34 U.S.C. § 40917 — Implementation plan

(a) In general: By one year after March 23, 2018, the Attorney General, working with the states and Indian tribal governments, must create a plan for each state or tribe. The goal is to get as much coordination and automation as possible in reporting records to NICS (the background-check system under section 40901) and checking that those records are accurate, over a 4-year period set in the plan. The plan only covers records about people described in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) or (n) - people banned from having guns for reasons like felony convictions or being under indictment.

(b) Benchmark requirements: Each plan must include yearly benchmarks so the Attorney General can track progress. These benchmarks must include (1) goals that can be measured both by quality and by numbers, and (2) an assessment of what's needed, including estimated costs to comply.

(c) Compliance determination: After each fiscal year following a plan's creation, the Attorney General must decide whether the state or tribe substantially met its benchmarks.

(d) Accountability: The Attorney General must (1) publicly post - including on the Department of Justice website - the name of any state or tribe that failed to substantially comply for the past fiscal year, along with the reasons why, including as much detail as possible about what types and amounts of records are missing; and (2) if that state or tribe later achieves substantial compliance, immediately fix the posted record and remove it from the website and anywhere else it was published within 3 days of the compliance finding.

(e) Incentives: For fiscal years 2018 through 2022, the Attorney General must give a funding preference in Bureau of Justice Assistance discretionary grants to any state or tribe found substantially compliant for the year the grant was applied for.