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Harris County recently approved its budget that shut down 82% of of funding requests for law enforcement, a move that irked Republican gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines.
According to a report by The Texan, the Harris County Commissioners approved the budget by a 3-2 vote, set at $1.3 billion for short fiscal year 2022 going from May to September. A budget of $2.2 billion was set for fiscal year 2023. The report said that of the requests made by the sheriff, county constables, the district attorney's office and the fire marshal, only 18% were given funding.
While Commissioner Tom Ramsey (R-Precinct 3) submitted an alternate budget that included law enforcement requests, he pointed out that there were 600 murders over the past year, adding that the budget proposal that passed was “irresponsible and unacceptable during a crime pandemic.”
Huffines voiced his disapproval to Houston Daily.
“Greg Abbott promised Texans that he would prevent cities from defunding the police but here we are,” Huffines said. “Abbott is all bark, no bite. And, if we’re going to keep Texas from going blue, we have to elect a governor with some bite.”
In August 2020, the Austin City Council voted to cut $150 million from the city’s police budget. Abbott denounced the move, saying that “some cities are more focused on political agendas than public safety."
“Austin’s decision puts the brave men and women of the Austin Police Department and their families at greater risk, and paves the way for lawlessness,” Huffines said. “Public safety is job one, and Austin has abandoned that duty. The legislature will take this issue up next session, but in the meantime, the Texas Department of Public Safety will stand in the gap to protect our capital city.”
Huffines, a former state senator and CEO of Huffines Communities, takes on Abbott in the March 1 primary.