Keeping up the momentum
Street is the prime Senate sponsor of one of the other key bills Democratic lawmakers hope to pass in this new session: a statewide ban on the use of chokeholds.
Versions have been introduced in both chambers. Street’s take would also require additional use-of-force training for police and create statewide standards.
Last year’s iteration of the bill passed the Senate unanimously, along with a companion measure that dealt with tracking use of force. But both died in the House before the session ended, and must now restart the process from the beginning.
Harris says the other key priority is also a re-introduced measure — this one to make it more difficult for police accused of misconduct to keep their jobs through union arbitration.
“Nobody wants to get rid of police collective bargaining rights,” Harris said. “But we do want to look at discipline, and say that the system that is currently in place … just doesn’t work.”
For Republicans, ‘the conversation is continuing’
Jason Gottesman, a spokesperson for House Republicans, said he couldn’t recall why many Democratic proposals haven’t moved, or why the Senate’s unanimous use-of-force bills never made it out of the Judiciary Committee in the House.
But he maintained that as far as Republicans are concerned, there’s still room to negotiate on policing.
He pointed to a co-sponsorship memo that Rep. Rob Kauffman (R-Franklin), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, recently introduced. It proposed creating a statewide “Policing Practices Sentinel Team” that would be made up of law enforcement members and community leaders, and charged with “collecting data and background regarding any critical events involving police officer use of force” and recommending changes.
“I think it’s a good example of the fact that even within the House Republican caucus … this conversation has not stopped,” Gottesman said. “We’re continuing to engage lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in this and continue the discussion on the committee level.”
Republicans are also committed to letting police know lawmakers are on their side. For instance, one measure — which has gotten criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union — would increase the penalty for spitting on police, even inadvertently. If the measure succeeds, spitters who are sick could receive up to seven years.
GOP leaders haven’t yet made any promises on Democrats’ priority bills.
Street, for one, says he’s feeling good about the odds that Democrats might be able to get more of them onto Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk.
“It’s horrible that we had to watch a man’s execution on TV in order for people to really come around,” he said. “But people have come around. And I’m cautiously optimistic.”