David Dorn Thin Blue Line Retention Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3509 To augment 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 18, 2023 Mr. LAHOOD (for himself and Mr. BOST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To augment 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 Thin Blue 4 Line Retention Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FUNDING REFORM. 6 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Part W of title I of the Omni- 7 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 8 U.S.C. 10491 et seq.) is amended— 9 (1) in section 2301 (34 U.S.C. 10491)— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3509.IH H3509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3509 IH (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 1 the end; 2 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe- 3 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(7) provide programs to support the hiring 6 and retention of law enforcement personnel and aug- 7 ment the salaries of law enforcement personnel em- 8 ployed by cooperating State and local law enforce- 9 ment agencies or organizations.’’; 10 (2) in section 2302 (34 U.S.C. 10492), by in- 11 serting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, 12 or in the case of State and local law enforcement 13 agencies, to support the hiring and retention of law 14 enforcement personnel and augment wages paid to 15 law enforcement personnel’’; 16 (3) in section 2303 (34 U.S.C. 10493)— 17 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting before 18 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, or to 19 support the hiring and retention of law enforce- 20 ment personnel and to augment wages paid to 21 law enforcement personnel’’; 22 (B) in subsection (b), in the matter pre- 23 ceding paragraph (1), by inserting before the 24 colon the following: ‘‘, unless supporting the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3509.IH H3509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3509 IH hiring and retention of law enforcement per- 1 sonnel or augmenting wages in accordance with 2 subsection (d)’’; and 3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(d) HIRING AND RETENTION OF LAW ENFORCE- 5 MENT PERSONNEL.—A law enforcement agency or organi- 6 zation that receives funds under this part may use the 7 funds for activities and programs to hire and pay addi- 8 tional law enforcement personnel or to retain existing per- 9 sonnel. 10 ‘‘(e) AUGMENTATION OF WAGES.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A law enforcement agency 12 or organization that receives funds under this part 13 may use the funds to augment the salaries of law 14 enforcement personnel, up to an amount equal to 15 110 percent of the State real median household in- 16 come of the preceding year, as estimated by the 17 United States Census Bureau. 18 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—A law enforcement agen- 19 cy or organization shall not be eligible to receive 20 funds under this part for the purpose described in 21 paragraph (1) if the agency or organization reduced 22 the salaries of law enforcement personnel during the 23 calendar year immediately preceding the application 24 for funds for the sole purpose of dismantling law en- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3509.IH H3509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3509 IH forcement agencies or organizations pursuant to a 1 State or local policy. 2 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 3 paragraph (2) shall be construed to affect the eligi- 4 bility of any law enforcement agency or organization 5 that reduces the salaries of law enforcement per- 6 sonnel due to budget constraints that are imple- 7 mented as a result of the COVID–19 pandemic.’’; 8 (4) in section 2304(1) (34 U.S.C. 10494(1)), by 9 inserting ‘‘, unless Federal funds are sought for the 10 purpose of personnel hiring, personnel retention, or 11 wage augmentation,’’ after ‘‘certify’’; and 12 (5) in section 2305 (34 U.S.C. 10495(b))— 13 (A) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General 14 may award’’ and inserting the following: 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 16 graph (2), the Attorney General may award’’; and 17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 19 apply to grants sought for the purpose of personnel 20 hiring, personnel retention, or wage augmentation.’’. 21 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 22 1001(21) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 23 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(21)) is amended 24 by striking ‘‘$7,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3509.IH H3509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3509 IH through 2024.’’ and inserting ‘‘$15,000,000,000 for each 1 of fiscal years 2024 through 2028, of which any funds 2 appropriated in excess of $7,500,000 shall be used for the 3 hiring and retention of law enforcement officers and the 4 augmentation of wages as described in such part.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3509.IH H3509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB