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BILL # HB 2278 |
TITLE: gang and immigration intelligence; appropriation |
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SPONSOR: Biasiucci |
STATUS: As Amended by House MAPS |
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PREPARED BY: Jordan Johnston |
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The bill, as amended by House MAPS, would permit monies from the Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission (GIITEM) Fund to be used for prosecution of human smuggling, drug smuggling, and immigration laws. The bill further requires GIITEM to establish and maintain a southern Arizona counterterrorism information center in partnership with local, state, federal, and tribal entities and deposits $2.0 million in FY 2025 and $2.0 million in FY 2026 from the Consumer Remediation Subaccount of the Consumer Restitution and Remediation Revolving Fund into the GIITEM Fund and appropriates the same amount from that fund for this purpose.
Estimated Impact
The bill would cost $2.0 million in in FY 2025 and $2.0 million in FY 2026 from the Consumer Remediation Subaccount of the Consumer Restitution and Remediation Revolving Fund. These amounts would be deposited into the GIITEM Fund, and the bill would appropriate this funding to establish and maintain a southern Arizona counterterrorism information center.
We have requested the Department of Public Safety's (DPS) estimated impact of this legislation and are awaiting their response.
GIITEM is a statewide multi-agency task force led by DPS with the mission to suppress criminal gang and immigration activity within the state. The fund receives revenue from a $4 criminal fee assessed on court fines and penalties for criminal offenses and civil motor vehicle statute violations. Under current law, GIITEM monies must be distributed to county sheriffs for border security personnel as well as public safety supplies and equipment. The bill would expand eligible recipients to include county attorneys to be used for prosecution costs associated with human and drug smuggling, and gang and immigration crimes. As a newly permitted use, we do not estimate any fiscal impact from this provision.
The bill would further require GIITEM to establish and maintain a southern Arizona counterterrorism information center. DPS received $15 million from the Border Security Fund in the FY 2023 budget for the construction of a southern border coordinated response center. According to the DPS expenditure plan from the December 2022 meeting of the Joint Committee on Capital Review (JCCR), the department planned to expend $8.2 million to purchase a facility in Tucson, $6.4 million to renovate the facility, and $400,000 for equipment and furnishing costs. The $4.0 million in total appropriated dollars in the bill would provide additional funding to complete and maintain the facility.
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2/13/24