Sponsors (2)
The bill conditions federal CDBG/EDA funding on maintaining police funding — protecting and redirecting funds to jurisdictions that keep law enforcement while creating significant financial losses, legal uncertainty, and project disruptions for jurisdictions that cut or abolish police.
Local and state governments that continue to fund and maintain law enforcement keep eligibility for federal CDBG and EDA grants, preserving continuity for community development projects and federal funding streams.
When funds are reclaimed from ineligible ('defunding') jurisdictions, those funds are reallocated within the same State to non-defunding localities, allowing compliant localities to receive additional federal resources more quickly for local infrastructure and development projects.
Excluding ineligible jurisdictions from allocation formulas directs more CDBG/EDA resources to jurisdictions that meet federal eligibility criteria, potentially increasing funding for low-income communities and renters in compliant areas.
States and cities labeled as 'defunding' can lose federal CDBG and EDA grants and may be required to return funds received during the period of ineligibility, substantially reducing local resources for services and projects.
Low-income residents and renters in jurisdictions deemed ineligible risk losing planned housing, infrastructure, or economic projects funded by Title I or EDA grants, harming vulnerable populations that depend on those programs.
Ambiguity over what counts as a 'significant' budget reduction or having 'no intent to reconstitute' police, combined with dispute processes over a jurisdiction's designation, creates legal uncertainty and the risk of sudden funding cuts that can disrupt multi-year projects.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Conditions eligibility for certain federal economic development and CDBG grants on not abolishing or significantly cutting police agencies; requires repayment and reallocation of funds from ineligible jurisdictions.
Official title: To prohibit a jurisdiction that defunds the police from receiving grants under certain Economic Development Assistance Programs and the Community Development Block Grant Program.
Introduced May 15, 2025 by Brian K. Fitzpatrick · Last progress May 15, 2025
Makes States and urban localities that abolish or sharply cut police agencies in normal-revenue years ineligible for certain federal economic and community development grants and requires immediate return and reallocation of funds received while ineligible. The bill adds definitions of “defunding State” and “defunding locality,” amends the Public Works and Economic Development Act and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) statutes to bar eligibility, require certification of compliance, force repayment of funds obtained during ineligibility, and direct returned funds to other grantees in the same State or to non-defunding jurisdictions. The changes apply to federal economic development grants and CDBG funding streams, exclude ineligible jurisdictions from allocation formulas when reallocating returned funds, and remove some existing reallocation procedures so returned money is promptly redistributed to eligible recipients.