Legislation that could see municipalities stripped of state construction funds should they defund their police departments is headed into conference committee amid some major Senate-side changes.
When it left the House HB 38 was designed to stop police department budget cuts of more than 10 percent. Now it’s up to 25 percent and includes public works, fire, and parks and recreation departments after an amendment by Lafayette Senator Gerald Boudreaux was approved.
Boudreaux vocally opposed the original bill in committee. Bill author Alexandria Representative Lance Harris opposed the changes resulting in the legislation getting kicked into conference committee.
Under the current version of the bill, any municipality that reduces its police, public works, fire, or parks and recreation department by 25 percent could be stripped of capital outlay funds in the next fiscal year by a legislative committee. Previously the bill was limited to police.
Comments