GA Governor Signs Bill Banning “Defund The Police” Efforts

But of course, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill prohibiting steep reductions in local budgets for law enforcement which prevents “defund the police” efforts.

The efforts wanted to redirect money to services such as mental health treatment or education, the Atlanta Constitution-Journal reported.

Kemp believes police and their crime-fighting missions should be protected.

“Radical movements like the ‘defund the police’ movement seeks to vilify the men and women who leave their families every day and put their lives on the line to protect all Georgians,” Kemp said during a bill signing ceremony at the Barrow County Sheriffs Office gun range. “This far-left movement will endanger our communities and our law enforcement officers and leave our most vulnerable at risk.”

House Bill 286 prohibits cities and counties from reducing law enforcement budgets by more than 5% in one year or cumulatively across five years, the outlet reported.

However, critics of the bill say it goes against Republican lawmakers’ argument that local governments should control their issues.

The idea of defunding police came after a string of killings of Black men across the country. But no local governments in Georgia followed through with reducing their law enforcement’s budget.