[House Report 112-636]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
112th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 112-636
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EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION
ACT OF 2012
_______
July 31, 2012.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Smith of Texas, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 6062]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 6062) to reauthorize the Edward Byrne Memorial
Justice Assistance Grant Program through fiscal year 2017,
having considered the same, report favorably thereon without
amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
Hearings......................................................... 3
Committee Consideration.......................................... 3
Committee Votes.................................................. 3
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 5
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................ 5
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 5
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 7
Advisory on Earmarks............................................. 7
Section-by-Section Analysis...................................... 7
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 7
Purpose and Summary
H.R. 6062 reauthorizes the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice
Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program at $800 million per year
for fiscal years 2013 through 2017.
Background and Need for the Legislation
The Byrne JAG program was created by the Violence Against
Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005
(P.L. 109-162), which combined two existing programs--the
Edward Byrne Memorial Formula Grant and the Local Law
Enforcement Block Grant--into a single criminal justice grant
program to the states and local governments. Byrne JAG has
seven broad program purposes: law enforcement programs;
prosecution and court programs; prevention and education
programs; corrections and community corrections programs; drug
treatment and enforcement programs; planning, evaluation, and
technology improvement programs; and crime victim and witness
programs (other than compensation).\1\ These program areas are
broadly written with the intent of providing the states and
localities with a large amount of flexibility to determine how
the grant money is spent.\2\
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\1\42 U.S.C. Sec. 3751(a).
\2\Byrne JAG funds can be spent in many different ways to address
evolving criminal justice issues and technologies. For example, these
funds can be spent to investigate and prosecute cold cases based on the
recent advancements in DNA technology.
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The Byrne JAG program is administered by the Justice
Department's Office of Justice Programs, and provides Federal
grant funds to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, America Samoa, and the Northern
Mariana Islands. Byrne JAG provides funding to states through a
formula based on each state's population and crime rate.\3\
Each state is statutorily authorized to receive a minimum
amount of funding, set at 0.25 percent of the total annual
funding.\4\ Forty percent of a state's allocation is directly
awarded to units of local government.\5\ These funds are
distributed based on the localities' relative portion of their
state's violent crime, as reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime
Report.
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\3\The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and
Guam are all treated as states under Byrne JAG. Current law, however,
mandates that the Northern Marianas Islands and American Samoa be
treated collectively as one state for purposes of the formula, with the
Northern Marianas Islands receiving 33 percent and American Samoa
receiving 67 percent of this amount.
\4\42 U.S.C. Sec. 3755(a)(1-2).
\5\42 U.S.C. Sec. 3755(b).
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The remaining funds that not awarded directly to units of
local government are administered by the state, and must be
distributed to state police departments that provide criminal
justice services to units of local government. Each state is
also required to ``pass through'' an additional percentage of
the funds directly awarded to the state. The pass-through
percentage, often referred to as the ``variable pass through,''
is calculated as the ratio of the total amount of expenditures
on criminal justice by the state itself for the most recent
fiscal year as compared to the total amount of expenditures on
criminal justice by both the state and all units of local
government.\6\
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\6\42 U.S.C. Sec. 3755(c).
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Byrne JAG is authorized through the end of fiscal year 2012
at $1.095 billion a year. The program was appropriated at
approximately $430 million for fiscal year 2011 and
approximately $470 million for fiscal year 2012, although $100
million of the 2012 funds were a one-time set aside for
expenses related to the presidential nomination conventions.
Hearings
The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R.
6062. An oversight hearing was held on the Department of
Justice's Office of Justice Programs, which administers the
Byrne JAG program.
Committee Consideration
On July 18, 2012, the Committee met in open session and
ordered the bill H.R. 6062 favorably reported without
amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present.
Committee Votes
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
following rollcall votes occurred during the Committee's
consideration of H.R. 6062.
1. An amendment offered by Mr. Nadler to incentive
jurisdictions that receive money under the Byrne JAG program to
use Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner nurses, test rape kits within
180 days of a request, and create an online database of rape
kit evidence. Defeated 6-10.
ROLLCALL NO. 1
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Ayes Nays Present
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Mr. Smith, Chairman.......................... X
Mr. Sensenbrenner, Jr........................
Mr. Coble.................................... X
Mr. Gallegly.................................
Mr. Goodlatte................................
Mr. Lungren..................................
Mr. Chabot...................................
Mr. Issa.....................................
Mr. Pence.................................... X
Mr. Forbes...................................
Mr. King.....................................
Mr. Franks................................... X
Mr. Gohmert..................................
Mr. Jordan................................... X
Mr. Poe...................................... X
Mr. Chaffetz.................................
Mr. Griffin.................................. X
Mr. Marino................................... X
Mr. Gowdy.................................... X
Mr. Ross.....................................
Ms. Adams.................................... X
Mr. Quayle...................................
Mr. Amodei...................................
Mr. Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member.............
Mr. Berman...................................
