Abbott unveils new plan to punish cities that cut police spending
On the heels of the Austin City Council’s move to cut police spending, Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders unveiled a proposal Thursday that would strip cities of annexation powers if local officials cut police department budgets.
“Cities that defund their police departments will forever lose their annexation powers, and any areas and any residents that have ever been annexed by that city in the past will have the power to vote to disannex them from the city,” Abbott said in a news conference at the Austin Police Association headquarters.
It’s the second legislative proposal by the governor to put pressure on cities that move to reduce police spending. Last month, Abbott proposed to withhold property tax revenue growth from local governments.
The City Council last month voted to cut $21.5 million from the Police Department, largely by canceling three cadet classes, with the potential to shift $129 million in police funding toward social service programs and other city departments to take over mental health, addiction and other responses that typically fall to police.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20200910/abbott-unveils-new-plan-to-punish-cities-that-cut-police-spending
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