Wayne Ford Racial Impact Statement Act of 2022
Bill: H.R.8795 | Sponsor: Rep. Torres, Ritchie (D-NY)
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues

Summary:
Wayne Ford Racial Impact Statement Act of 2022
This bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to prepare a minority impact assessment for each bill or joint resolution that establishes or modifies a crime, criminal penalties, or pretrial, sentencing, or probation procedures, or that could otherwise affect the number of people who are federally incarcerated, and that is under the jurisdiction of specified congressional subcommittees; GAO must also prepare assessments for similar proposed rules. Assessments must include information relating to the fiscal and demographic impact of proposed changes on prisons, prison populations, and the criminal justice system.

To establish a process for the creation of minority impact assessments 
to determine whether pending bills, if enacted, are likely to create or 
 exacerbate disparate outcomes among racial or ethnic minority groups, 
                        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 ``Wayne Ford Racial Impact Statement 
Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Minority impact assessments are a tool for lawmakers to 
        evaluate potential disparities of proposed legislation prior to 
        adoption and implementation.
            (2) There are 5,000 criminal penalties in Federal law and 
        the number of Federal statutes carrying a criminal penalty has 
        increased by 50 percent since the 1980s.
            (3) The enactment of criminal laws and penalties is a 
        serious matter and the legislative process should reflect the 
        gravity of this process.
            (4) The United States Sentencing Commission was created to 
        reduce sentencing disparities, which provides a strong 
        foundation for equity action in this branch of Government.
            (5) Criminal laws conceived and voted on in haste can lead 
        to the enactment of unnecessary, duplicative, ineffective, or 
        prejudicial criminal penalties.
            (6) In 2008, Iowa was the first State to enact minority 
        impact assessment legislation, authored by former State 
        Representative Wayne Ford, requiring that criminal justice 
        legislation be evaluated with respect to whether it will 
        disproportionately impact specified minority groups.
            (7) The Iowa law created a measurable decline in Black 
        incarceration rates from 13.6 per 1 White resident to 9 to 1 
        White residents, demonstrating that minority impact assessments 
        can effectively address disparities in lawmaking and 
        sentencing.
            (8) Similar legislation has since been considered or 
        enacted in New York, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, 
        Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, 
        Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, 
        Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, 
        Wisconsin, Connecticut, Oregon, New Jersey, Colorado, Maine, 
        and Virginia.
            (9) The NAACP and the National Black Caucus of State 
        Legislators have adopted resolutions in support of Federal 
        legislation providing for the use of minority impact 
        assessments.
            (10) Precedent for adopting procedural measures that 
        increase critical deliberation and require independent analysis 
        at the Federal level of racial disparities in criminal justice 
        already exists in the form of scores from the Congressional 
        Budget Office.
            (11) Deeply rooted discriminatory policies and practices in 
        our legal system fuel systemic inequalities and cycles of 
        poverty and hardship, stigmatize and exclude people with 
        criminal records, and impede community integration.
            (12) Requiring an independent assessment with sobering 
        information on the impact of legislation that adds or increases 
        criminal penalties is one way to level the inequities that 
        disproportionately impact people of color, LGBTQ individuals, 
        individuals with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups in 
        sentencing.
            (13) Congress must institutionalize a more deliberate and 
        evidence-based process prior to voting to criminalize conduct 
        and impose harsh sentences.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide a tool for 
lawmakers and Federal agencies to determine whether pending bills and 
proposed rules, if enacted, are likely to create or exacerbate 
disparate outcomes among racial or ethnic minority groups.

