Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL – Saint Paul), Chair of the House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Committee, issued the following statement regarding ongoing efforts to reach a Public Safety budget agreement:
“Minnesotans are counting on state legislators for both the policy solutions and the necessary funding to ensure all communities can live with true public safety while being treated with dignity and respect. To stop the senseless trauma that too many people, families, and neighborhoods continue to experience – especially communities of color – at this critical moment in our state’s history, Minnesotans deserve a fair and thoughtful approach to better policing. Contrary to recent Republican rhetoric, the House DFL Public Safety budget both better funds police work and better increases accountability than the Senate Republican proposals. Most significantly, it does so by including the voices of people of color who are the most impacted when police practices go wrong. Their views are vital to help us all to understand the need for the changes they are rightly demanding. As part of the legislative conference committee, I call on Senate Republicans to stop the non-helpful posturing and find an agreement with us that will meet the needs of our communities.”