[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1955 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1955

To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to make grants to first 
    responder agencies that have employees in the National Guard or 
                        Reserves on active duty.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 2, 2007

  Mr. Conrad (for himself and Ms. Stabenow) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to make grants to first 
    responder agencies that have employees in the National Guard or 
                        Reserves on active duty.

    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 ``Reinforce First Responders and 
Emergency Employees Deployed Overseas in the Military Act of 2007'' or 
the ``Reinforce FREEDOM Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to ensure that first responder agencies 
are not left ill-prepared to respond to emergencies and disasters due 
to the activation of the employees of such agencies who are members of 
the National Guard or Reserves.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``first responder agency'' means--
                    (A) a law enforcement or fire agency of a State or 
                local government; or
                    (B) a publically or privately operated ambulance 
                service;
            (2) the terms ``local government'' and ``State'' have the 
        meanings given those terms in section 2 of the Homeland 
        Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101);
            (3) the term ``reserve component'' means a reserve 
        component of the Armed Forces described in section 10101 of 
        title 10, United States Code; and
            (4) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland 
        Security.

SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may make a grant to a first 
responder agency an employee of which (or, in the case of a first 
responder agency that has a primarily volunteer workforce, a 
significant portion (as determined by the Secretary) of the staff of 
which) is--
            (1) a member of a reserve component; and
            (2) on active duty or has received orders to begin active 
        duty.
    (b) Application.--A first responder agency desiring a grant under 
this section shall submit an application at such time, in such manner, 
and accompanied by such information as the Secretary shall by 
regulation establish to ensure that the first responder agency meets 
the requirements for a grant under this section.
    (c) Award of Grants.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to the availability of 
        appropriations, the Secretary shall award a grant directly to a 
        first responder agency that submits an application satisfying 
        the requirements established under subsection (b).
            (2) Preference.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
        Secretary shall give preference to any first responder agency 
        for which a high percentage (as determined by the Secretary) of 
        the workforce of that first responder agency is composed of 
        employees or volunteers described in subsection (a).
    (d) Use of Funds.--A grant under this section may be used--
            (1) for the salary of an individual hired to replace an 
        employee or volunteer described in subsection (a), including as 
        reimbursement for such salary paid before the date the grant 
        was awarded under this section;
            (2) for overtime expenses for an employee performing tasks 
        that would have been performed by an employee or volunteer 
        described in subsection (a); and
            (3) for the cost of equipment, maintenance, or other 
        activities--
                    (A) that a first responder agency was unable to 
                acquire or perform because of the costs of replacing an 
                employee or volunteer described in subsection (a); or
                    (B) the need for which was caused by the deployment 
                of such an employee or volunteer.
    (e) Amount.--A grant under this section to a first responder agency 
shall be--
            (1) in the case of such an agency that employs an employee 
        described in subsection (a), $15,000 for each 3-month period 
        that each full-time employee of that first responder agency is 
        on active duty, determined on a full-time equivalency basis; 
        and
            (2) in the case of a first responder agency that has a 
        primarily volunteer workforce, for each 3-month period that a 
        significant portion, as determined by the Secretary, of the 
        workforce of that first responder agency is on active duty, not 
        more than $15,000.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2010 to 
carry out this section.
                                 <all>