Daily Digest for February 16, 2021 Posted at 7:45 a.m. by Michael Olson |
Good morning,
Gov. Tim Walz’s plan to create a $35 million fund to pay for security around the upcoming trial of the first former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd ran into a roadblock in the Minnesota House on Monday.
Democrats couldn’t round up enough votes to pass the measure, even though the House sponsor, Rep. Carlos Mariani, DFL-St. Paul, said he was ready to make major concessions to get it — or at least something — passed.
Some House Democrats have concerns about a ramped-up police presence during a court case all about police conduct in Minneapolis amid persistent tensions between officers and minority residents. And there were no indications any Republicans were on board to save the proposal as written; they had amendments lined up for consideration to pare back conditions on police departments that would receive the state funding.
In the Senate, a unified Republican caucus passed an alternative bill that would make Minneapolis pay the expenses of other police departments that would be called in as backups to prevent another potential outbreak of civil unrest. The Senate bill would reroute state aid money to Minneapolis to ensure that the city covers the cost of extra police help. [Read More]
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Congress will establish an independent, Sept. 11-style commission to look into the deadly insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol. AP: Wisconsin's Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson downplayed the storming of the U.S. Capitol last month, saying on conservative talk radio Monday that it "didn't seem like an armed insurrection to me." Strib: U.S. Rep.Ilhan Omar is rising on the House Foreign Affairs Committeeas she steps into the role of vice chairwoman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over Africa and global human rights issues.
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