Public Safety and Security Committee advances multiple safety bills; ANPR grant measure carries on roll call

The Public Safety and Security Committee met March 12 and advanced several bills related to law enforcement equipment, firefighter health and benefits, and a study of police motor-vehicle search law.

The committee moved seven measures to the consent calendar and recessed for a public hearing scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m., with 15 people listed to testify. The meeting’s procedural business included a roll-call vote on one item and a full consent calendar roll call to dispose of the grouped items.

Senate Bill 232, which would establish a grant program enabling law-enforcement units to obtain automated number-plate recognition systems, was the only item in the meeting to receive a recorded roll-call vote. The clerk called the roll and the transcript records multiple members responding “yes” and one recorded “no” vote from Representative Veil; the item…