The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. January 29, 2021 Austin To Turn Hotel Into Permanent Shelter for Unhoused People Using Diverted Police Funds ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Texas, the Austin City Council voted earlier this week to buy a hotel that will serve as permanent housing for dozens of chronically unhoused people, and use money taken from the city's police budget to provide resources for the people who will live in the hotel. The council back in August voted to cut some $100 million from the police department's budget. A recurring $6.5 million payment from those cuts is being set aside to fund permanent supportive housing and other services for unhoused people. .