VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 611 To deposit certain funds into the Crime Victims Fund, to waive matching requirements, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 4, 2021 Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. CORNYN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. ERNST, Mr. BROWN, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. HIRONO, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. WARREN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. REED, Mr. TESTER, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. CASEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To deposit certain funds into the Crime Victims Fund, to waive matching requirements, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VOCA Fix to Sustain 4 the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:59 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S611.IS S611 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 611 IS SEC. 2. COMPREHENSIVE FIX OF CRIME VICTIMS FUND 1 AND COMPENSATION. 2 (a) CRIME VICTIMS FUND.—Section 1402 of the Vic- 3 tims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 20101) is amend- 4 ed— 5 (1) in subsection (b)— 6 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 7 and inserting a semicolon; 8 (B) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking the 9 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following new 11 paragraph: 12 ‘‘(6) any funds that would otherwise be depos- 13 ited in the general fund of the Treasury collected 14 pursuant to— 15 ‘‘(A) a deferred prosecution agreement; or 16 ‘‘(B) a non-prosecution agreement.’’; and 17 (2) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘Director’’ 18 and inserting ‘‘Director, except that renewals and 19 extensions beyond that period may be granted at the 20 discretion of the Attorney General’’. 21 (b) CRIME VICTIM COMPENSATION.—Section 1403 of 22 the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 20102) is 23 amended— 24 (1) in subsection (a)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:59 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S611.IS S611 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 611 IS (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘40 per- 1 cent in fiscal year 2002 and of 60 percent in 2 subsequent fiscal years’’ and inserting ‘‘75 per- 3 cent’’; 4 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘of 40 5 percent in fiscal year 2002 and of 60 percent 6 in subsequent fiscal years’’; 7 (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 8 paragraph (4); and 9 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 10 following new paragraph: 11 ‘‘(3) For the purposes of calculating amounts 12 awarded in the previous fiscal year under this sub- 13 section, the Director shall not require eligible crime 14 victim compensation programs to deduct recovery 15 costs or collections from restitution or from subroga- 16 tion for payment under a civil lawsuit.’’; 17 (2) in subsection (b)(2) by striking ‘‘authori- 18 ties;’’ and inserting ‘‘authorities, except if a program 19 determines such cooperation may be impacted due to 20 a victim’s age, physical condition, psychological 21 state, cultural or linguistic barriers, or any other 22 health or safety concern that jeopardizes the victim’s 23 well-being;’’; and 24 (3) in subsection (d)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:59 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S611.IS S611 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 611 IS (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 1 and inserting a semicolon; 2 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe- 3 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (C) by adding at the end the following new 5 paragraph: 6 ‘‘(5) the term ‘recovery costs’ means expenses 7 for personnel directly involved in the recovery efforts 8 to obtain collections from restitution or from sub- 9 rogation for payment under a civil lawsuit.’’. 10 SEC. 3. WAIVER OF MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1404(a) of the Victims of 12 Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 20103(a)) is amended by 13 inserting at the end the following new paragraph: 14 ‘‘(7)(A) Each chief executive may waive a 15 matching requirement imposed by the Director, in 16 accordance with subparagraph (B), as a condition 17 for the receipt of funds under any program to pro- 18 vide assistance to victims of crimes authorized under 19 this chapter. The chief executive shall report to the 20 Director the approval of any waiver of the matching 21 requirement. 22 ‘‘(B) Each chief executive shall establish and 23 make public, a policy including— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:59 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S611.IS S611 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 611 IS ‘‘(i) the manner in which an eligible crime 1 victim assistance program can request a match 2 waiver; 3 ‘‘(ii) the criteria used to determine eligi- 4 bility of the match waiver; and 5 ‘‘(iii) the process for decision making and 6 notifying the eligible crime victim assistance 7 program of the decision.’’. 8 (b) NATIONAL EMERGENCY WAIVER.—Section 9 1404(a) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 10 20103(a)), as amended by subsection (a), is further 11 amended by inserting at the end the following new para- 12 graph: 13 ‘‘(8) Beginning on the date a national emer- 14 gency is declared under the National Emergencies 15 Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with respect to a pan- 16 demic and ending on the date that is one year after 17 the date of the end of such national emergency, each 18 chief executive shall issue waivers for any matching 19 requirement, in its entirety, for all eligible crime vic- 20 tim assistance programs contracted to provide serv- 21 ices at that time.’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:59 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S611.IS S611 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS