BIAS Act of 2020

Bill: 116-hr-7897
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Brown, Anthony G. [D-MD-4]
Introduced: 2020-07-31
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Congressional oversight

Education programs funding

Employment and training programs

Higher education

Law enforcement administration and funding

Law enforcement officers

Racial and ethnic relations

Research administration and funding

Transportation safety and security
Latest action: action_date: 2020-08-03
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-07-31
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Bias In Automobile Stops Act of 2020 or the</b> <b>BIAS Act of 2020</b></p> <p>This bill directs the Department of Transportation to provide grants to institutions of higher education for research and training in the operation or establishment of an implicit bias training program as it relates to racial profiling at traffic stops.</p> <p>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.</p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7897 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 31, 2020 Mr. Brown of Maryland (for himself, Ms. Norton , Mr. Carbajal , Mr. Hastings , and Mr. Thompson of Mississippi ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL 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.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Bias In Automobile Stops Act of 2020 or BIAS Act of 2020 . 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 )) for research and training 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 $10,000,000 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.