Texas’ Larger Cities Would Face Financial Penalties For Cutting Police Budgets Under Bill Approved By House Patch 2 hrs ago
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 Floyd’s in Minneapolis and Mike Ramos’ in Austin.
The groups involved in the rally include MOVE Texas, Texas Rising, the Texas Civil Rights Project and Common Cause Texas, the news release said.
The rally is aimed to speak out against “the Texas Legislature’s egregious attempts at voter suppression that target Black and Brown people, people with disabilities and naturalized U.S. citizens,” according to the ACLU of Texas.
Backed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the bill seeks to restrict voting and is one of several so-called “election integrity” bills introduced by Republican state lawmakers this year.
Controversial bills this session include SB 7 and HB 6. If it becomes law, SB 7 will restrict how and when voters can cast their ballots, bar drive-thru voting and forbid election administrators from distributing mail-in voting applications, among other provisions.
(Bloomberg) Republicans across the U.S. can thank the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts as they enact the country’s most significant voting restrictions in generations.
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.