St. Paul, MN – The Trump Administration's recent unilateral action to freeze federal funding, which was temporarily halted by a federal judge, would have long ranging and devastating impacts on public safety in Minnesota. State Representative Kelly Moller (DFL - Shoreview), Co-Chair of the House Public Safety Committee, released the following statement:
“Minnesota has made great progress in improving public safety outcomes in recent years; Trump's actions will reverse all of it,” said Rep. Moller. “We cannot afford to backslide now or else we will find ourselves digging out of this hole for years to come. I ask that my GOP colleagues do all they can to protect what we have accomplished and join me in calling on Trump to reverse this dangerous action.”
- Some of the public safety programs likely impacted by this shortsighted action include:
- Victim services, such as domestic violence shelters, sexual assault advocates, and child abuse centers
- Evidence processing by crime labs
- Investigation of violent crime by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
- Grants to local law enforcement agencies, including officer recruitment programs
- Law enforcement mental health and wellness grants
- Medicaid fraud prosecution
- Tribal Nation public safety efforts
- Disaster relief response
In addition, eliminating support for food, housing, health care and other critical supports will lead to increased crime rates.This is on top of the directly dangerous action taken by President Trump when he pardoned over one thousand insurrectionists, some of whom attacked law enforcement on January 6, 2021.
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