Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appeared with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other leaders including Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price Tuesday to address Austin’s defunding its police. Gov. Abbott proposed legislation that would forbid any city from being able to increase property taxes until it restores funding to satisfy the proposed law.
There will be sausage-making when the legislature convenes in January 2021. It’s impossible to predict at this point exactly what the law, if one passes, will look like. There may be more than one. Austin’s batty brand of leftism makes it a frequent target of the more conservative legislature. The lege will have more ideas for punishing it next year.
Former Travis County Sheriff Terry Keel, for instance, has proposed taking APD away from the city entirely and putting it under the state Department of Public Safety. Former Mayor Lee Leffingwell has endorsed Flannigan’s opponent in November, Mackenzie Kelly of Take Back Austin. Everyone seems to recognize that Austin has a problem, other than those elected to set budget and policy and the fringe activists they listen to.
Today’s move by the state’s top leaders suggests they have a galvanizing issue at a time when they might have gone into session more divided. Austin’s move has probably taken Texas off the map for the Democrats in the upcoming presidential election.
Has the Overton window shifted to being able to talk about well regulated militias yet?
Given Abbott’s tone-deafness when it comes to addressing runaway property taxes, it now appears that the most effective form of tax relief is to de-fund local police departments.
Sixth Street is dead to me.