In a win for NAPO, the House passed the Invest to Protect Act, H.R. 6448 Sept. 22 by a large bipartisan vote of 360-64. NAPO worked closely with Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and John Rutherford (R-FL) on this legislation, which would create a broad grant program through the Department of Justice (DOJ) specifically for small state, local or tribal law enforcement agencies that will give them resources to train their officers, provide mental health resources for their officers, and retain and hire officers; On Sept. 20, the House Ways and Means Committee marked up H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, which would fully repeal both the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). By taking up the bill, the Committee has removed it from the consensus calendar and curtailed our chances of forcing a vote on the House floor this year. The GPO reduces a public employees’ Social Security spousal or survivor benefit by two-thirds of their public pension. The WEP is a benefit formula that reduces the size of your Social Security retirement benefit if you receive a pension from a non-Social Security covered job; The House passed the NAPO-supported VICTIM Act (H.R. 5768) Sept. 22, which would establish a grant program at the DOJ to help state, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies improve their clearance rates for homicides and non-fatal shootings. The grant funding can be used to hire additional detectives, officers, and personnel to support efforts to improve clearance rates as well as train detectives and police personnel to investigate, solve, and respond to homicides and non-fatal shootings; NAPO joined the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies (ASCIA), Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) and several other national law enforcement associations on a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-WA) expressing our opposition to the American Data Privacy Protection Act (H.R. 8152). Law enforcement supports data privacy as many officers have seen their personal data publicly exposed, resulting in these officers and their families being harassed and threatened. But this legislation in its current form would significantly hamper law enforcement’s ability to obtain publicly available information in a timely, lawful manner, which is vital to keeping our communities safe, prosecuting criminals and protecting victims, particularly when it comes to investigations of heinous crimes such as kidnapping, child pornography, or human trafficking; Register soon for NAPO’s 2022 Fall Seminar, Oct. 31– Nov. 2, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and check out the 25% discount on FirstNet and Family, which gives first responders mission‑critical wireless network and prioritized connectivity without competing with commercial traffic.

For more on these and other law enforcement legislative issues, click on the Sept. 30, 2022 Washington Report below.