Local Lawmaker Calls Public Safety His Top Priority

(KNSI) — What to do with the record $7.7 billion budget surplus and crafting a bonding bill are on the plates of lawmakers for the 2022 legislative session, which gets underway Monday.

This time around, among the hot topics is expected to be public safety.

Representative Dan Wolgamott says lawmakers plan to invest heavily in law enforcement and police, calling it his top priority for the session, saying that “everyone in St. Cloud deserves to be safe no matter what you look like or where you live. So that’s why I’m focusing on addressing rising crime. I’m putting forward plans to provide funding tools in collaboration with law enforcement that’s needed to keep people safe.”

Among the plans are $100 million is what he calls “ongoing investments in law enforcement and public safety.”

The proposal includes $40 million toward Innovation in Community Safety Grants. The grants would be available to community nonprofit organizations to implement targeted, community-centered responses to violence. A press release from the Minnesota House explains that grants may be used to fund juvenile diversion efforts, community violence interruption, restorative justice programs, community-based mental health, and social service centers, victim services, and more.

The legislation also includes $22 million toward Local Community Policing Grants, which will enable more officers to build relationships with neighbors in areas with disproportionately elevated levels of crime, similar to the St. Cloud Rotary Richard C. Wilson Community OutPost, or COP House. The funding will also support partnerships with community groups for crisis response and expand co-responder teams.

Wolgamott says, “Most of the things we work on here at the legislature don’t matter if people can’t be safe in their communities. So public safety is my top priority heading into this session.”

Wolgamott is hosting a virtual town hall on February 3rd to hear from voters in the St. Cloud area about their concerns for the upcoming session via Zoom and his Facebook page. Learn more by clicking here.

___