[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 285 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 285
To curtail the use of changes in mandatory programs affecting the Crime
Victims Fund to inflate spending.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 28, 2025
Mr. Lankford (for himself, Mr. Crapo, and Mr. Risch) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
the Budget
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To curtail the use of changes in mandatory programs affecting the Crime
Victims Fund to inflate spending.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fairness for Crime Victims Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CERTAIN CHANGES IN MANDATORY PROGRAMS
AFFECTING THE CRIME VICTIMS FUND.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the Crime Victims Fund was created in 1984, with the
support of overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the House of
Representatives and the Senate and the support of President
Ronald Reagan, who signed the Victims of Crime Act of 1984
(Public Law 98-473) into law;
(2) the Crime Victims Fund was created based on the
principle that funds the Federal Government collects from those
convicted of crime should be used to aid those who have been
victimized by crime;
(3) the Crime Victims Fund is funded from fines, penalties,
and forfeited bonds in Federal court and private donations;
(4) the Crime Victims Fund receives no taxpayer dollars;
(5) Federal law provides that funds deposited into the
Crime Victims Fund shall be used to provide services to victims
of crime in accordance with the Victims of Crime Act of 1984;
(6) the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 gives priority to
victims of child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence;
(7) since fiscal year 2000, Congress has been accounting
for funds collected by the Crime Victims Fund, but not
disbursing the full amount provided for under the Victims of
Crime Act of 1984;
(8) over $10,000,000,000 has been withheld from victims of
child abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other
crimes;
(9) from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2014, the
Crime Victims Fund collected $12,000,000,000, but Congress
disbursed only $3,600,000,000 (or 30 percent) to victims of
crime;
(10) since fiscal year 2015, Congress has increased
disbursals from the Crime Victims Fund to victims of crime, but
a permanent solution is necessary to ensure consistent
disbursals to victims of crime who rely on these funds every
year;
(11) under budget rules, Congress represents that the money
it has already spent in prior years is still in the Crime
Victims Fund and available for victims of crime;
(12) it is time to restore fairness to crime victims; and
(13) funds collected by the Crime Victims Fund should be
used for services to and compensation of crime victims in
accordance with the Victims of Crime Act of 1984.
(b) Amendment.--Title IV of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2
U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``PART C--ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON BUDGETARY AND APPROPRIATIONS
LEGISLATION
``SEC. 441. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CHANGES IN MANDATORY PROGRAMS
AFFECTING THE CRIME VICTIMS FUND.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the term `CHIMP' means a provision that--
``(A) would have been estimated as affecting direct
spending or receipts under section 252 of the Balanced
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2
U.S.C. 902) (as in effect prior to September 30, 2002)
if the provision was included in legislation other than
an appropriation Act; and
``(B) results in a net decrease in budget authority
in the current year or the budget year, but does not
result in a net decrease in outlays over the period of
the total of the current year, the budget year, and all
fiscal years covered under the most recently adopted
concurrent resolution on the budget;
``(2) the term `Crime Victims Fund' means the Crime Victims
Fund established under section 1402 of the Victims of Crime Act
of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 20101); and
``(3) the term `3-year average amount' means the annual
average amount that was deposited into the Crime Victims Fund
during the 3-fiscal-year period beginning on October 1 of the
fourth fiscal year before the fiscal year to which a CHIMP
affecting the Crime Victims Fund applies.
``(b) Point of Order in the Senate.--
``(1) Point of order.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (C), in the Senate, it shall not be in
order to consider a provision in a bill or joint
resolution making appropriations for all or a portion
of a fiscal year, or an amendment thereto, amendment
between the Houses in relation thereto, conference
report thereon, or motion thereon, that contains a
CHIMP that, if enacted, would cause the amount
available for obligation during the fiscal year from
the Crime Victims Fund to be less than the 3-year
average amount.
``(B) Point of order sustained.--If a point of
order is made by a Senator against a provision
described in subparagraph (A), and the point of order
is sustained by the Chair, that provision shall be
stricken from the measure and may not be offered as an
amendment from the floor.
``(C) Limitation.--A point of order shall not lie
in the Senate under this paragraph if the difference
between the amount in the Crime Victims Fund as of
September 30 of the fiscal year immediately preceding
the fiscal year to which the CHIMP described in
subparagraph (A) relates and the amount available for
obligation under the CHIMP described in subparagraph
(A) is not more than $2,000,000,000.
``(2) Form of the point of order.--A point of order under
paragraph (1) may be raised by a Senator as provided in section
313(e).
``(3) Conference reports.--When the Senate is considering a
conference report on, or an amendment between the Houses in
relation to, a bill or joint resolution, upon a point of order
being made by any Senator pursuant to paragraph (1), and such
point of order being sustained, such material contained in such
conference report or House amendment shall be stricken, and the
Senate shall proceed to consider the question of whether the
Senate shall recede from its amendment and concur with a
further amendment, or concur in the House amendment with a
further amendment, as the case may be, which further amendment
shall consist of only that portion of the conference report or
House amendment, as the case may be, not so stricken. Any such
motion in the Senate shall be debatable to the same extent as
the conference report or House amendment, as the case may be.
In any case in which such point of order is sustained against a
conference report (or Senate amendment derived from such
conference report by operation of this subsection), no further
amendment shall be in order.
``(4) Supermajority waiver and appeal.--In the Senate, this
subsection may be waived or suspended only by an affirmative
vote of three-fifths of the Members, duly chose and sworn. An
affirmative vote of three-fifths of Members of the Senate, duly
chosen and sworn shall be required to sustain an appeal of the
ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under this
subsection.
``(5) Determination.--For purposes of this subsection,
budgetary levels shall be determined on the basis of estimates
provided by the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the
Senate.
``(c) Point of Order in the House of Representatives.--
``(1) In general.--
``(A) Point of order.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), a provision in a bill or joint
resolution making appropriations for a fiscal year that
proposes a CHIMP that, if enacted, would cause the
amount available for obligation during the fiscal year
from the Crime Victims Fund to be less than the 3-year
average amount shall not be in order in the House of
Representatives.
``(B) Limitation.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply
if the difference between the amount in the Crime
Victims Fund as of September 30 of the fiscal year
immediately preceding the fiscal year to which the
CHIMP described in subparagraph (A) relates and the
amount available for obligation under the CHIMP
described in subparagraph (A) is not more than
$2,000,000,000.
``(2) Amendments and conference reports.--It shall not be
in order in the House of Representatives to consider an
amendment to, or a conference report on, a bill or joint
resolution making appropriations for a fiscal year if such
amendment thereto or conference report thereon proposes a CHIMP
that, if enacted, would cause the amount available for
obligation during the fiscal year from the Crime Victims Fund
to be less than the 3-year average amount.
``(3) Determination.--For purposes of this subsection,
budgetary levels shall be determined on the basis of estimates
provided by the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the
House of Representatives.''.
(c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents in
section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of
1974 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 428 the
following:
``PART C--Additional Limitations on Budgetary and Appropriations
Legislation
``Sec. 441. Point of order against changes in mandatory programs
affecting the Crime Victims Fund.''.
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