Omnibus public safety bill advances on party-line vote

Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL-St. Paul) calls ensuring public safety “a core function of government.”

And that requires the state to spend money, even when faced with a budget crunch due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he told the House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Division.

Mariani, the division chair, sponsors the omnibus public safety bill that calls for $10.6 million in new spending in the 2020-21 biennium.

The division approved HF2711, as amended, on a 10-7 party-line vote Wednesday. It now goes to the House Ways and Means Committee. There is no Senate companion.

Appropriations in the bill include:

• $8.27 million for expanding community service programs run by the Department of Corrections;
• $3.1 million for storage, tracking and testing sexual assault kits currently in possession of law enforcement agencies; and
• $1.39 million for improving the DNA and ballistics crime labs at the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Largely because reductions in the penalties for controlled substances offenses involving the possession of marijuana has resulted in bed impact savings, the bill would shift $2.55 million to other purposes.

[MORE: View the spreadsheet]

Rep. Brian Johnson (R-Cambridge) supports many of the policy provisions in the bill, but could not support it. “We don’t have the funds,” he said a day after state finance officials announced Minnesota’s projected biennial budget deficit is $2.43 billion.

Rep. Marion O'Neill (R-Maple Lake) was conflicted as well. She sponsors HF2983, the text of which is included in the omnibus bill for increased spending for storage, tracking and testing of sexual assault kits currently in possession of law enforcement agencies.

Rep. Michael Howard (DFL-Richfield) acknowledged the budget concerns expressed by Republicans, but said funding the state should receive under the federal CARES Act means the state is “in a strong position” moving forward.

Two gun-control provisions, — expanded background checks and so-called “red-flag” protection orders — are not included in the omnibus bill.

What’s in HF2711?

The following are selected bills that have been incorporated in part or in whole into the omnibus public safety bill:

• HF341 (Mariani)
• HF627 (Pinto)
• HF1149 (Christensen)
• HF2013 (Dehn)
• HF2127 (Christensen)
• HF2385 (Howard)
• HF2983 (O’Neill)
• HF3070 (Pinto)
• HF3675 (Edelson)
• HF3772 (Christensen)
• HF3869 (Moller)
• HF3911 (Wolgamott)
• HF3976 (Dehn)
• HF4137 (Pinto)

Additional staff funding

The division also approved HF4540, as amended, on a 10-7 party-line vote and sent it to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Also sponsored by Mariani, it would appropriate $12.7 million to the Department of Corrections, $9.9 million of which would pay for additional compensation costs for prison staff, including overtime, in fiscal year 2021. Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park) sponsors the companion, SF4530, which awaits action by the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee.

Republicans again voiced opposition, citing the interim budget projection.