DALLAS — More than a dozen members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus unveiled the George Floyd Act on Thursday, which they described as a watershed piece of legislation.
The bill will be filed when the legislature meets again in January and calls for major changes to policing in the state of Texas.
It is named for Houston native George Floyd, whose death from excessive force by a Minnesota police officer in May set off marches and rallies that attracted millions of people demanding change to law enforcement policies and the criminal justice system.
“It means so much to us all – cousins, brothers, sisters – it means so much to us as black people,” said Floyd’s youngest brother Rodney.
“I know he’s smiling and cheering this on.”
The George Floyd Act's specific language is still being drafted, but lawmakers said it will include:
- An end to qualified immunity, which they say shields officers from prosecution
- A change to the statutory duties of police officers to require them to intervene if a fellow officer is engaging in excessive force
- A narrowing of when use of force, especially lethal force, is appropriate
- A requirement for de-escalation efforts to accompany any use-of-force
- A limit to an officer’s ability to jail people accused of committing minor offenses punishable by fines only, such as failing to use a traffic signal
- A requirement for an officer’s testimony to be corroborated with evidence
- The creation of a standard disciplinary matrix, making it harder for discipline administered to officers to be overturned.
Members of the caucus say they’ve made repeated attempts at similar reforms that have all been futile, but “hopefully experiences we have encountered in the legislature have softened,” said State Rep. Senfronia Thompson of Houston.
“The public better understands our plight,” she said.
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State Sen. Royce West of Dallas will sponsor the bill in the Texas Senate.
“Is it going to be easy?” he asked. “No, we know it’s not going to be easy."
"But all of us stand together to make these reasonable recommendations we will invite our colleagues to be a part of it. They have a perspective and we will respect their perspective. But all of us know and understand there’s work to be done.”
Neither West nor Thompson said they had held formal discussions with Gov. Greg Abbott about the George Floyd Act yet, but West said he recently spoke with the governor about the need for reform.
On Thursday, West called on Abbott to consider the bill a piece of emergency legislation to ensure it would be discussed within the first 90 days of the 2021 session.
West and others expect the bill to be met with resistance, but Houston Rep. Harold Dutton said because Floyd’s death was captured on video, more people recognize the need for systemic change.
“We’ve had difficulty in the past getting things by the police unions or by some of the other members of the legislature who always thought anything we did was being soft on crime. They’ve now seen it with their own eyes,” Dutton said.
“I think we stand on fertile ground, better ground, than we ever have before.”
West said he welcomes conversations with groups opposed to the policy change proposals, and he hopes to start talks soon.
“It’s way overdue. Way overdue. We can just say 340 years overdue," said Rodney Floyd.
The Floyds are constituents of Houston Rep. Garnet Coleman.
“If we can’t do it now, then when will we do it?” Coleman asked.