Bill of the Month — May 2022: Fairness for Crime Victims Act of 2022

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s bill of the month for May 2022 is S. 4115, the Fairness for Crime Victims Act of 2022, introduced by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). This legislation would prevent Congress from being able to pay for discretionary spending projects by diverting money from the Crime Victims Fund (CVF).

In 1984, Congress established the CVF with the simple goal in mind of helping those victimized by crime in the United States. The CVF is funded solely via money collected from perpetrators during investigations or settlements. These fines and penalties collected by the federal government involve no taxes levied against the broader tax base.

These funds are collected, then disbursed by the Department of Justice to the states and to victim organizations to support those hurt by crime. This was a noble cause functioning exactly as federal lawmakers intended without using a single cent of taxpayer money. It was a uniquely successful federal program.

Unfortunately, in 2000, this run of success started to come to a halt. Congress took up an effort to restrict the amount of funds that could be disbursed to victims. Instead, a chunk of the money in CVF would be used as budgetary offsets in year-end spending bills. This change has been devastating for victims. For perspective, only 30 percent of funds collected for the CVF from 2010 to 2014 actually went to victims. The rest was used to fund special congressional appropriations.

This is an unbelievably sad and cynical portrait of the state of affairs in Washington. Congress has had a profligate spending problem for some time now. However, in the last few years, there have been spending and deficit numbers that were previously unimaginable – even with the lowest of expectations. Yet, instead of demonstrating a modicum of restraint, lawmakers have seen fit to plunder billions of dollars meant to aid American crime victims.

The Fairness for Crime Victims Act of 2022 would mandate that the CVF would disburse the average amount of deposits from the prior three years to victims. Meaning, if the fund receives $12 billion in deposits over the last three years, $4 billion must be disbursed to victims in the year in question. It is a needed accountability metric to ensure the fund is serving its intended purpose.

Given economic uncertainties, Sen. Toomey’s bill also includes exceptions for years with relatively low deposits or in the even the CVF might be drained of resources altogether. It is agile legislation whose language is prepared to handle fluctuations, while still functioning to serve victims.

The bill also includes added accountability measures for members of both the Senate and the House. If a provision is included in an appropriations package that would cause disbursements to fall below, it shall be considered out of order going forward. This is needed, as Congress has strayed from CVF’s mission once before. It cannot be allowed to do so again.

Serving the most vulnerable in society is a noble goal. Through the CVF, Congress helped to do so at zero cost to the American taxpayer. However, it slowly became a slush fund for congressional pet projects and pork barrel spending. S. 4115 would restore integrity to the fund and secure long-term funding for victims across the United States.

It is for these reasons, and many more, that TPA is proud to make the Federal Student Loan Integrity Act of 2022, introduced by Sen. Pat Toomey, its bill of the month for May 2022.