[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3665 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3665
To establish a grant program to encourage schools to conduct
independent facility security risk assessments and make hard security
improvements, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 10, 2019
Mr. Williams (for himself and Mr. Deutch) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a grant program to encourage schools to conduct
independent facility security risk assessments and make hard security
improvements, and for other purposes.
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 ``School Violence Prevention and
Mitigation Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. SCHOOL SECURITY GRANT.
The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended
by inserting after part BB the following:
``PART CC--RISK ASSESSMENT AND HARD SECURITY GRANT
``SEC. 2901. INDEPENDENT FACILITY SECURITY RISK ASSESSMENTS.
``(a) In General.--Beginning not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of this part, the Director of the Office of Community
Oriented Policing Services (referred to in this part as the `COPS
Director') shall award grants to public schools to have independent
facility security risk assessments performed.
``(b) Application.--
``(1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, a public school shall submit to the COPS Director
an application at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the COPS Director may require, including--
``(A) the size of the school;
``(B) a comprehensive report on the financial state
of the school, including any Federal, State, or local
funds used in the school's budget; and
``(C) a certification to the Attorney General that
the school is unable to cover the cost of an
independent facility security risk assessment without
the grant awarded under this section.
``(2) Priority.--The COPS Director, in awarding a grant
under this section, shall give priority to applications of
public schools that have experienced an event in which an
individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to inflict deadly
harm against multiple individuals.
``(c) Ineligibility.--
``(1) In general.--A public school shall be ineligible to
receive a grant under this section if it--
``(A) received a grant under this section or
section 2902 in the previous 5 fiscal years; or
``(B) receives a grant under section 2902 in the
same fiscal year.
``(2) Exception.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in the
case that a grant recipient experiences an event in which an
individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to inflict deadly
harm against multiple individuals, such grant recipient shall
be eligible to receive an additional grant under this section
or section 2902 in the fiscal year after the date of the event.
``SEC. 2902. HARD SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS.
``(a) In General.--Beginning not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of this part, the COPS Director shall award grants to
public schools for the purpose of making hard security improvements to
schools.
``(b) Application.--
``(1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, a public school shall submit to the COPS Director
an application at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the COPS Director may require, which
application shall include--
``(A) the size of the school;
``(B) a comprehensive report on the financial state
of the school, including any Federal, State, or local
funds used in the school's budget;
``(C) a comprehensive description of previous
improvements made to the school meant to address school
security related vulnerabilities;
``(D) the specific products and services that will
be purchased with the grant funds and an estimate of
such costs and services; and
``(E) the results of the school's most recent
independent facility security risk assessment.
``(2) Priority.--The COPS Director, in awarding a grant
under this section, shall give priority to applications of
schools that--
``(A) have experienced an event in which an
individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to inflict
deadly harm against multiple individuals; or
``(B) have a higher tier of vulnerability score
according to a school's most recent independent
facility security risk assessment.
``(c) Ineligibility.--
``(1) In general.--A public school shall be ineligible to
receive a grant under this section if--
``(A) a public school received a grant under this
section in the previous 5 fiscal years; or
``(B) a public school receives a grant under
section 2901 in the same fiscal year.
``(2) Exception.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in the
case that a grant recipient experiences an event in which an
individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to inflict deadly
harm against multiple individuals, such grant recipient shall
be eligible to receive an additional grant under this section
or section 2901 in any fiscal year after the date on which the
event occurred.
``(d) Matching Funds.--
``(1) In general.--The Federal share of a grant received
under this part may not exceed 50 percent of the hard security
improvement costs.
``(2) Waiver.--The COPS Director may waive in whole or in
part, the matching requirement under paragraph (1) in the case
that the recipient has a financial need for such waiver.
