Sponsors (2)
The bill conditions CDBG/EDA funding on maintaining law enforcement: it preserves and redirects federal resources toward jurisdictions that keep policing levels, but in doing so threatens funding for communities that cut or abolish police and creates legal, administrative, and equity risks for affected localities and vulnerable residents.
Local and state jurisdictions that continue to fund and maintain law enforcement keep eligibility for federal CDBG and EDA grants, preserving continuity of community development and public-safety-related funding.
When jurisdictions are excluded for 'defunding,' returned CDBG/EDA funds are reallocated within the same State to non-defunding localities, directing additional federal resources to compliant communities and potentially increasing funding for low-income neighborhoods and renters.
Reallocation within the State lets eligible non-defunding localities quickly receive extra federal resources for local infrastructure and economic development projects.
Jurisdictions that abolish, sharply cut, or are labeled as 'defunding' risk losing federal CDBG and EDA grants and may be required to return funds received while ineligible, reducing resources for local services, housing, and economic development.
Low-income residents and renters in jurisdictions designated ineligible may lose planned housing, infrastructure, or economic projects funded by Title I or EDA grants, directly harming vulnerable households.
Ambiguous terms (for example, what constitutes a 'significant' budget reduction or 'no intent to reconstitute') and discretionary defunding designations create legal disputes and funding uncertainty that can cause sudden cuts and disrupt multi-year projects.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Makes states and urban localities that abolish or sharply cut police budgets ineligible for certain federal economic development and CDBG funds and requires returned funds to be reallocated.
Introduced May 15, 2025 by Brian K. Fitzpatrick · Last progress May 15, 2025
Makes states and urban local governments that abolish or substantially cut police departments (when not forced by a revenue drop) ineligible for certain federal economic development grants and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. It requires any funds received while a jurisdiction is ineligible to be returned immediately and reallocated to other grantees, generally within the same State. Defines "defunding State" and "defunding locality" with a narrow revenue-loss exception, adds those definitions to HUD and EDA grant rules, creates a HUD certification requirement, and changes allocation and reallocation rules so excluded jurisdictions are removed from formulas and returned funds are routed to non-defunding recipients or state governors for nonentitlement areas.