David Dorn Back the Blue Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3131 To subsidize the salaries of State and local law enforcement officers and promote officer hiring and retention, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 12, 2021 Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. GOOD of Virginia, Mr. BILI- RAKIS, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. BOST, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mrs. MCCLAIN, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. GIMENEZ, and Mr. MANN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To subsidize the salaries of State and local law enforcement officers and promote officer hiring and retention, 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 ‘‘David Dorn Back the 4 Blue Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3131.IH H3131 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3131 IH SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FUNDING REFORM. 1 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Part W of title I of the Omni- 2 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 3 U.S.C. 10491 et seq.) is amended— 4 (1) in section 2301 (34 U.S.C. 10491)— 5 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 6 the end; 7 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe- 8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(7) provide programs to support the hiring 11 and retention of law enforcement personnel and aug- 12 ment the salaries of law enforcement personnel em- 13 ployed by cooperating State and local law enforce- 14 ment agencies or organizations.’’; 15 (2) in section 2302 (34 U.S.C. 10492), by in- 16 serting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, 17 or in the case of State and local law enforcement 18 agencies, to support the hiring and retention of law 19 enforcement personnel and augment wages paid to 20 law enforcement personnel’’; 21 (3) in section 2303 (34 U.S.C. 10493)— 22 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting before 23 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, or to 24 support the hiring and retention of law enforce- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3131.IH H3131 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3131 IH ment personnel and to augment wages paid to 1 law enforcement personnel’’; 2 (B) in subsection (b), in the matter pre- 3 ceding paragraph (1), by inserting before the 4 colon the following: ‘‘, unless supporting the 5 hiring and retention of law enforcement per- 6 sonnel or augmenting wages in accordance with 7 subsection (d)’’; and 8 (C) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(d) HIRING AND RETENTION OF LAW ENFORCE- 10 MENT PERSONNEL.—A law enforcement agency or organi- 11 zation that receives funds under this part may use the 12 funds for activities and programs to hire and pay addi- 13 tional law enforcement personnel or to retain existing per- 14 sonnel. 15 ‘‘(e) AUGMENTATION OF WAGES.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A law enforcement agency 17 or organization that receives funds under this part 18 may use the funds to augment the salaries of law 19 enforcement personnel, up to an amount equal to 20 110 percent of the State real median household in- 21 come of the preceding year, as estimated by the 22 United States Census Bureau. 23 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—A law enforcement agen- 24 cy or organization shall not be eligible to receive 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3131.IH H3131 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3131 IH funds under this part for the purpose described in 1 paragraph (1) if the agency or organization reduced 2 the salaries of law enforcement personnel during the 3 calendar year immediately preceding the application 4 for funds for the sole purpose of dismantling law en- 5 forcement agencies or organizations pursuant to a 6 State or local policy. 7 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 8 paragraph (2) shall be construed to affect the eligi- 9 bility of any law enforcement agency or organization 10 that reduces the salaries of law enforcement per- 11 sonnel due to budget constraints that are imple- 12 mented as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.’’; 13 (4) in section 2304(1) (34 U.S.C. 10494(1)), by 14 inserting ‘‘, unless Federal funds are sought for the 15 purpose of personnel hiring, personnel retention, or 16 wage augmentation,’’ after ‘‘certify’’; and 17 (5) in section 2305 (34 U.S.C. 10495(b))— 18 (A) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General 19 may award’’ and inserting the following: 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 21 graph (2), the Attorney General may award’’; and 22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3131.IH H3131 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3131 IH ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 1 apply to grants sought for the purpose of personnel 2 hiring, personnel retention, or wage augmentation.’’. 3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 4 1001(21) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 5 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(21)) is amended 6 by striking ‘‘$7,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 7 through 2024.’’ and inserting ‘‘$15,000,000,000 for each 8 of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, of which any funds 9 appropriated in excess of $7,500,000 shall be used for the 10 hiring and retention of law enforcement officers and the 11 augmentation of wages as described in such part.’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3131.IH H3131 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS