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Bennett




Dear Friends,

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Last week, I joined House and Senate Republican lawmakers in calling on the Democrat majority to take immediate action to resolve the Student Resource Officer (SRO) issue.

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Earlier this year, legislative Democrats passed a bill Governor Walz signed into law that many believe could put an officer or educator at risk for legal action if he or she misapplied the new policy.

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We?ve already seen a Mankato student beaten up in a school where an SRO should have been present. A bipartisan clarification of statute is all it would take to bring back the SROs who have left due to this new policy, but Democrats have been unwilling to budge.

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This?new law lacks clarity and changes what SROs and educators are allowed to do to de-escalate aggressive or violent situations. The changes and ambiguity in this law continue to cause confusion for both SROs and educators. In?response, roughly 50 law enforcement agencies have had to pull SROs from schools across Minnesota.?

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Republican lawmakers, including me,?held a listening session Wednesday on SROs after Democrats ignored requests for an informational hearing to develop a bipartisan fix. Legislators heard from school staff, law enforcement, and those impacted by violence in schools for the purpose of developing a legislative solution.?

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Democrats have been avoiding a legislative fix, hoping a revised opinion on the law from Attorney General Keith Ellison would be sufficient. However, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty released a contradictory interpretation of the law, suggesting that school resource officers could still be charged criminally, proving that a legislative fix is the only way forward.

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Clearly this law is not cut and dried if two of the most powerful attorneys in our state can?t agree on what the law says. We need to get our SROs back into the schools that have lost them, and we need to make sure educators can effectively keep students, staff, and school property safe. The?only way that?s going to happen is if we fix this law so law enforcement and educators don?t have to fear potential prosecution for trying to keep students and teachers safe in schools. Everyone at that roundtable is asking for a fix now. We can?t wait until six months into the school year to just start the discussion.

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I will continue to push for a common sense fix to this law. Minnesota students and staff deserve it!

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Talk to you soon,

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Peggy






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