Fairness for Crime Victims Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4879 To curtail the use of changes in mandatory programs affecting the Crime Victims Fund to inflate spending. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 26 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 Mr. TOOMEY (for himself, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. RISCH, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. COTTON, and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget A BILL To curtail the use of changes in mandatory programs affecting the Crime Victims Fund to inflate spending. 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 ‘‘Fairness for Crime 4 Victims Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CERTAIN CHANGES IN 6 MANDATORY PROGRAMS AFFECTING THE 7 CRIME VICTIMS FUND. 8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:50 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4879.IS S4879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4879 IS (1) the Crime Victims Fund was created in 1 1984, with the support of overwhelming bipartisan 2 majorities in the House of Representatives and the 3 Senate and the support of President Ronald Reagan, 4 who signed the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (Pub- 5 lic Law 98–473) into law; 6 (2) the Crime Victims Fund was created based 7 on the principle that funds the Federal Government 8 collects from those convicted of crime should be used 9 to aid those who have been victimized by crime; 10 (3) the Crime Victims Fund is funded from 11 fines, penalties, and forfeited bonds in Federal court 12 and private donations; 13 (4) the Crime Victims Fund receives no tax- 14 payer dollars; 15 (5) Federal law provides that funds deposited 16 into the Crime Victims Fund shall be used to pro- 17 vide services to victims of crime in accordance with 18 the Victims of Crime Act of 1984; 19 (6) the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 gives pri- 20 ority to victims of child abuse, sexual assault, and 21 domestic violence; 22 (7) since fiscal year 2000, Congress has been 23 accounting for funds collected by the Crime Victims 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:50 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4879.IS S4879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4879 IS Fund, but not disbursing the full amount provided 1 for under the Victims of Crime Act of 1984; 2 (8) over $10,000,000,000 has been withheld 3 from victims of child abuse, sexual assault, domestic 4 violence, and other crimes; 5 (9) from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 6 2014, the Crime Victims Fund collected 7 $12,000,000,000, but Congress disbursed only 8 $3,600,000,000 (or 30 percent) to victims of crime; 9 (10) since fiscal year 2015, Congress has in- 10 creased disbursals from the Crime Victims Fund to 11 victims of crime, but a permanent solution is nec- 12 essary to ensure consistent disbursals to victims of 13 crime who rely on these funds every year; 14 (11) under budget rules, Congress represents 15 that the money it has already spent in prior years 16 is still in the Crime Victims Fund and available for 17 victims of crime; 18 (12) it is time to restore fairness to crime vic- 19 tims; and 20 (13) funds collected by the Crime Victims Fund 21 should be used for services to and compensation of 22 crime victims in accordance with the Victims of 23 Crime Act of 1984. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:50 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4879.IS S4879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4879 IS (b) AMENDMENT.—Title IV of the Congressional 1 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended 2 by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘PART C—ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON BUDG- 4 ETARY AND APPROPRIATIONS LEGISLATION 5 ‘‘SEC. 441. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CHANGES IN MANDA- 6 TORY PROGRAMS AFFECTING THE CRIME 7 VICTIMS FUND. 8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘CHIMP’ means a provision 10 that— 11 ‘‘(A) would have been estimated as affect- 12 ing direct spending or receipts under section 13 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 14 Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 902) (as 15 in effect prior to September 30, 2002) if the 16 provision was included in legislation other than 17 an appropriation Act; and 18 ‘‘(B) results in a net decrease in budget 19 authority in the current year or the budget 20 year, but does not result in a net decrease in 21 outlays over the period of the total of the cur- 22 rent year, the budget year, and all fiscal years 23 covered under the most recently adopted con- 24 current resolution on the budget; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:50 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4879.IS S4879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4879 IS ‘‘(2) the term ‘Crime Victims Fund’ means the 1 Crime Victims Fund established under section 1402 2 of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 3 20101); and 4 ‘‘(3) the term ‘3-year average amount’ means 5 the annual average amount that was deposited into 6 the Crime Victims Fund during the 3-fiscal-year pe- 7 riod beginning on October 1 of the fourth fiscal year 8 before the fiscal year to which a CHIMP affecting 9 the Crime Victims Fund applies. 