II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 611 

To deposit certain funds into the Crime Victims Fund, to waive matching 

requirements, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 4, 2021 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Mr. CORNYN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. 

LEAHY, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. ERNST, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

TILLIS, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. HIRONO, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. 

WARREN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. REED, Mr. TESTER, Mr. 

SCHATZ, Mr. CASEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To deposit certain funds into the Crime Victims Fund, to 

waive matching requirements, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VOCA Fix to Sustain 

5 the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMPREHENSIVE FIX OF CRIME VICTIMS FUND 

2 AND COMPENSATION. 

3 (a) CRIME VICTIMS FUND.—Section 1402 of the Vic4 tims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 20101) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) in subsection (b)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

8 and inserting a semicolon; 

9 (B) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking the 

10 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(6) any funds that would otherwise be depos14 ited in the general fund of the Treasury collected 

15 pursuant to— 

16 ‘‘(A) a deferred prosecution agreement; or 

17 ‘‘(B) a non-prosecution agreement.’’; and 

18 (2) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘Director’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘Director, except that renewals and 

20 extensions beyond that period may be granted at the 

21 discretion of the Attorney General’’. 

22 (b) CRIME VICTIM COMPENSATION.—Section 1403 of 

23 the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 20102) is 

24 amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘40 per2 cent in fiscal year 2002 and of 60 percent in 

3 subsequent fiscal years’’ and inserting ‘‘75 per4 cent’’; 

5 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘of 40 

6 percent in fiscal year 2002 and of 60 percent 

7 in subsequent fiscal years’’; 

8 (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

9 paragraph (4); and 

10 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

11 following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(3) For the purposes of calculating amounts 

13 awarded in the previous fiscal year under this sub14 section, the Director shall not require eligible crime 

15 victim compensation programs to deduct recovery 

16 costs or collections from restitution or from subroga17 tion for payment under a civil lawsuit.’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (b)(2) by striking ‘‘authori19 ties;’’ and inserting ‘‘authorities, except if a program 

20 determines such cooperation may be impacted due to 

21 a victim’s age, physical condition, psychological 

22 state, cultural or linguistic barriers, or any other 

23 health or safety concern that jeopardizes the victim’s 

24 well-being;’’; and 

25 (3) in subsection (d)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

2 and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(5) the term ‘recovery costs’ means expenses 

8 for personnel directly involved in the recovery efforts 

9 to obtain collections from restitution or from sub10 rogation for payment under a civil lawsuit.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. WAIVER OF MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1404(a) of the Victims of 

13 Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 20103(a)) is amended by 

14 inserting at the end the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(7)(A) Each chief executive may waive a 

16 matching requirement imposed by the Director, in 

17 accordance with subparagraph (B), as a condition 

18 for the receipt of funds under any program to pro19 vide assistance to victims of crimes authorized under 

20 this chapter. The chief executive shall report to the 

21 Director the approval of any waiver of the matching 

22 requirement. 

23 ‘‘(B) Each chief executive shall establish and 

24 make public, a policy including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the manner in which an eligible crime 

2 victim assistance program can request a match 

3 waiver; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the criteria used to determine eligi5 bility of the match waiver; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) the process for decision making and 

7 notifying the eligible crime victim assistance 

8 program of the decision.’’. 

9 (b) NATIONAL EMERGENCY WAIVER.—Section 

10 1404(a) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 

11 20103(a)), as amended by subsection (a), is further 

12 amended by inserting at the end the following new para13 graph: 

14 ‘‘(8) Beginning on the date a national emer15 gency is declared under the National Emergencies 

16 Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with respect to a pan17 demic and ending on the date that is one year after 

18 the date of the end of such national emergency, each 

19 chief executive shall issue waivers for any matching 

20 requirement, in its entirety, for all eligible crime vic21 tim assistance programs contracted to provide serv22 ices at that time.’’. 

Æ 


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