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Can Police Reform Laws Pass Congress in Election Year?

Katherine Gypson

   U.S. House Democrats took the first step Wednesday toward passing
   police reform legislation in response to the May 25 death of George
   Floyd, a black man, while in police custody.

   Since Floyd's death, protesters have taken to the streets in historic
   numbers across the United States, many of them calling for a dramatic
   policy solution to partially address the problem of racial
   discrimination -- "defund the police."

   While that call to shift funding from local law enforcement to social
   services is not covered in this Congressional legislation, the measure
   includes many other ambitious proposals that Democrats say would shift
   policing in the United States from a "warrior" model to that of a
   public guardian.

   Here's a look at the issues for debate and their chances of becoming
   law:

   Can the U.S. Congress "defund the police?" How much can the U.S.
   Congress do to address this issue?

   Funding at the federal level (that is money appropriated by the U.S.
   Congress) is just one part of the funding local police departments
   around the United States receive. Most of their funding is derived from
   state and local sources so even if the political will was there,
   Congress could not act to completely defund a police force.

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