On Capitol Hill

107th Congress

The following bills, endorsed by ACU, are on the agenda in the current Congress:

Prison Privatization:

Legislation was expected to be introduced on May 7 in both the House and Senate, to prohibit the use of federal grant funds by states that privatize prisons. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio) will introduce the "Public Safety Act" in the House and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) in the Senate. AFSCME has secured the support of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, the Fraternal Order of Police and other organizations in pushing this anti-prison privatization legislation.

Collective Bargaining for Public Safety Officers:

H.R. 1475, the "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2001" was introduced on April 4, 2001 by Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), along with a bipartisan group of 114 other members. The bill establishes minimum bargaining standards that state laws must meet, and provides a mechanism for resolving impasses in states without such laws. The legislation enjoyed strong bipartisan support in the 106th Congress and is expected to pick up additional support in the 107th Congress.

Community Protection Act:

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) has again introduced this bill H.R. 218. It exempts qualified current and former law enforcement officers from state concealed-weapons laws, enabling corrections officers to protect themselves and their families from criminals they have had contact with in the course of their official duties.

Protecting Law Enforcement Jobs:

In late 1996, Congress approved a law that makes it illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to possess a firearm. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) has introduced supplementary legislation, H.R. 21, that would prevent the retroactive application of the firearms ban to convictions that occurred before Sept. 30, 1996.

Death Penalty for Killing a Corrections Officer:

John Sweeney (R-N.Y.) has re-introduced a bill, H.R. 201, that would reduce federal funding to states if they fail to enact legislation that requires the death penalty for killing a state CO. The state law must mandate the death penalty if the killing is a first degree murder and took place while the state or local CO was engaging in or carrying out official duties or because of the nature of those duties.

Other legislation introduced into the 107th Congress with implications for COs:

H.R. 199:

Introduced by Sweeney to amend Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to provide for the confidentiality of personnel records of, or personal information about, COs.

H.R. 24:

Introduced by Rep. Bob Barr to amend Title 18 of the U.S. Code with respect to the authority of probation officers and pre-trial services officers to carry firearms.

H.R. 94:

Introduced by Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas), to provide families of deceased law enforcement officers with the flags flown at the Capitol to observe their deaths.

106th Congress

ACU was successful in pushing through to passage four major bills from its legislative agenda: grants to states for stab-proof vests for COs; educational assistance for spouses and dependents of COs killed in the line of duty, retroactive to 1978; mental health diversion courts that transfer non-violent, mentally ill offenders from prison into treatment; and Jeanna’s Act, which places strict and costly standards on private prisoner-transport companies.