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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Minnesota lawmakers just held a joint conference committee to discuss police reform, but for the first 90 minutes or so it was just as much about what was discussed as what was not.
The Senate started the conference committee, and used its version of the police reform bill as the framework. They went line by line to compare it over the House’s version.
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The difference is by about 200-plus pages.
The House version includes policies like limiting no-knock warrants, changing petty traffic stops, and releasing body worn-camera video within 48 hours of an officer killing someone.
Those reform-type policies have not yet passed through the Senate because, committee chair Warren Limmer says, it’s a budget year. He said that should be the crux of the conversation.
“Funding bills are more likely to pass, and I think we know legislators like to put policies in. We try to stay disciplined, if you will, and that’s why you don’t see a lot of policy reform,” Limmer (R-Maple Grove) said.
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When DFL House members had the chance to weigh in on the philosophical debate, they did.
“Our job is to fix problems.. I hope the senate will not use that just because this is a budget year, that we cannot have those conversations,” Rep. Cedrick Frazier (DFL-New Hope) said.
This sets the stage for what’s to come. The House will have the opportunity to present its bill over the Senate’s version, and make necessary points.
The People of Color and Indigenous Caucus set today as the date they’d like a vote in each chamber; clearly that is not going to happen.
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The session ends May 17.
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