Houston's budget troubles worsened this week after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pulled $110 million in public safety grants, citing the recent passage of a city ordinance that decreases cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Calling it "a crisis situation," Mayor John Whitmire set a city council meeting for Friday to vote on repealing the ordinance, which was passed on April 8.
"We have to provide safety in the city of Houston," he told the city council on Tuesday, adding some of the funding is needed for 2026 FIFA World Cup preparations. "This is not a time to play politics. The bottom line is the governor means business."
The executive director of the Republican governor's public safety office gave Houston until April 20 to rescind the ordinance or face having to repay within 30 days the entire $110 million in grant money it received for fiscal 2026. Last week, the state's Republican attorney general launched a probe into whether the city ordinance violates a Texas law banning policies that prohibit or materially limit cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The nation's fourth-largest city is already
"We can't budget based on assumptions that we know won't hold, and we cannot ask Houstonians to trust the plan if the plan doesn't reflect the truth that we all know to be true," he said. "When the numbers don't add up, the impact doesn't just stay on sheets of paper. It shows up in people's lives. It shows up in reduced response times. It shows up in garbage not being picked up. It shows up in services not being delivered or reduced."
Spending pressures and shrinking budget reserves led to
