House Concurrent Resolution 110 - Introduced

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  1  1           HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO.    
  1  2    BY  REICHERT, T. TAYLOR, BUKTA, WHITAKER, MURPHY,
  1  3  PETTENGILL, D. TAYLOR, KRESSIG, WENDT, BERRY, FOEGE,
  1  4  SWAIM, BELL, MERTZ, COHOON, DAVITT, D. OLSON, SMITH,
  1  5  HEDDENS, FREVERT, GASKILL, THOMAS, WINCKLER, JOCHUM,
  1  6  LENSING, KUHN, McCARTHY, R. OLSON, SHOULTZ, MASCHER,
  1  7  REASONER, SCHUELLER, QUIRK, PETERSEN, WISE, DANDEKAR,
  1  8     SHOMSHOR, FORD, WHITEAD, LYKAM, JACOBY, OLDSON,
  1  9                       and HUNTER
  1 10          (COMPANION TO LSB 6597SS BY KREIMAN)
  1 11 A Resolution urging the federal government to restore
  1 12    funding under the Byrne=Justice Assistance Grant
  1 13    program.
  1 14    WHEREAS, the Byrne=Justice Assistance Grant program
  1 15 is a federal aid program designed to fund frontline
  1 16 drug enforcement officials in local communities and
  1 17 establish local drug task forces; and
  1 18    WHEREAS, drug use, specifically methamphetamine
  1 19 use, is a growing problem in Iowa's urban and rural
  1 20 areas, and combating the ills of drugs in our society
  1 21 is of the greatest importance; and
  1 22    WHEREAS, the Byrne=Justice Assistance Grant program
  1 23 has been a vital source of funding for local drug
  1 24 enforcement task forces in Iowa for the better part of
  1 25 two decades; and
  1 26    WHEREAS, Byrne=Justice Assistance Grant program
  1 27 funding levels have been reduced by more than 50
  1 28 percent since 2003, and funding formulas have been
  1 29 changed to further divert money away from states with
  1 30 lower populations, causing further cutbacks in Iowa
  2  1 drug enforcement task forces and other local drug
  2  2 control projects; and
  2  3    WHEREAS, federal program changes between 2003 and
  2  4 2005 reduced the number of program=supported drug
  2  5 control projects in Iowa from 61 to 38 and the number
  2  6 of program=supported positions from 110 to 65, and
  2  7 additional reductions will result in 2006; and
  2  8    WHEREAS, in the 2007 federal budget proposed by
  2  9 President Bush, the Byrne=Justice Assistance Grant
  2 10 program would be eliminated, thereby eliminating
  2 11 Iowa's $2.7 million 2006 federal funding share; and
  2 12    WHEREAS, the President's 2007 federal budget
  2 13 proposal would eliminate remaining Byrne=Justice
  2 14 Assistance Grant support for projects that include 23
  2 15 drug task forces and 51 drug task force personnel, or
  2 16 more than half of the local and state law enforcement
  2 17 positions dedicated to drug enforcement in Iowa,
  2 18 dealing a critical blow to the reduction of drug use
  2 19 in Iowa; NOW THEREFORE,
  2 20    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE
  2 21 SENATE CONCURRING, That the General Assembly urges the
  2 22 federal government to restore Byrne=Justice Assistance
  2 23 Grant funding, to continue to support local drug
  2 24 enforcement officers and their efforts to fight the
  2 25 effects of drug use and trafficking here in Iowa, and
  2 26 to restore an appropriate funding formula that does
  2 27 not punish states with lower populations and that
  2 28 supports local rural populations in their fight
  2 29 against illicit drug use and trafficking; and
  2 30    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this
  3  1 Resolution be forwarded to the President of the United
  3  2 States, the President of the Senate of the United
  3  3 States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of
  3  4 the United States, and members of Iowa's congressional
  3  5 delegation.
  3  6 LSB 6597HH 81
  3  7 jr:nh/je/5.2