| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to municipalities and counties that adopt budgets that |
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| 8 | 8 | | defund law enforcement agencies. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 140, Local Government Code, is amended |
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| 11 | 11 | | by adding Sections 140.013 and 140.014 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 140.013. DEFUNDING LOCAL GOVERNMENT. (a) A defunding |
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| 13 | 13 | | local government is a municipality or county: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) that adopts a budget for a fiscal year that, in |
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| 15 | 15 | | comparison to the local government's preceding fiscal year, |
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| 16 | 16 | | reduces: |
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| 17 | 17 | | (A) the appropriation to the local government's |
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| 18 | 18 | | law enforcement agency; |
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| 19 | 19 | | (B) the number of peace officers the local |
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| 20 | 20 | | government's law enforcement agency is authorized to employ; |
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| 21 | 21 | | (C) funding for peace officer overtime |
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| 22 | 22 | | compensation for the local government's law enforcement agency; or |
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| 23 | 23 | | (D) funding for the recruitment and training of |
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| 24 | 24 | | new peace officers to fill each vacant peace officer position in the |
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| 25 | 25 | | local government's law enforcement agency; and |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2) for which the criminal justice division of the |
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| 27 | 27 | | governor's office issues a written determination finding that the |
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| 28 | 28 | | local government has taken an action described by Subdivision (1). |
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| 29 | 29 | | (a-1) In making a determination of whether a local |
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| 30 | 30 | | government is a defunding local government according to the budget |
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| 31 | 31 | | adopted for the first fiscal year beginning on or after September 1, |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2021, the criminal justice division of the governor's office shall |
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| 33 | 33 | | compare the funding and personnel in that budget to the funding and |
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| 34 | 34 | | personnel in the budget of the preceding fiscal year or the second |
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| 35 | 35 | | preceding fiscal year, whichever is greater. This subsection |
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| 36 | 36 | | expires September 1, 2023. |
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| 37 | 37 | | (b) A local government is considered to be a defunding local |
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| 38 | 38 | | government until the criminal justice division of the governor's |
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| 39 | 39 | | office issues a written determination finding that the local |
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| 40 | 40 | | government has reversed the reductions, adjusted for inflation, |
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| 41 | 41 | | described in Subsection (a)(1). |
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| 42 | 42 | | (c) The criminal justice division of the governor's office |
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| 43 | 43 | | shall: |
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| 44 | 44 | | (1) compute the inflation rate used to make |
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| 45 | 45 | | determinations under Subsection (b) each state fiscal year using a |
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| 46 | 46 | | price index that accurately reports changes in the purchasing power |
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| 47 | 47 | | of the dollar for local governments in this state; and |
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| 48 | 48 | | (2) publish the inflation rate in the Texas Register. |
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| 49 | 49 | | Sec. 140.014. LIMIT ON ANNUAL EXPENDITURES BY DEFUNDING |
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| 50 | 50 | | LOCAL GOVERNMENT. (a) This section applies to a defunding local |
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| 51 | 51 | | government under Section 140.013. |
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| 52 | 52 | | (b) A defunding local government's total expenditures from |
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| 53 | 53 | | all available sources of revenue in a fiscal year may not exceed the |
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| 54 | 54 | | defunding local government's total expenditures from all available |
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| 55 | 55 | | sources of revenue in the defunding local government's fiscal year |
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| 56 | 56 | | immediately preceding the fiscal year during which the criminal |
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| 57 | 57 | | justice division of the governor's office issued the written |
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| 58 | 58 | | determination declaring the local government to be a defunding |
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| 59 | 59 | | local government under Section 140.013. |
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| 60 | 60 | | (c) A local government is no longer considered to be a |
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| 61 | 61 | | defunding local government for purposes of this section when the |
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| 62 | 62 | | criminal justice division of the governor's office issues a written |
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| 63 | 63 | | determination in accordance with Section 140.013(b) finding that |
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| 64 | 64 | | the local government has reversed the reductions described by |
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| 65 | 65 | | Section 140.013(a)(1). |
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| 66 | 66 | | (d) Revenue received from the issuance of bonds approved by |
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| 67 | 67 | | voters or from a grant, donation, or gift is not considered an |
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| 68 | 68 | | available source of revenue for purposes of this section. |
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| 69 | 69 | | SECTION 2. Section 140.013, Local Government Code, as added |
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| 70 | 70 | | by this Act, applies only to the adoption of a budget by a |
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| 71 | 71 | | municipality or county for a fiscal year that begins on or after the |
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| 72 | 72 | | effective date of this Act. |
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| 73 | 73 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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