Georgia House approves ban on 'defunding' local police

ATLANTA - The Georgia House of Representatives passed legislation Wednesday that would prohibit local governments from "defunding" their police departments.

"Defunding the police is a radical idea that will slow response times for victims and put our families and communities at risk," said state Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, as he presented the bill on the House floor.

The legislation would make it illegal for any city, county, or consolidated government in the state to reduce their police department's budget by more than 5% in a single year or over the course of 10 years. The bill does include exceptions for departments with less than 10 police officers or in cities where reduced revenue requires across-the-board reductions.

"We've seen calls to defund the police in Athens and Atlanta and we can't let that happen in our state," said Rep. Gaines.

Neither Athens nor Atlanta officials approved reductions to their public safety budgets, but the idea did gain momentum after social unrest and protests across the country last summer. The deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta at the hands of police officers sparked calls for widespread police reform and reallocation of police funding to mental health and other services.

"The reality of this bill right now is a headline chasing bill. It doesn't honor the Constitution that we stand on," House Minority Leader James Beverly, D-Macon, told his colleagues from the well.

Rep. Beverly argued the bill violates the Georgia Constitution, which stipulates that local governments can control their own budgets. He also said the bill does not address the root of the problem.

"It was a tough day. It was a tough day because the public narrative is Democrats want to defund the police and that's just not true. We want to struggle with the issues that lead us to this moment," Rep. Beverly explained.

The House approved the bill 101-69. The measure now heads to the state Senate.

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