HR 9078 — LEASH Act of 2026

Summary

Requires jurisdictions seeking Byrne Justice Assistance Grants to certify they will report to the Attorney General data on felony convictions involving animal cruelty, including the names of convicted individuals.
Modifies grant distribution to prioritize units of local government that submit data on animal cruelty felony convictions to the National Incident-Based Reporting System.
Directs the Attorney General to establish a publicly accessible database containing animal cruelty felony conviction data reported by jurisdictions, to be established within two years of enactment.
Requires the database to be periodically updated with newly reported animal cruelty conviction information.
Applies the new grant requirements to applications submitted beginning in the first fiscal year that starts two years after the bill's enactment.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Rep. Steube, W. Gregory (R-FL) [#17]

8 cosponsors

Money behind the sponsor

Top reported contributors to W. Gregory Steube’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.

CHENEY BROTHERS $7,800
NEXTGEN MANAGEMENT $6,600
STEPHENS, INC. $6,600
NEPTUNE WELLNESS SOLUTIONS $6,600
COOLTODAY $6,600

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for W. Gregory Steube → · Outside spending →

Actions (2)

May 29, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
May 29, 2026 Introduced in House

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

Text versions (1)

Introduced in House · May 29, 2026

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 29, 2026

Mr. Steube (for himself, Mr. Van Drew, and Mr. Fine) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to include reporting requirements of felony convictions related to animal cruelty, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Law Enforcement Animal Safety and Harm Reporting Act of 2026” or the “LEASH Act of 2026”.

SEC. 2. ANIMAL WELFARE DATA REPORTING.

(a) Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Eligibility.—The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (34 U.S.C. 10153 et seq.) is amended—

(1) in section 502(a), by adding at the end the following:

“(7) A certification that, for each fiscal year covered by an application, the applicant will report to the Attorney General data on felony convictions under State law that involved cruelty to animals including the name of any individual convicted under such law.”; and

(2) in section 505(f), by striking “to those jurisdictions with the highest annual number of part 1 violent crimes of the Uniform Crime Reports reported by the unit of local government to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the three most recent calendar years for which such data are available” inserting “to units of local government—

“(1) with the highest annual number of part 1 violent crimes of the Uniform Crime Reports reported by the unit of local government to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the three most recent calendar years for which such data are available; and

“(2) that submit data to the National Incident-Based Reporting System on felony convictions under State law that involved cruelty to animals including the name of any individual convicted under such law.”.

(b) Department of Justice Database.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall—

(1) establish a publicly accessible database containing the data reported under section 502(a)(7) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (34 U.S.C. 10153); and

(2) periodically update such database.

(c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by subsection (a), shall apply to applications for grants submitted during the first fiscal year that begins after the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. <all>

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