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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1628 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1628

 To encourage each State to adopt Truth in Sentencing laws and to help 
  fund additional spaces in the State correctional programs as needed.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             November 4 (legislative day, November 2), 1993

  Mr. Conrad introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To encourage each State to adopt Truth in Sentencing laws and to help 
  fund additional spaces in the State correctional programs as needed.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Truth in Sentencing Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to 
        provide States with assistance in reducing violent crime;
            (2) the responsibility for protecting citizens against most 
        violent crime and for punishing most violent criminal offenders 
        is primarily a matter of State and local governance;
            (3) the incidence of violent crime nationwide has risen 
        dramatically and constitutes a national priority of the highest 
        order; and
            (4) the United States Sentencing Guidelines have proven to 
        be an effective means of achieving, at the Federal level, a 
        more uniform, proportionate, predictable and appropriately 
        punitive criminal sentencing system by incorporating Truth in 
        Sentencing provisions which restrict release of a convicted 
        criminal until at least 85 percent of the sentence which has 
        been imposed by a judge or jury has been served.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION.

    Crime of Violence.--
            (1) an offense that is a felony and has an element the use, 
        attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the 
        person or property of another, or
            (2) any other offense that is a felony and that, by its 
        nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against 
        the person or property of another may be used in the course of 
        committing the offense.
Such crimes shall include, but not be limited to, murder, arson, 
burglary, assault, rape, kidnapping, extortion, and robbery.

SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR TRUTH IN SENTENCING.

    (a) Grant Authorization.--The Director of the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance is authorized to provide grants to States to build and/or 
operate space in correctional facilities in order to implement Truth in 
Sentencing requirements.
    (b) Eligibility.--In order to be eligible for funding under this 
Act, a State must have enacted and implemented Truth in Sentencing 
requirements which include--
            (1) a provision in its criminal code which restricts 
        parole, good-time credit release, or other forms of early 
        release to require that criminals convicted of crimes of 
        violence serve at least 85 percent of the sentence imposed by a 
        judge or jury;
            (2) a provision which requires the sentencing authority to 
        allow the defendant's victims or the family of victims the 
        opportunity to be heard regarding the issue of sentencing;
            (3) a provision which requires that a ``life sentence'' 
        means life without possibility of parole; and
            (4) a provision which provides that the victim and victim's 
        family shall be notified whenever that defendant is to be 
        released.
    (c) Exception.--The sentencing requirements under paragraphs (b)(1) 
and (b)(4) of subsection (b) shall apply except that the State may 
provide that the Governor of the State may allow for the release of a 
prisoner after a public hearing in which representatives of the public 
and the prisoner's victims shall have an opportunity to be heard 
regarding a proposed release.
    (d) A State shall also be eligible for funding under this Act when 
that State has enacted legislation that provides for the State to be in 
compliance with this section within three years of the enactment of 
such state legislation.

SEC. 5. FEDERAL FUNDS.

    (a) Distribution of Funds.--Of the total amount of funds 
appropriated under this Act in any fiscal year, there shall be 
allocated to each participating State an amount which bears the same 
ratio to the amount of funds appropriated pursuant to this Act as the 
number of prisoners convicted of violent crimes serving sentences 
during the previous fiscal year in that State bears to the number of 
prisoners convicted of violent crimes serving sentences during the 
previous fiscal year in all the participating States. (Such numbers of 
prisoners to be determined by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.)
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--In order to build and/or 
operate the spaces in correctional facilities necessary to implement 
the required Truth in Sentencing provisions, there is authorized to be 
appropriated--
            (1) $500 million in fiscal year 1994;
            (2) $1 billion in fiscal year 1995;
            (3) $2 billion in fiscal year 1996;
            (4) $3 billion in fiscal year 1997; and
            (5) $4 billion in fiscal year 1998.
    (c) Limitations on Funds.--
            (1) Nonsupplanting requirement.--Funds made available under 
        this section shall not be used to supplant State funds, but 
        shall be used to increase the amount of funds that would, in 
        the absence of Federal funds, be made available from State 
        sources.
            (2) Administrative costs.--No more than 5 percent of the 
        funds available under this section may be used for 
        administrative costs.
            (3) Matching funds.--The portion of the costs of a program 
        provided by a grant under this section may not exceed 75 
        percent of the total cost of the program as described in the 
        application.
            (4) Duration of grants.--In general.--A grant under this 
        section may be renewed for up to 3 years beyond the initial 
        year of funding if the applicant demonstrates satisfactory 
        progress toward achievement of the objectives set out in an 
        approved application.
    (d) Source of Federal Funds.--Appropriations pursuant to this Act 
shall be paid with funds saved as a result of reducing Federal full-
time equivalent positions pursuant to Section 6.

SEC. 6. REDUCTION OF FEDERAL FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT POSITIONS

    (a) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``agency'' 
means an Executive agency as defined under section 105 of title 5, 
United States Code, but does not include the General Accounting Office.
    (b) Limitations on Full-time Equivalent Positions.--The President, 
through the Office of Management and Budget (in consultation with the 
Office of Personnel Management), shall ensure that the total number of 
full-time equivalent positions in all agencies shall not exceed 
            (1) 2,095,182 during fiscal year 1994;
            (2) 2,044,100 during fiscal year 1995;
            (3) 2,003,845 during fiscal year 1996;
            (4) 1,963,593 during fiscal year 1997;
            (5) 1,923,339 during fiscal year 1998; and
            (6) 1,883,086 during fiscal year 1999.
    (c) Monitoring and Notification.--The Office of Management and 
Budget, after consultation with the Office of Personnel Management, 
shall--
            (1) continuously monitor all agencies and make a 
        determination on the first date of each quarter of each 
        applicable fiscal year of whether the requirements under 
        subsection (b) are met, and
            (2) notify the President and the Congress on the first date 
        of each quarter of each applicable fiscal year of any 
        determination that any requirement of subsection (b) is not 
        met.
    (d) Compliance.--If at any time during a fiscal year, the Office of 
Management and Budget notifies the President and the Congress that any 
requirement under subsection (b) is not met, no agency may hire any 
employee for any position in such agency until the Office of Management 
and Budget notifies the President and the Congress that the total 
number of full-time equivalent positions for all agencies equals or is 
less than the applicable number required under subsection (b).
    (e) Waiver.--Any provision of this section may be waived upon--
            (1) a determination by the President of the existence of 
        war or a national security requirement; or
            (2) the enactment of a joint resolution upon an affirmative 
        vote of three-fifths of the Members of each House of the 
        Congress duly chosen and sworn.

                                 <all>
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