Sponsor
Clay Higgins
Representative · R-LA
Representative · R-LA
The bill shifts significant prison-related funding from the federal BOP to states (with modest reserves for administration and oversight), prioritizing local alternatives and flexibility but reducing federal prison funding and risking uneven services, increased state burdens, and weakened centralized capacity.
State and local governments (and people reentering from prison) receive block grant funding equal to half of prior BOP funds, enabling investment in local alternatives to incarceration and reentry programs.
DOJ grant administration unit gets 10% of funds to manage and support state programs, funding administration and technical assistance to improve implementation.
The DOJ Office of Inspector General receives 10% for oversight, which could increase accountability and reduce misuse of grant funds (protecting taxpayers).
Federal Bureau of Prisons staff, federal inmates, and taxpayers face a cut: the BOP budget is reduced to FY2019 levels, potentially shrinking federal prison operations, staffing, and programs and shifting responsibilities to states.
State governments (and vulnerable populations such as people with disabilities) may face increased burdens to design, administer, and fund prison-related services if block grants prove insufficient or come with limiting conditions, risking inconsistent services across states.
Reallocating funds away from federal BOP reduces DOJ's direct capacity and could create gaps in federal oversight or uniform standards for incarceration and reentry, complicating coordination between federal and state systems.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires DOJ to cut BOP funding to FY2019 levels and reallocate reduced funds: 50% to state block grants, 10% to DOJ grant administration, 10% to DOJ OIG for oversight.
Official title: To direct the Attorney General to structure funding issued to the Bureau of Prisons as State block grants.
Introduced May 13, 2025 by Clay Higgins · Last progress May 13, 2025
Requires the Attorney General to create and carry out a plan that cuts Bureau of Prisons (BOP) funding down to the FY2019 appropriation level and reallocates the reduced funds: 50% to state block grants, 10% kept by the DOJ office that runs the grants, and 10% to the DOJ Office of Inspector General for oversight. The plan must be developed within 270 days of enactment and fully implemented within one year of enactment.