``(e) Grant Conditions.--A recipient of a grant under this section
shall--
``(1) use the grant to make hard security improvements
identified as necessary by the most recent independent facility
security risk assessment;
``(2) in the case that a panic alarm is not installed or
operable according to the independent facility risk assessment,
use the grant for the installation of at least 1 panic alarm
for use in a school security emergency, including a non-fire
evacuation, lockdown, or active shooter situation, which
alarm--
``(A) shall be directly linked to the local law
enforcement agency that is closest in proximity to the
grant recipient;
``(B) shall immediately transmit a signal or
message to such law enforcement agency upon activation;
and
``(C) shall not be audible within the public school
building;
``(3) before entering into a contract with a vendor, obtain
written confirmation from the law enforcement agency or entity
that conducted the independent facility security risk
assessment that the improvement will mitigate a vulnerability
identified in the independent facility security risk
assessment; and
``(4) ensure that hard security improvements comply with
local building code requirements and standards.
``SEC. 2903. INFORMATION DISSEMINATION; REPORTS.
``(a) Information Dissemination.--
``(1) In general.--The COPS Director shall disseminate to
each local educational agency in the United States information
about the availability of grants under sections 2901 and 2902.
``(2) Event notice.--Not later than 30 days after an event
in which an individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to
inflict deadly harm against multiple individuals occurs in a
public school, the Director shall contact verbally the head of
such public school to provide notice of priority eligibility
for grants under sections 2901 and 2902 and to offer technical
assistance in navigating the application process.
``(b) Grant Recipient Report.--Not later than 1 year after
receiving a grant under section 2901 or 2902, the grant recipient shall
submit to the COPS Director a copy of the results of each independent
facility security risk assessment and a list of each hard improvement
for which the grant funds were used by the recipient.
``(c) COPS Director Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date
of enactment of this part, and annually thereafter, the COPS Director
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on
the national state of physical security in schools, which shall include
the contents of any information submitted by a grant recipient under
subsection (b).
``SEC. 2904. TIERS OF VULNERABILITY.
``(a) In General.--The COPS Director, in consultation with school
safety experts, including school resource officers, shall issue
guidelines implementing this part. Such guidelines shall include a 4-
tier scale for assessing security vulnerabilities of schools in
independent facility security risk assessments. In the 4-tier scale
developed under this subsection, tier 4 shall indicate the highest
level of vulnerability.
``(b) Factors.--The factors to be considered in determining a
school facility's level of vulnerability include--
``(1) the amount of violence occurring on campus involving
deadly weapons, including knives longer than 3 inches,
firearms, and explosives;
``(2) the number of trespassers who have gained access to
campus in the last 3 years;
``(3) the ability of a school to carry out an active
shooter drill; and
``(4) the state of existing school security related
infrastructure.
``SEC. 2905. DEFINITIONS.
``In this part:
``(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
`appropriate congressional committees' means the Committee on
the Judiciary and the Committee on Education and Labor of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary and
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the
Senate.
``(2) Hard security improvements.--The term `hard security
improvements' means improvements to the infrastructure of
school property perimeter, parking lot perimeter, building
perimeter, entrance and exit points of the school building,
video monitoring equipment, alert notification equipment, the
interior and perimeter of the classroom, and any other physical
improvements related to camera systems and related hardware,
alarm and notification technology, and visitor management
technologies deemed eligible for improvement by the COPS
Director.
``(3) Independent facility security risk assessment.--The
term `independent facility security risk assessment' means an
assessment that--
``(A) identifies active shooter and related
security vulnerabilities of public schools, considering
security factors, including the strength and
maintenance levels of the property perimeter, parking
lot perimeter, building perimeter, and classroom and
interior perimeter, and the presence of a silent
security system signal generated by the manual
activation of a device intended to signal a life-
threatening or emergency situation requiring a response
from law enforcement;
``(B) is conducted by--
``(i) an individual or entity qualified
under the Department of Homeland Security
Protective Security Advisor Program; or
``(ii) a State or Federal law enforcement
agency; and
``(C) categorizes the security needs of a facility
using the 4 tiers developed by the COPS Director
pursuant to section 2904.
``(4) Public school.--The term `public school' means a
public elementary school or a public secondary school,
including an elementary school or a secondary school that is
predominately funded by an Indian tribal government.
``SEC. 2906. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part
$200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2030, of which--
``(1) $75,000,000 shall be made available for grants for
independent facility security risk assessment; and
``(2) $125,000,000 shall be made available for grants for
hard security improvements.''.
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