April 3, 2023

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar Rescinds Determination, Accepts Harris County’s Acknowledgment of Defunding the Police, Seeks Greater Transparency in Local Budgeting

(AUSTIN) — Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced today his agency has rescinded its determination regarding Harris County’s ongoing efforts to defund law enforcement.

The decision comes following the review of an analysis provided by Harris County in which Harris County conceded that the Comptroller’s annualization, which showed that the county had defunded Harris County Constable District 5, was accurate. The county relied on the Comptroller’s math to argue that the defunding was conducted in the larger context of countywide budget reductions and therefore allowable under statute.

“I applaud Harris County and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo for finally admitting that they defunded law enforcement,” Hegar said. “The fact that they defunded police as part of larger cuts to the county’s overall budget is in no way an indication of Judge Hidalgo’s commitment to public safety. Rather, it is a convenient excuse ironically only available to her thanks to the courageous efforts of Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey and former Commissioner Jack Cagle who stood firm against Judge Hidalgo’s efforts to put her political career above the safety of Harris County residents. Their actions saved county taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and brought the county budget in line with the cuts already planned for county constables.”

The Comptroller’s office will continue to analyze Harris County budget maneuvering if the agency receives any future complaints against the county relating to efforts by Judge Hidalgo and others to defund police.

“We are just scratching the surface now of the extreme measures Judge Hidalgo has taken in her efforts to undermine the rule of law in Harris County,” Hegar added. “Removing rollover budgets, refusing to allow law enforcement agencies to hire patrol officers and other staff despite budgeting for those positions, claiming that planting trees and striping bike lanes is law enforcement – these are just some of the tactics Judge Hidalgo has used to hide the plain truth. She doesn’t support police, and she doesn’t value the safety of Harris County families, businesses and communities. That is why I am working with lawmakers to provide the people of Texas with real transparency on this issue.”

The move coincided with an announcement by state Sen. Joan Huffman and state Rep. Tom Oliverson that they will seek authority for Hegar to initiate an audit of the budgets of local governments during his investigation into complaints of defunding the police.

“I fought hard and have worked with Comptroller Hegar to ensure communities around this state feel secure knowing their local governments must support the men and women who keep our families safe,” said Huffman, chair of the Senate Finance Committee. “Lawmakers thought we made our intentions clear, but some Harris County officials have shown that they are willing to use budget tricks and legal maneuvering to defund the levers of justice and allow criminals to remain on our streets. It has become clear we need greater transparency.”

The move to clarify and strengthen existing law would give the Comptroller the authority to request that the State Auditor’s Office conduct an economy and efficiency audit. State law currently allows for audits of local governments that receive state money, and this clarification would give authority to the Comptroller to seek greater visibility into local budgets in order to more effectively investigate complaints alleging efforts to defund police.

Oliverson said he would work to add clarifying language to existing law as the Texas Legislature considers a number of bills on issues surrounding local efforts to restrict funds for law enforcement.

“Certain Democrats on the Commissioners Court have gone to extreme measures to silence critics to maintain their grip on Harris County politics, including walking out rather than listening to the concerns of law enforcement personnel who had come to make their voices heard at an open commission meeting,” Oliverson said. “Efforts to clarify the statute, while not specific to Harris County, are a direct response to their efforts to use accounting tricks to try to prevent the public from gaining real visibility into county efforts to cut funding and also limit the way law enforcement agencies can use the money that has supposedly been appropriated to keep residents safe.”

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt added his support for the effort.

“There is no transparency in the way Harris County spends money,” Bettencourt said. “Just a few weeks ago, county commissioners disappeared into executive session with no explanation, only to emerge having approved a $650,000 expenditure to pay for the legal fees of ‘three unnamed county staffers.’ Lina Hidalgo is using county tax dollars to make these unprecedented payments! Now she’s trying to use leftist Austin courts to paper over her efforts to defund law enforcement. I applaud Comptroller Hegar, Sen. Huffman and Rep. Oliverson for keeping up this fight.”

“This isn’t just about how much money these agencies receive,” Hegar said. “Fully funding the police is also about making sure they have full access to those funds and the flexibility to use that money to keep communities safe and keep criminals off the streets. I’m all for planting more trees but telling cops that they must use their budget to purchase pin oaks instead of patrol cars is defunding police.”