Regular Session 2019-2020 House Bill 1889 P.N. 2622

PRINTER'S NO. 2622

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

1889

Session of

2019

INTRODUCED BY JOHNSON-HARRELL, McCLINTON, KINSEY, HOHENSTEIN,

A. DAVIS, KOSIEROWSKI, SANCHEZ, CEPHAS, SCHLOSSBERG, FREEMAN,

ZABEL, HARRIS, YOUNGBLOOD, CALTAGIRONE, STURLA, HOWARD,

FIEDLER, ULLMAN, FITZGERALD, DRISCOLL, MURT, T. DAVIS,

SOLOMON, SHUSTERMAN, CIRESI, CRUZ, WILLIAMS AND WARREN,

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2019

AN ACT

Providing for the establishment and funding of a center to

conduct research on gun violence in this Commonwealth.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the Center for

Gun Violence Research Act.

Section 2. Findings.

The General Assembly finds and declares the following:

(1) Gun violence is a significant public health crisis

and public safety problem in this Commonwealth and

nationwide. Nationally, rates of fatal gun violence have

remained essentially unchanged for more than a decade, as

declines in homicide have been offset by increases in

suicide.

(2) For the decade ending in 2010, Pennsylvania had

12,941 gun-related deaths, which ranked fourth-highest in the

United States. During that same decade, the rate of gun

homicides among children and teens in this Commonwealth

ranked as one of the highest in the nation.

(3) The annual cost of gun violence across the United

States is estimated to be more than $100 billion and could be

as high as $229 billion per year.

(4) Too little is known about gun violence, its causes

and the best practices for its prevention. There is a

substantial need for publicly funded academic research in gun

violence. The need for more research and more sophisticated

research is critical in fighting the plague of gun violence

in our schools and communities.

(5) Federal funding for gun violence research through

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was

effectively eliminated by Congress in 1996 through the

passage of a provision known as the Dickey Amendment.

(6) It is the intent of this act to provide State

funding for gun violence research in place of the Federal

funding that has been curtailed by the Dickey Amendment.

Section 3. Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this act shall

have the meanings given to them in this section unless the

context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Center." The Center for Gun Violence Research established

under section 4.

"University." Any of the following:

(1) An independent institution of higher education

located in and incorporated or chartered by the Commonwealth,

entitled to confer degrees as set forth in 24 Pa.C.S. § 6505

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(relating to power to confer degrees) and entitled to apply

to itself the designation "college," "university" or

"seminary" as provided for by standards and qualifications

prescribed by the State Board of Education under 24 Pa.C.S.

Ch. 65 (relating to private colleges, universities and

seminaries).

(2) A State-owned institution.

(3) A State-related institution.

Section 4. Center for Gun Violence Research.

(a) Establishment.--There is established a research center

for gun violence in this Commonwealth. The center shall be

administered by a university selected by the Governor under

section 5(i).

(b) Mission.--The center's mission shall be to conduct

independent academic research on gun violence in this

Commonwealth and to provide policymakers, including the General

Assembly, the Governor, State agencies and local governments,

with scientific evidence to develop sound gun violence

prevention policies and programs.

on a nonpartisan basis.

Section 5. Location of center.

(a) Request for proposals.--Proposals for the location and

operation of the center shall be solicited through a request for

proposals.

(b) Public notice.--Public notice of the request for

proposals shall be given in the same manner as provided under 62

Pa.C.S. § 512(c) (relating to competitive sealed bidding).

proposals in the form and time period as established by the

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evaluation committee established under subsection (e).

(d) Opening of proposals.--Proposals shall be opened in a

manner which avoids disclosure of the proposal's contents to

competing offerors.

(e) Evaluation committee.--An evaluation committee is

established to review all proposals and make recommendations to

the Governor as provided under subsection (h). The committee

shall be comprised of the following members:

(1) The Attorney General of Pennsylvania.

(2) The Secretary of Health.

(3) The Secretary of Human Services.

