Bill Text: TX SB23 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Comm Sub
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to an election to approve a reduction or reallocation of funding or resources for certain county law enforcement agencies.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 15-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-01 - Effective on 1/1/22 [SB23 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB23-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Relating to an election to approve a reduction or reallocation of funding or resources for certain county law enforcement agencies.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 15-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-01 - Effective on 1/1/22 [SB23 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB23-Comm_Sub.html
By: Huffman, Creighton, Springer | S.B. No. 23 | |
(In the Senate - Filed March 11, 2021; March 11, 2021, read | ||
first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence; | ||
April 7, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable Committee | ||
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; April 7, 2021, | ||
sent to printer.) | ||
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 23 | By: Creighton |
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relating to an election to approve a reduction or reallocation of | ||
funding or resources for certain municipal or county law | ||
enforcement agencies. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 4, Local Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Chapter 135 to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 135. ELECTION FOR REDUCTION OF FUNDING OR RESOURCES FOR | ||
PRIMARY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES | ||
Sec. 135.001. ELECTION REQUIRED. (a) Except as provided by | ||
Section 135.002, a municipality or county shall hold an election in | ||
accordance with this chapter if the municipality or county proposes | ||
to adopt a budget for a fiscal year that, compared to the budget | ||
adopted by the municipality or county for the preceding fiscal | ||
year: | ||
(1) reduces for the law enforcement agency with | ||
primary responsibility for policing, criminal investigation, and | ||
answering calls for service: | ||
(A) for a fiscal year in which the overall amount | ||
of the budget is equal to or greater than the amount for the | ||
preceding fiscal year, the appropriation to the agency; | ||
(B) for a fiscal year in which the overall amount | ||
of the budget is less than the amount for the preceding fiscal year, | ||
the appropriation to the agency as a percentage of the total budget; | ||
(C) the number of peace officer positions, | ||
excluding detention officer positions; or | ||
(D) the amount of funding per peace officer for | ||
the recruitment and training of new peace officers to fill vacant | ||
and new peace officer positions in the agency; or | ||
(2) reallocates funding or resources to another law | ||
enforcement agency. | ||
(b) A municipality or county may not adopt a budget with a | ||
proposed reduction or reallocation described by Subsection (a) | ||
until the municipality or county receives voter approval for the | ||
proposed reduction or reallocation at an election held for that | ||
purpose. The municipality or county may, at any time, order the | ||
election to be held on the 30th day after the date the municipality | ||
or county orders the election. Section 41.001, Election Code, does | ||
not apply to an election under this subsection. | ||
(c) For purposes of this section, a municipal or county | ||
budget does not include: | ||
(1) a one-time extraordinary expense, as determined by | ||
the comptroller, that is outside the normal costs of operating a law | ||
enforcement agency, including purchasing a fleet of law enforcement | ||
vehicles or constructing an additional training academy; or | ||
(2) a donation or state or federal grant to the | ||
municipality's or county's law enforcement agency. | ||
Sec. 135.002. DISASTER EXCEPTION. Section 135.001 does not | ||
apply to a municipal or county budget adopted for a fiscal year in | ||
which, or the two fiscal years following the fiscal year in which, a | ||
significant budget reduction from the preceding fiscal year was | ||
caused by a disaster, including a tornado, hurricane, flood, | ||
wildfire, or other calamity, but not including a drought, epidemic, | ||
or pandemic, in an area of the municipality or county that was the | ||
subject of a disaster declaration by the governor under Chapter | ||
418, Government Code, or by the president of the United States. | ||
Sec. 135.003. BALLOT PROPOSITION REQUIREMENTS. A | ||
municipality or county holding an election under this chapter shall | ||
ensure that the ballot proposition for the election includes, as | ||
applicable: | ||
(1) a detailed explanation of each proposed reduction; | ||
(2) the amount of each proposed reduction; | ||
(3) the recipient of reallocated funding or resources; | ||
(4) the impact on the local tax rate, if any; and | ||
(5) the expected length of time that the proposed | ||
reduction or reallocation will remain in effect. | ||
Sec. 135.004. USE OF PUBLIC MONEY FOR CAMPAIGN PROHIBITED. | ||
A municipality or county holding an election under this chapter may | ||
not use public money on promotional campaigns or advocacy related | ||
to the proposed reduction or reallocation. This section may not be | ||
construed to prevent a municipal or county official or employee | ||
from communicating factual information about a proposed budget or | ||
the reasoning behind a proposed budget to the voters in the | ||
municipality or county. | ||
Sec. 135.005. COMPLAINT. (a) A person who believes that a | ||
municipality or county has adopted a budget with a proposed | ||
reduction or reallocation described by Section 135.001(a) without | ||
the required voter approval and who resides in the municipality or | ||
county may file a complaint with the criminal justice division of | ||
the office of the governor. | ||
(b) The criminal justice division of the office of the | ||
governor shall determine whether a complaint filed under Subsection | ||
(a) is potentially valid or frivolous or false. | ||
(c) The criminal justice division of the office of the | ||
governor shall provide written notice of a potentially valid | ||
complaint filed under Subsection (a) to the municipality or county | ||
that is the subject of the complaint. The division shall provide | ||
the municipality or county an opportunity to correct the action | ||
that is the subject of the complaint before referring the complaint | ||
to the comptroller. | ||
Sec. 135.006. COMPTROLLER INVESTIGATION; TAX RATE | ||
LIMITATION. (a) On request by the criminal justice division of the | ||
office of the governor, the comptroller shall determine whether a | ||
municipality or county has adopted a budget with a proposed | ||
reduction or reallocation described by Section 135.001(a) without | ||
the required voter approval. The comptroller shall issue a written | ||
determination to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the | ||
house of representatives, and governing body of the municipality or | ||
county. | ||
(b) The comptroller may require a municipality or county to | ||
submit information for the current or preceding fiscal year to | ||
assist the comptroller's investigation under this section. | ||
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, if the comptroller | ||
determines that a municipality or county adopted a budget with a | ||
proposed reduction or reallocation described by Section 135.001(a) | ||
without the required voter approval, the municipality or county may | ||
not adopt an ad valorem tax rate that exceeds the municipality's or | ||
county's no-new-revenue tax rate until the earlier of: | ||
(1) the date the comptroller issues a written | ||
determination that the municipality or county has, as applicable: | ||
(A) adopted a budget that reverses each funding | ||
reduction, adjusted for inflation, and personnel reduction that was | ||
a subject of the determination; or | ||
(B) restored all reallocated funding and | ||
resources that were subjects of the determination to the original | ||
law enforcement agency; or | ||
(2) the date on which each reduction and reallocation | ||
that was a subject of the determination has been approved in an | ||
election held in accordance with this chapter. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect January 1, 2022. | ||
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