Newsroom

Wednesday September 7, 2022

“I’m proud to champion a budget that both decreases the tax rate and adds millions of dollars to public safety, including a substantial pay increase for frontline police officers. On the other hand, the strategy some have taken of promoting half-baked and unworkable budget proposals is irresponsible and ignores the realities and trade-offs of what it takes to successfully govern a county. At a time when the nine Harris County police agencies currently have more than 400fully funded yet unfilled positions, these illogical proposals would create hundreds of new positions that may never be filled, while preventing raises for the current police officers and cutting critical funding for flood control, public health, and other areas.

The bottom line is this: If state officials and some far-right politicians here at the local level get what they want–a political stunt and then skipping the vote for a serious budget proposal–Harris County residents will bear the brunt of their games, losing critical services across many aspects of their lives.”