AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Gov. Greg Abbot vowed that after Austin City Council voted to reduce the Austin Police Department’s budget, he would get the department funded.
On Thursday, the governor tweeted that among the funding options he’s looking at is legislation that would bring about a state takeover of the police department, shifting supervision to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Abbott wrote:
“This proposal for the state to takeover [sic] the Austin Police Department is one strategy I’m looking at. We can’t let Austin’s defunding & disrespect for law enforcement to endanger the public & invite chaos like in Portland and Seattle.”
Austin City Council in August voted to cut about $150 million from the police department’s budget and allocate those dollars elsewhere. Of that, roughly $21.5 will be taken away immediately.
Abbott earlier threatened legislation that would freeze property tax increases for any city that defunds its police department. Austin City Council member Greg Casar on Thursday responded to Abbott’s proposal on Twitter, claiming Austin is the safest big city in Texas and characterizing the governor’s tweet as “authoritarian.”