(4) The Secretary of Corrections.

(5) The Secretary of Education.

(6) The chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime

and Delinquency.

(7) The Commissioner of Pennsylvania State Police.

(f) Evaluation criteria.--The relative importance of the

evaluation factors shall be fixed prior to opening the

proposals. No individual who has been employed within the

preceding two years by an applying university may participate in

the evaluation of proposals.

(g) Discussion with responsible offerors and revision of

proposals.--The following shall apply:

(1) As provided in the request for proposals, the

evaluation committee may hold discussions with a university

for purposes of reviewing and clarifying the university's

proposal.

(2) A university shall be accorded fair and equal

treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion,

review or revision of a proposal.

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(3) In conducting a discussion under paragraph (1), the

evaluation committee shall not disclose any information

derived from proposals submitted by competing universities.

(h) Recommendation to Governor.--The two universities whose

proposals are determined in writing to be the most advantageous

to this Commonwealth for carrying out the intent of this act and

the mission of the center shall be recommended to the Governor

for final selection.

(i) Selection by Governor.--Within 10 days of receipt of the

recommendations under subsection (h), the Governor shall select

the university to operate the center.

Section 6. Duties.

(a) General rule.--The center shall be responsible for

working on a continuing basis with the Governor, the General

Assembly and local governments to identify, implement and

evaluate innovative gun violence prevention policies and

programs.

(b) Methods.--The center shall conduct basic, translational

and transformative research using scientific-based methods to

develop and analyze gun violence prevention policies and

programs.

research that shall, at a minimum, include the following:

(1) The nature of gun violence, including individual and

societal determinants of risk for involvement in gun

violence, whether as a victim or a perpetrator.

(2) The individual, community and societal consequences

of gun violence.

(3) Prevention and treatment of gun violence at the

individual, community and societal levels.

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(4) Effectiveness of existing laws and policies intended

to reduce gun violence, including the criminal misuse of

firearms, and efforts to promote responsible ownership and

firearm use.

(5) Analysis of data and statistics of gun-related crime

that occurs in this Commonwealth.

(6) The financial impact of gun violence on this

Commonwealth, political subdivisions, hospitals, social

service agencies and other entities impacted by gun violence.

(d) Cooperation.--Unless specifically prohibited by law,

each State agency, county district attorney's office, local

police department and county or municipal health department

shall provide to the center, upon request, the data necessary

for the center to conduct the research required under this act.

(e) Reports.--Biennially, the center shall submit a report

to the Governor and the General Assembly on the center's

activities, including research projects completed during the

prior two years, current research projects and other information

the center deems relevant.

(f) Internet website.--The center shall maintain a publicly

accessible Internet website and post all of the center's

completed research.

Section 7. Funding.

(a) General Assembly.--The General Assembly shall annually

provide an appropriation to fund the activities of the center.

(b) Grants.--The following shall apply:

(1) The center may supplement the center's own research

by awarding competitive grants to nonprofit organizations

that conduct gun violence research.

(2) All research money shall be awarded on scientific

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merit as determined by an open and competitive peer review

process that assures objectivity, consistency and high

quality. All qualified investigators, regardless of

institutional affiliation, shall have equal access and

opportunity to compete for grant money.

(3) The peer review process for the selection of grants

awarded under this section shall be modeled on the grant-

making process used by the National Institutes of Health.

(4) All grants awarded under this subsection shall be

made from the appropriation provided by the General Assembly.

organization through a grant awarded under subsection (b) shall:

(1) belong to the center;

(2) be posted on the center's publicly accessible

Internet website; and

(3) be distributed to the Governor and the General

Assembly.

(d) Submission for funding.--The university housing the

center shall, on an annual basis, submit a request for funding

to the Office of the Budget for inclusion in the Governor's

budget proposal. Funding for the center shall appear as a

separate line item in the Governor's proposed budget.

Section 8. Effective date.

This act shall take effect in 60 days.

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