I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3131 

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

promote officer hiring and retention, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 12, 2021 

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. VAN DREW, 

Mr. ALLEN, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. GOOD of Virginia, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. BOST, 

Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mrs. MCCLAIN, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mr. 

STAUBER, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. GIMENEZ, and Mr. MANN) introduced 

the following bill; which was 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’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3131 IH

1 SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FUNDING REFORM. 

2 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Part W of title I of the Omni3 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

4 U.S.C. 10491 et seq.) is amended— 

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

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

7 the end; 

8 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe9 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

12 and retention of law enforcement personnel and aug13 ment the salaries of law enforcement personnel em14 ployed by cooperating State and local law enforce15 ment agencies or organizations.’’; 

16 (2) in section 2302 (34 U.S.C. 10492), by in17 serting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, 

18 or in the case of State and local law enforcement 

19 agencies, to support the hiring and retention of law 

20 enforcement personnel and augment wages paid to 

21 law enforcement personnel’’; 

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

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

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

25 support the hiring and retention of law enforceVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3131.IH H3131

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3131 IH

1 ment personnel and to augment wages paid to 

2 law enforcement personnel’’; 

3 (B) in subsection (b), in the matter pre4 ceding paragraph (1), by inserting before the 

5 colon the following: ‘‘, unless supporting the 

6 hiring and retention of law enforcement per7 sonnel or augmenting wages in accordance with 

8 subsection (d)’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(d) HIRING AND RETENTION OF LAW ENFORCE11 MENT PERSONNEL.—A law enforcement agency or organi12 zation that receives funds under this part may use the 

13 funds for activities and programs to hire and pay addi14 tional law enforcement personnel or to retain existing per15 sonnel. 

16 ‘‘(e) AUGMENTATION OF WAGES.— 

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

18 or organization that receives funds under this part 

19 may use the funds to augment the salaries of law 

20 enforcement personnel, up to an amount equal to 

21 110 percent of the State real median household in22 come of the preceding year, as estimated by the 

23 United States Census Bureau. 

24 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—A law enforcement agen25 cy or organization shall not be eligible to receive 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3131 IH

1 funds under this part for the purpose described in 

2 paragraph (1) if the agency or organization reduced 

3 the salaries of law enforcement personnel during the 

4 calendar year immediately preceding the application 

5 for funds for the sole purpose of dismantling law en6 forcement agencies or organizations pursuant to a 

7 State or local policy. 

8 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

9 paragraph (2) shall be construed to affect the eligi10 bility of any law enforcement agency or organization 

11 that reduces the salaries of law enforcement per12 sonnel due to budget constraints that are imple13 mented as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.’’; 

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

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

16 purpose of personnel hiring, personnel retention, or 

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

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

19 (A) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General 

20 may award’’ and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2), the Attorney General may award’’; and 

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


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3131 IH

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

2 apply to grants sought for the purpose of personnel 

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

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

5 1001(21) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

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

7 by striking ‘‘$7,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 

8 through 2024.’’ and inserting ‘‘$15,000,000,000 for each 

9 of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, of which any funds 

10 appropriated in excess of $7,500,000 shall be used for the 

11 hiring and retention of law enforcement officers and the 

12 augmentation of wages as described in such part.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS