough say in whether they will be annexed and forced to pay city taxes while waiting on city services, Mowery said, explaining why she filed the bill.

Hundreds who didn't want to be part of San Antonio's largest annexation in city history, 11 areas totaling 93 square miles, also protested last year and even went to court.

Protesters said the city was trying to bring in money to offset a $40-million-dollar budget deficit. They said police and fire departments would be further strained with 1,000 more homes to protect.

San Antonio scaled back its plan, excluding some wealthy neighborhoods, but annexed anyway.

"Annexation is such a broad power for cities, current law gives no substantial means of protecting their property rights," Phil Ross, a San Antonio attorney hired by residents to fight the city's plan, said Wednesday. "This bill should help curb abuse by municipalities."

A federal lawsuit against the San Antonio mayor and city is pending. Some residents claim they were barred from speaking at public hearings on annexation.