Wendy Rogers Introduces Bill to Withhold State Money From Any AZ Municipality That ‘Defunds the Police’

Arizona State Sen Wendy Rogers (R) pushed back on the “Defund the Police” movement today with a bill that would allow for state money to be withheld from any municipality that slashes a law enforcement agency’s budget.

According to a press release from the Arizona Senate Republicans, the bill would allow the Attorney General, or a member of the governing body who objects to an imposed operating budget cut to law enforcement by a city or town, to file a petition with the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council for a hearing to determine whether the budget cut is justified.

The Governor’s Regulatory Review Council would ultimately have the final say on approving, amending or modifying the budget, the press release noted.

If the budget adopted by the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council decreases the law enforcement agency’s spending plan by 10% or more over the previous year, the legislation would call for the State Treasurer to withhold any state funds from the city or town equal to the budget cut, until the law enforcement agency’s budget has been restored.

Rogers explained her reasoning behind the bill and declared, “These anti-police campaigns we’ve seen unfold across the country in recent years must end. We have experienced the largest rise in violent crime in our nation’s history.”

“Law enforcement agencies today are scrambling to find men and women who want to wear the badge, but a lack of support from cities, towns and counties has led to major staffing shortages, low morale and an increase in law enforcement suicide,” Rogers lamented.

Rogers added, “Furthermore, response times have dramatically increased for crime victims. The insanity must end. We want to make sure our law enforcement officers have the tools and resources to prevent a tsunami of lethal violence in Arizona, as we are seeing in other parts of the country”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- ‘Defunding the police’ could soon lead to municipalities losing out on money – @WendyRogersAZ

READ FULL STATEMENT HERE: https://t.co/ec1zEp4sdO pic.twitter.com/xgaF7pfEou

— AZSenateRepublicans (@AZSenateGOP) January 24, 2022

At her daily press briefing today, White House press secretary Jen Psaki admitted that “underfunding of police departments” was a part of the surge in crime.

RNC Research shared a clip of Psaki’s admission in a tweet where they pointed out that “Every city that DEFUNDED THE POLICE was led by Democrats.”

WATCH: Jen Psaki admits the “underfunding of police departments” has led to the surge in crime.

Every city that DEFUNDED THE POLICE was led by Democrats. pic.twitter.com/JmPPBcKPuc

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 24, 2022