School and Campus Safety Enhancements Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-146
Sponsor: Sen. Boxer, Barbara [D-CA]
Introduced: 2013-01-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Child safety and welfare
Crime prevention
Criminal justice information and records
Educational facilities and institutions
Elementary and secondary education
Law enforcement administration and funding
Violent crime

Summary:
action_date: 2013-01-24
text: 
School Safety Enhancements Act of 2013 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize school security grants by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to be used for the installation of surveillance equipment and the establishment of hotlines or tiplines for the reporting of potentially dangerous students and situations. 
 
Increases the maximum federal share of the costs of a program provided by a grant to 80%. 
 
Requires a grant application to be accompanied by a report that is signed by the heads of each law enforcement agency and school district with jurisdiction over the schools where the safety improvements will be implemented and that demonstrates that each proposed use of the grant funds will be: (1) an effective means for improving school safety, (2) consistent with a comprehensive approach to preventing school violence, and (3) individualized to the needs of each school.
 
Requires the Office Director and the Secretary of Education to establish an interagency task force to develop and promulgate a set of advisory school safety guidelines.
 
Authorizes appropriations for such grant program for FY2014-FY2023.

action_date: 2013-03-12
text: 
School and Campus Safety Enhancements Act of 2013 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the use of school security grants by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services for the installation of surveillance equipment and the establishment of hotlines or tiplines for the reporting of potentially dangerous students and situations. 
 
Requires the Office Director and the Secretary of Education to establish an interagency task force to develop and promulgate a set of advisory school safety guidelines.
 
(Sec. 3) Requires that a grant application be accompanied by a report signed by the heads of each law enforcement agency and school district with jurisdiction over the schools where the safety improvements will be implemented that demonstrates that each proposed use of the grant funds will be an effective means for improving school safety, consistent with a comprehensive approach to preventing school violence, and individualized to the needs of each school.
 
(Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for such grant program for FY2014-FY2023.
 
(Sec. 5) Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct audits of recipients of school security grants each fiscal year to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds. Makes a recipient that is found to have an unresolved audit finding ineligible to receive grant funds for two fiscal years. Directs the Attorney General: (1) to seek to recoup grant funds erroneously awarded to such an ineligible recipient; and (2) in awarding grants, to give priority to eligible applicants that did not have an unresolved audit finding during the previous three fiscal years.
 
Prohibits the Attorney General from awarding a grant to a nonprofit organization that holds money in offshore accounts for the purpose of avoiding paying tax on unrelated business income. Requires each nonprofit organization that is awarded a grant and that creates a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness for the compensation of its officers, directors, trustees, and key employees to disclose, in the grant application, the process for determining such compensation. Requires the Attorney General to make the information disclosed available for public inspection upon request.
 
Requires prior written authorization for the use of amounts authorized for such grants for conference expenditures exceeding $20,000.
 
(Sec. 6) Center to Advance, Monitor, and Preserve University Security Safety Act of 2013 or the CAMPUS Safety Act of 2013 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to establish and operate a National Center for Campus Public Safety. Authorizes Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant funds to be used for making subawards to institutions of higher education (IHEs) and other nonprofit organizations to assist the Center.
 
Requires the Center to:
 
 
provide quality education and training for public safety personnel of IHEs; 
 
foster quality research to strengthen the safety and security of IHEs; 
 
serve as a clearinghouse for information, policies, protocols, procedures, and best practices relevant to campus public safety; 
 
coordinate the development of protocols and best practices to prevent, protect against, and respond to dangerous and violent situations involving an immediate threat to the safety of the campus community; 
 
promote the development and dissemination of effective behavioral threat assessment and management models to prevent campus violence; 
 
identify campus safety information and identify available federal, state, and private resources; 
 
promote cooperation, collaboration, and consistency in prevention, response, and problem-solving methods among public safety and emergency management personnel of IHEs and their collaborative partners; 
 
disseminate standardized formats and models for mutual aid agreements between campus security agencies and other public safety organizations and mental health agencies; and 
 
report annually on its activities. 

 
Directs the Attorney General to issue an annual report that assesses the impacts, outcomes, and effectiveness of the grants distributed for the Center.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-03-12
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 24.
action_date: 2013-03-12
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2013-03-12
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2013-03-12
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2013-01-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2013-01-24
text: Introduced in Senate