A Minnesota DFL proposal to bolster law enforcement ranks has stalled amid internal disagreements over the party's public safety agenda.
House Majority Leader Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, said he is working to recraft portions of the bill, which would incentivize high school and college graduates who pursue law enforcement training through the Minnesota State system. The measure was scheduled to go before the House Higher Education Committee on Tuesday, but that hearing was canceled.
"It just made sense to slow the hearing process down and give people more time to digest," said Winkler, who is running for Hennepin County attorney. "The issue is often that deadlines drive work product. And we probably were a little too optimistic about our readiness for a hearing today."
The measure, one of many public safety proposals under consideration this session, is derived from "character-based" employment practices that former Ramsey County Sheriff Matt Bostrom developed. It must clear the House Higher Education and Public Safety committees.
Rep. Carlos Mariani, DFL-St. Paul, a veteran lawmaker who chairs the Public Safety Committee, wasn't involved in crafting the bill, Winkler said, but will have a "pretty big influence" on the measure as committee chair.
Mariani told the Minnesota Reformer it was "perplexing" that he hadn't been included up front.
"I only happen to be the Public Safety Committee chair," he said. "Apparently, it's OK to work with individual legislators but not the chair of the Public Safety Committee. It just doesn't smell right."
Mariani's committee co-chair, Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, is chief sponsor of the House DFL's $100 million public safety budget proposal, which addresses officer recruitment.
The two legislators were not among a group of House and Senate DFLers who unveiled the measure at a Capitol press conference Monday. Asked then about caucus support for the bill, Winkler said, "I think that our caucus should be on board with an approach that funds all avenues of public safety that reflects that values of the community, and that's the conversation we have to have."
