VOCA Fix Bill

March 9, 2021 | Category: Recent News

Most VAWA SAA’s also administer VOCA. Even if your office does not administer VOCA, this information may prove useful to you moving forward.

This information was provided by NCJA, the National Criminal Justice Association.

VOCA Fix Bill Introduced in House and Senate

Last week the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act, or VOCA Fix Act, was introduced in both the House and Senate with strong bipartisan support. The bill would stabilize the Crime Victims Fund by directing the proceeds from federal non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements into it. These federal legal settlements are currently deposited into the General Treasury. If passed into law, this could add $4-7 billion to the Fund over 10 years.

Also, the bill would increase the percentage that state victim compensation programs may be reimbursed from 60 percent to 75 percent; add and make permanent a one-year no-cost extension for all Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grantees; give states the ability to waive the local match for VOCA assistance grants for the duration of the pandemic; provide additional flexibility for programs to provide support for victims even if they do not interact with law enforcement prior to providing assistance; and provide that restitution recoveries by state compensation programs no longer will need to be deducted from their state payouts for purposes of calculating VOCA grants.

The legislation is led in the House by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and John Moolenaar (R-MI). It is led in the Senate by Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

In 2020, all 56 state and territorial attorneys general sent a letter to Congress in support of the deposits fix. In addition, over 1,600 national, regional, state, territorial, and local organizations have signed a letter in support of the bill. View state-by-state fact sheets, VOCA fast facts, the House/Senate press release on the bill and the bill text.

Take care,

Barry