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House Democrats passed a police reform bill that is essentially going to “defund the police” and will cost police departments hundreds of millions of dollars, according to The Daily Wire.
“Democrats just voted to defund the police,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said. “The unfunded mandates in their bill, H.R. 1280, would cost police departments hundreds of millions of dollars—the equivalent of taking 3,000 cops or more off the streets. Our men and women in uniform deserve better.”
Jason Smith and Jim Jordan sent a letter to Congressional Budget Office Director Phillip Swagel.
“It is our understanding that H.R. 1280 contains provisions that significantly violate the current Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) threshold of $85 million,” the letter stated.
“It is further our understanding that these provisions may in fact result in additional costs to state, local, and tribal governments totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars which would deprive these localities of the resources needed to provide adequate policing and public safety services in their communities.”
“We respectfully ask that CBO provide a detailed estimate of the total cost that the mandates included in H.R. 1280 would impose on state, local, and tribal governments if it were enacted into law,” the letter concluded.
Jim Jordan noted that the bill was developed without considering the following common-sense proposals:
strengthen the anti-lynching provision;
ensure our Border Patrol has the necessary equipment to fight dangerous cartels;
prevent unions from shielding bad cops in collective bargaining agreements;
require that federal law enforcement agencies record interviews.
Jordan’s office noted that the bill will not stop attempts to defund and dismantle police departments but it will limit the tools and procedures that law enforcement is capable of utilizing.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis gave Democrats a chance to vote on an amendment that “recognizes and appreciates” those who serve in law enforcement and “condemns calls to ‘defund,’ ‘disband,’ ‘dismantle,’ or ‘abolish’ the police.”
.@RepMalliotakis offered a motion to recommit, that the House:
• recognizes & appreciates the dedication & devotion demonstrated by the men and women of law enforcement
• condemns calls to "defund," "disband," "dismantle" or "abolish" the police.
219 Dems voted against it. pic.twitter.com/690ePGBTgo
— Mark Bednar (@MarkBednar) March 4, 2021
“The legislation overhauls qualified immunity for police officers, bans chokeholds at the federal level, prohibits no-knock warrants in federal drug cases and outlaws racial profiling.”
“It would also establish a national registry of police misconduct to be managed by the Department of Justice.”
“The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act will address systemic racism, curb police brutality and save lives,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
“This legislation includes bold reforms, which ban chokeholds, stop no-knock warrants, end the court-created qualified immunity doctrine, combat racial profiling, and establish strong new standards and protections to prevent and combat police misconduct.”
From The Daily Wire:
219 Democrats voted against the amendment, which stopped it from being added.
