Senate Finance narrowly approves a bill that would allow the Legislature to strip municipalities of state construction funds should they reduce their police budgets by 25%.
Alexandria Representative Lance Harris says the bill is a response to the “Defund the Police” movement. He says the government’s most important function is providing for public safety.
“To provide an environment where people can safely conduct free enterprise, do their businesses, live their lives, and pursue that happiness guaranteed to us by our forefathers,” said Harris.
Under the bill, any municipality that reduces the police budget by 25 percent could be summoned to testify in front of a Legislative committee. Should that committee decide the reduction significantly harms public safety that municipality could be blocked from receiving state construction funds in the next fiscal year.
Shreveport Senator Gregory Tarver objected to the bill saying local budgeting decisions are none of the Legislature’s business.
“We always burden local government and we don’t send them the type of money to deal with those burdens a lot of times, we just act like we’re Caesar and say look this is what you have got to have,” said Tarver.
And Lafayette Senator Gerald Boudreaux opposed the bill on the grounds it creates a precedent wherein the Legislature could claim further control of local budgets on other issues.
“I do not think it is appropriate for us to start digging into this slippery slope of what happens with local government,” said Boudreaux.
When the bill left the House the threshold was set at a ten percent reduction but Evangeline Parish Senator Heather Cloud said in small towns’ police budgets can see major fluctuations year to year.
“When you have a police department of maybe an appointed chief and maybe one officer, or two officers to three officers, a ten percent fluctuation would be standard,” said Cloud.
Harris, who wrote the bill, agreed to the amendment to raise the limit to 25 percent with no argument. It heads to the Senate floor next, and if approved there would have to return to the House for concurrence on this amendment.
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