Mr. Nadler................................... X
Mr. Scott.................................... X
Mr. Watt..................................... X
Ms. Lofgren..................................
Ms. Jackson Lee..............................
Ms. Waters...................................
Mr. Cohen....................................
Mr. Johnson, Jr.............................. X
Mr. Pierluisi................................ X
Mr. Quigley..................................
Ms. Chu...................................... X
Mr. Deutch...................................
Ms. Sanchez..................................
Mr. Polis....................................
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Total.................................... 6 10
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2. An amendment offered by Mr. Johnson to increase the
authorization level to $1.095 billion per year. Defeated 7-13.
ROLLCALL NO. 2
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Ayes Nays Present
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Mr. Smith, Chairman.......................... X
Mr. Sensenbrenner, Jr........................
Mr. Coble.................................... X
Mr. Gallegly.................................
Mr. Goodlatte................................
Mr. Lungren.................................. X
Mr. Chabot...................................
Mr. Issa.....................................
Mr. Pence.................................... X
Mr. Forbes...................................
Mr. King..................................... X
Mr. Franks................................... X
Mr. Gohmert..................................
Mr. Jordan................................... X
Mr. Poe...................................... X
Mr. Chaffetz.................................
Mr. Griffin.................................. X
Mr. Marino................................... X
Mr. Gowdy.................................... X
Mr. Ross..................................... X
Ms. Adams.................................... X
Mr. Quayle...................................
Mr. Amodei...................................
Mr. Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member.............
Mr. Berman...................................
Mr. Nadler................................... X
Mr. Scott.................................... X
Mr. Watt..................................... X
Ms. Lofgren..................................
Ms. Jackson Lee..............................
Ms. Waters...................................
Mr. Cohen....................................
Mr. Johnson, Jr.............................. X
Mr. Pierluisi................................ X
Mr. Quigley..................................
Ms. Chu...................................... X
Mr. Deutch...................................
Ms. Sanchez.................................. X
Mr. Polis....................................
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Total.................................... 7 13
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Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the
descriptive portions of this report.
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures
Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax
expenditures.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with
respect to the bill, H.R. 6062, the following estimate and
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 25, 2012.
Hon. Lamar Smith, Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 6062, the ``Edward
Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program Reauthorization
Act of 2012.''
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark
Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf,
Director.
Enclosure
cc:
Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member
H.R. 6062--Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program
Reauthorization Act of 2012.
As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary
on July 18, 2012.
SUMMARY
H.R. 6062 would authorize the appropriation of $800 million
annually over the 2013-2017 period for the Edward Byrne
Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program in the Department of
Justice. (In 2012, the Congress appropriated $470 million for
such grants, which support criminal justice systems at the
State, local, and tribal level.)
Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO
estimates that implementing H.R. 6062 would cost about $2.7
billion over the 2013-2017 period and $1.3 billion in
subsequent years. Pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply to this
legislation because it would not affect direct spending or
revenues.
H.R. 6062 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
ESTIMATED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 6062 is shown in the
following table. CBO assumes that the authorized amounts will
be appropriated near the start of each fiscal year and that
outlays will follow the historical rate of spending for these
activities. The costs of this legislation fall within budget
function 750 (administration of justice).
By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars
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2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2013-2017
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CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Authorization Level 800 800 800 800 800 4,000
Estimated Outlays 176 416 576 696 800 2,664
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PAY-AS-YOU-GO CONSIDERATIONS:
None.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND PRIVATE-SECTOR IMPACT
H.R. 6062 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in UMRA. Assuming appropriation of the
authorized amounts, State, local, and tribal governments would
receive $4 billion for law enforcement programs. Any costs to
those governments would be incurred voluntarily as a condition
of receiving Federal assistance.
ESTIMATE PREPARED BY:
Federal Costs: Mark Grabowicz
Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Melissa Merrell
Impact on the Private Sector: Paige Piper/Bach
ESTIMATE APPROVED BY:
Theresa Gullo
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis
Performance Goals and Objectives
The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R.
6062 reauthorizes the Byrne JAG program at $800 million a year
for 5 years.
Advisory on Earmarks
In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, H.R. 6062 does not contain any
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of Rule XXI.
Section-by-Section Analysis
The following discussion describes the bill as reported by
the Committee.
Sec. 1. Short title. This section cites the short title of
the bill as the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant
Program Reauthorization Act of 2012.
Section 2. Reauthorization of Byrne JAG Grants. This
section reauthorizes the Byrne JAG program at $800 million a
year for fiscal years 2013-2017.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italics and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
OMNIBUS CRIME CONTROL AND SAFE STREETS ACT OF 1968
* * * * * * *
TITLE I--JUSTICE SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT
* * * * * * *
Part E--Bureau of Justice Assistance Grant Programs
Subpart 1--Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program
* * * * * * *
SEC. 508. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
subpart $1,095,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006
through 2012, and $800,000,000 for each of the fiscal years
2013 through 2017.
* * * * * * *