SEC. 3. MINORITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Minority Impact Assessments on Legislation.--The Comptroller 
General of the United States, in consultation with the Sentencing 
Commission and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, 
shall prepare and submit a minority impact assessment to Congress on a 
covered bill or joint resolution prior to the consideration of such a 
bill or joint resolution on the floor of the House of Representatives 
or of the Senate.
    (b) Minority Impact Assessments on Rules.--The Comptroller General 
of the United States, in consultation with the Sentencing Commission 
and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, shall 
prepare and publish in the Federal Register along with the general 
notice of proposed rule making required under section 553 of title 5, 
United States Code, a minority impact assessment to Congress on a 
covered rule.
    (c) Minority Impact Assessment Prepared Upon Request.--A member of 
Congress may request from the Comptroller General of the United States 
a minority impact assessment on a covered bill or joint resolution. The 
Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and submit to 
Congress such a minority impact assessment not later than 21 days after 
receiving such a request.
    (d) Minority Impact Assessment.--A minority impact assessment shall 
include--
            (1) detailed projections of the impact of the covered bill 
        or joint resolution or covered rule on pretrial, prison, 
        probation, and post-prison supervision populations, including--
                    (A) whether the covered bill or joint resolution or 
                covered rule would have a negative impact, no impact, a 
                positive impact, a minimal impact, or an unknown impact 
                on such populations;
                    (B) the impact of the covered bill or joint 
                resolution or covered rule on correctional facilities 
                and services, including any changes to the operation 
                costs for correctional facilities, and any decrease or 
                increase in the populations of individuals incarcerated 
                in correctional facilities; and
                    (C) a statistical analysis of how the covered bill 
                or joint resolution or covered rule would impact 
                pretrial, prison, probation, and post-prison 
                supervision populations, disaggregated by race, 
                ethnicity, disability, gender, and sexual orientation;
            (2) an estimate of the fiscal impact of the covered bill or 
        joint resolution or covered rule on Federal expenditures, 
        including expenditures on construction and operation of 
        correctional facilities for the current fiscal year and 5 
        succeeding fiscal years;
            (3) an analysis of any other significant factor affecting 
        the cost of the covered bill or joint resolution or covered 
        rule and its impact on the operations of components of the 
        criminal justice system; and
            (4) a detailed and comprehensive statement of the 
        methodologies and assumptions utilized in preparing the 
        minority impact assessment.
    (e) Annual Assessment.--The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall prepare and transmit to the Congress, by March 1 of each 
year, a minority impact assessment reflecting the cumulative effect of 
all relevant changes in the law taking effect during the preceding 
calendar year.
    (f) Public Availability.--Not later than 30 days after preparing a 
minority impact statement under subsection (a) or (c)--
            (1) the Comptroller General of the United States shall 
        publish such minority impact statement on the website of the 
        Government Accountability Office; and
            (2) the sponsor of such covered bill or joint resolution 
        shall submit such minority impact statement for publication in 
        the Congressional Record.
    (g) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Covered bill or joint resolution.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``covered bill or joint 
                resolution'' means a bill or joint resolution that is 
                referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and 
                Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary of 
                the House of Representatives or the Subcommittee on 
                Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism of the Committee 
                on the Judiciary of the Senate and that--
                            (i) establishes a new crime or offense;
                            (ii) could increase or decrease the number 
                        of persons incarcerated in Federal penal 
                        institutions;
                            (iii) modifies a crime or offense or the 
                        penalties associated with a crime or offense 
                        established under current law; or
                            (iv) modifies procedures under current law 
                        for pretrial detention, sentencing, probation, 
                        and post-prison supervision.
                Such term includes a bill or joint resolution that 
                applies to youth or juveniles.
                    (B) Treatment of certain bills considered under 
                rule.--A bill or joint resolution which, upon 
                introduction in the House of Representatives, is not 
                referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and 
                Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary 
                shall be treated as a covered bill or joint resolution 
                under this Act if--
                            (i) the bill or joint resolution is 
                        considered in the House of Representatives 
                        pursuant to a rule reported by the Committee on 
                        Rules; and
                            (ii) the bill or joint resolution would 
                        have been referred to such Subcommittee upon 
                        introduction if the text of the bill or joint 
                        resolution as introduced in the House were 
                        identical to the text of the bill or joint 
                        resolution as considered in the House pursuant 
                        to the rule.
            (2) Covered rule.--The term ``covered rule'' means a rule 
        (as such term is defined in section 551 of title 5, United 
        States Code) that--
                    (A) could increase or decrease the number of 
                persons incarcerated in Federal penal institutions;
                    (B) modifies a crime or offense or the penalties 
                associated with a crime or offense established under 
                current law; or
                    (C) modifies procedures under current law for 
                pretrial detention, sentencing, probation, and post-
                prison supervision.
        Such term includes a rule that applies to youth or juveniles.
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