CORRECTIVE REPRINT PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 1585 PRINTER'S NO. 1708
No. 243 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY CRAHALLA, BROWNE, CAPPELLI, DeWEESE, GINGRICH, HENNESSEY, HERSHEY, MANN, MELIO, READSHAW, RUBLEY, SATHER, TIGUE, WATSON, YOUNGBLOOD, SAYLOR, CALTAGIRONE, GERGELY, STERN, SCAVELLO, BUNT, GOODMAN, LEDERER, FICHTER, THOMAS, BAKER AND REICHLEY, APRIL 12, 2005
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, APRIL 12, 2005
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1 Recommending to Congress that the cap on the Federal Crime 2 Victims Fund be eliminated and that the entire amount of 3 funds deposited into the fund be distributed annually. 4 WHEREAS, The Victims of Crime Act of 1984 established the 5 Crime Victims Fund which is one of the main sources of money and 6 support for crime victims and crime victims services; and 7 WHEREAS, The Crime Victims Fund provides critical funding for 8 formula grants to states for victim compensation and victim 9 assistance and for Federal discretionary grants, in addition to 10 earmarks for Federal victim assistance within the United States 11 Attorneys' Offices, FBI and Victim Notification System and the 12 Children's Justice Act; and 13 WHEREAS, State compensation programs pay directly for medical 14 care, counseling, lost wages and funerals for victims of 15 domestic violence, child abuse, rape and homicide; and 16 WHEREAS, State assistance programs provide services,
1 including crisis intervention, counseling, emergency shelter, 2 child care and emergency transportation; and 3 WHEREAS, Discretionary grants awarded to organizations fund 4 demonstration projects, training and other assistance to expand 5 and improve the delivery of services to crime victims; and 6 WHEREAS, All funds placed in the Crime Victims Fund are 7 derived from criminal fines, forfeited bail bonds, penalty fees 8 and special assessments collected by the United States 9 Attorneys' Offices, the United States courts and the Bureau of 10 Prisons and does not rely on any tax-generated revenues; and 11 WHEREAS, States may utilize compensation grants and victim 12 assistance grants over a four-year period, thus enabling them to 13 plan and manage the distribution of funds over time; and 14 WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States has placed a 15 budgetary cap on the fund for six successive years, thereby 16 holding back more than $1,267,000,000 collected for the fund; 17 and 18 WHEREAS, Congress has repeatedly affirmed that the cap was 19 imposed to ensure that a stable level of funding remains 20 available for use to fund crime victim programs in future years; 21 and 22 WHEREAS, The Administration's proposed fiscal year 2006 23 budget would rescind funds that support future Federal, state 24 and local victim services by removing $1,267,000,000 from the 25 Crime Victims Fund; and 26 WHEREAS, A rescission of the fund balance would result in no 27 available funding for the formula or discretionary grant 28 programs at the start of fiscal year 2007; therefore be it 29 RESOLVED (the Senate concurring), That the House of 30 Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recommend to 20050H0243R1708 - 2 -
1 Congress that the cap on the Federal Crime Victims Fund be 2 eliminated and that the entire amount of funds deposited into 3 the fund be distributed annually; and be it further 4 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 5 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recommend to Congress that they 6 oppose the Administration's proposal to rescind the Crime 7 Victims Fund; and be it further 8 RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of the House of 9 Representatives transmit copies of this resolution to the 10 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the 11 President pro tempore of the United States Senate, the 12 Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation, the Pennsylvania Crime 13 Victim Advocate and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and 14 Delinquency. D8L82MSP/20050H0243R1708 - 3 -