AUSTIN - The Texas House gave initial approval Thursday to a bill that would penalize cities that cut police spending, inspired by the Austin City Council's move last year to trim the Police Department budget.
It was the first of a raft of GOP bills addressing such funding cuts to get a House vote. Gov. Greg Abbott made punishing cities that cut police spending a legislative priority.
"We want more money spent on police to keep our communities safe, not less," said Rep. Craig Goldman, a Republican from Fort Worth and the bill's author.
House Bill 1900 would apply only to cities with a population of more than 250,000, or the 11 largest Texas cities.
At least nine Democrats - most from small cities in South Texas - voted for the bill, which was approved 91-55, according to a preliminary count.
Cities meeting the population criteria that cut police spending from one year to the next would lose the power to annex land for 10 years and would have to allow elections to dis-annex any area added to the city limits in the previous 30 years if requested by more than half of registered voters in the area. The bill also would freeze property tax revenue and delay sales tax payments.
Cities would be exempted if the percentage of reduction to the police department does not exceed the percentage of reduction to the total budget. Municipalities also would receive an exception during a state of disaster.
The state Senate last month approved a similar measure, Senate Bill 23, that would require cities and counties to get voter approval before cutting police budgets. It was the first among almost a dozen Republican-filed "defund the police" bills to get a floor vote in the chamber this session.
Another measure, HB 2362, would cap government spending by cities and counties at the previous year's total if cuts are made to a police department budget, the number of officers, police overtime or recruitment and training budgets to fill vacant positions. The bill is awaiting placement on the House voting calendar.
Democrats attempted to amend HB 1900 to give local officials and police departments more flexibility, but the Republican-led chamber voted down all but one.
"Let's not play games with police officers. Let's not play games with cities," said Rep. Jarvis Johnson, a Houston Democrat, as he laid out an unsuccessful amendment that would have allowed municipalities to make reductions in civilian positions with a police department, like janitors, instead of active law enforcement officers.
Opponents of the bill argue that it is attempting to fix a problem that doesn't exist, and local governments need to have the flexibility to reduce budgets.
"There is no defunding. There may be a reduction," Johnson said. "That does not mean defunding. We reduce budgets all the time."
Another failed amendment from Johnson would have allowed police departments to ask city leaders for reductions to the police budget, which could then go toward preventative public safety initiatives, such as improving 9-1-1 call response, preventing violent crime and improving mental health resources to prevent crime.
"I don't know if anyone's listening because you're going to go party line anyway," said Johnson, exasperated as Republican members spoke over him.
In tearful remarks, state Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Dallas Democrat, told lawmakers they still "have not addressed the elephant in the room," which is police brutality against Black people.
"Instead of doing something to protect people in this state, we decided to punish - punish people who are already suffering," she said.
Crockett noted that the House has yet to take up a bill known as the George Floyd Act, a Democratic-led, sweeping police reform measure filed in the wake of nationwide protests that erupted over police brutality last year. The bill was named after George Floyd, an unarmed Black man with Houston roots, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
Despite bipartisan outrage over Floyd's death and a promise from Abbott to work with lawmakers and Floyd's family, the bill hasn't gained much support from Republicans.
State Rep. Richard Pea Raymond, a Laredo Democrat, spoke in favor of the bill.
"It is not political for me," he said, urging members of his own party to join him in voting in favor of the bill. "We don't need to invest less in law enforcement. We need to invest more in law enforcement."
The measure will need final approval in the House before being sent to the Senate.