[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 128 (Monday, August 1, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3810-S3811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 5188. Mr. SCHUMER (for Ms. Cortez Masto) proposed an amendment to
the bill S. 3860, to establish a grant program to provide assistance to
local governments with fewer than 200 law enforcement officers, and for
other purposes; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Invest to Protect Act of
2022''.
SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) De-escalation training.--The term ``de-escalation
training'' means training relating to taking action or
communicating verbally or non-verbally during a potential
force encounter in an attempt to stabilize the situation and
reduce the immediacy of the threat so that more time,
options, and resources can be called upon to resolve the
situation without the use of force or with a reduction in the
force necessary.
(2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Office.
(3) Eligible local government.--The term ``eligible local
government'' means--
(A) a county, municipality, town, township, village,
parish, borough, or other unit of general government below
the State level that employs fewer than 200 law enforcement
officers; and
(B) a Tribal government that employs fewer than 200 law
enforcement officers.
(4) Law enforcement officer.--The term ``law enforcement
officer'' has the meaning given the term ``career law
enforcement officer'' in section 1709 of title I the Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10389).
(5) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of
Community Oriented Policing Services of the Department of
Justice.
(b) Establishment.--There is established within the Office
a grant program to--
(1) provide training and access to mental health resources
to local law enforcement officers; and
(2) improve the recruitment and retention of local law
enforcement officers.
(c) Authority.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director shall award grants to
eligible local governments as a part of the grant program
established under subsection (b).
(d) Applications.--
(1) Barriers.--The Attorney General shall determine what
barriers exist to establishing a streamlined application
process for grants under this section.
(2) Report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to
Congress a report that includes a plan to execute a
streamlined application process for grants under this section
under which an eligible local government seeking a grant
under this section can reasonably complete the application in
not more than 2 hours.
(B) Contents of plan.--The plan required under subparagraph
(A) may include a plan for--
(i) proactively providing eligible local governments
seeking a grant under this section with information on the
data such eligible local governments will need to prepare
before beginning the grant application; and
(ii) ensuring technical assistance is available for
eligible local governments seeking a grant under this section
before and during the grant application process, including
through dedicated liaisons within the Office.
(3) Applications.--In selecting eligible local governments
to receive grants under this section, the Director shall use
the streamlined application process described in paragraph
(2)(A).
(e) Eligible Activities.--An eligible local government that
receives a grant under this section may use amounts from the
grant only for--
(1) de-escalation training for law enforcement officers;
(2) victim-centered training for law enforcement officers
in handling situations of domestic violence;
(3) evidence-based law enforcement safety training,
including training for--
(A) active shooter situations;
(B) the safe handling of illicit drugs and precursor
chemicals;
(C) rescue situations;
(D) high speed or pursuit driving;
(E) recognizing and countering ambush attacks;
(F) contact with individuals with mental health needs;
(G) contact with individuals with substance use disorders;
(H) contact with veterans;
(I) contact with individuals with disabilities;
(J) contact with vulnerable youth;
(K) contact with individuals who are victims of domestic
violence, sexual assault, or trafficking; or
(L) contact with individuals experiencing homelessness or
living in poverty;
(4) the offsetting of overtime costs associated with
scheduling issues relating to the participation of a law
enforcement officer in the training described in paragraphs
(1) through (3);
(5) a signing bonus for a law enforcement officer in an
amount determined by the eligible local government;
(6) a retention bonus for a law enforcement officer--
(A) in an amount determined by the eligible local
government that does not exceed 20 percent of the salary of
the law enforcement officer; and
(B) who--
(i) has been employed at the law enforcement agency for not
fewer than 5 years; and
(ii) has not been found by an internal investigation to
have engaged in serious misconduct;
(7) a stipend for the graduate education of law enforcement
officers in the area of mental health, public health, or
social work, which shall not exceed the lesser of--
(A) $10,000; or
(B) the amount the law enforcement officer pays towards
such graduate education; and
(8) providing access to patient-centered behavioral health
services for law enforcement officers, which may include
resources for risk assessments, evidence-based, trauma-
informed care to treat post-traumatic stress disorder or
acute stress disorder, peer support and counselor services
and family supports, and the promotion of improved access to
high quality mental health care through telehealth.
(f) Disclosure of Officer Recruitment and Retention
Bonuses.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date on
which an eligible local government that receives a grant
under this section awards a signing or retention bonus
described in paragraph (5) or (6) of subsection (e), the
eligible local government shall disclose to the Director and
make publicly available on a website of the eligible local
government the amount of such bonus.
(2) Report.--The Attorney General shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees an annual report that
includes each signing or retention bonus disclosed under
paragraph (1) during the preceding year.
[[Page S3811]]
(g) Grant Accountability.--All grants awarded by the
Director under this section shall be subject to the following
accountability provisions:
(1) Audit requirement.--
(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term ``unresolved
audit finding'' means a finding in the final audit report of
the Inspector General of the Department of Justice that the
audited grantee has used grant funds for an unauthorized
expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed
or resolved within 12 months from the date when the final
audit report is issued.
(B) Audits.--Beginning in the first fiscal year beginning
after the date of enactment of this subsection, and in each
fiscal year thereafter, the Inspector General of the
Department of Justice shall conduct audits of recipients of
grants under this section to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse
of funds by grantees. The Inspector General of the Department
of Justice shall determine the appropriate number of grantees
to be audited each year.
(C) Mandatory exclusion.--A recipient of grant funds under
this section that is found to have an unresolved audit
finding shall not be eligible to receive grant funds under
this section during the first 2 fiscal years beginning after
the end of the 12-month period described in subparagraph (A).
(D) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the
Director shall give priority to eligible local governments
that did not have an unresolved audit finding during the 3
fiscal years before submitting an application for a grant
under this section.
(E) Reimbursement.--If an eligible local government is
awarded grant funds under this section during the 2-fiscal-
year period during which the eligible local government is
barred from receiving grants under subparagraph (C), the
Attorney General shall--
(i) deposit an amount equal to the amount of the grant
funds that were improperly awarded to the grantee into the
General Fund of the Treasury; and
(ii) seek to recoup the costs of the repayment to the fund
from the grant recipient that was erroneously awarded grant
funds.
(2) Annual certification.--Beginning in the fiscal year
during which audits commence under paragraph (1)(B), the
Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on the
Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate
and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives an annual
certification--
(A) indicating whether--
(i) all audits issued by the Office of the Inspector
General of the Department of Justice under paragraph (1) have
been completed and reviewed by the appropriate Assistant
Attorney General or Director;
(ii) all mandatory exclusions required under paragraph
(1)(C) have been issued; and
(iii) all reimbursements required under paragraph (1)(E)
have been made; and
(B) that includes a list of any grant recipients excluded
under paragraph (1) from the previous year.
(h) Preventing Duplicative Grants.--
(1) In general.--Before the Director awards a grant to an
eligible local government under this section, the Attorney
General shall compare potential grant awards with other
grants awarded by the Attorney General to determine if grant
awards are or have been awarded for a similar purpose.
(2) Report.--If the Attorney General awards grants to the
same applicant for a similar purpose, the Attorney General
shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate
and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives a report that includes--
(A) a list of all such grants awarded, including the total
dollar amount of any such grants awarded; and
(B) the reason the Attorney General awarded multiple grants
to the same applicant for a similar purpose.
(i) Funding.--In carrying out this section, the Director--
(1) shall use amounts otherwise made available to the
Office; and
(2) may use not more than $50,000,000 of such amounts for
each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027.
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