Eye on Politics: Members of Congress from North Texas weigh in on the debate over national police standards

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - In this week's episode of Eye on Politics (original air date: Feb. 2), CBS 11 political reporter Jack Fink speaks with two members of Congress from North Texas about federal spending, the debt ceiling and the debate over national police standards in the wake of the beating death of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police officers. We also hear from Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar about the $33 billion state surplus.

Every week, CBS 11 political reporter Jack Fink breaks down some of the biggest political stories grabbing headlines in North Texas and beyond. Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and stream new episodes live every Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. on CBS News DFW.

The debate over national police standards

Before this week's ice storms, much of the country was focused on the beating death of a Memphis man at the hands of police officers. Officers involved in the arrest that led to the death of Tyre Nichols have been fired and charged with second degree murder.

Nationally, the case is reviving discussions about whether there should be national police standards. Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of the 30th Congressional District, said cases like this one have convinced her that there are legislative changes that need to be made.

"I have seen similar videos before," she said. "Unfortunately, the country has seen similar videos before. And that's exactly why I decided it was time for someone like me to show up in Congress."

Last week, Crockett called on the House Oversight Committee to reinstate the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee.

"When you're on a committee like Oversight, they're supposed to be basically the watchdog for the American people to make sure that we are transparent and to make sure that we are overseeing and making sure that nothing fraudulent or problematic is occurring," Crockett said. "And the first thing that the Republicans did when they got control of the House is decide that they want to rid themselves of the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee. That tells you where their priorities are."

But reinstating these committees is a move that another member of Congress from North Texas, Rep. Pat Fallon of the 4th Congressional District, doesn't think is necessary. Fallon also sits on the House Oversight Committee.

"I think she [Crockett] just got here, she's a freshman, and I think the civil liberties of Americans have been well protected," Fallon said. "The fact of the matter is, we have oversight pretty much on everything in federal governance. So, the name of a committee doesn't really matter considering we have such a broad umbrella to hear anything that the chairman might deem important."

Fallon said he believes it's not Congress' role to get involved in police brutality cases, and that it should be dealt with locally. He also said Nichols' death highlights the need for body-worn cameras and training.

"One of the reasons we know about Tyre Nichols is because of body cams and I've always been a huge proponent of body cameras and got tens of millions of dollars in funding when I was in the Texas Legislature for smaller departments to afford them," he said. "That's where we have a real insight into what's actually going on in a specific case."

Fallon said the goal of things like training and body cameras is to work toward eradicating instances of police misconduct.

"These police officers clearly acted negligently and criminally, and they have been charged and I think justice will be served," Fallon said. "But you know, the police have a tough job and I think unfortunately when certain elements of this country vilifies police officers and talks about defunding law enforcement, then you saw what happened in Memphis is they actually lowered their standards for recruitment. And I want the best and brightest to be police officers because they have a very tough job."

Crockett also said she didn't want to lose sight of the fact that law enforcement officers have difficult jobs. But she does want to make sure they are punished when they abuse their positions of power. She named qualified immunity as a road block.

Qualified immunity is the legal doctrine that protects police officers from civil lawsuits.

"It's time for us to make sure that if you do sign up to protect and serve, that's exactly what you plan to do," Crockett said. "When law enforcement goes out and they commit these heinous crimes, they are shielded with qualified immunity. They cannot be sued."

Watch the full episode in the video player above to hear Fallon and Crockett talk about the debate over federal spending and raising the debt ceiling.

Texas' record-breaking $33 billion surplus

You've likely seen headlines about Texas lawmakers debating how to use the state's $33 billion surplus. But, how did we get to this point? 

According to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, in the past 30 years, there have been five instances where the total tax collection year over year has increased by double digits -- usually ranging from 10% to 13%. 

This last year, collections were up 26% -- about double what the state has observed in its history.

"That was driven by strong sales tax receipts, also severance tax collections, which is oil and natural gas collections, in part because we had higher natural gas collections than we've had before in a decade plus," Hegar said.

Part of that was driven by the war in Ukraine and the global disruption for natural gas. When it comes to sales taxes, high inflation has led to consumers paying more, which results in higher tax collections.

"Texas consumers, on taxable items, that doesn't include groceries, that doesn't include medication ... we've essentially spent about $4.5 billion more per month than we did in the prior year," Hegar said.

"We got here, one, by record collections with the stronger economy than anyone had anticipated in Texas with the growth. Secondly, in part because of record-high, 40-year inflation. So people are paying more, unfortunately, for the same items than they did just a little over a year ago."

Hear more from Hegar in this week's full episode in the video player above.

In other political news

Here's a look at some of the other headlines people are talking about across Texas: 

• Gov. Greg Abbott announced he's hired the state's first Border Czar. His name is Mike Banks, and he's previously held leadership positions in the United States Border Patrol.
• The Dallas and Harris County Republican Parties announced Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will address their annual party dinners.
• President Joe Biden has nominated Damien Diggs as United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas, which includes Collin and Denton Counties and counties in East and Southeast Texas. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Diggs will become the first African-American to hold the position. Diggs has been a federal prosecutor in Dallas, which is in the Northern District of Texas.

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