The U.S. Senate on April 22 voted 94-1 to approve bipartisan legislation supported by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) to reduce hate crimes across America, particularly those during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Senate-approved COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, S. 937, included as an amendment the bipartisan Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality Act of 2021, also known as the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act of 2021, H.R. 2383. Sen. Moran introduced the Senate version of the NO HATE Act, S. 1086, along with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
The latter bill would provide incentives for hate crime reporting, provide grants for state-run hate crime hotlines, and establish additional penalties for individuals convicted under the Matthew Shephard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, according to the text of the bill.
“Collecting information on hate crimes across the country will help us better understand the daily threats facing racial, religious and ethnic communities in the U.S.,” said Sen. Moran. “Hate crimes are unacceptable, and it’s important that state law enforcement officials have the resources to report hate crimes to the FBI to help end the senseless and targeted violence aimed at minority communities.”
If enacted as part of the larger bill, the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act would support the implementation of and training for the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), an incident-based reporting system used by law enforcement agencies in the United States for collecting and reporting data on crimes, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Moran’s office.
The amendment also would provide support to law enforcement agencies that establish a policy on identifying, investigating and reporting hate crimes, train officers on how to identify hate crimes, develop a system for collecting hate crimes data, establish a hate crimes unit within the agency, and engage in community relations to address hate crimes in that jurisdiction, among other provisions, the summary says.
The larger COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.