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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Harry Niska (R)

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Rep. Niska urges DFL support for school resources officer law fix

Monday, September 11, 2023

 

ST. PAUL – With 44 Democrat lawmakers declaring they do not support a fix to law that has left dozens of schools without school resources officers, state Rep. Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, is urging those Democrats who remain undecided to join Republicans in asking Gov. Tim Walz to call a special session and work together on a solution.

Niska said new state law changes what SROs are allowed to do to de-escalate aggressive or violent situations, taking away tools they can use to keep students and teachers safe. In response, over 40 law enforcement agencies have pulled SROs from schools across Minnesota.

"This unvetted, reckless change in law the DFL trifecta made last session is posing safety risks for our children, teachers and staff in schools throughout Minnesota,” Niska said. “We need to fix this broken state law as soon as possible and now allow radical viewpoints and shortsighted politics to harm Minnesotans. All 64 House Republicans have joined in asking for a special session to take place so we can fix this problem.”

House and Senate Republicans have urged Walz to call a special session to clarify the SRO language that is now in law. In response, 44 Democrat lawmakers stated they do not support a special session, preferring to leave the law alone.

Niska said political games should not be played with student and teacher safety, and urged Democrats to do the right thing and join Republicans in addressing law enforcement’s concerns with the new law and brining SROs back to the schools that have lost them.

“It would be nice to see some DFLers show some accountability by standing up to those in their party who support anti-police rhetoric and have allowed lawlessness to flourish in our state,” Niska said. “We can’t afford for them to play politics with this issue any longer and I call on them to do what’s right by joining Republicans on a common-sense solution.”

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