I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3509 
To augment 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 18, 2023 
Mr. LAHOOD (for himself and Mr. BOST) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To augment the salaries of State and local law enforcement 
officers and promote officer hiring and retention, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘David Dorn Thin Blue 
Line Retention Act’’. 
SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FUNDING REFORM. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—Part W of title I of the Omni-
bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 
U.S.C. 10491 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in section 2301 (34 U.S.C. 10491)— 
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(A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(7) provide programs to support the hiring 
and retention of law enforcement personnel and aug-
ment the salaries of law enforcement personnel em-
ployed by cooperating State and local law enforce-
ment agencies or organizations.’’; 
(2) in section 2302 (34 U.S.C. 10492), by in-
serting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, 
or in the case of State and local law enforcement 
agencies, to support the hiring and retention of law 
enforcement personnel and augment wages paid to 
law enforcement personnel’’; 
(3) in section 2303 (34 U.S.C. 10493)— 
(A) in subsection (a), by inserting before 
the period at the end the following: ‘‘, or to 
support the hiring and retention of law enforce-
ment personnel and to augment wages paid to 
law enforcement personnel’’; 
(B) in subsection (b), in the matter pre-
ceding paragraph (1), by inserting before the 
colon the following: ‘‘, unless supporting the 
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hiring and retention of law enforcement per-
sonnel or augmenting wages in accordance with 
subsection (d)’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) HIRING AND RETENTION OF LAW ENFORCE-
MENT PERSONNEL.—A law enforcement agency or organi-
zation that receives funds under this part may use the 
funds for activities and programs to hire and pay addi-
tional law enforcement personnel or to retain existing per-
sonnel. 
‘‘(e) AUGMENTATION OF WAGES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A law enforcement agency 
or organization that receives funds under this part 
may use the funds to augment the salaries of law 
enforcement personnel, up to an amount equal to 
110 percent of the State real median household in-
come of the preceding year, as estimated by the 
United States Census Bureau. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—A law enforcement agen-
cy or organization shall not be eligible to receive 
funds under this part for the purpose described in 
paragraph (1) if the agency or organization reduced 
the salaries of law enforcement personnel during the 
calendar year immediately preceding the application 
for funds for the sole purpose of dismantling law en-
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forcement agencies or organizations pursuant to a 
State or local policy. 
‘‘(3) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
paragraph (2) shall be construed to affect the eligi-
bility of any law enforcement agency or organization 
that reduces the salaries of law enforcement per-
sonnel due to budget constraints that are imple-
mented as a result of the COVID–19 pandemic.’’; 
(4) in section 2304(1) (34 U.S.C. 10494(1)), by 
inserting ‘‘, unless Federal funds are sought for the 
purpose of personnel hiring, personnel retention, or 
wage augmentation,’’ after ‘‘certify’’; and 
(5) in section 2305 (34 U.S.C. 10495(b))— 
(A) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General 
may award’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the Attorney General may award’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 
apply to grants sought for the purpose of personnel 
hiring, personnel retention, or wage augmentation.’’. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 
1001(21) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(21)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘$7,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 
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through 2024.’’ and inserting ‘‘$15,000,000,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2024 through 2028, of which any funds 
appropriated in excess of $7,500,000 shall be used for the 
hiring and retention of law enforcement officers and the 
augmentation of wages as described in such part.’’. 
Æ 
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