Congressional Research Service IF11508.1 (Department of Justice’s Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program)
Summary
A Congressional Research Service product, IF11508 (version 1), dated April 16, 2020, on the Department of Justice's Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding (CESF) program. It states that the CARES Act (P.L. 116-136) provided $850 million to DOJ to be awarded to state and local governments, and that the program is administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). It explains that the funds are allocated under the formula used in fiscal year 2019 for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, that only units of local government that would receive $10,000 or more are eligible for a direct allocation, and that each state must pass through a percentage of its award to local governments.
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April 16, 2020
Department of Justice’s Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental
Funding Program
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act the three-year average number of violent crimes committed
(CARES Act, P.L. 116-136) provided $850 million to the in its respective state. Only units of local government that
Department of Justice (DOJ) to be awarded to state and would receive $10,000 or more are eligible for a direct
local governments to help them “prevent, prepare for, and allocation. The balance of funds not awarded directly to
respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally.” units of local government is administered by the state and
DOJ is awarding this funding under its Coronavirus must be distributed to the state police department or to units
Emergency Supplemental Funding (CESF) program, which of local government that were not eligible to receive a
is being administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance direct award from BJA. Also, each state is required to “pass
(BJA). through” to units of local government a certain percentage
of the funds directly awarded to the state. The pass-through
Per the CARES Act, the $850 million is to be allocated percentage is calculated as the ratio of the total amount of
“pursuant to the formula allocation (adjusted in proportion state expenditures on criminal justice for the most recent
to the relative amounts statutorily designated therefor) that fiscal year to the total amount of expenditures on criminal
was used in fiscal year 2019 for the Edward Byrne justice by both the state and all units of local government in
Memorial Justice Assistance Grant [JAG] program.” the past fiscal year. Pass-through percentages for each state
However, the act also states that “allocation provisions are calculated by the Bureau of Justice Statistics using data
under sections 505(a) through (e) … of the [Omnibus on state and government expenditures collected by the U.S.
Crime Control and Safe Streets Acts of 1968, P.L. 90-351], Census Bureau and grant award data from the Federal
shall not apply to the amount provided under this heading in Award Assistance Data System.
this Act.”
In effect, while the JAG program formula was used to Disparate Allocation
determine which state and local governments are eligible to In some instances, a unit of local government or
receive funding under the CESF program and the amount of multiple units of local government are required to
their allocation, many of the requirements of the JAG collaborate on a single joint award with the county.
program do not apply to funds awarded under the CESF This happens when BJA certifies that there is a
program. “disparate allocation,” meaning that one city qualifies
for an amount that is one-and-a-half times more than
Brief Overview of the JAG Formula the amount for the county with concurrent
Under the JAG formula, each state’s allocation is based on jurisdiction, or when the total amount cities in a single
its population and the number of reported violent crimes in county qualify for is four-times more than the amount
the state. Specifically, half of a state’s allocation is based on for the county. The unit or units of local government
the state’s respective share of the U.S. population. The and county representatives must sign and submit a
other half is based on the state’s respective share of the memorandum of understanding stating that they all
average number of violent crimes reported to the Federal agree on how the joint award, which is the sum of all
Bureau of Investigation for the three most recent years for of the individual awards, will be allocated and used.
which data are available. Under current law, each state is
guaranteed to receive no less than 0.25% of the amount For more information on the JAG program, see CRS In
appropriated for the JAG program in a given fiscal year Focus IF10691, The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice
(i.e., the minimum allocation). When calculating Assistance Grant (JAG) Program.
allocations, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, and Guam are considered to be states; The CESF Program
American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands are BJA has released calculated allocations for state and local
considered to be one “state,” and their allocation is split governments and is accepting applications for grants until
with 67% going to American Samoa and 33% going to the May 29, 2020. Grants under this program are not
Northern Mariana Islands. automatically awarded to state and local governments; they
have to apply to receive funding. However, grants are not
After each state’s allocation is determined, 40% of it is competitive, so if an eligible jurisdiction submits a fundable
directly awarded to units of local government in the state application it is to receive a grant.
