BIAS Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.3017 | Sponsor: Rep. Brown, Anthony G. (D-MD)
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Bias In Automobile Stops Act of 2021 or the BIAS Act of 2021
This bill directs the Department of Transportation to provide grants to institutions of higher education for research, development, technology transfer, and training activities in the operation or establishment of an implicit bias training program as it relates to racial profiling at traffic stops.
To be eligible for grants such institutions must (1) have an active research program or demonstrate that the applicant is beginning a research program to study implicit bias as it relates to racial profiling before and during traffic stops, and (2) partner with state and local police departments to conduct the research and carry out the implementation of implicit bias training with state and local police departments.

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to provide a grant for 
research and training in the operation or establishment of an implicit 
             bias training program, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Bias In Automobile Stops Act of 
2021'' or ``BIAS Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. IMPLICIT BIAS RESEARCH AND TRAINING GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Transportation shall make grants 
to institutions of higher education (as such term is defined in section 
101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to carry out 
research, development, technology transfer, and training activities in 
the operation or establishment of an implicit bias training program as 
it relates to racial profiling at traffic stops.
    (b) Qualifications.--To be eligible for a grant under this section, 
an institution of higher education shall--
            (1) have an active research program or demonstrate, to the 
        satisfaction of the Secretary, that the applicant is beginning 
        a research program to study implicit bias as it relates to 
        racial profiling before and during traffic stops; and
            (2) partner with State and local police departments to 
        conduct the research described in paragraph (1) and carry out 
        the implementation of implicit bias training with State and 
        local police departments.
    (c) Report.--No later than 1 year after a grant has been awarded 
under this section, the institution of higher education awarded the 
grant shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 
summarizing the research on implicit bias as it relates to racial 
profiling before and during traffic stops, and recommendations on 
effective interventions and trainings.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $20,000,000 for each fiscal year to carry out this 
section.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section, the term ``implicit bias 
training program'' means a program that looks at the attitudes, 
stereotypes, and lenses human beings develop through various 
experiences in life that can unconsciously affect how they interact 
with one another.
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