Tester Secures More Than $1 Million To Strengthen Law Enforcement Partnerships, Support Survivors of Crime

Funding will come from the Violence Against Women Act

As part of his continued effort to bolster law enforcement and support survivors in Montana, U.S. Senator Jon Tester secured $1,053,191 to strengthen partnerships between law enforcement, prosecution, courts, and victim services organizations to enhance victim safety and hold offenders accountable in cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The funding comes from the STOP (Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program which was created by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester secured this funding as part of the 2024 government funding package.

“Local law enforcement put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe – and we’ve got to make sure our brave police officers and first responders, our courts, and our victim services providers have the resources they need,” said Tester. “I’m proud to have secured this funding to ensure survivors are safe and offenders are held accountable, and I’ll continue working to support Montana’s law enforcement and survivors alike.”

Tester has worked tirelessly to ensure that Montana survivors of violence have the resources they need to get back on their feet. He has been a longtime supporter of VAWA, and supported the passage of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act to continue and improve this critical law. Tester also recently co-sponsored the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act, a bipartisan bill to bolster funding for the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) by allowing surplus funds from False Claims Act cases to be deposited into the CVF.

He also recently secured $739.5 million for the Office of Violence Against Women and VAWA programs as part of the Senate’s 2025 government funding package.