(this does not occur in the District of Columbia or the
territories). Awards to units of local government, which Grants under the CESF can be used for, but are not limited
includes Indian tribes that have law enforcement to, overtime, equipment (including law enforcement and
responsibilities, are based on the jurisdiction’s proportion of medical personal protective equipment), hiring, supplies
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Department of Justice’s Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program
(such as gloves, masks, sanitizer), training, travel expenses, counties received funding under the CESF program, BJA
and addressing the medical needs of inmates in state, local, took an amount equal to what was awarded to jurisdictions
and tribal prisons, jails, and detention centers. BJA is to that received less than $10,000 under the FY2019 JAG
determine whether requests to spend CESF funding on program ($20.4 million) and distributed it equally among
projects or purchases other than those listed are allowable the 351 zero counties, resulting in an award of $58,008 for
under the program (i.e., do they help the applicant prevent, each of these counties.
prepare for, and respond to Coronavirus?).
Allocations under the CESF Program CESF Allocation Calculations
All states, the District of Columbia, and each of the five
territories are eligible to receive funding under the CESF CESF appropriation: $850.0 million
program because they received an FY2019 JAG award.
Only local governments that were eligible to receive a Amount available for allocation for FY2019
direct award from BJA under the FY2019 JAG program are through JAG: $263.8 million = $160.7 million in
eligible to receive grants under the CESF program. state base funding + $20.4 million for jurisdictions that
received less than $10,000 + $82.7 million in direct
With a few exceptions, allocations were calculated by awards to local jurisdictions.
multiplying eligible jurisdictions’ FY2019 JAG allocations
by 3.22196, which was how many times greater the CESF Plus-up factor: CESF appropriation / amount
appropriation was than the amount that was available to be available for allocation for FY2019 through JAG ≈
allocated under the JAG program for FY2019 ($263.8 3.22196.
million).
State allocations: (state’s FY2019 JAG base funding
Under the JAG program, state governments receive a base * 3.22196) + ((($20.4 million * 3.22196) - $20.4
amount equal to 60% of the state’s calculated allocation million) / 56).
plus an amount equal to the total for all local jurisdictions
in the state whose calculated allocations were less than Non-zero county local jurisdiction allocations:
$10,000. Under the CESF program, a state’s allocation is FY2019 JAG allocation * 3.22196
equal to its FY2019 base allocation multiplied by 3.22196
plus $807,876. The additional $807,876 each state received Zero county allocations: $20.4 million / 351 zero
is equal to the total amount allocated to jurisdictions that counties.
received less than $10,000 for FY2019 ($20.4 million)
multiplied by 3.22196 with an amount subtracted for
awards to counties that were not eligible for a direct award Helpful Websites
for FY2019 (see below) and equally divided between the 50
states, the District of Columbia, and the five territories. State CESF allocations: https://bja.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/
Under the CESF program, states are not required to award xyckuh186/files/media/document/fy20-cesf-state-
the $807,876 they receive to jurisdictions that are not allocations.pdf
eligible to apply for a direct award from BJA. Also, the
pass-through requirement under the JAG program does not Local governments’ CESF allocations:
apply to CESF funds. https://bja.ojp.gov/program/fy20-cesf-allocations
Some counties with disparate allocations in FY2019 are not CESF program grant solicitation: https://bja.ojp.gov/
eligible to receive any funding because they did not report sites/g/files/xyckuh186/files/media/document/bja-2020-
any violent crime data, yet they had expenses related to the 18553.pdf
operation of the criminal justice system, such as operating a
jail or funding a district attorney’s office (so-called zero CESF awards: https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/fy20-cesf-
counties). Under the JAG program, these counties would awards
typically receive some funding or would benefit from a
JAG-funded program or project because they would have to Nathan James, Analyst in Crime Policy
apply for a joint award with other cities in the county.
However, under the CESF program the disparate allocation IF11508
requirement is not applicable. In order to ensure that zero
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Department of Justice’s Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program
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