II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3960 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to withhold certain amounts 

from State and local governments that defund or otherwise reduce funding for certain law enforcement entities without a clear budgetary reason, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 15, 2020 

Mrs. LOEFFLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to withhold certain amounts from State and local governments that 

defund or otherwise reduce funding for certain law enforcement entities without a clear budgetary reason, 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 ‘‘Promoting Public Safe5 ty and Supporting Law Enforcement Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) law enforcement officers provide a necessary 

2 public service by enforcing the rule of law, pre3 venting crime and civil disorder, protecting commu4 nities and property, and ensuring the safety and 

5 health of the people of the United States, including 

6 by ensuring— 

7 (A) the safe operation of motor vehicles; 

8 (B) the safe use of public routes of trans9 portation, such as highways and other road10 ways, pedestrian walkways, and sidewalks; and 

11 (C) that parks remain safe, open, civil, and 

12 available for public enjoyment; 

13 (2) police forces and other law enforcement en14 tities require full funding to ensure a sufficient pres15 ence of officers to maintain the safe use of public 

16 roadways, highways, walkways, sidewalks, and city 

17 blocks in every community across the United States; 

18 (3) absent a fully funded police force, people 

19 using roadways, community parks, city sidewalks, or 

20 other public areas may be placed at increased risk 

21 from— 

22 (A) the unsafe operation of motor vehicles, 

23 including by themselves or others; and 

24 (B) other dangers to public safety; 


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1 (4) a fully funded police force is necessary to 

2 protect— 

3 (A) the public safety of the general popu4 lation of a community; and 

5 (B) law enforcement officers in the com6 munity, as required by Executive Order 13774 

7 (82 Fed. Reg. 10695; relating to preventing vi8 olence against Federal, State, Tribal, and local 

9 law enforcement officers); 

10 (5) defunding or otherwise reducing funding for 

11 State or local law enforcement entities will result in 

12 a reduction in, or the elimination of, the presence of 

13 law enforcement officers in communities, resulting in 

14 a State being noncompliant with the safety require15 ments of certain Federal programs, including the re16 quirements of— 

17 (A) the highway safety programs under 

18 section 402 of title 23, United States Code; and 

19 (B) the national priority safety programs 

20 under section 405 of title 23, United States 

21 Code; and 

22 (6) it is necessary to ensure that State and 

23 local governments do not defund or otherwise reduce 

24 funding for police forces and other law enforcement 

25 entities absent a clear budgetary need to do so. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

2 authority for the Secretary, in consultation with the Attor3 ney General, to withhold certain funds from State and 

4 local governments that unnecessarily put the people sub5 ject to the jurisdiction of those governments at risk from 

6 a lack of sufficient law enforcement resources, including 

7 the presence of law enforcement officers, by defunding or 

8 otherwise reducing funding for police forces or other law 

9 enforcement entities absent a clear budgetary need to do 

10 so. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) CLEAR BUDGETARY NEED.—The term 

14 ‘‘clear budgetary need’’, with respect to an action 

15 taken by a State or local government to defund or 

16 otherwise reduce funding for a law enforcement enti17 ty, means that the action was taken— 

18 (A) in the course of a State or local gov19 ernment annual budget process; and 

20 (B) in consideration of the revenues and 

21 expenditures of the State or local government. 

22 (2) LAW ENFORCEMENT ENTITY.—The term 

23 ‘‘law enforcement entity’’ means a State or local 

24 agency that engages in or supervises the prevention, 


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1 detection, or investigation of violations of laws, in2 cluding criminal or traffic laws. 

3 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Transportation. 

5 SEC. 4. WITHHOLDING OF CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF 

6 TRANSPORTATION FUNDING FROM STATE 

7 AND LOCAL JURISDICTIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (c) and (d), 

9 the Secretary shall withhold from a State described in sub10 section (b) 5 percent of— 

11 (1) the amount required to be apportioned to 

12 the State under section 402 of title 23, United 

13 States Code, on the first day of each fiscal year 

14 after the fiscal year in which the Secretary deter15 mines that the State is a State described in sub16 section (b); and 

17 (2) the amount made available to the State 

18 under section 405 of title 23, United States Code, 

19 for each fiscal year after the fiscal year in which the 

20 Secretary determines that the State is a State de21 scribed in subsection (b). 

22 (b) STATES DESCRIBED.—A State referred to in sub23 section (a) is a State in which the State or a local govern24 ment within that State defunds or otherwise reduces fundVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3960.IS S3960

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1 ing for a law enforcement entity absent a clear budgetary 

2 need for doing so. 

3 (c) EFFECT OF WITHHOLDING OF FUNDS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para5 graphs (2) and (3) and subsection (d), no amounts 

6 withheld from a State under subsection (a) shall be 

7 apportioned or made available to that State. 

