The House debate on a controversial police reform bill (H 4860) got off to a slow start publicly on Wednesday as top Democrats wrangled with members behind the scenes about their more than 200 amendments.
Many of the amendments address similar subjects, from qualified immunity to the makeup of police oversight panels. Walking away from the chamber during an early afternoon recess, Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad said those categories are being consolidated.
“So if a particular topic seems like it has merit and it should be put into the bill, I’m sure that what’s happening now is, speaking with all the people who have the same kind of amendment, talking about what the best language would be for it, and then we’ll start to go forward,” the Somerset Democrat said. “I just found that they fell into categories, so I’m sure that they’re trying to consolidate the categories now.”
Like the Senate, House members often extensively discuss their amendments prior to and during sessions to get a sense of support levels and possible changes that might make amendments more palatable. The often lengthy talks in the House over the years have often resulted in the adoption of large, consolidated amendments that take into consideration the ideas behind scores of other amendments.
The House gaveled into session around 11 a.m. and tackled a few land-taking bills, each requiring a roll call vote. After an hour, the lower chamber moved into recess and returned at about 2 p.m. to resume deliberations on the police reform bill. A Thursday session is also scheduled to potentially continue debate on the bill.
Potential debate flash points could include disagreements over how much the Legislature should curb qualified immunity, a court-made doctrine that provides legal protections for public employees from lawsuits unless there was a clearly established violation of the law. Police chiefs argued on Tuesday that the bills are advancing too quickly without sufficient input from police.
“I think they’re still trying to figure out the list of speakers, because it was pretty lengthy, the people that want to get up and say something,” Minority Leader Brad Jones said during the recess.
Civil rights advocates and church leaders expressed concern Monday that the legislation does not sufficiently limit the use of qualified immunity. At least four amendments to the bill aim to create a special commission to study the issue, a move that was defeated during Senate deliberations last week.
Another point of contention that could arise is the makeup of the various commissions the House bill seeks to create. The Massachusetts Police Standards and Training Commission would be charged with licensing all officers and as it stands in the House bill members would include appointees from the governor, attorney general, and chair of Massachusetts Law Enforcement Policy Group, among others.
Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday said he hopes to see a “workable and credible” accountability and transparency system for law enforcement as the legislation advances. Baker worked with the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus on his own proposal, filed in June, which the Legislature shelved without a public hearing.
“They need to work their way through some of that,” he said in regards to the many different elements in the House and Senate bills. “People understood what the definitions were, what the consequences would be, how the rules we were proposing would actually play out, and they supported it.”
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