Filling Public Safety Vacancies Act

The Filling Public Safety Vacancies Act would provide a one-time, emergency infusion of $162 million in FY2025 to fund grants intended to help jurisdictions hire and rehiring additional career law enforcement officers under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (the COPS program). The money is available until expended and is designated as an emergency requirement. Agencies using the funds must ensure that any officers hired or rehired with these grants undergo background checks and psychological evaluations, with the costs of these vetting steps covered by the grant funds or other agency resources. Introduced in the House by Rep. Carbajal (with Rep. Bacon) and assigned to the Appropriations and Budget committees, the bill focuses narrowly on expanding public safety staffing through federal grants, while imposing vetting requirements and labeling the expenditure as an emergency funding action.