Legislative Update
This week House Democrats unveiled their Public Safety Omnibus bill, which includes a host of anti-law enforcement policies, as well as provisions to reduce sentences for criminals and hide many violent offenses from the public record.
I am disappointed that these anti-law enforcement policies have made their way into the Public Safety Omnibus bill. There are good provisions in the bill, such as important reforms to Criminal Sexual Conduct laws and grants to combat sex trafficking, but the incredibly partisan and harmful provisions also included in the bill make it impossible to support.
Additionally, Minnesota's top law enforcement organizations — the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA), the Minnesota Chiefs Association, and the Minnesota Sheriff's Association — sent letters this week in opposition to the Public Safety Omnibus, highlighting several concerns, including unfunded mandates on local law enforcement agencies, automatic expungement of numerous violent crimes, and granting activist civilian organizations policy and discipline power over local agencies.
The Public Safety Omnibus was marked up in committee this week, but unfortunately despite many amendments offered by Republicans to improve the bill, most were not accepted by the majority and the bill remains in bad shape and unlikely to be accepted by the Senate. I will continue to work on this bill next week through my seat on the Ways and Means committee, as well as during the House Floor hearing later in session.
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