Oil and gas companies putting Texas awash in money moved closer Friday to stopping cities from banning the drilling practice known as fracking, a victory for Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, on what he calls runaway local overregulation. The Republican-controlled Texas House overwhelmingly passed a bill that would effectively prohibit cities and counties from denying access to natural gas underground. The move comes after voters in Denton, near Dallas, imposed a hydraulic fracturing ban to keep drilling outside their city limits. Their opposition was driven by recurring small earthquakes and safety worries about gas wells. But Republicans say the state, and not local governments, is in charge of what is below ground. Democrats tried unsuccessfully to soften the bill with amendments to ban drilling in parks and near day-care centers or give local officials authority to shut off production in the face of natural disasters like hurricanes. The bill still needs approval in the Senate, which is expected, before reaching Mr. Abbott’s desk.