Defund Cities that Defund the Police Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3321 To prohibit a jurisdiction that defunds the police from receiving grants under certain Economic Development Assistance Programs and the Community Development Block Grant Program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2023 Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself and Mr. GOLDEN of Maine) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prohibit a jurisdiction that defunds the police from receiv- ing grants under certain Economic Development Assist- ance Programs and the Community Development Block Grant Program. 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 ‘‘Defund Cities that 4 Defund the Police Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3321.IH H3321 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3321 IH SEC. 2. DEFUNDING JURISDICTION DEFINED. 1 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘defunding juris- 2 diction’’ means a State or political subdivision of a State 3 that— 4 (1) abolishes or disbands the police department 5 with no intention of reconstituting the jurisdiction’s 6 police department; or 7 (2) significantly reduces the police department’s 8 budget without reallocating a portion of that money 9 to any other community policing program, provided 10 that the jurisdiction did not face a significant de- 11 crease in revenues in the previous fiscal year. 12 SEC. 3. DEFUNDING JURISDICTIONS INELIGIBLE FOR CER- 13 TAIN FEDERAL FUNDS. 14 (a) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION 15 GRANTS.— 16 (1) GRANTS FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND ECO- 17 NOMIC DEVELOPMENT.—Section 201(b) of the Pub- 18 lic Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 19 (42 U.S.C. 3141(b)) is amended— 20 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 21 the end; 22 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe- 23 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 24 (C) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3321.IH H3321 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3321 IH ‘‘(4) the area in which the project is to be car- 1 ried out is not a defunding jurisdiction (as defined 2 in section 2 of the Defund Cities that Defund the 3 Police Act of 2023).’’. 4 (2) GRANTS FOR PLANNING AND ADMINISTRA- 5 TIVE EXPENSES.—Section 203(a) of the Public 6 Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 7 U.S.C. 3143(a)) is amended by adding at the end 8 the following: ‘‘A defunding jurisdiction (as defined 9 in section 2 of the Defund Cities that Defund the 10 Police Act of 2023) may not be deemed an eligible 11 recipient under this subsection.’’. 12 (3) SUPPLEMENTARY GRANTS.—Section 205(a) 13 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act 14 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3145(a)) is amended— 15 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 16 the end; 17 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe- 18 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(4) will be carried out in an area that does not 21 contain a defunding jurisdiction (as defined in sec- 22 tion 2 of the Defund Cities that Defund the Police 23 Act of 2023).’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3321.IH H3321 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3321 IH (4) GRANTS FOR TRAINING, RESEARCH, AND 1 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 207 of the Public 2 Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 3 U.S.C. 3147) is amended by adding at the end the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(c) INELIGIBILITY OF DEFUNDING JURISDIC- 6 TIONS.—Grant funds under this section may not be used 7 to provide assistance to a defunding jurisdiction (as de- 8 fined in section 2 of the Defund Cities that Defund the 9 Police Act of 2023).’’. 10 (b) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS.— 11 Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act 12 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) is amended— 13 (1) in section 102(a) (42 U.S.C. 5302(a)), by 14 adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(25) The term ‘defunding jurisdiction’ has the 16 meaning given such term in section 2 of the Defund 17 Cities that Defund the Police Act of 2023.’’; and 18 (2) in section 104 (42 U.S.C. 5304)— 19 (A) subsection (b)— 20 (i) in paragraph (5), by striking 21 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 22 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 23 paragraph (7); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3321.IH H3321 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3321 IH (iii) by inserting after paragraph (5) 1 the following: 2 ‘‘(6) the grantee is not a defunding injection ju- 3 risdiction and will not become a defunding jurisdic- 4 tion during the period for which the grantee receives 5 a grant under this title; and’’; and 6 (B) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(n) PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUALS AGAINST 8 CRIME.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No funds made available to 10 carry out this title may be obligated or expended for 11 any State or unit of general local government that 12 is a defunding jurisdiction. 13 ‘‘(2) RETURNED AMOUNTS.— 14 ‘‘(A) STATE.—If a State is a defunding ju- 15 risdiction during the period for which it receives 16 amounts under this title, the Secretary— 17 ‘‘(i) shall direct the State to imme- 18 diately return to the Secretary any such 19 amounts that the State received for that 20 period; and 21 ‘‘(ii) shall reallocate amounts returned 22 under clause (i) for grants under this title 23 to other States that are not defunding ju- 24 risdictions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3321.IH H3321 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3321 IH ‘‘(B) UNIT OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERN- 1 MENT.—If a unit of general local government is 2 a defunding jurisdiction during the period for 3 which it receives amounts under this title, any 4 such amounts that the unit of general local gov- 5 ernment received for that period— 6 ‘‘(i) in the case of a unit of general 7 local government that is not in a non- 8 entitlement area, shall be returned to the 9 Secretary for grants under this title to 10 States and other units of general local gov- 11 ernment that are not defunding jurisdic- 12 tions; and 13 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a unit of general 14 local government that is in a nonentitle- 15 ment area, shall be returned to the Gov- 16 ernor of the State for grants under this 17 title to other units of general local govern- 18 ment in the State that are not defunding 19 jurisdictions. 20 ‘‘(C) REALLOCATION RULES.—In reallo- 21 cating amounts under subparagraphs (A) and 22 (B), the Secretary shall— 23 ‘‘(i) apply the relevant allocation for- 24 mula under subsection (b) or (d) of section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3321.IH H3321 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3321 IH 106, with all defunding jurisdictions ex- 1 cluded; and 2 ‘‘(ii) shall not be subject to the rules 3 for reallocation under section 106(c).’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3321.IH H3321 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS