Wisconsin Legislature passes bill to penalize localities that cut police funding
Wisconsin’s Republican-led Assembly approved a measure Tuesday that would penalize local municipalities that pull funding away from police departments.
The bill, passed by the state Senate on June 9 and approved 61-37 by the Assembly, would withhold state aid payments from localities in direct proportion to any amount the local government reduces in its law enforcement budget.
“If in any year a municipality decreases the amount of its municipal budget dedicated to hiring, training, and retaining law enforcement officers … so that the amount is less than the amount so dedicated in the previous year, the department of administration shall reduce the municipality's payment under this section by the amount of the decrease in the municipality's budget,” the measure read.
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The reduced aid amount would then become the municipality’s aid payment for subsequent years, according to the measure.
The Republican-backed measure was pushed as a response to “defund the police” and police funding reallocation initiatives, including a plan to cut funding for more than 100 officers in Milwaukee, according to bill sponsor Republican state Sen. Van Wanggaard.
“Fewer officers means when you are threatened, you wait long to have someone come and help you out,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican. “When police officers do their jobs, they prevent violence, and that’s what we need more of in our society.”
“We need to have enough officers, so they can do their job,” said Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, adding that lawmakers are taking up the bill “because we are here to save lives.”
All but a single Democrat in the Assembly opposed the measure Tuesday, with one calling the bill "cynical" and "laughable."
“The solution is not for the Legislature to try to micromanage these municipal budgeting decisions,” said Democratic state Rep. Mark Spreitzer. "It’s to actually fund municipal budgets so our communities can make the investments in public safety we would all like to see."
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Democratic Gov. Tony Evers's office did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner when asked whether he would sign the proposal.
Evers has approved other policing-related measures sent to him by the Legislature, including a bill he signed into law Tuesday banning police chokeholds except for self-defense.
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Original Author: Jeremy Beaman
Original Location: Wisconsin Legislature passes bill to penalize localities that cut police funding
