87R11728 TYPED
By: Meyer H.B. No. 2438
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to municipalities and counties that adopt budgets that
defund law enforcement agencies.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 140, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 140.013 to read as follows:
Sec. 140.013. DEFUNDING LOCAL GOVERNMENT. (a) A defunding
local government is a municipality or county:
(1) that adopts a budget for a fiscal year that, in
comparison to the local government's preceding fiscal year,
reduces:
(A) the appropriation to the local government's
law enforcement agency;
(B) the number of peace officers the local
government's law enforcement agency is authorized to employ;
(C) funding for peace officer overtime
compensation for the local government's law enforcement agency; or
(D) funding for the recruitment and training of
new peace officers to fill each vacant peace officer position in the
local government's law enforcement agency; and
(2) for which the criminal justice division of the
governor's office issues a written determination finding that the
local government has taken an action described by Subdivision (1).
(a-1) In making a determination of whether a local
government is a defunding local government according to the budget
adopted for the first fiscal year beginning on or after September 1,
2021, the criminal justice division of the governor's office shall
compare the funding and personnel in that budget to the funding and
personnel in the budget of the preceding fiscal year or the second
preceding fiscal year, whichever is greater. This subsection
expires September 1, 2023.
(b) A local government is considered to be a defunding local
government until the criminal justice division of the governor's
office issues a written determination finding that the local
government has reversed the reductions, adjusted for inflation,
described in Subsection (a)(1).
(c) The criminal justice division of the governor's office
shall:
(1) compute the inflation rate used to make
determinations under Subsection (b) each state fiscal year using a
price index that accurately reports changes in the purchasing power
of the dollar for local governments in this state; and
(2) publish the inflation rate in the Texas Register.
SECTION 2. Chapter 26, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Section 26.0501 to read as follows:
Sec. 26.0501. LIMITATION ON TAX RATE OF DEFUNDING TAXING
UNIT. (a) For purposes of this section, a "defunding taxing unit"
means a county or municipality that is a defunding local government
under Section 140.013, Local Government Code.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or
other law, the governing body of a defunding taxing unit may not
adopt a tax rate for the current tax year that exceeds the lesser of
the defunding taxing unit's no-new-revenue tax rate or
voter-approval tax rate for that tax year.
(c) For purposes of making the calculation required under
Section 26.013, in a tax year in which a county or municipality is a
defunding taxing unit, the difference between the taxing unit's
actual tax rate and voter-approval tax rate is considered to be
zero.
(d) A county or municipality is no longer considered to be a
defunding taxing unit for purposes of this section in the first tax
year for which the criminal justice division of the governor's
office issues a written determination in accordance with Section
140.013(b), Local Government Code, finding that the county or
municipality has reversed the reductions described by Section
140.013(a)(1), Local Government Code.
SECTION 3. Section 140.013, Local Government Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to the adoption of a budget by a
municipality or county for a fiscal year that begins on or after the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. Section 26.0501, Tax Code, as added by this Act,
applies beginning with the 2021 tax year.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.