FALL 2015 FEDERAL UPDATE

Law, Criminal Justice & Public Safety Committee

Susan Frederick, Esq.

Danielle Dean, Esq.

IMMIGRATION RELATED ACTIVITY

Refugee Resettlement

Legislation • Bill H.R. 4038 - Passed House, 11/19/15

• Calls for enhanced background checks

for potential refugees from Iraq and

Syria

• White House SAP

• NCSL Issue Brief on the U.S. Refugee

Resettlement Program

http://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/t

he-u-s-refugee-resettlement-program-a-

primer-for-policymakers.aspx

5th Circuit Court of

Appeals• Filed 11/09/15

• Questioned the legality of

DACA/DAPA

• Pres. Obama DAPA Memo must go

through APA notice-and-comment

• Standing

• Holding: Court blocked DACA/DAPA

• Next steps- Petition for Cert. SCOTUS

http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/p

ub/15/15-40238-CV0.pdf

Sanctuary Cities

Legislation• Senate Bill S. 2146 – did not pass

• Prohibits States and Political

subdivisions from receiving major

grant funding if they have sanctuary

city policies in effect

• NCSL Opposition Letter

http://www.ncsl.org/ncsl-in-

dc/standing-committees/law-criminal-

justice-and-public-safety/law-and-

criminal-justice-federal-activity.aspx

CYBERSECURITY

Senate Bill S. 754

• Cybersecurity

Information Sharing

Act (CISA)

• Passed Senate

10/27/15

• Content &

Supporters of the

Bill

House Bill H.R. 1560

• Protecting Cyber

Networks Act

(PCNA)

• Passed House

4/22/15

• Content &

Supporters of the

Bill

House Bill H.R. 1731

• National

Cybersecurity

Protection

Advancement Act of

2015 (NCPAA)

• Passed House 4/23/15

• Content & Supporters

of the Bill

You can find NCSL policy on cybersecurity here: http://www.ncsl.org/ncsl-in-dc/task-

forces/policies-law-and-criminal-justice.aspx

CYBERSECURITY: NEXT STEPS1. Cybersecurity Legislation

2. U.S. Dept. Of Justice, Global Action Committee

ISSUES TO WATCH

• North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC

• In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court created the state action doctrine which grants states immunity from

federal antitrust laws

• 2015 U.S. Supreme Court held that to be immune from federal antitrust laws, there must be “active

supervision” of state boards and commissions when a controlling number of board members are

market participants. Opinion - http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/north-carolina-board-of-

dental-examiners-v-federal-trade-commission/

• FTC issued guidance language to clarify “active supervision.”

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/attachments/competition-policy-

guidance/active_supervision_of_state_boards.pdf

• State regulatory board requires active supervision when there is a controlling number of active market

participants - defined as a person who is licensed by the board or provides any service subject to the

regulatory authority of the board.

• Active supervision is flexible and FTC will decide on case-by-case basis dependent on a few guiding

principles.

ISSUES TO WATCH CON’T.

• How do we know the requirement of active supervision has been satisfied?

• Supervisor has gathered all information (facts, data, public hearings) needed for a proper

evaluation of the board’s action.

• Supervisor has analyzed the merits of the recommended action and determined whether

the action agrees with the standards established by the state legislature.

• Supervisor issues a written decision approving, modifying or disapproving the board’s

recommendation.

• Examples of what DOES constitute active supervision

• Examples of what does NOT constitute active supervision

ISSUES TO WATCH CON’T.

• Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act

• S. 1169 and H.R. 2728 – STALLED. Maybe next year

• Mental Health Bill

• Will come back in next Congress

• Increases important federal funding to states for addressing the mentally ill in the criminal

justice system.

• Provides for specialized crisis team law enforcement training who will respond to mental

health crises and hopefully de-escalate the situation.

• Seeks to improve pre-trial screening to better identify mentally ill offenders so they can

receive accurate diagnoses and proper treatment.

• Increases the use of treatment-based alternatives to incarceration for mentally ill

offenders.

• Improves reentry programming for mentally ill offenders.

ISSUES TO WATCH CON’T

• Criminal Justice Legislation

• S. 2123 “Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act”

• Reduces some mandatory minimums for the least violent of federal offenders.

• Important to watch because it will save the Bureau of Prisons a lot of $$$

• This savings could be reallocated into other federal funding streams, like Byrne/JAG

• NCSL letter of support - http://www.ncsl.org/ncsl-in-dc/standing-committees/law-criminal-

justice-and-public-safety/law-and-criminal-justice-federal-activity.aspx

• H.R. 3713, the “Sentencing Reform Act of 2015”; H.R. 4002, the “Criminal Code

Improvement Act of 2015”; H.R. 4003, the “Regulatory Reporting Act of 2015”; H.R. 4001,

the “Fix the Footnotes Act of 2015”; and, H.R. 4023, the “Clean Up the Code Act of 2015”

• House package of bills that will only impact federal prisons and offenses.

APPROPRIATIONS

• Byrne JAG - $382,000,000

• State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) - $75,000,000

• Upgrade criminal and mental health records for the National Instant Criminal

Background Check System (NICS) -$55,000,000

• DNA related and forensic programs and activities - $125,000,000

• Offender reentry (Second Chance Act) $68,000,000

• Juvenile Justice grants to states - $65,500,000

• Youth mentoring grants - $75,000,000

• Delinquency Prevention - $40,000,000

• Late October budget deal – rescinds and permanently cancels $1.5 billion of the funds

deposited or available in the Crime Victims fund.

APPROPRIATIONS, CON’T.DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

• Law Enforcement relating to border security, immigration, customs and transportation of

unaccompanied minor aliens - $8,779,325,000 (last year $8,459,657,000)

• Disaster Relief Fund - $7,374,693,000 (last year 7,033,464,494)

• Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure and Technology - $373,461,000 (last year $382,466,000)

• Immigration and Customs Enforcement - $5,762,494,000 (last year $5,932,756,000)

• FEMA Operations - $928,806,000 (last year 934,396,000)

• State & Local Programs - $1.5 billion (same as last year)

• $55 million State Homeland Security Grant Program

• $600 million for Urban Area Security Initiative

• $233 million training, exercises, technical assistance and other programs

• E-Verify - $119,671,000(last year $124,435,000)