The state House and Senate are advancing each other's bills to prevent Texas cities from cutting their police budgets. On Monday, the House gave its initial approval to the Senate's bill to require voters to approve of the reduction of the law enforcement budget of any county with a million or more residents. Soon afterward, the Senate passed a House proposal to financially punish cities of a quarter-million people or more if they cut the funding of their police. The bills reflect GOP efforts to prevent the police from being defunded.