NAPO CONTINUES
FIGHT TO RESTORE VITAL BYRNE-JAG FUNDING
Despite Congress’s failure to provide sufficient funding for
the Byrne-JAG program for fiscal 2008, the House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
marked up a bill that will reauthorize the Byrne-JAG
program at $1.1 billion annually through fiscal 2012. On May 22, the Subcommittee approved H.R. 3546,
the House companion bill to S. 231, which the Senate
passed in May of last year.
By reauthorizing the program, Congress is rejecting the administration’s
attempt to zero out the Byrne-JAG grants.
While NAPO appreciates lawmakers’ endorsement
of this vital state and local law enforcement grant
program, the act of authorization without appropriation
amounts to little more than appeasement. NAPO strongly believes that Congress would better show its support
for our nation’s law enforcement by restoring necessary
funding to Byrne-JAG in fiscal 2008, followed by fully
funding it at the authorized level of $1.1 billion in
fiscal 2009.
Since January, NAPO has made a concerted effort
to work with lawmakers to restore the funding cut from
the Byrne-JAG program in the fiscal 2008 appropriations
measure. NAPO focused on the emergency
war supplemental as the best vehicle to add funding
back to the program.
NAPO took a step toward achieving
that goal when the Senate voted by an overwhelming margin of 75-22 to include
$490 million in additional funding for the Byrne-JAG program
in the emergency supplemental.
The House is expected to take up the bill before Congress adjourns
for the July 4 recess; however, they are expected to
take up a scaled back version which does not include
the Byrne-JAG funding. The House leadership cut the Byrne-JAG funding
from the bill when the President reissued his threat
to veto the bill if it included more then the funding
he requested for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Despite NAPO’s efforts and the strong bipartisan support we
have garnered for including the Byrne-JAG funding as
part of the supplemental bill, House Democratic leadership
is standing firm in its position so they are not seen
as being responsible for holding up funding for our
troops.
As the Byrne-JAG program is the only comprehensive
federal crime-fighting program, NAPO is exceedingly concerned
about the consequences that America’s law enforcement will
face when it runs out of funding, which is expected
to happen by mid-July. This important program funds
state and local law enforcement, including multi-jurisdictional
drug and gang task forces, information sharing and technology,
county jails, prosecutors, drug courts, juvenile delinquency
and drug treatment programs. In fact, it is the
only source of federal funding for multi-jurisdictional
task forces and prosecutors.
The $170 million appropriated by Congress for fiscal year 2008
is insufficient to meet the growing needs of our nation’s
law enforcement. This
deep cut in funding has already resulted in the closing
of drug and gang task forces in California, Nevada, and Texas and throughout the Mid-West, at a
time when those forces were making tremendous strides
in the fight against crime.
States and municipalities are being forced to
contemplate laying-off law enforcement officers because
of tightened budgets due to the lack of Byrne-JAG money. Additionally, cold case units, identity theft
investigations, school violence prevention programs,
and victim and witness protection services are all now
feeling the strain of this cut.
The lack of funding for the program is starting to dismantle
the progress that law enforcement has made in the fight
against crime. Emergency funding for this vital program for
fiscal 2008 is necessary to help law enforcement sustain
and build upon the tremendous strides they have made
in keeping our communities safe.
NAPO continues to work with Congress and the Administration
to find a way to provide necessary additional funding
for the Byrne-JAG program and support America’s law
enforcement as our first line of defense against drugs,
crime and terrorism.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S
REPORT
Senate Partisanship
Stalls Public Safety Collective Bargaining Bill
On May 13, the Senate began what looked like a promising debate
of the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act
(H.R. 980), a bipartisan bill that will guarantee that
law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency
medical service workers in all 50 states have the right
to discuss workplace issues with their employers.
During the debate, however, the bill was unfortunately
caught up in partisan politics.
The Republicans pushed their minority right to
amend the bill, but a select few, led by Senator Michael
Enzi (R-WY), took incredible steps to do so by offering
countless non-germane and poison pill amendments to
the bill. Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) became furious with
these tactics and after only a day of deliberation,
he threatened to end debate on the bill.
Knowing that ending the debate would kill our chances to pass
H.R. 980, NAPO
reached out to both Majority Leader Reid and Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to urge them to come to
an agreement so that debate could continue on the bill
in a fair and timely manner. On the night of May
15, Senators McConnell and Reid had a colloquy on the
Senate floor regarding the desire of both sides to come
to an agreement and move forward with debate on the
Collective Bargaining bill. However, this public
show of support for moving forward on the bill was ineffective
and did not sway Senator Enzi to agree to come to an
agreement on the number and type of amendments to be
debated. Despite
several attempts by Senator Kennedy’s staff to negotiate
a deal, Senator Enzi still has not budged.
