Legal help for domestic violence survivors: the POWER Act
What they say
His campaign biography says his POWER Act has enabled thousands of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to reach legal services.
“His Pro-Bono Work to Empower and Represent (POWER) Act has enabled thousands of survivors of these heinous crimes to access legal services”
What the record shows ·
He sponsored the POWER Act, S. 717, introduced March 23, 2017; it became Public Law 115-237 on September 4, 2018, with its pro bono program set to run for four years. He then sponsored S. 3115, the POWER 2.0 Act, introduced October 28, 2021, which removes that limit by striking “for a period of 4 years”; the Senate passed it on August 6, 2022 and it became Public Law 117-252 on December 20, 2022. Mary Peltola introduced a House bill with the same operative text, H.R. 9113, on September 30, 2022; that bill was not acted on, and the enacted law is his Senate bill.
Limit: Both laws are his by sponsorship, which is what “his” claims. How many survivors have reached legal help because of them is not reported by the laws or by any official source this desk read, so “thousands” is not settled either way. Both candidates in this race claim the 2022 law, and each claim is shown on its own card.