Minnesota legislators reach public safety deal at Capitol

Minnesota legislators reached a deal Saturday on the most contentious piece of budget negotiations — a public safety and police accountability package — as they face a fast-approaching Wednesday deadline to finish the next state budget and avoid a government shutdown.

State leaders continued to move forward this weekend with various spending bills on their list of to-dos, including considering the big-ticket education and health and human services measures that make up the majority of state spending. And late Saturday, they posted a spreadsheet outlining their public safety spending agreement, although legislative staff noted they were still resolving some small outstanding issues on the bill.

There will be language in the bill regulating the use of no-knock warrants, a key DFL priority, said a source familiar with the agreement. The full bill language was not posted Saturday night, but a document outlining the dollars in the deal shows legislators did not include money for another Democratic push: prohibiting police from making traffic stops for certain infractions.

In the days leading up to the public safety deal, leaders from both sides of the aisle had been resolute that they could reach a compromise on the bill, which includes funding for state law enforcement agencies and prisons. The agreement also included $2 million for violent crime enforcement teams, a Republican-backed provision.

Legislators passed some police reform measures last year after George Floyd was killed, but Democrats have said those were just a starting point. After former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced Friday to 22 ½ years in prison for murdering Floyd, DFL legislators took to social media to stress that the sentencing is not a substitute for what they see as critical changes to the criminal justice system.

"Former officer Chauvin's conviction and sentence should not be seen as proof that the system works. It should never need to take a global movement to hold one officer accountable. That is not sustainable long-term," Rep. Cedrick Frazier, one of the key DFL negotiators on the public safety bill, tweeted Friday. "We need policies and laws that make accountability the norm rather than an exception, and ones that prevent these murders from happening in the first place."

Democrats had been pushing for limits to no-knock warrants and to some pretextual traffic stops, where police pull over a driver for a minor violation, such as expired tabs or something hanging from the rearview mirror. The push to address those traffic stops intensified after police killed Daunte Wright in April. Brooklyn Center officers say they pulled him over for driving with expired tabs. They then found he had a warrant, tried to arrest Wright and fatally shot him.

Gov. Tim Walz had said they also were talking about the length of time before police body camera footage should be released.

"The families want it as soon as they can. The police … they're concerned that it can impact the investigation if it comes out too soon," he said.

Walz said police accept a lot of the ideas proposed for inclusion in the public safety bill.

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, has repeatedly said during negotiations that Senate Republicans will not agree to anything that would be "anti-police."

A Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association spokeswoman said their group has been involved with negotiations, but she declined to provide details on the latest this weekend, as did key legislators involved in the deal-making.

Meanwhile, lawmakers debated a K-12 budget bill Saturday that contains $1.2 billion in new spending for schools over the next four years, the largest increase in 15 years. State leaders agreed to increase the per-pupil funding formula by 2.5% next year and 2% the following year, which will help school districts avoid some teacher layoffs.

"All Minnesota students deserve a world-class education no matter where they live, what they look like or what their learning abilities are," said Rep. Hodan Hassan, DFL-Minneapolis, said during a debate on the House floor. "It's a great bill to be proud of."

House Republicans proposed a number of changes, including giving parents say over school curricula and allowing school boards to opt to continue in-person classes during a state of emergency. Those attempts failed in the DFL-controlled chamber, which voted 105-20 for the bill.

Legislators also considered the health and human services deal, which makes up the second-largest chunk of the state's spending after the education package. House members on Friday highlighted a number of provisions that will help low-income families, while senators stressed the impact the bill will have on Minnesotans with disabilities.

"This is a bill for the ages when it comes to people with disabilities. The push toward independence wherever possible has been decades in the making, and this bill would give it a big step forward," said Senate Human Services Reform Committee Chairman Jim Abeler, R-Anoka. The deal supports workers, including personal care assistants, home care workers and people who serve seniors, Abeler said, noting that many people with disabilities have a difficult time getting the staff to meet their survival needs. "This will help," he said.

The health and human services package is a huge piece of what state government does, Walz noted, adding, "It impacts millions of Minnesotans' lives."

Jessie Van Berkel • 651-925-5044

Ryan Faircloth • 612-673-4234