Posted: | May 23, 2022 12:17 PM |
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From: | Representative Martell Covington |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Competitive Grant Program for Community Violence Prevention |
In Pennsylvania, on average, over 600 people die as a result of gun violence every year. This is the 23rd highest rate of gun deaths in the United States. This violence puts tremendous social and personal stress on the state, as well as a fiscal burden on residents of the Commonwealth. The goal of this legislation is to reduce gun violence through the use of a competitive grant program with awards distributed from a $100 million fund administered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Grants will be competitively awarded, with the goal of distributing funds to communities that have been disproportionately impacted by gun and community violence. The grants will be used to support, expand, and replicate programs that have been proven to reduce gun and community violence. Funds can also be used to evaluate programs in order to increase public knowledge as to which programs reduce violence most effectively. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, our communities were already struggling to respond to gun violence. As rates of gun violence have climbed, we are in a worse position than before. Community violence prevention programs that have proven to help reduce gun violence are a vital part of the solution. |
Introduced as HB2753