I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1803

To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to make grants to reimburse 

State and local governments and Indian tribes for certain costs relating 

to the mobilization of Reserves who are first responder personnel of 

such governments or tribes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2003

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. FROST, Mr. CASE, Ms. LEE, 

Mr. REYES, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. BOYD, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. FARR, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. 

EMANUEL, Mr. FILNER, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA ́, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. 

RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. 

UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 

PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 

PASCRELL, Mr. OWENS, Mr. KIND, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. PAYNE, 

Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. ROSS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. 

MEEHAN, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. BOSWELL, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. BACA, and Mr. MARSHALL) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and 

Commerce, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to make 

grants to reimburse State and local governments and 

Indian tribes for certain costs relating to the mobilization 

of Reserves who are first responder personnel of such 

governments or tribes.
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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 ‘‘State and Local Re5 servist First Responders Assistance Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND 

7 INDIAN TRIBES FOR CERTAIN COSTS RELAT8 ING TO MOBILIZATION OF RESERVES WHO 

9 ARE FIRST RESPONDER PERSONNEL. 

10 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Home11 land Security may make a grant of financial assistance 

12 to any State or local government or Indian tribe in order 

13 to reimburse the State or local government or tribe for 

14 costs incurred by the State or local government or tribe 

15 as a result of a call or order to active duty of one or more 

16 Reserves who are first responder personnel of the State 

17 or local government or tribe if the call or order to duty 

18 is issued under the authority of a provision of law referred 

19 to in section 101(a)(13)(B) of title 10, United States 

20 Code. 

21 (b) FIRST RESPONDER PERSONNEL.—For purposes 

22 of this section, the term ‘‘first responder personnel’’—

23 (1) means police, fire, rescue, emergency med24 ical service, and emergency hazardous material dis25 posal personnel; and 
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1 (2) includes such other personnel as the Sec2 retary may specify in regulations prescribed under 

3 this section. 

4 (c) COVERED COSTS.—(1) The costs that may be re5 imbursed by a grant under subsection (a) to a State or 

6 local government or Indian tribe in connection with a call 

7 or order of first responder personnel of the State or local 

8 government or tribe to active duty are any costs incurred 

9 by the State or local government or tribe as follows: 

10 (A) Costs (including salary and benefits) of hir11 ing first responder personnel to replace the first re12 sponder personnel called or ordered to active duty. 

13 (B) Costs of overtime pay for other first re14 sponder personnel of the State or local government 

15 or tribe. 

16 (C) Any other costs that the Secretary specifies 

17 in regulations prescribed under this section. 

18 (2) Costs of a State or local government or tribe may 

19 be reimbursed by a grant under subsection (a) only if the 

20 State or local government or tribe would not have incurred 

21 such costs but for the absence of first responder personnel 

22 pursuant to a call or order to active duty described in that 

23 subsection. 

24 (3) In seeking reimbursement for costs under sub25 section (a), a State or local government or tribe shall de-
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1 duct from the costs for which reimbursement is sought 

2 the amounts, if any, saved by the State or local govern3 ment or tribe by reason of the absence of first responder 

4 personnel for active duty pursuant to a call or order to 

5 active duty described in that subsection. 

6 (d) PERIOD COVERED BY GRANT.—(1) Except as 

7 provided in paragraph (2), a grant under subsection (a) 

8 shall reimburse a State or local government or Indian tribe 

9 for costs incurred by the State or local government or tribe 

10 during the year preceding the year of the application for 

11 the grant under subsection (f). 

12 (2) If the active duty of a particular Reserve during 

13 a year is insufficient to meet the duty requirement in sub14 section (e) for such year, but when combined with active 

15 duty in the succeeding year is sufficient to meet the duty 

16 requirement for such succeeding year, a grant under sub17 section (a) for such succeeding year shall also reimburse 

18 the State or local government or tribe for costs incurred 

19 in connection with the active duty of the Reserve during 

20 such year. 

21 (e) MINIMUM PERIOD OF DUTY FOR REIMBURSE22 MENT.—(1) Costs may be reimbursed by a grant under 

23 subsection (a) with respect to a particular Reserve only 

24 if the Reserve serves six or more consecutive months on 

25 active duty pursuant to a call or order to active duty 
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1 issued under the authority of a provision of law referred 

2 to in subsection (a) at any time during the two calendar 

3 years preceding the application for the grant under sub4 section (f). 

5 (2) If a particular Reserve meets the duty require6 ment in paragraph (1) for a grant under subsection (a) 

7 for a year, costs reimbursable by the grant shall include 

8 any costs in connection with the active duty of the Reserve 

9 described in that paragraph during such year. 

10 (f) MINIMUM GRANT ALLOCATION.—If in any fiscal 

11 year the total amount authorized to be appropriated by 

12 subsection (j) for grants under subsection (a) is less than 

13 the amount of grants that could otherwise be made under 

14 subsection (a) in such fiscal year, the aggregate amount 

15 available for grants under subsection (a) in such fiscal 

16 year for each State (including grants to such State and 

17 local governments and Indian tribes in such State) shall 

18 be not less than the amount equal to 0.75 percent of the 

19 amount authorized to be appropriated by subsection (j) 

20 for grants under subsection (a) in such fiscal year, except 

21 that the aggregate amount available for grants under sub22 section (a) in such fiscal year for each of the Virgin Is23 lands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth 

24 of the Northern Mariana Islands shall be not less than 

25 the amount equal to 0.25 percent of the amount author-
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1 ized to be appropriated by subsection (j) for grants under 

2 subsection (a) in such fiscal year. 

3 (g) APPLICATION.—(1) A State or local government 

4 or Indian tribe seeking a grant under subsection (a) shall 

5 submit to the Secretary an application therefor in such 

6 form, and containing such information, as the Secretary 

7 shall prescribe in the regulations under this section. 

8 (2) An application for a grant under subsection (a) 

9 for a year shall be submitted not later than February 15 

10 of the following year. 

11 (h) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

12 regulations for purposes of the administration of this sec13 tion. 

14 (i) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

15 ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States, the District of 

16 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin 

17 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth 

18 of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

19 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated for the Department of 

21 Homeland Security such sums as may be necessary to 

22 carry out this section.

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