Defund the police
If we aren't going to look at the reallocation of police budgets, then we've got to look at supporting services that can help people.
Ayanna Pressley and Cori Bush want to give funds to state and local government to hire social workers and mental health counselors as emergency responders.
"You and every other Republican voted against" the American Rescue Plan with $350 billion for local law enforcement, Wallace noted to GOP Rep. Jim Banks.
Lawmakers pushed back against the police-reform movement in Arizona, Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming, according to an Associated Press review of legislation.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
The effort is part of the California city’s broader project to reinvest $120 million from police budgets to support the Black community.
"If you support defunding the police, you have tested positive for stupid,” Louisiana Republican John Kennedy said on Fox News.
At a hearing on the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, Rep. Val Demings argued with Rep. Jim Jordan over an amendment introduced by Republicans that would prevent defunding police departments.
The coronavirus pandemic has both highlighted and worsened racial, social and economic inequalities in the United States. In 2020, activists took to the streets to demand justice against police brutality, anti-immigrant policies and more.
The former president revealed how he'd spin the rallying cry to redirect government funding from the police.
The president-elect told civil rights leaders that the GOP "beat the living hell out of us" because of messaging like "defund the police," according to The Intercept.