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Neighbors,
Today, the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Division is holding a day-long remote hearing to consider the Minnesota Police Accountability Act of 2020, aimed at reimagining and reforming public safety in the state.
The series of legislation is contained in three distinct packages: Reforming Accountability, Reclaiming Community Oversight, and Reimagining Public Safety. Measures to be discussed include reforms to use of force, prosecutorial and investigatory reform, changes to incident review procedures, training related to mental health and autism, and more. If you weren’t able to view the hearing live, the video will be available from House Public Information Services YouTube page.
These are the bills scheduled to be heard today, including a bill I am authoring, to reduce bail for low risk defendants. You can read a story about the bill published in Session Daily last year.
- Data Practices Modifications for Peace Officers (Her)
- Retroactive Repeal of Statutes of Limitations (Vang)
- Warrior Training Prohibited (Richardson)
- Choke Hold Ban (Moran)
- Duty to Intercede (Becker-Finn)
- Police Residency Reform (Hassan)
- Data Collection and Regulatory Reform/etc. (Mariani)
- Arbitration Reform (Her)
- Law Enforcement Oversight Council Reform (Gomez)
- Use of Force Reform (Becker-Finn)
- Prosecutorial Reform (Becker-Finn)
- Investigatory Reform (Mariani)
- Cash Bail (Noor)
- Public Safety Peer Counseling Debriefing (Noor)
- Police Officer Critical Incident Review (Kunesh-Podein)
- Community Led Public Safety (Gomez)
- Mental Health Training (Richardson)
- Autism Training (Richardson)
- Restore the Vote (Moran)
Special Session Convenes
Yesterday, the special session of the legislature convened at noon. Our regular legislative session was cut short by the onset of COVID-19, when we shifted our agenda significantly. This session to focus on unfinished business to deliver additional economic security to Minnesotans impacted by the pandemic. We approved HF 5 which includes $62.5 million in grants for small business impacted by COVID-19. The aid comes at an important time to help our businesses get back on their feet. The first $60 million in the bill comes from the federal CARES Act, and $2.5 million from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s Emergency Loan Program.
Additional priorities up for consideration in special session include mortgage and rental assistance, expanding broadband internet, approving a temporary raise for our personal care assistants, and our local jobs and projects bill to help Minnesota recover and boost our economy. You can see other items to be addressed here.
Yesterday on the House floor, I joined several of my POCI colleagues to comment on the death of George Floyd. You can watch the video of my comments here.
COVID-19 Testing Sites
The Minnesota Department of Health is partnering with local community organizations in Minneapolis and St. Paul to offer free COVID testing. The test sites will be open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the next three weeks from 12 noon until 6 pm. The tests are provided free of charge, and you can receive a test regardless of whether you have symptoms.
The locations for these clinics were chosen to try to provide nearby access for people in communities where mass gatherings occurred last week.
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