Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has responded to calls across the country to defund police departments by proposing a plan to block cities in his state from raising taxes if they slash police funding.
“Defunding the police puts residents in danger, and it invites lawlessness into our communities,” Abbott, a Republican, said Tuesday, according to NPR, specifically referring to the move to defund police in the state capital of Austin. “Any city that defunds police departments will have its property tax revenue frozen at the current levels. They will never be able to increase property tax revenue again if they defund police.”
Texas lieutenant governor, fellow Republican Dan Patrick, agreed with Abbott’s comments and added his own criticism of Austin.
“Not only has Austin defunded their police, but they’ve taken away vital weapons they could use to disperse crowds,” Patrick said. “What they have done in Austin should never happen in any city in the state, and we’re going to pass legislation to be sure it never happens again.”
Other Texas lawmakers weren’t as optimistic about Abbott’s comments, including College Station Mayor Karl Mooney, who suggested the governor had a knee-jerk reaction.
“I think the governor’s reaction to say that he was going to freeze property taxes is just a real hard line that doesn’t need to be taken and shouldn’t be taken because property taxes will also serve other purposes,” Mooney said. “We don’t get as much of the property tax to use for our general fund as we do some other funds that come in, and that’s why this pandemic is hitting places like College Station particularly hard. We get more from our sales tax, hotel occupancy tax because the state doesn’t take as large of a chunk out of that.”
The governor’s plan still needs to be approved by the Texas legislature, and it is expected to be considered when the body resumes its next session in January.
Abbott’s plan comes as cities across the country, including Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle, have opted to slash police budgets, while the Minneapolis, Minnesota, City Council has taken steps to disband the current police department entirely.
President Trump has been a vocal critic of defunding police departments, a movement that intensified following the death of George Floyd while in police custody on May 25.
“There won’t be defunding,” the president said in early June. “There won’t be dismantling of our police, and there’s not going to be any disbanding of our police. Our police have been letting us live in peace, and we want to make sure we don’t have any bad actors in there.”
