II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4543 

To subsidize the salaries of State and local law enforcement officers and 

promote officer hiring and retention, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020 

Mr. HAWLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To subsidize the salaries of State and local law enforcement 

officers and promote officer hiring and retention, 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 ‘‘David Dorn Back the 

5 Blue Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FUNDING REFORM. 

7 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Part W of title I of the Omni8 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

9 U.S.C. 10491 et seq.) is amended— 

10 (1) in section 2301 (34 U.S.C. 10491)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(7) provide programs to support the hiring 

7 and retention of law enforcement personnel and aug8 ment the salaries of law enforcement personnel em9 ployed by cooperating State and local law enforce10 ment agencies or organizations.’’; 

11 (2) in section 2302 (34 U.S.C. 10492), by in12 serting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, 

13 or in the case of State and local law enforcement 

14 agencies, to support the hiring and retention of law 

15 enforcement personnel and augment wages paid to 

16 law enforcement personnel’’; 

17 (3) in section 2303 (34 U.S.C. 10493)— 

18 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting before 

19 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, or to 

20 support the hiring and retention of law enforce21 ment personnel and to augment wages paid to 

22 law enforcement personnel’’; and 

23 (B) in subsection (b), in the matter pre24 ceding paragraph (1), by inserting before the 

25 colon the following: ‘‘, unless supporting the 


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1 hiring and retention of law enforcement per2 sonnel or augmenting wages in accordance with 

3 subsection (d)’’; and 

4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(d) HIRING AND RETENTION OF LAW ENFORCE6 MENT PERSONNEL.—A law enforcement agency or organi7 zation that receives funds under this part may use the 

8 funds for activities and programs to hire and pay addi9 tional law enforcement personnel or to retain existing per10 sonnel. 

11 ‘‘(e) AUGMENTATION OF WAGES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A law enforcement agency 

13 or organization that receives funds under this part 

14 may use the funds to augment the salaries of law 

15 enforcement personnel, up to an amount equal to 

16 110 percent of the State real median household in17 come of the preceding year, as estimated by the 

18 United States Census Bureau. 

19 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—A law enforcement agen20 cy or organization shall not be eligible to receive 

21 funds under this part for the purpose described in 

22 paragraph (1) if the agency or organization reduced 

23 the salaries of law enforcement personnel during the 

24 calendar year immediately preceding the application 

25 for funds.’’; 


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1 (4) in section 2304(1) (34 U.S.C. 10494(1)), by 

2 inserting ‘‘, unless Federal funds are sought for the 

3 purpose of personnel hiring, personnel retention, or 

4 wage augmentation,’’ after ‘‘certify’’; and 

5 (5) in section 2305 (34 U.S.C. 10495(b))— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General 

7 may award’’ and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), the Attorney General may award’’; and 

10 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

12 apply to grants sought for the purpose of personnel 

13 hiring, personnel retention, or wage augmentation.’’. 

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

15 1001(21) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

16 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(21)) is amended 

17 by striking ‘‘$7,500,000’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘$15,000,000,000’’. 

Æ 


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