Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says any city that defunds its police should have its property tax revenue frozen forever

Brett T. | 4:01 PM on August 18, 2020

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has a plan to discourage cities from defunding their police departments by announcing a legislative proposal that would freeze those cities’ property tax revenue at their current rates, forever.

JUST IN: @GovAbbott says any Texas city that defunds their police department will have their property tax revenues frozen.https://t.co/RRidBaF0yq

— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) August 18, 2020

NBC DFW reports:

The governor announced the legislative proposal to discourage the defunding of law enforcement Tuesday in Fort Worth and encouraged the Texas Legislature to take up the issue in the 2021 session.

“Defunding the police puts the residents in danger and it invites lawlessness into our communities,” Abbott said. “This will be an effective tool that effectively will prevent cities from being able to reduce funding support for law enforcement agencies.”

…

The governor’s remarks come after the Austin City Council approved last week $150 million in cuts to the city’s police department. The money, according to a report by the Texas Tribune, was going to be redistributed into other programs.

Haven’t these “other programs” been funded for decades and have failed to stop crime? We know, thanks to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, that the spike in crime (including homicides) in New York City is due to shoplifters stealing bread so they can eat. Is Mayor Bill de Blasio going to divert that $1 billion from the police department to bakeries?

It’s reassuring that things are done differently in Texas.