Gov. Tony Evers signs a bill banning chokeholds, while GOP lawmakers pass a scaled back use-of-force bill

MADISON - Republican lawmakers scaled back legislation addressing use of force by law enforcement officers on Tuesday just hours after Gov. Tony Evers signed legislation limiting chokeholds and other policing bills that he said didn't go far enough.

Under legislation Evers signed Tuesday, Wisconsin police officers are barred from using chokeholds except in life-threatening situations or in self-defense.

The legislation was part of a handful of bills Evers signed that seek to reduce the likelihood of law enforcement officers taking action that results in death, particularly of Black men who have disproportionately been subjected to policing.

In addition, Assembly lawmakers passed legislation that carries criminal penalties and would require officers to report colleagues if they use unnecessary force and to intervene when they see colleagues use excessive force.

The bill was amended by Republicans on a party line vote to remove language that would require officers to intervene if they observe, or reasonably should have observed, use of force that is not considered reasonable under the legislation.

Rep. Shelia Stubbs, a Madison Democrat who co-led an Assembly task force on policing, expressed anger at Republicans agreeing to make changes requested by Milwaukee’s police union without broad discussion. A union representative sat on the task force but sought changes outside of the panel's meetings.

“Letting a single lobby group halt progress is a disservice to the work of the task force and the communities that each of us serve,” Stubbs said. “By delaying a vote in this chamber and forcing another passage through the Senate, we are risking — let me pause right there — we are risking — the bill’s arrival to Governor Evers’ desk.”

While Stubbs opposed the amendment, she said the legislation that passed was positive and would hold law enforcement officers "to their highest standard."

Republican Rep. Jim Steineke, who leads the task force with Stubbs and introduced the changes, said the amended legislation is still effective and argued Republicans and Democrats worked together closely on the legislation.

“Both Republicans and Democrats can come together and solve some of the bigger issues of the day if we're willing to set some of the nonsense aside,” Steineke said.

The bill was amended to delay implementation until 2022, requiring a new vote from lawmakers in the state Senate.

The measures have bipartisan support and are a result of the Assembly task force led by Stubbs and Steineke on policing and racial equity. But some Democrats, including Evers, say more measures are needed to eliminate unnecessary deaths of Black Americans like George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin after Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for nine minutes.

"Although I am signing these bills, I have and will continue to urge the Legislature to take more meaningful action," Evers said in a statement.

After Floyd's death spurred a national reckoning over policing and racial discrimination, Chauvin lost his job and was found guilty of murder.

Evers last year called a special session on policing, but Republican lawmakers who control the Legislature took no action. At the same time, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos formed the task force that helped develop many of the bills Evers signed Tuesday.

Evers also signed Senate Bills 122 and 123, which require the state Department of Justice to collect data and publish an annual report on use-of-force incidents involving police with demographic information, and require police departments to publish online their use-of-force policies.

Among the bills Evers signed Tuesday include:

• Senate Bill 124, which establishes a $600,000 grant program within the DOJ for cities with a population of 60,000 or more to fund community policing programs.

• Senate Bill 299, which requires any person living in Wisconsin who was placed on probation, extended supervision, or parole in another state on or after April 1, 2015, to provide a human biological specimen to the State Crime Laboratory for DNA analysis.

• Senate Bill 99, which requires defendants to be tested for communicable diseases if there is probable cause to believe he or she threw or expelled a bodily substance at a public safety worker or a prosecutor.

Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signs bill banning police chokeholds