SB1858 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 30654 AWJ 57112 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB1858

Introduced 2/9/2023, by Sen. Chapin Rose

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act
30 ILCS 105/5.990 new

Creates the Fund the Police Act. Contains findings. Creates the Fund the Police Grant Fund and provides that moneys that the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board receives from the Fund must be used for the purpose of making grants to units of local government for the purposes of: (1) hiring, rehiring, and retention of law enforcement officers, including hiring and retention incentives and overtime; (2) funding body camera mandates and purchasing law enforcement equipment designed to keep officers and their communities safe; (3) funding additional law enforcement training; (4) assisting with outreach and community policing activities; (5) assisting with mental health treatment for individuals in county jails; (6) providing mental health care for law enforcement officers; and (7) purchasing public safety equipment designed to prevent gang violence, motor vehicle theft, vehicular hijacking, or the sale of contraband. Provides that the Board may set rules relating to requirements for the distribution of grant moneys and determine which law enforcement agencies are eligible. Provides that the Board must consider compliance with the Uniform Crime Reporting Act as a factor in awarding grant moneys. Provides that moneys in the Fund the Police Grant Fund may not be appropriated, assigned, or transferred to another State fund. Provides for a continuing appropriation at the beginning of each fiscal year of $125,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Fund the Police Grant Fund. Amends the State Finance Act by making conforming changes.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning finance.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Fund the Police Act.

Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that:

(1) Illinois communities, large and small, have recently experienced spikes in violence and theft resulting in loss of life, loss of property, and a diminished sense of security for the people of Illinois.

(2) Senseless violence has snuffed out the lives of men, women, and children from all walks of life and backgrounds and has caused irreversible harm to businesses of all sizes across the State.

(3) Chicago alone recorded more than 3,500 shootings and almost 800 homicides in 2021 and more than 2,899 shooting incidents and almost 700 homicides in 2022. The homicide rate reflects a level not seen in decades.

(4) Cook County, likewise, experienced nearly 1,100 homicides in 2021, the highest level of homicides in Cook County since 1994, and over 920 homicides in 2022.

(5) Other cities, such as Peoria and Champaign, also broke homicide records in 2021, with Champaign's homicide rate jumping 60% in a single year. Peoria and Chicago were ranked as two of the most dangerous cities in the United States in 2021.

(6) Similarly, between 2018 and 2020, aggravated assaults across the State jumped 14%.

(7) Some property crimes also skyrocketed. Since 2019, carjackings have tripled in Cook County. Organized retail crime, a now-multi-billion-dollar racket, has ravaged countless businesses in Chicago and the suburbs.

Section 10. Definition. As used in this Act, "Board" means the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board.

Section 15. Fund the Police Grant Fund; creation.

(a) The Fund the Police Grant Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. From appropriations to the Board from the Fund, the Board must make grants to units of local government for the purposes of:

(1) hiring, rehiring, and retention of law enforcement officers, including hiring and retention incentives and overtime;

(2) funding body camera mandates, including the purchase, storage, and other necessary expenses for running local body camera programs, and purchasing law enforcement equipment designed to keep officers and their communities safe;

(3) funding additional law enforcement training, including funding for Mobile Team In-Service Training Units throughout the State and training for law enforcement officers in preventing gang violence, motor vehicle theft, vehicular hijacking, or the sale of contraband;

(4) assisting with outreach and community policing activities;

(5) assisting with mental health treatment for individuals in county jails;

(6) providing mental health care for law enforcement officers; and

(7) purchasing public safety equipment designed to prevent gang violence, motor vehicle theft, vehicular hijacking, or the sale of contraband.

Moneys received for the purposes of this Section, including fee receipts, gifts, grants, and awards from any public or private entity, must be deposited into the Fund. Any interest earned on moneys in the Fund must be deposited into the Fund.

(b) The Board may, by rule, set requirements for the distribution of grant moneys and determine which law enforcement agencies are eligible.

(c) The Board must consider compliance with the Uniform Crime Reporting Act as a factor in awarding grant moneys.

Section 20. No fund sweep; transfer.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, moneys in the Fund the Police Grant Fund may not be appropriated, assigned, or transferred to another State fund.

(b) At the beginning of each fiscal year, the State Comptroller shall direct and the State Treasurer shall transfer the sum of $125,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Fund the Police Grant Fund.

(c) The Governor must submit to the General Assembly a proposed budget in which the Governor must specify the total amount of funds to be transferred from the General Revenue Fund to the Fund the Police Grant Fund during the budget year, which must be no less than the total amount transferred during the previous fiscal year. The Governor may submit a proposed budget in which the total of appropriated and transferred amounts is less than the previous fiscal year if the Governor declares in writing to the General Assembly the reason for the lesser amounts.

The General Assembly must transfer from the General Revenue Fund to the Fund the Police Grant Fund for the fiscal year a total amount that is no less than the total amount transferred for the previous fiscal year. The General Assembly may appropriate or transfer lesser amounts if it declares by Joint Resolution the reason for the lesser amounts.

Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Section 5.990 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.990 new)

Sec. 5.990. The Fund the Police Grant Fund.