[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3584 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3584

 To encourage each State to adopt truth in sentencing laws and to help 
  fund additional spaces in the State correctional programs as needed.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 20, 1993

Mr. Chapman (for himself, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Pete Geren of Texas, 
 Mr. Gekas, and Mr. Brewster) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred jointly to the Committees on the Judiciary and Post Office and 
                             Civil Service

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To encourage each State to adopt truth in sentencing laws and to help 
  fund additional spaces in the State correctional programs as needed.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Truth in Sentencing Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to 
        provide States with assistance in reducing violent crime;
            (2) the responsibility for protecting citizens against most 
        violent crime and for punishing most violent criminal offenders 
        is primarily a matter of State and local governance;
            (3) the incidence of violent crime nationwide has risen 
        dramatically and constitutes a national priority of the highest 
        order; and
            (4) the United States Sentencing Guidelines have proven to 
        be an effective means of achieving, at the Federal level, a 
        more uniform, proportionate, predictable, and appropriately 
        punitive criminal sentencing system by incorporating truth in 
        sentencing provisions which restrict release of a convicted 
        criminal until at least 85 percent of the sentence which has 
        been imposed by a judge or jury has been served.

SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR TRUTH IN SENTENCING.

    (a) Grant Authorization.--The Director of the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance is authorized to provide grants to States to build, expand 
or operate space in correctional facilities in order to implement truth 
in sentencing requirements.
    (b) Eligibility.--In order to be eligible for funding under this 
Act, a State shall have in effect throughout the State truth in 
sentencing requirements which include--
            (1) a provision in its criminal code which restricts 
        parole, good-time credit release, or other forms of early 
        release to require that criminals convicted of crimes of 
        violence, as herein defined, serve at least 85 percent of the 
        sentence imposed by a judge or jury;
            (2) a provision which requires the sentencing authority to 
        allow the defendant's victims or the family of victims the 
        opportunity to be heard regarding the issue of sentencing;
            (3) a provision which allows as a sentencing option a 
        ``life sentence'' without the possibility of parole; and
            (4) a provision which provides that the victim and victim's 
        family is notified whenever such defendant is to be released.
    (c) Exception.--The sentencing requirements under paragraphs (1) 
and (4) of subsection (b) shall apply except that the State may provide 
that the Governor of the State may allow for the release of a prisoner 
after a public hearing in which representatives of the public and the 
prisoner's victims have an opportunity to be heard regarding a proposed 
release.
    (d) Additional Eligibility Provision.--A State shall also be 
eligible for funding under this Act when such State has enacted 
legislation that provides for the State to be in compliance with this 
section not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of such 
legislation.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL FUNDS.

    (a) Distribution of Funds.--Of the total amount of funds 
appropriated under this Act in any fiscal year, there shall be 
allocated to each participating State an amount which bears the same 
ratio to the amount of funds appropriated pursuant to this Act as the 
number of prisoners convicted of violent crimes serving sentences 
during the previous fiscal year in that State bears to the number of 
prisoners convicted of crimes of violence, as herein defined, serving 
sentences during the previous fiscal year in all the participating 
States. (Such numbers of prisoners to be determined by the Bureau of 
Justice Statistics.)
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--In order to build and operate 
the spaces in correctional facilities necessary to implement the 
required truth in sentencing provisions, there are authorized to be 
appropriated--
            (1) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 1994;
            (2) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 1995;
            (3) $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 1996;
            (4) $3,000,000,000 for fiscal year 1997; and
            (5) $4,000,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;
    (c) Limitations on Funds.--
            (1) Nonsupplanting requirement.--Funds made available under 
        this section shall not be used to supplant State funds, but 
        shall be used to increase the amount of funds that would, in 
        the absence of Federal funds, be made available from State 
        sources.
            (2) Administrative costs.--Not more than 3 percent of the 
        funds available under this section may be used for 
        administrative costs.
            (3) Matching funds.--The portion of the costs of a program 
        provided by a grant under this section may not exceed 75 
        percent of the total costs of the program as described in the 
        application.
            (4) Duration of grants.--A grant under this section may be 
        renewed for up to 3 years beyond the initial year of funding if 
        the Director determines that the applicant demonstrates 
        satisfactory progress toward achievement of the objectives set 
        out in an approved application.

SEC. 5. REDUCTION OF FEDERAL FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT POSITIONS.

    (a) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``agency'' 
means an executive agency as defined under section 105 of title 5, 
United States Code, but does not include the General Accounting Office.
    (b) Limitations on Full-Time Equivalent Positions.--The President, 
through the Office of Management and Budget (in consultation with the 
Office of Personnel Management), shall ensure that the total number of 
full-time equivalent positions in all agencies shall not exceed--
            (1) 2,095,182 during fiscal year 1994;
            (2) 2,044,100 during fiscal year 1995;
            (3) 2,003,845 during fiscal year 1996;
            (4) 1,963,593 during fiscal year 1997;
            (5) 1,923,339 during fiscal year 1998; and
            (6) 1,883,086 during fiscal year 1999.
    (c) Monitoring and Notification.--The Office of Management and 
Budget, after consultation with the Office of Personnel Management, 
shall--
            (1) continuously monitor all agencies and make a 
        determination on the first date of each quarter of each 
        applicable fiscal year of whether the requirements under 
        subsection (b) are met, and
            (2) notify the President and the Congress on the first date 
        of each quarter of each applicable fiscal year of any 
        determination that any requirement of subsection (b) is not 
        met.
    (d) Compliance.--If at any time during a fiscal year, the Office of 
Management and Budget notifies the President and the Congress that any 
requirement under subsection (b) is not met, an agency may not hire any 
employee for any position in such agency until the Office of Management 
and Budget notifies the President and the Congress that the total 
number of full-time equivalent positions for all agencies equals or is 
less than the applicable number required under subsection (b).

SEC. 6. DEFINITION; CRIME OF VIOLENCE.

    For purposes of this Act, the term ``crime of violence'' has the 
same meaning given such term in section 16 of title 18, United States 
Code.

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