Federal Perspective
Congress is moving into the final year end push to wrap up unfinished business
By Dennis McGrann, POAM Lobbyist, Washington, D.C.
Congress is moving into the final year end push to wrap up unfinished business and members have been pushing to complete the annual appropriations process while debating a number of contentious pieces of legislation including Iraq war funding, the children's health care proposals, and immigration reform. On July 12th, 2007, the House approved the Commerce-Justice-Science (C-J-S) appropriations bill (H.R. 3093) by a vote of 281-142; the Senate approved its own version of the bill (S. 1745) on October 16th, 2007 by a vote of 75-19 with a big boost for local law enforcement. The House version contains $55.2 billion with $23.9 billion for the Justice Department of that total, $6.5 billion is allocated for the FBI and $5.3 billion for the federal prison system. The Justice Department funding reflects a 4.3% increase from fiscal 2007 and is 2.5% more than the administration requested. The Senate version of the bill contains $56 billion with $24.3 billion for the Justice Department, which is a 6.1% increase from fiscal 2007 and is 4.2% more than the administration requested. It also provides $6.6 billion for the FBI and $5.6 billion for the federal prison system. No date has been set for conference committee meetings on the C-J-S bill at this time.
One of the remaining issues surrounding the CJS funding bill is the increase in spending on the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. The House version contains $183 million in increased funding for a total of $725 million, and the Senate version increases funding by $111.64 million to a total of $660 million. The Administration asked that the program's total funding be cut to $32.3 million, which is $627.7 million lower than the Senate bill and $692.7 million lower than the House bill. The majority of the funding gap between the Senate and House versions was closed just before passage of the bill when the Senate passed an amendment, sponsored by Senator Joe Biden (D-Del), which added $110 million to the program. Prior to the Senate action, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chair of the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, held a round table discussion on crime with mayors from around the country. In a report to the House Judiciary Committee, the Government Accountability Office found that COPS funds contributed to a 1.3% decline in the overall crime rate and a 2.5% decline in the violent crime rate from the 1993 levels.
In another significant win for the law enforcement community, the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Programs (Byrne-JAG) is again funded through the CJS bill in both the House and the Senate. The Senate's version, which was passed on a vote of 75-19 on October 16th, 2007, contains $660 million for the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants and $190 million for Byrne Discretionary Grants. The House's version of the bill, passed on July 12th, 2007 by a vote of 281-142, contains $600 million for the Justice Assistance Grants and $124 million for the Discretionary Grants. Both houses represent an increase over the amount requested by President Bush who proposed cutting total funding to the Byrne, COPS and Juvenile Justice programs funded through the CJS bill by 56 percent--from $2.5 billion to $1.1 billion. The Government Accountability Office estimate that for every 1% increase in the number of sworn law enforcement officers, the violent crime rate decreases by 0.4 percent.
Additionally, there is strong bipartisan support for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (S. 231). The program supports state and local law enforcement efforts by giving grants to drug task forces, community crime-prevention, substance-abuse treatment programs, and prosecution initiatives. The Senate passed S. 231 by voice vote May 24th, 2007 which reauthorizes the criminal justice grant program at nearly $1.1 billion annually through the fiscal year 2012. A $1.1 billion annual budget is a funding increase of $268 million for fiscal 2008 and an increase of $350 million for fiscal 2009. Current authorization only runs through fiscal 2009. Congressman Hank Johnson, Jr. (D-GA) introduced a companion measure (H.R. 3546) in the House on September 17th, 2007 that was then referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
On October 4th, 2007 Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) introduced the Methamphetamine Kingpin Elimination Act of 2007 (S. 2137). The bill eases the requirements for classifying a methamphetamine operation as a "continuing criminal enterprise, " and increases the availability of funds for methamphetamine inter-organizational task forces. The bill has been read twice and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
On October 1st, 2007 Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) introduced the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007 (S. 2123), co-sponsored by Senator Debbie Stabenow, "to provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by the states or their political subdivisions. " The bill would greatly enhance the collective bargaining rights of all law enforcement officers. A similar bill (H.R. 980) sponsored by Congressman Dale Kildee, co-sponsored by Congressmen John Conyers, Dave Camp, John Dingell, Peter Hoekstra, Thaddeus McCotter, Mike Rogers, Fred Upton, and Sandy Levin, and by Congresswoman Carolyn "Cheeks " Kilpatrick, passed in the House on July 17th.
On September 21st, 2007 the Senate passed the Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007 (S. 456), introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), that would increase and enhance law enforcement resources committed to investigation and prosecution of violent gangs. It would also enhance criminal penalties for violent crimes, and expand and improve gang prevention programs. The bill has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Health Families and Communities.
The Washington, DC office of POAM will be closely following the appropriations process and other legislation that is pertinent to the police officers of Michigan. If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us at (202) 544-9840.