U.S. Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) last week led several Republicans in seeking details about the financial health of the Crime Victims Fund (CVF), which supports crime survivors through numerous services, including medical care, mental health counseling, lost wages, courtroom advocacy, and temporary housing.
These services are essential to help victims survive the aftermath of crime, according to a June 3 letter Sen. McSally wrote to Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine Sullivan with the U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) also signed the letter, which requested information from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) about the ongoing, substantial decreases in deposits to the CVF account.
“The CVF is unique because deposits to the fund come from fines, special assessments and other penalties paid by criminals convicted of federal crimes and do not come from taxpayers,” the senators wrote. “This deposit system has led to strong financial health for the CVF during its existence. Yet it is our understanding that CVF deposits have decreased sharply in recent years, totaling $6.584 billion in 2017, $444.8 million in 2018, and $495 million in 2019. The CVF carryover balance also decreased from $13 billion in 2018 to $9.1 billion in 2019.”
Such “problematic trends,” wrote Sen. McSally and her colleagues, also prompted the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies to formally express concerns regarding the decreased CVF deposits.
“We emphasize the concerns of the subcommittee, and we would like to gather additional information on the health of the fund,” the senators wrote.
Specifically, Sen. McSally and her GOP colleagues asked for an analysis of causes for the trends in deposits and in the CVF balance for fiscal years 2017 through 2019; a status report on DOJ’s efforts to increase deposits into the CVF; an analysis of whether policy changes by DOJ are necessary to increase deposits into the CVF; and an accounting of monthly deposits into the CVF fiscal years 2019 through March 2020.