Dear Mayor:

The Senate last week approved (75-19) an amended version of H.R. 3093, which provides Fiscal Year 2008 funding for the Departments of Commerce and Justice and various science-related agencies. Included in the bill was $660 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, $112 million more than fiscal 2007.  Both Senators Lautenberg and Menendez supported passage.

The House approved the bill in July, with $725 million for COPS. The bill will now be scheduled for a conference committee to reconcile the differences before being sent to the President for signature. The President has threatened to veto either version, because they exceed his budget request of $32 million.

A Government Accountability Office report estimated that past COPS funding contributed to a 1.3 percent decline in the overall crime rate and a 2.5 percent drop in violent crime from 1993 to 2000.

We will advise you should any New Jersey legislators be appointed to the Conference Committee and we will keep you posted on further developments.

For more information, contact Jon Moran at 609-695-3481, ext. 121 or jmoran@njslom.com.

                                                                        Very truly yours,

                                                                        William G. Dressel, Jr.
                                                                        Executive Director