I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8556 
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 
OCTOBER 9, 2020 
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. MARSHALL, 
and Mr. BOST) 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. 
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 Back the 
Blue 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— 
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(1) in section 2301 (34 U.S.C. 10491)— 
(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’’; and 
(B) in subsection (b), in the matter pre-
ceding paragraph (1), by inserting before the 
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colon the following: ‘‘, unless supporting the 
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 
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