Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed four “back the blue” bills into law on Tuesday, increasing criminal penalties for activities that interfere with law enforcement and imposing penalties on cities that defund the police. “Efforts to defund the police are downright dangerous, and these laws will prevent cities from making this reckless decision,” Abbott said in a statement. “I applaud the Texas Legislature for joining me in passing these priority items and for making sure Texas remains a law-and-order state.” Among the bills Abbott signed, House Bill 1900 states that for any city with a population over 250,000 that defunds the police, the state can withhold sales tax collected by the city and give it to the department of public safety. Cities that defund the police will lose their annexation powers for 10 years, and any area annexed in the past 30 years can vote to dis-annex from the defunding city. …