Ask that the provisions in the House’s version of the Judiciary and Public Safety omnibus bill remain in the final version agreed upon by the conference committee.

HF3894/SF2673 Judiciary and Public Safety Omnibus bill

The House and the Senate version of the MN state Judiciary and Public Safety omnibus are very different. While they both aim at addressing the current rise in crime, their approaches are very different. This omnibus is currently in conference committee, which has met at least 3 times officially so far. They need to construct a compromise bill.

The House version focuses on:

• investing in community-based crime-prevention programs (e.g. grants for prevention, intervention, mental health and wellness of at-risk juveniles)
• police accountability reforms, (e.g. extending the civil statute of limitations for bodily offenses committed by law enforcement officers, a requirement that police officer body camera footage be released to families within five days after a deadly force incident and to the public within 14 days)
• resources for use of force training with a focus on de-escalation and unconscious bias

The Senate version focuses on:

• tougher penalties for crimes, especially violent crimes, such as carjacking and the killing of a police officer
• increased funding for recruitment and retention of police officers
• a repeal of the five-year cap on probation terms
• a requirement that county prosecutors provide data on felony cases they decline to charge

Funding provisions only in the House version include (from Session Daily):

• $55 million in emergency community safety grants;
• $25 million in local community policing grants;
• $10 million in co-responder (“violence interrupter”) grants;
• $4 million in victim support programs;
• $2.5 million for the Department of Human Rights; and
• $2.5 million in youth wellness support and mental health programs.

Also, the House version contains some great provisions that we have called about before), including:

• Funding for an Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls
• Reward fund for information given on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives
• Ban on limiting a patient’s access to an organ transplant based on a patient’s race and ethnicity
• Ban on employers, labor unions and employment agencies, requesting  a job applicant’s pay history

Funding provisions only in the Senate version include (from Session Daily):

• $47 million for police retention bonuses;
• $20 million for police recruitment bonuses;
• $5 million to invest in the Minnesota State system and their police skills training programs;
• $2 million for a gunfire detection system for the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department; and
• $2 million for Violent Crime Enforcement Teams statewide.

Some Senate-only policy provisions include: create a new crime of organized retail theft; establish a standalone crime of carjacking; make penalties for fentanyl possession the same as those for heroin; establish new mandatory minimum sentences for certain violent crimes; and; establish the crime of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle while operating the vehicle in a culpably negligent manner.

Both versions increase investment and salaries in the judicial system. Both versions include funding for body cameras, though the House provides more funding and requires body camera footage be released to families within five days after a deadly force incident and to the public within 14 days

The House version is $340 million in fiscal years 2022-23 and the Senate version $204 million.

To see the side-by-sides (there are 13 parts) of the House and Senate version of this omnibus, see here: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/side_by_sides/

This bill is currently in conference committee.

House members of conference committee: (Chair) Rep. Mariani (65B), Rep. Becker-Finn (42B), Rep. Moller (42A), Rep.  Frazier (45A), Rep. Johnson (32A)

Senate members of conference committee: (Chair) Sen. Limmer (34), Sen. Osmek (33), Sen. Mathews (15), Sen. Latz (46), Sen. Bigham (54).

Action:                                                                                                                                                Contact your state legislators (if they are on the Judiciary and Public Safety conference committee), otherwise contact the 2 Chairs of the committee (or alternatively anyone else on the committee if you want), and urge them to take a more holistic approach to public safety and keep the House provisions in the final version of this Public Safety omnibus bill.

Script:

Dear ……………,

I live in …………….., and I am contacting you about the Judiciary and Public Safety omnibus bill currently in conference committee. I, just like you, am concerned about rising crime, which I know is an issue across the nation at this time and might be in part a result of the economic impact of the pandemic. However, I firmly believe that we need a multifaceted approach to solving this issue. We need to invest in communities, as well as in community-based programs that reduce crime and create safer neighborhoods. We need to invest in and support the local police to be better able to do their job, and also help build trust between the community and the police. To this end, I urge you to keep the provisions currently in the House version of the omnibus as I believe this is the better approach. Harsher punishments have not worked in the past, and neither has incarcerating more people. We need to address the issues that drive people to crime  and invest in community-based programs to intervene and prevent the crimes from happening. And we need to train and better support peace officers so that they are able to do their job.

You could also include a quick mention of any of the provisions that we’ve already been calling about (Office for Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls, Reward funding for information on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, etc) that you particularly want them to keep.

Thank you for everything you do as a legislator to ensure that public safety is safe for everyone.

Check who your state legislators are here: https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/iMaps/districts/

Contacts for conference committee members:

Chair - Rep. Mariani (65B) DFL - Tel: 651-296-9714 E-mail: rep.carlos.mariani@house.mn

Rep. Becker-Finn (42B) DFL - Tel: 651-296-7153 E-mail: rep.jamie.becker-finn@house.mn

Rep. Moller (42A) DFL - Tel: 651-296-0141 E-mail: rep.kelly.moller@house.mn

Rep.  Frazier (45A)DFL - Tel: 651-296-4255  E-mail: rep.cedrick.frazier@house.mn

Rep. Johnson (32A)GOP - Tel: 651-296-4346 E-mail: rep.brian.johnson@house.mn

Chair - Sen. Limmer (34) GOP - Tel: 651-296-2159 Email: Use This Email Form

Sen. Osmek (33) GOP Tel: 651-296-1282 Email: sen.david.osmek@senate.mn

Sen. Mathews (15) GOP Tel: 651-296-8075 Email: Use This Email Form

Sen. Latz (46) DFL - Tel: 651-297-8065 Email: Use This Email Form

Sen. Bigham (54) DFL - Tel: 651-297-8060 Email: sen.karla.bigham@senate.mn

This action was created by MN Legislative Action. Much of the material in it came from Session Daily articles.