Brady Applauds House Passage of 2022 Federal Budget Resolution, Paving the Way for Historic Investment in Gun Violence Prevention and Community Violence Intervention

Washington, D.C., August 24, 2021 - Today, Brady applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for agreeing to a budget outline and committing to moving forward to vote on a budget inclusive of the priorities laid out in President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, including the historic $5 billion in funds for community violence intervention that President Biden called for in his American Jobs Plan in March 2021, arguably the largest funding for gun violence prevention in American history. Now that the resolution has passed both the House and the Senate, committees can get to work on developing specific policy proposals and line-items that fulfill President Biden’s promises to the American people. It is imperative that the final Reconciliation bill maintain details from President Biden’s proposed budget, including funding increases of $200 million for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to address the gun violence public health crisis and implement evidence-based community violence interventions locally.

In sum, the passage of the budget resolution paves the way for a historic investment in America’s communities and in preventing gun violence through a comprehensive, public health approach.

Brady President Kris Brown shared:

“Brady thanks the members of the House of Representatives for coming together to pass this resolution, particularly Speaker Nancy Pelosi for stewarding this process and taking the necessary steps to ensure President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda and promised investment in community violence intervention programs can become a reality.

The attention to the importance of community violence intervention is thanks to the longstanding and tireless advocacy of grassroots community organizations and organizers, specifically Black and Brown activists and leaders. Brady is grateful to these advocates and to national leaders like Community Justice Action Fund, FundPeace and the Invest in Us Coalition that have continued to demand the inclusion of investment in community violence intervention programs in the 2022 budget.”

About the Funding Proposals Included in this Framework:

President Biden included a historic call for the inclusion of $5 billion to be spent over eight years in his American Jobs Plan, arguably the largest investment in gun violence prevention in our nation’s history. Community violence prevention models have proven effective and work by implementing public safety measures that are informed by data and carried out by local organizations on the ground in the communities most impacted.

President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget included new funding and funding increases to combat our nation’s gun violence epidemic as the public health crisis that it is. The proposed budget included $2.1 billion, an increase of $232 million above the 2021 enacted level, for the DOJ to address the gun violence public health crisis plaguing communities across the Nation. This level supports existing programs to improve background check systems and invests in new programs to incentivize state adoption of gun licensing laws and establish voluntary gun buyback pilot programs. Combined, the requests for the DOJ and for HHS included $200 million to support a new Community Violence Intervention initiative to implement evidence-based community violence interventions locally. This funding is an addition to those that President Biden included and called for in his American Jobs Plan.