A Georgia Senate panel has approved a bill that would prohibit local governments from substantially decreasing funding for law enforcement.
The measure was filed after national criminal justice advocates called for the reallocation of money spent on police forces to fund services such as mental health treatment or education.
House Bill 286 would bar cities and counties from reducing their law enforcement budgets by more than 5% in one year or cumulatively across five years.
“There have been calls to defund the police in certain parts of our state and our country,” said state Rep. Houston Gaines, an Athens Republican who sponsored the bill. “This is to make sure this doesn’t take a foothold in Georgia.”
HB 286 includes exemptions for police forces with fewer than 25 officers, for one-time spending on equipment or facility purchases, and if the local government sees a decline in revenue.
Devin Barrington Ward, an activist with the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of social justice organizations, said instead of blocking local governments from cutting their spending on law enforcement, the state should invest in policies that improve mental health services or increase access to affordable housing.
“This bill is not about trying to keep communities safe,” Ward said, wearing a mask displaying the words “Defund Police.” “What this bill is about is essentially telling many of us who were in the streets this summer — demanding justice, demanding safety, demanding accountability — to shut up and handcuffing us to broken policies.”
Democrats said the legislation goes against an often-stated Republican principle of allowing local governments to have control over local issues. State Sen. Kim Jackson, a Stone Mountain Democrat, said she was concerned how the legislation could be emulated in the future.
“Would I be able to make a similar bill in which I said (cities) had to increase spending on public health in your county every year by 5%?” she said. “Does this bill establish that kind of precedent — where we can start saying to specific departments across our state to cities and counties that you have to spend money the way we want you to?”
Gaines pushed back.
“You’ve got local governments that have gotten out of control where they are proposing measures that are going to put lives at risk,” he said. “I think that’s a position where the General Assembly has to step in.”
Gaines did not cite any examples of local governments in Georgia putting “lives at risk” by cutting police spending.
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