(KNSI) – On Wednesday, the Minnesota House passed an omnibus finance bill encompassing several public safety, civil law and criminal justice reform measures. On a vote of 70-63, S.F. 970 returns to the Minnesota Senate with amendments.
St. Cloud area Republican Reps. Lisa Demuth, Tim O’Driscoll, Tama Theis and Shane Mekeland voted against the bill. DFL Rep. Dan Wolgamott voted in favor.
“Through the reforms and investment in this budget, House DFLers are moving us closer to realizing true public safety for all Minnesotans,” said Rep. Rena Moran, DFL-St. Paul, an ex-officio member of the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee.
Theis says one reason why she voted against the bill is that many law enforcement organizations did not support it.
“The Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association, [Minnesota] Chiefs of Police, [Minnesota] Police and Peace Officers Association all oppose the bill,” Theis said. “There were a lot of concerns from the Association of Minnesota Counties, League of Cities, Minnesota Juvenile Detention Association. They all had concerns about the bill, and that’s a big flag for me.”
Theis said she is hopeful for more dialogue on what solutions would work best for different regions of the state, as she says S.F. 970’s proposals have a stronger focus on the Twin Cities. She also suggested that the Legislature could do more in addressing sex trafficking.
“I think when it comes back from the Senate, we’ll get maybe a more balanced bill in that we’re seeing as much for our Greater Minnesota as we are for the metro area.”
As it now stands, the bill covers operations funding for the state’s judiciary, public safety and disaster response agencies. Within, $14 million over the next four years is allocated toward funding body-worn cameras for police officers, updating police department policies and reform-focused training. S.F. 970 also calls for prohibiting police officers from affiliating with white supremacist groups and allowing local governments to form civilian oversight councils.
If signed into law, the bill would also update Minnesota’s criminal sexual conduct code to mend a loophole in how the state currently defines “mental incapacitation” in cases where a person was sexually assaulted while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. This provision originated as a bill co-authored by Wolgamott.
“I was really proud to co-author that bill, really, really proud that it made it into our public safety budget and I’m proud that we got that passed,” Wolgamott said.
Wolgamott called the funding bill “bold but pragmatic” and says the next steps are now on the Minnesota Senate.
“This is exactly the type of public safety that Minnesotans actually want,” he said. “While in the House, we had over 12 hearings on public safety reforms, police accountability, bills to increase police accountability and increase resources to police. The Senate has had zero so far. They need to do their jobs.”
“Our approach is to both push reform for accountability, for transparency, for citizen involvement in the management of reviewing our behaviors and our actions in law enforcement,” said Rep. Carlos Mariani, DFL-St. Paul, chair of the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee. “Making sure we have strong licensing practices, but also resourcing our law enforcement, our public safety to make sure that they have the tools so that when good practices and good officers are doing the tough work, they know we have their back, and we know they have our back.”
The Minnesota Senate first passed S.F. 970 on April 15th on a 44-23 vote.
Note: This article was updated Friday to reflect statements from Rep. Wolgamott.
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