119-s768

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 768 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 768

 To establish a grant program to provide assistance to local law 
 enforcement agencies, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 February 27, 2025

 Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
 Blumenthal, Mr. Warnock, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Coons, Ms. Collins, Mr. 
 Kelly, Mr. Young, and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To establish a grant program to provide assistance to local law 
 enforcement agencies, 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 ``Invest to Protect Act of 2025''.

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 175 law enforcement officers; and
        (B) a Tribal government that employs fewer than 175 
 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 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 for--
        (A) active shooter situations;
        (B) the safe handling of illicit drugs and 
 precursor chemicals;
            (C) rescue situations;
            (D) recognizing and countering ambush attacks; or
        (E) response to calls for service involving--
            (i) persons with mental health needs;
            (ii) persons with substance use disorders;
            (iii) veterans;
            (iv) persons with disabilities;
            (v) vulnerable youth;
            (vi) persons who are victims of domestic 
 violence, sexual assault, or trafficking; or
            (vii) persons 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) ,

    (9) , and

    (10) ;

    (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;
            (ii) has not been found by an internal 
 investigation to have engaged in serious 
 misconduct; and
            (iii) commits to remain employed by the law 
 enforcement agency for not less than 3 years 
 after the date of receipt of the bonus;

    (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;

    (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;

    (9) the implementation of evidence-based best practices and 
 training on the use of lethal and nonlethal force;

    (10) the implementation of evidence-based best practices 
 and training on the duty of care and the duty to intervene; and

    (11) data collection for police practices relating to 
 officer and community safety.

    (f) Reporting Requirements for Grant Recipients.--

    (1) In general.--The Director shall establish reasonable 
 reporting requirements specifically relating to a grant awarded 
 under this section for eligible local governments that receive 
 such a grant in order to assist with the evaluation by the 
 Office of the program established under this section.

    (2) Considerations.--In establishing requirements under 
 paragraph

    (1) , the Director shall consider the capacity of law 
 enforcement agencies with fewer than 175 officers to collect 
 and report information.

    (g) 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 the 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.

    (h) Grant Accountability.--

    (1) In general.--All grants awarded by the Director under 
 this section shall be subject to the accountability provisions 
 described in this subsection.

    (2) 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 
 3 fiscal years beginning after the end of the 12-month 
 period described in subparagraph
        (A) .
            (D) Reimbursement.--If an eligible local government 
 is awarded grant funds under this section during the 3-
 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.

    (3) Annual certification.--Beginning in the fiscal year 
 during which audits commence under paragraph

    (2)
        (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

    (2) have been completed and 
 reviewed by the appropriate Assistant Attorney 
 General or Director;
            (ii) all mandatory exclusions required 
 under paragraph

    (2)
            (C) have been issued; and
            (iii) all reimbursements required under 
 paragraph

    (2)
            (D) have been made; and
        (B) that includes a list of any grant recipients 
 excluded under paragraph

    (2) from the previous year.
            (i) Program Evaluation.--Not less frequently than annually, the 
Attorney General shall analyze the information provided by eligible 
local governments pursuant to the reporting requirements established 
under subsection

    (f)

    (1) to evaluate the efficacy of programs funded by 
the grant program under this section.

    (j) 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, whether through the grant 
 program under this section or another grant program 
 administered by the Department of Justice, 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.

    (k) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section not more than $50,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
 <all>