Senator Reid has assured NAPO that he has not given up on the Collective
Bargaining bill and will bring it up again on the Senate
floor once an agreement is reached.
NAPO has also heard from Senator McConnell
that he is encouraging Senator Enzi to come back to
the negotiating table.
Additionally, we are urging the eleven Republican
cosponsors of this bill to press for an agreement. NAPO believes that if a deal is reached on the structure of debate
of H.R. 980, we still have a strong chance to pass this
important bill.
H.R. 980 provides a framework for workplace discussions between
public safety employees and their employers, while respecting
the right and flexibility of states to write their own
laws for public sector workers. States that offer equal or greater collective
bargaining rights will be exempt from this federal statute. This legislation will not overturn current collective
bargaining laws – it will only provide basic collective
bargaining rights to those who currently do not have
them.
NAPO firmly believes that the public safety
is best protected through effective partnerships between
first responders on the front lines and the agencies
that employ them. H.R. 980 will ensure that all public safety
officers have the opportunity to meet with local officials
to discuss how they do their jobs and how best to protect
the public. In July of last year, NAPO finally got the Public Safety Employer-Employee
Cooperation Act passed by the House - the first time
in the 13 years we've been fighting for its passage
that the House has passed the bill. As the fight
continues in the Senate, NAPO is doing everything in its power to
ensure passage of this important bill in order that
all public safety officers are granted the right to
collectively bargain.
NAPO will provide updates on this legislation
as they are known. If you have any questions or need
more information, please contact Andy Mournighan, NAPO’s Government Affairs Director, at
(703) 549-0775.
Congress Looks
to Expand and Improve Nation’s DNA Network
Congressman
Weiner Introduces “DNA Expansion and Improvement Act” (H.R. 5981)
On May 6, Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) introduced legislation
that will reauthorize vital DNA-related grant programs under the Justice
for All Act of 2004, which authorized more than $1 billion
over the past five years to eliminate the DNA backlog crisis and improve and expand
the DNA testing capacity of federal, state and local crime laboratories.
In
1998, the FBI created the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) which allows forensic labs and
law enforcement to compare DNA evidence against a national database in order to solve
previously unrelated cases or discover already-convicted
felons. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics,
between 1998 and 2000 alone, there has been a 73 percent
increase in case work, and a resulting 135 percent increase
in case work backlogs, with many of the DNA samples relating to sexual assault and murder cases.
Current advances in forensic work have made DNA testing a core part of any criminal
investigation. However,
as more case work samples are collected and the backlog
continues to grow, many state and local law enforcement
agencies are finding that they are unable to cope with
all of the evidence and are struggling to meet the high
laboratory costs. The “DNA Expansion and Improvement Act of 2008”
works to address these serious issues by providing state
and local agencies the funding necessary to purchase
or update forensic DNA technology. Importantly, these funds
can be used to hire, train, and retain crime lab personnel. Furthermore, this legislation will reauthorize
the DNA Identification of Missing Persons Program.
Senator Vitter Introduces Two Bills to Expand President’s DNA Initiative
The President’s Advancing Justice through DNA Technology Initiative calls for increased
funding, training and assistance to
law enforcement, forensic labs, medical professionals,
victim service providers, prosecutors, defense attorneys,
and judges. In
promoting the use of DNA to more effectively
solve crime, protect the innocent, and identify missing
persons, the President's initiative aims to: eliminate
the current DNA backlog; improve the
capacity of crime laboratories to more efficiently analyze
DNA samples; stimulate research
and develop new DNA technologies; and develop
training and provide assistance about the collection
and use of DNA evidence to criminal
justice professionals.
On May 10, Senator David Vitter (R-LA) introduced
two bills, the “Funding DNA Technology Initiative
Act” (S. 3105) and the “DNA Felony Collection Act”
(S. 3104), which will enhance the President’s DNA Initiative. The first bill will fully fund the President’s
Initiative at its authorized level of $1 billion. The second bill requires that every state collect
a DNA sample from an individual convicted of a felony
under the laws of that state, and include the DNA sample in a state or
federal database. Currently
six states – Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania – do not collect DNA samples from every convicted
felon.