Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Victim Services Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances plan to create special revenue account for crime‑victim services funding
Summary
House File 1082, which would create a special revenue account and add modest fees and fines to stabilize funding for crime‑victim services, was amended and re‑referred to the Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee.
Lawmakers and victim‑service advocates told the Judiciary Finance and CIPA Committee on Tuesday that federal funding for crime‑victim services has become volatile, prompting lawmakers to seek a state funding backstop.
Representative Moeller moved the A2 amendment and described House File 1082 as an effort to create “more sustainable funding for victim services programs.” Testifiers including Anne Tararick and Becca Muscat of the Minnesota Alliance on Crime said the primary federal fund — VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) grant funding — has fluctuated dramatically in recent years.
“VOCA funds... in '23 it was 1,800,000,000.0; in '24 it was... 1,200,000,000.0; the high was 3,850,000,000.00 in '18,” Anne Tararick told the committee, underscoring the volatility advocates say undermines shelter beds and other services. Muscat, speaking for six Minnesota crime‑victim coalitions representing more than 50 victim‑service providers, urged lawmakers to adopt long‑term revenue solutions so programs “do not have to come before you each year to ask for one‑time funding.”
Representative Moeller described components of the proposed special revenue account, including a $10 increase in the marriage license fee and new fines tied to certain criminal convictions; the author said indigent defendants would not be required to pay the additional fine and judges would retain discretion.
The A2 amendment was adopted and the committee re‑referred the bill to the Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee as amended.
