Appropriations bills would be blocked from using budget maneuvers that drain the Crime Victims Fund below its three-year average deposit rate, unless 60 senators vote to override. The Fund is financed entirely by fines paid by federal criminals — no taxpayer dollars — and supports victims of child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence. Over $10 billion has been withheld from victim services over the years by capping annual withdrawals below the deposits coming in; the bill creates a procedural 'point of order' to block that practice rather than a hard spending floor. Victim advocacy groups representing roughly 7 million crime victims a year have pushed for the change.
Congressional Summary
Fairness for Crime Victims Act of 2025This bill establishes budget points of order in the House of Representatives and the Senate against considering provisions in appropriations legislation that contain changes in mandatory programs (CHIMPs) that would cause the amount available for obligation during the fiscal year from the Crime Victims Fund to be less than the annual average for the three previous fiscal years.A CHIMP is a provision that (1) would have been estimated as affecting direct spending or receipts if the provision were included in legislation other than an appropriations bill; and (2) results in a net decrease in budget authority in the current year or the budget year, but does not result in a net decrease in outlays over the period of the total of the current year, the budget year, and all fiscal years covered under the most recently adopted budget resolution.The points of order do not apply if the difference between the amount in the Crime Victims Fund as of September 30 of the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year to which the CHIMP relates and the amount available for obligation under the CHIMP is not more than $2 billion.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-01-28
- Date Added
- 2026-04-21
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