COVID PREPARE Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 212 To require Federal agencies to submit plans for responding to the COVID– 19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 5, 2021 Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself and Mr. KATKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require Federal agencies to submit plans for responding to the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID Preparedness, 4 Response, and Effective Planning for Advanced Require- 5 ments by the Executive Branch Act of 2021’’ or the 6 ‘‘COVID PREPARE Act of 2021’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H212.IH H212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 212 IH SEC. 2. COVID–19 RESPONSE PLAN. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 2 date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency 3 shall submit to Congress an initial report detailing an ac- 4 tion plan, informed by research and best practices learned 5 from the onset of COVID–19, previous pandemics, and 6 health emergencies, for addressing the needs and miti- 7 gating and eliminating the risks and challenges associated 8 with the COVID–19 pandemic and the deployment of 9 COVID–19 vaccines, that includes— 10 (1) agency priorities for preparing for and re- 11 sponding to the COVID–19 pandemic, including con- 12 tinuity of operations and fulfilling the mission of the 13 agency and agency priorities related to the deploy- 14 ment of COVID–19 vaccines; 15 (2) measurable goals specific to priorities and a 16 time line for addressing each priority; 17 (3) anticipated challenges to addressing prior- 18 ities and how the agency will address such chal- 19 lenges; 20 (4) how the agency will consult with Congress, 21 the public, State and municipal governments, and 22 relevant stakeholders while working remotely; 23 (5) how the agency plans to issue relevant guid- 24 ance to entities under the jurisdiction of the agency; 25 and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H212.IH H212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 212 IH (6) any resources the agency needs from Con- 1 gress. 2 (b) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days 3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly 4 thereafter until the President ends the declared emer- 5 gency, the head of each agency shall submit to Congress 6 a report that provides an update of the details submitted 7 in the plan under subsection (a), including— 8 (1) the status of each priority; 9 (2) an explanation for any goal that has not 10 been met within the specified time frame; and 11 (3) any changes or updates to the plan. 12 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 13 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 14 meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, 15 United States Code. 16 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 17 the several States, the District of Columbia, each 18 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 19 States, and each federally recognized Indian Tribe. 20 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 21 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 22 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 23 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 24 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H212.IH H212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 212 IH Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 1 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 2 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 3 vote on passage. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H212.IH H212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS