Committee hears sponsor and law‑enforcement witnesses supporting lower population threshold to block petitions removing municipal civil service
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Summary
Senate Bill 1331 would lower the population threshold at which petitions to remove municipal services are barred, expanding protections for municipal civil service in smaller cities; law‑enforcement organizations representing officers in San Marcos and elsewhere testified in support.
Senate Bill 1331, introduced as a bill to change the population threshold linked to municipal petition rights, was presented to the Committee on Local Government and received proponent testimony from law‑enforcement associations representing officers in cities that have faced ballot initiatives seeking to remove municipal services.
What the bill would do: Sponsor testimony explained that prior legislation set a population threshold (950,000) preventing citizen petitions to remove municipal services in very large municipalities; SB 1331 would reduce that statutory population requirement to 70,000 (committee testimony discussed aligning language to a 50,000 bracket in some drafts) so that smaller municipalities would have the same protection against automatic petition removal of municipal services.
Testimony: Jennifer Sieminski, deputy executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), testified the change would protect civil service rules and professional standards in municipal police departments. Tiffany Williams testified for the San Marcos Police Officers Association; San Marcos’ population cited in testimony is roughly 67,000–70,000, which witnesses said makes the city potentially vulnerable under prior thresholds.
Committee action: Public testimony closed after two witnesses and the committee left SB 1331 pending subject to call.