10 ‘‘(b) POINT OF ORDER IN THE SENATE.— 11 ‘‘(1) POINT OF ORDER.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the Senate, it shall 13 not be in order to consider a provision in a bill 14 or joint resolution making appropriations for all 15 or a portion of a fiscal year, or an amendment 16 thereto, amendment between the Houses in re- 17 lation thereto, conference report thereon, or mo- 18 tion thereon, that contains a CHIMP that, if 19 enacted, would cause the amount available for 20 obligation during the fiscal year from the Crime 21 Victims Fund to be less than the 3-year average 22 amount. 23 ‘‘(B) POINT OF ORDER SUSTAINED.—If a 24 point of order is made by a Senator against a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:50 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4879.IS S4879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4879 IS provision described in subparagraph (A), and 1 the point of order is sustained by the Chair, 2 that provision shall be stricken from the meas- 3 ure and may not be offered as an amendment 4 from the floor. 5 ‘‘(2) FORM OF THE POINT OF ORDER.—A point 6 of order under paragraph (1) may be raised by a 7 Senator as provided in section 313(e). 8 ‘‘(3) CONFERENCE REPORTS.—When the Sen- 9 ate is considering a conference report on, or an 10 amendment between the Houses in relation to, a bill 11 or joint resolution, upon a point of order being made 12 by any Senator pursuant to paragraph (1), and such 13 point of order being sustained, such material con- 14 tained in such conference report or House amend- 15 ment shall be stricken, and the Senate shall proceed 16 to consider the question of whether the Senate shall 17 recede from its amendment and concur with a fur- 18 ther amendment, or concur in the House amendment 19 with a further amendment, as the case may be, 20 which further amendment shall consist of only that 21 portion of the conference report or House amend- 22 ment, as the case may be, not so stricken. Any such 23 motion in the Senate shall be debatable. In any case 24 in which such point of order is sustained against a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:50 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4879.IS S4879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4879 IS conference report (or Senate amendment derived 1 from such conference report by operation of this 2 subsection), no further amendment shall be in order. 3 ‘‘(4) SUPERMAJORITY WAIVER AND APPEAL.— 4 In the Senate, this subsection may be waived or sus- 5 pended only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of 6 the Members, duly chose and sworn. An affirmative 7 vote of three-fifths of Members of the Senate, duly 8 chosen and sworn shall be required to sustain an ap- 9 peal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order 10 raised under this subsection. 11 ‘‘(5) DETERMINATION.—For purposes of this 12 subsection, budgetary levels shall be determined on 13 the basis of estimates provided by the Chairman of 14 the Committee on the Budget of the Senate. 15 ‘‘(c) POINT OF ORDER IN THE HOUSE OF REP- 16 RESENTATIVES.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A provision in a bill or 18 joint resolution making appropriations for a fiscal 19 year that proposes a CHIMP that, if enacted, would 20 cause the amount available for obligation during the 21 fiscal year from the Crime Victims Fund to be less 22 than the 3-year average amount shall not be in order 23 in the House of Representatives. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:50 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4879.IS S4879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4879 IS ‘‘(2) AMENDMENTS AND CONFERENCE RE- 1 PORTS.—It shall not be in order in the House of 2 Representatives to consider an amendment to, or a 3 conference report on, a bill or joint resolution mak- 4 ing appropriations for a fiscal year if such amend- 5 ment thereto or conference report thereon proposes 6 a CHIMP that, if enacted, would cause the amount 7 available for obligation during the fiscal year from 8 the Crime Victims Fund to be less than the 3-year 9 average amount. 10 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION.—For purposes of this 11 subsection, budgetary levels shall be determined on 12 the basis of estimates provided by the Chairman of 13 the Committee on the Budget of the House of Rep- 14 resentatives.’’. 15 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 16 The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Congressional 17 Budget Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after the item 18 relating to section 428 the following: 19 ‘‘PART C—ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON BUDGETARY AND APPROPRIATIONS LEGISLATION ‘‘Sec. 441. Point of order against changes in mandatory programs affecting the Crime Victims Fund.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:50 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4879.IS S4879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS