DFL, GOP public safety plans set to collide in session's final weeks

Contrasting visions for how to address Minnesota's enduring violent crime wave are now on a collision course in the final weeks of the legislative session.

House DFLers and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz are looking to community-centered solutions while the Senate GOP plans to pass a public safety spending bill this week focusing on tougher penalties. The two competing packages on a top legislative priority for both parties will be hashed out at a time when the topic has prompted more partisan warfare than compromise.

"We come at this problem with two different philosophical approaches: I recognize we have an immediate violent crime problem in the state of Minnesota," said state Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, lead sponsor of the Senate's proposal, during a news conference this month. "We have a little extra money to devote toward protecting our citizens. This is not the time to build big, ivory-tower bureaucracies."

https://www.startribune.com/dfl-gop-public-safety-plans-set-to-collide/600167624/