By Ed Somers and Michael V. Marzal
September 29, 2003

The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation September 9 that could drastically impact the future of the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant (LLEBG). Among many provisions contained in a bill reauthorizing grant programs at the Department of Justice (HR 3036) is a merger of the LLEBG and the state-based Byrne grant. The proposal for this merger came from the Administration, which has called for a 40 percent cut in the new program.

As stated in a letter sent by the Conference of Mayors prior to markup, the Conference has strong policy against this merger, fearing it will lead to major funding cuts as well as structural changes that will reduce funding for cities.

The letter, sent by Conference President Hempstead (NY) Mayor James A. Garner, Criminal and Social Justice Committee Chair Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage and Conference Executive Director Tom Cochran said, "We recognize that it may not be the intention of this legislation or the Judiciary Committee to reduce funding for the new combined program, and that final funding decisions rest with Congress. However, we are seriously concerned that in the end, the combination of these two programs could result in major funding reductions."

Formula Change Threatens City Funding

In addition to merging the programs, a last-minute change in the in'state formula could greatly reduce funding to cities and areas with high crime levels.

The LLEBG was originally designed to provide money for the prevention of part I violent crimes. The new bill would shift the initial in'state formula factor in the program from part I violent crimes to criminal justice expenditures by cities, counties, towns and other local governments within a state. Only after funding is divided among these categories would resources then be allocated based on relative part I violent crime rates. This change in focus was not contained in the original proposal on the merged program, which would have allocated 40 percent of the funding within a state based on part I violent crime rates to local governments.

In commenting on this, the Conference's letter said, "We are concerned that the proposed changeÉ could greatly diminish the original intent of the LLEBG to focus resources on communities with serious violence problems in an effort to help prevent crime."

While no funding estimates were made available for this formula change, it is believed that the change could move money away from cities — who tend to have higher part I crime rates — to counties. Committee staff said they do not know how local governments that are both cities and counties would be addressed under this formula.

COPS Reauthorization Deal Close

In an interesting twist during markup, Rep. Anthony Weiner (NY) offered an amendment to reauthorize the COPS program. His amendment would authorize almost $1 billion annually for a new version of the COPS program that would be highly flexible and allow cities to apply for funding for hiring, re-hiring, overtime, technology, and other community policing efforts.

Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (WI) requested that Rep. Weiner withdraw his amendment, saying that the majority and minority sides on the committee were "95 percent" in agreement on the amendment, and that a final deal could be worked out prior to the bill going to the House floor.

In meetings following markup, Conference staff were told that the final agreement hinged on some wording issues, and that it is very likely COPS reauthorization will be added as a managers' amendment to the bill, giving strong bi-partisan support for COPS reauthorization.

This comes at a time when the COPS program is in serious funding jeopardy based on the actions of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees for FY 2004.

Chairman Sensenbrenner said he hopes to have HR 3036 approved in the House this year, so that a final bill can be acted upon in 2004.