Federal funding for law enforcement museum comes with public access guarantees
H.R. 309 — National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act · Filed by Troy Nehls (R-TX) · 124 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 9, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to award annual grants of $6 million to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund for seven years to support the National Law Enforcement Museum's operations, public education, officer safety programs, and community outreach. In exchange, the Fund must provide free admission to active and retired law enforcement officers and fallen officers' families, offer free public hours at least weekly, and submit to annual federal audits and reporting.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward appropriation of federal funds to support a law enforcement museum and educational institution. It is structured as a grant program with explicit public-benefit conditions and federal oversight, not a tax carve-out, immunity grant, or private subsidy.
What the text implies
- The bill does not specify total appropriations; it authorizes grants 'subject to the availability of appropriations made in advance,' meaning Congress must separately appropriate funds. If appropriations are not made, the authorization has no effect.
- Free admission requirements apply only to active/retired law enforcement and fallen officers' families; the 'general public' receives only 'dedicated free admission hours at least once a week,' which may be limited in scope.
- Annual federal audits are required, but the bill does not specify enforcement mechanisms or consequences if the Fund fails to comply with audit or reporting requirements.
- The bill's scope is limited to the National Law Enforcement Museum specifically; it does not authorize funding for other law enforcement memorials or educational institutions.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens gain access to a publicly funded educational institution about law enforcement history with guaranteed free admission hours, enhanced public education and officer safety resources, and mandatory federal audits ensuring transparent use of taxpayer funds. The bill creates accountability mechanisms (annual audits, public reporting) and public benefit conditions (free admission, free public hours) that protect the public interest.
Who stands to gain
- National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
Named in the bill
Secretary of the Interior, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, National Law Enforcement Museum, House Committee on Natural Resources, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Where it stands
124 cosponsors: 75 Republicans, 49 Democrats.
- Jan 9, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 9, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Sep 18, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
- Jul 22, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Jul 22, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Unanimous Consent”
- Sep 14, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote”
- Sep 14, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $130,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 23 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Troy Nehls, the sponsor, reported $202,300 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Peace Officers Research Association of California — $100,000 on 2 filings
- National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund — $30,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 19, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (6,381 characters) on Aug 20, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 19, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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