Committee advances bill expanding assault protections for transit workers

A Minnesota Senate committee on Monday voted to send legislation to Judiciary that would expand enhanced criminal penalties for assaults on transit operators to include all transit workers.

The bill sponsor said the measure updates statutory language so that employees, contractors and volunteers who perform public-facing transit work receive the same protections now afforded to bus and train drivers. Leslie Can Paris, identified as general manager of Metro Transit at the Metropolitan Council, told the committee the change is a Metropolitan Council initiative and argued it reflects how the transit workforce has evolved beyond drivers.

“Without transit workers there is no transit,” Can Paris said, noting frontline staff — including TRIP agents, community service officers and facility workers — face risks while performing public-facing duties. She said the agency reported 16 assaults on non-operator transit workers in 2024 and 72 in 2025 and offered to provide the committee a more detailed headcount and incident breakdown.

Why it matters: Supporters said parity in penalties acknowledges the public-facing role of many transit positions and could improve worker safety and reporting. Several committee members pressed for additional incident and enforcement data and asked whether the change should be discussed in Judiciary to consider broader criminal-penalty questions.

Committee action: A motion to pass the bill out of committee and refer it to the Judiciary Committee was adopted by roll call and the bill was referred to Judiciary for further review.

What’s next: The bill will go to the Judiciary Committee for legal review; Metro Transit said it will supply requested incident and headcount data to committee staff to inform further debate.

All attributions in this story come from witnesses and members recorded in the committee transcript.