Statewide Iowa — On the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death while in Minneapolis police custody, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says a bipartisan police reform bill is nearly ready to go to a vote.
Senators Corey Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, and Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, are working on a compromise version of the bill. Grassley says he’s up to speed on the legislation.
Scott, the only black Republican U-S senator, says the bill is designed to hold law enforcement accountable for violent incidents, while also developing a system to track problem officers. Grassley says Scott first crafted the measure last summer, but it’s been languishing for months.
Grassley says there are a “couple dozen parts” to the bill, but perhaps just three key elements have been the source of difficulty.
Grassley says the bill also aims to implement a restriction on the police use of chokeholds, like the one used on Floyd. His death was captured on video, which gained global attention calling for racial justice.
