HOW IT STARTED: New bill funds mental health experts, not police, to respond to emergencies: ‘mental illness is not a crime.’

Congress wants to make it easier for state and local governments to defund the police by instead funding mental health services and empowering them to respond to emergency calls instead of armed officers.

“We should be connecting people in crisis to care, not tossing them in jail,” Rep. Katie Porter, who reintroduced the bill on Thursday, said in a statement. “Mental illness is not a crime, and we have to stop treating it like one. Most police officers are not trained to care for individuals experiencing mental health crises, which too often tragically leads to unnecessary violence.”

The Mental Health Justice Act has the backing of Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.) and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), as well as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

—The Hill, February 26th.

How it’s going: U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon carjacked and robbed in South Philly after touring FDR Park.

—The Philadelphia Inquirer, today.