House set to reintroduce bill that would increase funding for local police
Cami Mondeaux
A bipartisan group of House members is set to reintroduce a bill that would increase funding for local police departments to preserve officer safety and increase training for violence de-escalation tactics.
The legislation would revive efforts from last Congress to invest in domestic violence training and mental health resources for officers, as well as providing resources for data storage and security for body cameras, according to the previous version of the Invest to Protect Act. The bill is expected to be introduced on Friday, spokespeople confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
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As part of its provisions, the bill would allow grants to be used for overtime pay and officer recruitment by providing retention bonuses and educational incentives. The legislation would apply to small and midsize police departments that employ fewer than 200 officers.
The bill is being led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), John Rutherford (R-FL), Steven Horsford (D-NV), and Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) and has already garnered the support of 44 co-sponsors, according to Axios. A majority of those co-sponsors are Democrats, with at least 11 of those running for reelection in swing districts in 2024.
In total, 35 of the co-sponsors are Democrats and nine are Republicans, which includes a handful of GOP lawmakers running in districts that President Joe Biden won in 2020.
The legislation offers a chance for members of both parties to distance themselves from calls on both sides of the aisle to defund certain law enforcement agencies, especially ahead of a crucial election cycle.
Republicans have long targeted Democrats for being “soft on crime,” especially after progressive lawmakers revived calls to “defund the police” during the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in the summer of 2020.
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However, the GOP has also come under fire for calls to cut funding for law enforcement after some Republican leaders, led by former President Donald Trump, have called to “defund” agencies such as the FBI and Department of Justice over their handling of his classified documents.
The Democratic-led House passed the Invest to Protect Act last year, but the legislation stalled after the Senate voted to pass an alternative version of the legislation — with neither chamber offering the other’s language up for a vote.