Minneapolis — Key Republican lawmakers in Minnesota said Friday that they’ll block most of the ambitious changes Democrats want to make to policing in the …
Minneapolis — Key Republican lawmakers in Minnesota said Friday that they’ll block most of the ambitious changes Democrats want to make to policing in the state where George Floyd died and that they plan to approve only a limited set of police accountability measures.
Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, Warren Limmer, laid out their agenda shortly before the Legislature convened for a special session. They said there’s only a limited amount of time to act because they intend to adjourn next Friday no matter what. That would effectively force the state House to adjourn too, but Gazelka said lawmakers would continue to work on bigger changes.
“Minnesota has the opportunity to lead the way for the whole nation for reconciliation of the races and some of the problems we’re addressing,” Gazelka said. ”Let’s begin here.”
Minnesota is one of several states where Democratic lawmakers and governors are hoping to harness the anger over Floyd’s death to remake law enforcement, including by adding new restrictions on the use of force. State legislatures have been slow to tackle those issues since the issue was thrust into the spotlight by a wave of police killings of young black men in 2014, including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Democratic Gov.
