Safe to Tell Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2100 To promote the creation of State anonymous school threat reporting programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 4, 2019 Mr. HIMES (for himself, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To promote the creation of State anonymous school threat reporting programs, 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 ‘‘Safe to Tell Act of 4 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. GRANTS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may make 7 grants to States that enact a law described in section 3 8 and otherwise conforms its laws to the requirements of 9 section 3. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2100.IH H2100 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2100 IH (b) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—A grant under this sec- 1 tion may be used for the establishment of a program de- 2 scribed in section 3. 3 (c) APPLICATION.—A State seeking a grant under 4 this section shall submit to the Attorney General an appli- 5 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 6 information as the Attorney General may reasonably re- 7 quire, including a copy of the law described in section 3(a). 8 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 9 authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each of fis- 10 cal years 2020 through 2024. 11 SEC. 3. STATE LAW DESCRIBED. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—A law described in this section is 13 a law establishing a program described in subsection (b). 14 (b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—A program estab- 15 lished under subsection (a) shall— 16 (1) establish and maintain methods (including a 17 telephone hotline, a mobile application, and a 18 website) that provide individuals with the means to 19 relay information anonymously concerning unsafe, 20 potentially harmful, dangerous, violent, or criminal 21 activities, or the threat of these activities, to appro- 22 priate law enforcement and public safety agencies 23 and school officials; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2100.IH H2100 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2100 IH (2) establish methods and procedures to ensure 1 that the identity of the reporting parties remains un- 2 known to all persons and entities, including law en- 3 forcement officers and employees operating the pro- 4 gram; 5 (3) establish methods and procedures so that 6 information obtained from a reporting party who 7 voluntarily discloses his or her identity and verifies 8 that he or she is willing to be identified may be 9 shared with law enforcement officers, employees op- 10 erating the program, and with school officials; 11 (4) establish methods and procedures to ensure 12 that a reporting party’s identity that becomes known 13 through any means other than voluntary disclosure 14 is not further disclosed; 15 (5) promptly forward information received by 16 the program to the appropriate law enforcement or 17 public safety agency or school officials; 18 (6) train law enforcement dispatch centers, 19 school districts, individual schools, and other entities 20 on appropriate awareness and response to informa- 21 tion received under the program; 22 (7) provide awareness and education materials 23 to participating schools and school district; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2100.IH H2100 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2100 IH (8) monitor each reporting method under the 1 program 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, includ- 2 ing providing an answering service staffed with an 3 individual trained in receiving reports under the pro- 4 gram; 5 (9) provide accountability and quality assurance 6 measures, including disposition reporting, as well as 7 measures to prevent abuse; 8 (10) provide that, except as provided under 9 paragraph (11), materials created or obtained 10 through the implementation or operation of the pro- 11 gram are confidential, and a person shall not dis- 12 close the material; and 13 (11) provide that a person administering the 14 program may not be compelled to produce any infor- 15 mation received under the program or other mate- 16 rials produced as part of the program except on the 17 motion of a criminal defendant to the court in which 18 the offense is being tried. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2100.IH H2100 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS