Hidalgo Loses Bid to deny Law Enforcement Pay Raise

After years of spending wildly on her pet programs and trips overseas, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo drew a line in the sand on pay raises for law enforcement. Harris County Commissioners overruled her.

In a 3-2 vote, Commissioners have approved a raise for Harris County Constables. he salaries for the eight selected constables will rise to $293,000 each. Right now, they make about $178,000 per year. It will only be official when a budget is approved.

And speaking of that budget, Hidalgo is now trying to paint herself as a fiscal hawk.

"The third largest county in the nation is at a major, preventable, $200 M deficit," Hidalgo said on X. "I propose a budget cut for the three County Commissioners who approved $200 worth of expenses and law enforcement raises that we could not afford, at the same time as the county loses hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding."

This is the same person who wanted taxpayers to foot the bill for a recent trip to Paris that she called a 'trade mission.' Hidalgo also has pushed for several wasteful spending programs over her two terms in office, including a pair of universal basic income programs that failed.

This was the first Commissioners Court since her antics last week, where she stormed out after losing a vote to raise property taxes for the purpose of early childhood education.