This story was originally published on Minnesota Reformer. [1]

This story was originally published on Minnesota Reformer. [1]
Published here under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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Walz, DFL pressure Republicans to pass legislation reining in cops
By: ['Max Nesterak Is The Deputy Editor Of The Reformer', 'Reports On Labor', 'Housing. Most Recently He Was An Associate Producer For Minnesota Public Radio After A Stint At Npr. He Also Co-Founded The Behavioral Scientist', 'Was A Fulbright Scholar To Berlin', 'Max Nesterak']
Date: 2021-04-29 00:00:00

Gov. Tim Walz held what he called a “bipartisan” news conference on Thursday with Democratic leaders in the Legislature and one Republican lawmaker to pressure Senate Republicans to hold hearings on police accountability and take up legislation already passed by the House.

“We were promised hearings and they didn’t happen,” Walz said, referring to a statement from Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake.

Gazelka, state government’s top elected Republican, last week said those discussions could happen as part of conference negotiations, which DFL decried as not good enough in part because it would prevent most Black, Native and Latino legislators from participating. Conference committees are a small group of lawmakers from both chambers who meet to iron out differences in legislation, but their negotiations often wind up behind closed doors.

Gazelka scheduled a Thursday afternoon news conference to respond.

Walz said after the jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of murder that he would “burn his political capital” on passing public safety legislation, following the high-profile police killings of Black men, George Floyd in Minneapolis and Daunte Wright in nearby Brooklyn Center.

Walz faces pressure from the progressive wing of his party after Operation Safety Net — the coalition of law enforcement agencies assembled for the Chauvin trial — used aggressive tactics to suppress protests in Brooklyn Center following Wright’s killing. A handful of progressives voted against a budget bill Tuesday to pay for some of the security costs, decrying its lack of police accountability measures.

The DFL-controlled Minnesota House passed a public safety budget bill without Republican support earlier this month that included several new police accountability policy provisions. They include limiting police officers from stopping or detaining drivers solely for vehicle equipment violations like expired tabs, which led to Daunte Wright’s being pulled over and ultimately killed.

The bill also includes a ban on no-knock search warrants; requires law enforcement agencies to release body camera recordings of deadly incidents to the deceased’s family within 48 hours; allows local governments to establish civilian oversight councils with the power to impose discipline; and prohibits police officers from affiliating with white supremacist groups.

Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, spoke about the proposals in personal terms, saying he fears for his own adolescent sons’ safety.

“There’s a real threat that if we don’t do something … Myles … and Jaylen … will never ever get a chance to live out their full potential. That’s the importance of now,” Champion said.

Time is ticking for the two sides to reach an agreement before the end of session scheduled for May 17. DFL leaders are feeling pressure from their constituents to make changes, even after passing a series of new laws in the wake of Floyd’s murder last summer that lawmakers called the most significant piece of police reform legislation in the state’s history.

“We said then it was a first step,” said Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent, DFL-Woodbury. “It was the bare minimum that Republicans would agree to at the time, and we understood this work needed to continue into the 2021 session.”

Kent noted the Senate has not held any hearings on police reform but can move quickly when it wants to, like approving the $8 million Tuesday to pay for the law enforcement presence in the Twin Cities for Chauvin’s trial.

The Legislature and Governor must also agree to a two-year budget before session ends, although Walz hinted he wouldn’t be willing to hold up the budget in order to secure an agreement on police reform.

“I think we can multitask,” Walz said.

The DFL leaders commended Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, for his “courage to cross the aisle.”

Miller said his perspective on public safety changed after hearing Valerie Castile, the mother of Philando Castile, a Black man who was shot during a traffic stop in 2016, testify before a legislative committee.

“She said, ‘I don’t understand how a Christian person can listen to what’s going on and not do something,’” Miller said.

He said at first he was offended as a Christian man.

“But God checked my spirit and said, ‘You need to listen to what she’s saying,’ and that had a real big impact on me,” Miller said.

When Walz was asked if he’s had any meaningful conversations with Republican leaders about police reform recently, he said no.

The DFL must appease both its moderate base and progressive flank, which calls for defunding the police, a phrase Republicans are eager to campaign on in greater Minnesota.

House Speaker Melissa Hortman along with Champion underlined that their proposals are meant to weed out bad cops, not dismantle or defame the profession.

“It must be acknowledged that there are heroic law enforcement officers who go to work every day, putting their lives on the line to protect us,” Hortman said. “Their good and heroic work is overshadowed by these deadly force encounters that never should have happened.”

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