By Jolie McCullough and Juan Pablo Garnham, The Texas Tribune May 8, 2021
May 8, 2021
The Texas House on Friday passed a bill to financially penalize the state s largest cities if they cut their police budgets. The measure was sent to the Senate after two days of heated debate and emotional speeches, with the bill authors calling to back the blue and the opposition decrying the bill as political propaganda.
House Bill 1900 comes after a year of civil rights advocates calling on cities to reduce what they spend on policing and to reform police behavior. Those calls were spurred by high-profile deaths at the hands of police like George Floydâs in Minneapolis and Mike Ramosâ in Austin.
Austin has been the only city in Texas that has actually reduced its police funding since the latest protests over police brutality. Credit: Evan L Roy/The Texas Tribune
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The Texas House on Thursday voted to financially penalize the state s largest cities if they cut their police budgets.
House Bill 1900 comes after a year of civil rights advocates calling on cities to reduce what they spend on policing and to reform police behavior. Those calls were spurred by high-profile deaths at the hands of police like George Floyd’s in Minneapolis and Mike Ramos’ in Austin.
Texas’ larger cities would face financial penalties for cutting police budgets under bill House tentatively approves
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Credit: Evan L Roy/The Texas Tribune
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
The Texas House on Thursday voted to financially penalize the state s largest cities if they cut their police budgets.
House Bill 1900 comes after a year of civil rights advocates calling on cities to reduce what they spend on policing and to reform police behavior. Those calls were spurred by high-profile deaths at the hands of police like George Floyd’s in Minneapolis and Mike Ramos’ in Austin.
Black Texas lawmaker shames Republicans for refusing to take up George Floyd Act
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The sister of George Floyd, LaTonya Floyd thanks Trae Tha Truth (left) as he hosted a celebration of Juneteenth with slabs, vehicles, and swangas to start a Peace Ride for Justice at 900 Emancipation Avenue Friday, June 19, 2020, in Houston.Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
A debate over local police funding turned emotional Thursday in the Texas House as Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a freshman Democrat from Dallas, called out Republicans’ refusal to take up a landmark police reform package in the wake of the George Floyd killing last summer.
AUSTIN, Texas â 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.