WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) applauded the Senate’s unanimous passage of their bipartisan Invest to Protect Act to boost local police departments’ access to training, mental health support, recruitment and retention resources.

“Many Iowans have told me they’re concerned about the low recruitment and retention rates of police officers in their communities,” Grassley said. “The Senate’s unanimous support for this bill will bring us one step closer to unlocking local law enforcement’s access to critical resources to strengthen and grow their forces. As always, I’m proud to back the blue and I’ll work to protect our state’s courageous officers.”

“The funding from this bill will help the vast majority of police departments across the country make meaningful investments in their officers and their communities,” Cortez Masto said. “Our police officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe – and for law enforcement in small suburbs, Tribes and rural areas, that stress is compounded by a lack of funding and few full-time officers. It’s time we gave them a leg up and delivered them the critical resources they need.”

Additional cosponsors include Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

The bill is endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Police Organizations and the National Sheriffs’ Association.

Bill text is available HERE.

Background:

Most police departments in the U.S. employ fewer than 200 full-time officers. In Iowa and across the country, these departments struggle to compete with larger law enforcement agencies for access to critical resources. 

The Invest to Protect Act establishes a grant program through Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), setting aside $250 million to help local law enforcement agencies make meaningful investments in their officers and communities. The bill also simplifies the grant application process, reducing the application time to less than two hours so that small agencies without dedicated grant-writing staff can more easily access funding.

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