Legislation Supported by the FOP in the 118th Congress

U.S. House of Representatives

TOP PRIORITY – H.R. 82 (Graves, R-LA), the “Social Security Fairness Act,” which would repeal both the “Windfall Elimination Provision” and the “Government Pension Offset” in current Social Security law;

H.R. 130 (Buchanan, R-FL), the “Thin Blue Line Act,” which would expand the list of statutory aggravating factors in death penalty determinations to also include killing or targeting a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder;

H.R. 233 (Banks, R-IN), which would codify the existing qualified immunity doctrine as established and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court;

H.R. 304 (Stefanik, R-NY), the “Stop Enabling Repeat Violence and Endangering (SERVE) Our Communities Act,” which would establish an annual grant program for State and local governments to fund programs like transitional services, mentoring, and job training for young offenders;

H.R. 354 (Bacon, R-NE), the “LEOSA Reform Act,” which would amend the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA), which exempts qualified active and retired law enforcement officers from local and State prohibitions on the carriage of concealed firearms, to ensure that these officers are able to carry in the same venues as civilian concealed carry permit holders in areas like schools and national parks, as well as use public transportation and extends the exemption to magazine capacity and would allow active and retired law enforcement officers to access services at U.S. post offices, Social Security Administration offices or Veterans Affairs facilities;

H.R. 355 (Bacon, R -NE), the “Back the Blue Act,” which would improve protections for law enforcement officers by increasing the penalties for those who kill or assault law enforcement officers, impose time and other limits on Federal courts’ review of habeas corpus, amend the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA), and provide new grants;

H.R. 472 (Joyce, R-OH), the “Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act,” which directs the U.S. Department of Justice to develop a state-of-the-art treatment program for public safety officers experiencing acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or similar conditions;

H.R. 743 (Rutherford, R-FL), the “Protect and Serve Act,” which would make it a Federal crime to target a law enforcement officer with an assault that results in serious bodily harm or death;

H.R. 795 (Joyce, R-OH), the “Protecting First Responders from Secondary Exposure Act,” would allow State and local governments to purchase containment devices through the existing Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP);

H.R. 898 (Carter, R-TX), the “Recruit and Retain Act,” which would authorize COPS grantees to use grant funds for the recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers;

H.R. 957 (Spanberger, D-VA), the “Public Safety Health Care Retirees Act,” which would update the Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety (HELPS) Retirees Act in current Federal law;

TOP PRIORITY – H.R. 1322 (Pascrell, D-NJ), the “Law Enforcement Officers’ Equity Act,” which would expand the definition of “law enforcement officer” as it applies to salary and retirement benefits so that all Federal law enforcement officers will have access to them;

H.R. 1649 (Pappas, D-NH), the “Establishing Accreditation Grants for Law Enforcement (EAGLE) Act,” which would establish a grant program that would pay the certification or re-certification fees for small to mid-size agencies that have fewer than 350 employees;

SINGED INTO LAW – H.J. Res. 26/PL 118-1 (Clyde, R-GA), a resolution disapproving the adoption of the Revised Criminal Code Act (RCCA) of 2022 by the Washington, D.C. City Council. 

United States Senate

S. 261 (Brown, D-OH), the “Protecting First Responders from Secondary Exposure Act,” would allow State and local governments to purchase containment devices through the existing Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP);

S. 459 (Braun, R-IN), the “Thin Blue Line Act,” which would expand the list of statutory aggravating factors in death penalty determinations to also include killing or targeting a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder;

S. 499 (Cornyn, R-TX), the “Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act,” which would reauthorize the Debbie Smith Act for five years and allocate $151 million in funding;

S. 529 (Cruz, R-TX), “Eric’s Law,” which would allow Federal prosecutors to impanel a second jury for the sentencing phase of a Federal capital case if the first jury does not reach a unanimous decision on the sentence;

S. 546 (Fischer, R-NE), the “Recruit and Retain Act,” which would expand the scope of the Hiring Program administered by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to allow funds to be used to reduce application fees and other similar costs for job applicants;

TOP PRIORITY – S. 597 (Brown, D-OH), the “Social Security Fairness Act,” which would repeal both the “Windfall Elimination Provision” and the “Government Pension Offset” in current Social Security law;

PASSED SENATE – S. 645 (Grassley, R-IA), the “Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act,” which directs the U.S. Department of Justice to develop a state-of-the-art treatment program for public safety officers experiencing acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or similar conditions;

S.738 (Casey, D-PA), the “Tax Fairness for Workers Act,” which would establish an “above-the-line” deduction for law enforcement and other public safety officers for certain employee-related expenses, including union dues;

S.894 (Cornyn, R-TX), the “Public Safety Concussions and Traumatic Brain Injury Health Act,” which would help law enforcement agencies establish concussion and traumatic brain injury (TBI) protocols;

S.J. Res. 12 (Haggerty, R-TN), a resolution disapproving the adoption of the Revised Criminal Code Act (RCCA) of 2022 by the Washington, D.C. City Council.