About 60 million people, or one in five Americans, live in rural areas, and some in Congress say these smaller law enforcement agencies need supplemental funding to keep communities safe.

The biggest issues rural law enforcement agencies face, according to Vernon Stanforth, the President of the National Sheriffs’ Association, is having enough money to pay salaries to retain officers and having the proper starting salaries that will attract applicants. 

“If they can get a college degree and walk out of college and expect a $100,000 salary, that’s where they’re going to go, and they’re out there,” said Stanforth.

The National Sheriffs’ Association, the Fraternal Order of Police and the National Organization of Police Officers believe that there is a way to make things better. They’re backing a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Rep. Jared Golden of Maine. 

“I’m trying to make the case that a reasonable amount of money needs to be set aside for rural communities all over the country,” Golden said. 

Golden and over 50 other lawmakers in the House are pushing legislation to reauthorize the COPS Program. The program, started in 1994, has awarded more than $14 billion to local law enforcement agencies. However, Golden says the program has been cut significantly since 2011 and he worries that without this bill passing, there will be problems across the country. 

“As a result, sheriff’s departments are going to have to be trying to cover a broader area at a time when they’re struggling with hiring and struggling with retention,” Golden said. 

The proposed legislation would reauthorize the COPS Program through 2031 and add $7 billion to the budget to be used over the next decade. The next step for the bill is a hearing before the House Committee on the Judiciary.