Des Moines, Iowa — Republicans in the Iowa Senate have voted for what is likely the final version of a bill that would increase liability protection for police and raise the penalties for rioting that causes property damage.
Republican Senator Julian Garrett of Indianola says it’s a necessary response to rioting that happened during some of last summer’s racial justice protests.
Democrats in the Senate voted against the bill. Senator Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids says the legislature didn’t rush to increase penalties after repeated rioting in Ames led Iowa State University to cancel its annual VEISHEA celebration in 2014.
The Iowa House must give final approval to the bill before it goes to Governor Kim Reynolds. Republican legislators left one of the governor’s priorities out of the bill — a ban on racial profiling.
