Greg Abbott Could Defund San Marcos Police, Flood Control Over Resolution Decrying Israeli Violence
If the resolution passes, San Marcos would be the first city council in Texas to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. But the move could cost them funds that support expectant mothers and public safety.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is threatening to withhold funds from the City of San Marcos for flood control, police, and programs for low-income mothers and children. Images courtesy: Governor’s Office & San Marcos Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.
Greg Abbott could defund the police in San Marcos—at least partially—if the Texas governor carries through with his threats over a proposed city council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Tuesday, May 6, the city council in this city of about 67,000 people will vote on a resolution which condemns “the humanitarian catastrophe and genocide in Palestine.” However, Abbott and others in the state Republican party establishment have threatened to pull millions in funding from the city if the resolution passes, including about $500,000 in state funds which go towards the police and public safety measures like opioid abuse mitigation.
That’s according to a spreadsheet shared among city council members in the lead up to the vote on the resolution, which was provided to Deceleration by the group Palestine Solidarity SMTX. Over $18 million in federal funding which the state passes on to San Marcos could also be at risk, including over $2 million in grants from the Women, Infants and Children program, which ensures vulnerable residents have access to nutritious food.
Cove said Abbott “cares more about suppressing criticism of Israel than expectant mothers in our city and the safety of our city, which is really disgusting.”
The governor’s office did not respond directly to questions, instead pointing Deceleration back to Abbott’s previously published open letter. Lauren Surley, communications director for the City of San Marcos, said the city could not comment on pending city council measures, but confirmed that the spreadsheet had circulated among city council members.
In addition to condemning the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the city council measure demands an end to U.S. weapons sales to Israel and also reaffirms the freedom of speech rights of all residents, regardless of citizenship status. Dozens of other cities around the United States have passed similar measures, though San Marcos would be the first in Texas to do so. But Abbott’s letter, which mischaracterizes the effort as antisemitic, suggested the resolution could violate a state law which prohibits boycotting Israel (or energy companies). Senator Donna Campbell sent a similar letter to Mayor Hughson on April 7.
Cove rejected Abbott’s accusations, suggesting that it’s harmful to equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism, and said the resolution does not call for a boycott. “An arms embargo is not a boycott,” he said, later adding that “there are multiple federal laws which say it’s illegal to give arms to [countries committing] genocide,”
Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s debate, the vote itself represents a victory for local organizers, who have been working toward this moment since late 2023. After hours of testimony in favor of the measure in 2024 failed to garner the necessary number of sponsors to bring the resolution to a vote, Amanda Rodriguez, a supporter of Palestine Solidarity SMTX, ran for city council election later that year. Rodriguez brought in over 64 percent of the vote to unseat her opponent, Maraya Dunn.
“She’s a really powerful, inspiring young person,” Cove said of Rodriguez.
Along with fellow city council member Alyssa Garza, who cosponsored the measure, Rodriguez’s election meant the resolution would almost certainly reach a vote. At the previous city council meeting, members Lorenzo Gonzalez and Saul Gonzales also voted in favor of allowing the measure to move forward at the May 6 meeting.
Cove told Deceleration that, since the vote was scheduled, city council members and supporters of the measure have received violent threats online. He shared a screenshot of a Facebook post by David Kenneth Sergi, a local lawyer, tagging the mayor while describing the resolution as “pro Hamas.”
“ICE will be there,” Sergi wrote, apparently referring to the May 6 meeting. “Those calls have been made.”
The post is no longer visible on Sergi’s Facebook page. When contacted by Deceleration, a staff member at Sergi’s law office said he would be unable to comment on the matter until next week, due to a recent surgery.
Whatever Tuesday’s outcome, Cove said that local activists are determined to press forward. “There’s two council seats up for election this year and we intend to [run] some candidates,” he said.
Kit O’Connell is a GLAAD Media-award nominated movement journalist from Austin, Texas. They are the former Digital Editor of the Texas Observer, with bylines at The Advocate, Truthout, and The Barbed Wire, among others. Follow them on Bluesky.
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