Sanchez lauds unanimous passage of three reform bills

Rep. Ben Sanchez    June 24, 2020 | 4:11 PM

HARRISBURG, June 24 – State Rep. Ben Sanchez, D-Montgomery, issued the following statement today in response to the unanimous passage of three social justice bills:

“The fight for justice (especially in the legislature) is long, difficult and probably never-ending.

“I am happy to announce that today in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, we took some important first steps toward addressing longstanding and pervasive issues of social justice and systemic racism by passing the following three bills:

  • H.B. 1841: This bill would create a statewide database to maintain records of misconduct by law enforcement officers and require an employer to disclose employment information to another employer for the purpose of background checks when hiring a law enforcement officer. In a role needing the highest level of public trust comes a duty for transparency and scrutiny in the hiring process. 
  • H.B. 1910: This bill would require mandatory training to help law enforcement officers detect and report suspected cases of child abuse, training on interacting with individuals of diverse racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds, training on the use of force and de-escalation, as well as require post-traumatic stress disorder evaluations upon request by a law enforcement officer or their supervisor and within 30 days of an incident of the use of lethal force. 
  • S.B. 637: This bill would provide licensing boards of the Commonwealth opportunities to issue licenses to individuals with criminal convictions a pathway back to the workforce.

“These bills, I'm proud to say, passed unanimously today and should soon become law. It was a great day to be a state representative, and please know that I will continue to work with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to ensure that all citizens of this great state are treated fairly and equally. There is much work that still needs to be done.”