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2022 Special Session I

Budget Amendments - HB30 (Conference Report)

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Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention Fund & Operation Ceasefire Fund

Item 408 #5c

Item 408 #5c

First Year - FY2023 Second Year - FY2024
Public Safety and Homeland Security
Department of Criminal Justice Services FY2023 ($8,470,109) FY2024 ($5,970,109) GF

Language
Page 435, line 32, strike "$167,416,051" and insert "$158,945,942".
Page 435, line 32, strike "$163,416,051" and insert "$157,445,942".

Page 439, line 38, strike "two" and insert "four".

Page 439, strike lines 40 through 42 and insert:

"N.1.a. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Virginia Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention Fund (the Fund). The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. All moneys accruing to the Fund, including funds appropriated for such purpose and any gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds received on its behalf, shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used for the purpose of supporting gun violence intervention and prevention programs. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the Director of the Department.

b. The Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention Fund shall be administered by the Department, and the Department shall adopt guidelines and make funds available to agencies of local government, community-based organizations, and hospitals for the purpose of supporting implementation of evidence-informed gun violence intervention and prevention efforts, including street outreach, hospital-based violence intervention, and other violence intervention programs. Grant funds shall also support firearm suicide prevention and safe firearm removal practices from persons prohibited from possessing a firearm, including subjects of domestic violence protective orders, persons convicted of prohibitory crimes, and persons subject to substantial risk orders. The Department shall establish a grant procedure to govern funds awarded for this purpose.

c. Out of the amounts appropriated for this item, $4,000,000 the first year and $4,000,000 the second year from the general fund shall be deposited into the Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention Fund. At least $1,500,000 each year shall be provided to localities with disproportionate firearm-related homicides to support crime intervention and prevention through community engagement, including youth programs, to include at least $500,000 the first year for the City of Portsmouth and at least $1,000,000 the first year for the City of Norfolk.

2.a. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Operation Ceasefire Grant Fund (the Fund) and managed by the Department. The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. All moneys appropriated by the General Assembly for the Fund, and from any other sources, public or private, shall be paid into the state treasury and be credited to the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request of the Director of the Department.

b. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for the purposes of implementing violent crime reduction strategies, providing training for law-enforcement officers and prosecutors, providing equipment for law-enforcement agencies, and awarding grants to organizations such as state and local law-enforcement agencies, local attorneys for the Commonwealth, localities, social services providers, and nonprofit organizations that are engaged in group violence intervention efforts. For the purposes of subsection N.2. of this item, "group violence intervention" means comprehensive law enforcement, prosecutorial, and community-based initiatives, substantially similar to Operation Ceasefire as implemented in Boston, Massachusetts and the Gang Reduction Programs implemented in Richmond and Los Angeles, California, which are documented by the Department of Justice and are carried out between members of law enforcement, members of the community, and social services providers. The Department shall establish an application process for awarding grants from the Fund, including criteria and procedures for determining the amount of a grant.

c. Out the amounts appropriated for this item, $2,500,000 the first year and $2,500,000 the second year from the general fund shall be deposited into the Operation Ceasefire Grant Fund.

3. Out of the amounts in section N of this item, the Director, Department of Criminal Justice Services, is authorized to expend no more than three percent per year for state administration of these programs. The Department shall submit an annual report that details the amounts awarded and evaluates the implementation and effectiveness of each grant recipient's program to the Governor, Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, Director of the Department of Planning and Budget, and the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees by November 1, 2022 and November 1, 2023."



Explanation

(This amendment provides $13.0 million from the general fund for grants supporting violence intervention and prevention, including $2.5 million each year for the Operation Ceasefire Grant Fund and $4.0 million each year for the Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Fund. Included in the amount is $3.0 million designated for crime prevention through community engagement in localities with disproportionate rates of firearm violence, with at least $500,000 for the City of Portsmouth and $1.0 million for the City of Norfolk.)