Last minute attempts by Democrats to add amendments and delay the measure through procedural moves failed.
House Bill 1900, which passed in a 90-49 vote, next heads to the Senate.
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. He excoriated Austin leaders in a series of news conferences last year over $21.5 million in police spending cuts. We want more money spent on police to keep our communities safe, not less, Rep. Craig Goldman, a Republican from Fort Worth and the bill s author, said Thursday during initial debate.
A former Austin Energy employee admitted to stealing $43,000 in equipment, triggering a joint investigation by the city auditor s office and the Austin Police Department that the city auditor s office says uncovered a pattern of theft that went even deeper.
Rodney Stockton, an inventory control specialist, left Austin Energy in April 2019 after admitting in a resignation letter to stealing two nitrogen oxide analyzers valued at more than $21,000 each, according to the auditor s office.
Stockton s departure came after a staff member found one of the analyzers for sale on an online marketplace.
Following Stockton s resignation, investigators said they focused on his online account and found 20 items he had sold after taking them from Austin Energy s warehouse. To cover his tracks, investigators say Stockton filled boxes where the items were stored with paper and other materials to make them heavy in case someone picked them up. In other instances, they say he ordered a higher