Senators have filed 145 amendments to a sweeping police reform bill, suggesting an array of topics that could become areas of debate when they take up the bill on Thursday.
The bill (S 2800) that Senate leaders outlined Monday includes a suite of reforms including the creation of a certification and de-certification process for law enforcement officers.
Its goals, according to senators, include bolstering police accountability, reducing the risk of misconduct, fighting racism and promoting de-escalation techniques.
Sen. Becca Rausch amendment proposes a ban on tear gas and chemical weapons, and Sen. Adam Hinds offered an amendment that would ban the use of no-knock warrants. As written, the bill would restrict both tear gas and no-knock warrants.
Thirty-nine amendments come from the Senate’s four-man Republican caucus. Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, who served on the working group that developed the bill, filed 23.
Senate Republicans filed their own policing bill in June and “will engage in the legislative process in the continued pursuit of a system that is transparent, has sound oversight, and is free of racial bias,” Tarr said in a statement Monday.
Two of the three Republicans on the Senate Ways and Means Committee — Sens. Dean Tran and Ryan Fattman — reserved their rights in the committee’s vote on the bill, while the third, Sen. Patrick O’Connor, voted with 13 other committee members to advance it to the full Senate.
Spencer Democrat Sen. Anne Gobi also reserved her rights.
Senate leaders say their bill “limits qualified immunity so an officer may beheld civilly liable for excessive use of force,” and the qualified immunity language is a topic of several GOP amendments.
Sen. John Velis, a Westfield Democrat, has an amendment that would create a commission to study qualified immunity.
Redrafted and further amendments are due to be filed by 11 a.m. on Thursday.
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