Democrats in the U.S. House approved the George Floyd Justice in Policing act late Wednesday, mostly along party lines.

The legislation is the most ambitious effort in decades to overhaul policing nationwide. It was named in honor of Floyd, whose killing by police in Minneapolis last memorial day sparked protests nationwide.

The bill would ban chokeholds and “qualified immunity” for law enforcement and create national standards for policing in a bid to bolster accountability. Floyd’s family watched the emotional debate from a nearby house office building.

The trial of Derek Chauvin, the former officer charged with second degree murder of George Floyd, is scheduled to begin this Monday.

Minnesota state and health officials are celebrating the arrival of the first shipments of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. They say it will help speed up the pace of vaccinations and a return to normal in the state.

Minnesota won’t get any more J-and-J shipments for the next week or two, but the governor expects deliveries of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to rise in the meantime.

Minnesotans currently eligible for coronavirus vaccinations include those 65 and older, plus teachers, medical workers and residents of long-term care facilities.

St. Thomas officials say they hope to turn the university into a COVID-19 vaccination site by the end of spring semester.

Karen Lange, the university’s vice president of student affairs, told the Undergraduate Student Government last week that she hopes to be able to vaccinate students and possibly host a mass vaccination center for members of the community.

The university has put in orders for 8,000 doses of the vaccine, and hopes to get authorization from the Minnesota Department of Health to become a vaccination site.

Elijah Todd-Walden can be reached at todd5861@stthomas.edu.