8 (2) RESTRICTED USE OF FUNDS.—In the case 

9 of a State that the Secretary determines is a State 

10 described in subsection (b) because a local govern11 ment within that State has defunded or otherwise 

12 reduced funding for a law enforcement entity as de13 scribed in that subsection, the Secretary may appor14 tion or make available to the State, as applicable, 

15 the amounts described in subsection (a) if the State 

16 agrees— 

17 (A) not to make those amounts available 

18 for use by that local government; and 

19 (B) to the maximum extent practicable, 

20 not to expend those amounts in any community 

21 or location subject to the jurisdiction of that 

22 local government. 

23 (3) RESTORATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

24 FUNDING.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any amounts withheld 

2 from a State under subsection (a) or local gov3 ernment under paragraph (2) during the fiscal 

4 year in which the Secretary, in consultation 

5 with the Attorney General, makes a determina6 tion under subparagraph (B) that funding has 

7 been restored to the applicable law enforcement 

8 entity at the level described in that subpara9 graph shall be apportioned or made available, 

10 as applicable, to that State or local government. 

11 (B) DETERMINATION OF FUNDING

12 LEVEL.—Amounts may be apportioned or made 

13 available to a State or local government under 

14 subparagraph (A) for the fiscal year described 

15 in that subparagraph if the Secretary, in con16 sultation with the Attorney General, determines 

17 that funding has been restored to the applicable 

18 law enforcement agency at the lesser of— 

19 (i) the level at which the law enforce20 ment entity was funded prior to the 

21 defunding or reduction in funding that 

22 caused the Secretary to determine that the 

23 State is a State described in subsection 

24 (b); and 


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1 (ii) the level at which the Secretary, in 

2 consultation with the Attorney General, de3 termines is minimally necessary to ensure 

4 the public safety. 

5 (C) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not 

6 apportion or make available under this para7 graph any amounts withheld from a State or 

8 local government during any fiscal year pre9 ceding the fiscal year in which the Secretary, in 

10 consultation with the Attorney General, makes 

11 the determination described in subparagraph 

12 (B). 

13 (D) EFFECT OF DETERMINATION ON FU14 TURE FUNDING.—Beginning on the date on 

15 which the Secretary, in consultation with the 

16 Attorney General, makes the determination de17 scribed in subparagraph (B), the applicable 

18 State or local government shall not be subject 

19 to the withholding described in subsection (a) 

20 or paragraph (2), as applicable, with respect to 

21 the defunding of, or reduction in funding for, a 

22 law enforcement entity that caused the Sec23 retary to determine that the State was a State 

24 described in subsection (b). 

25 (d) REQUEST FOR REVIEW.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—On the request of a State 

2 from which amounts have been or will be withheld 

3 under subsection (a) or a local government from 

4 which amounts have been or will be withheld under 

5 subsection (c)(2), the Secretary, in consultation with 

6 the Attorney General— 

7 (A) shall review any documentation or 

8 other evidence submitted by the State or local 

9 government; and 

10 (B) based on that review, may determine 

11 that the defunding of, or other reduction in 

12 funding for, a law enforcement entity that 

13 caused the Secretary to determine that the 

14 State is a State described in subsection (b) was 

15 carried out for a clear budgetary need. 

16 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining whether 

17 the applicable defunding of, or reduction in funding 

18 for, a law enforcement entity was carried out for a 

19 clear budgetary need under paragraph (1)(B), the 

20 Secretary, in consultation with Attorney General, 

21 may consider— 

22 (A) any actual or anticipated reduction in 

23 State or local government revenue; 


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1 (B) any determination by the State or local 

2 government that a general reduction in spend3 ing is required across all budget categories; 

4 (C) in the case of a State or local govern5 ment with multiple law enforcement entities of 

6 overlapping jurisdiction, whether a determina7 tion was made to consolidate those entities into 

8 a single entity; and 

9 (D) any other evidence presented by the 

10 State or local government supporting an asser11 tion that the applicable defunding of, or reduc12 tion in funding for, a law enforcement entity 

13 was carried out for a clear budgetary need. 

14 (3) EFFECT OF DETERMINATION.—If the Sec15 retary, in consultation with the Attorney General, 

16 determines under paragraph (1)(B) that the applica17 ble defunding of, or reduction in funding for, a law 

18 enforcement entity was carried out for a clear budg19 etary need— 

20 (A) the applicable State or local govern21 ment shall not be subject to the applicable with22 holding described in subsection (a) or sub23 section (c)(2) beginning on the date on which 

24 that determination is made; and 


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1 (B) any amounts withheld from the State 

2 or local government under subsection (a) or 

3 subsection (c)(2), as applicable, during the fis4 cal year in which that determination is made 

5 shall be apportioned or made available, as appli6 cable, to that State or local government. 

Æ 


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