Targeted Federal Funding to Invest in Communities Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 313 To provide increased funding for States and communities in need, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 13, 2021 Mr. RICHMOND introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To provide increased funding for States and communities in need, 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 ‘‘Targeted Federal 4 Funding to Invest in Communities Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 6 The purpose of this Act is to support State and local 7 governments in providing resources so all residents, espe- 8 cially those in historically underserved communities, live 9 healthy, equitable, and fulfilling lives by— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H313.IH H313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 313 IH (1) providing funding for programs that im- 1 prove the quality of life for all residents; 2 (2) investing in communities to provide pros- 3 perity and economic security for all people; and 4 (3) ensuring that funding is directed at coun- 5 teracting systemic injustices and historic disinvest- 6 ment. 7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 8 In this Act: 9 (1) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The term ‘‘eligible 10 State’’ means any State in the bottom 10 of all 50 11 States, excluding the District of Columbia, the Com- 12 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 13 Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 14 Mariana Islands, and American Samoa, in a com- 15 bined ranking of average life expectancy, infant mor- 16 tality rate, poverty rate, and percentage of State 17 population with a college degree. The average life ex- 18 pectancy shall be determined based on the most re- 19 cent year for which data are available from the Cen- 20 ters for Disease Control and Prevention National 21 Center for Health Statistics. The infant mortality 22 rate shall be determined based on data from the 23 Centers for Disease Control National Center for 24 Health Statistics for the most recent year for which 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H313.IH H313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 313 IH the data are available. The poverty rate shall be de- 1 termined based on the most recent year for which 2 data are available from the Bureau of the Census. 3 The percentage of State population with a college 4 degree shall be determined based on the most recent 5 year for which data are available from the Bureau 6 of the Census. 7 (2) PERSISTENT POVERTY COUNTY.—The term 8 ‘‘persistent poverty county’’ means any county with 9 a poverty rate of not less than 20 percent, as deter- 10 mined in each of the 1990 and 2000 decennial cen- 11 suses, and in the Small Area Income and Poverty 12 Estimates of the Bureau of the Census for the most 13 recent year for which the estimates are available. 14 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 15 the Secretary of the Treasury. 16 SEC. 4. NEW RACE TO THE TOP FUND. 17 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Out of any money in the 19 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appro- 20 priated, there are authorized to be appropriated for 21 making payments to eligible States, Tribal govern- 22 ments, and units of local government under this sec- 23 tion, $20,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 24 through 2026. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H313.IH H313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 313 IH (2) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Of the amount 1 appropriated under paragraph (1), the Secretary 2 shall reserve— 3 (A) $2,000,000,000 of such amount for 4 making payments to the District of Columbia, 5 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 6 States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Common- 7 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 8 American Samoa; 9 (B) $3,000,000,000 of such amount for 10 making payments to Tribal governments; and 11 (C) $5,000,000,000 of such amount for 12 making payment to persistent poverty counties 13 within eligible States. 14 (b) AUTHORITY TO MAKE PAYMENTS.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 16 not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 17 of this section, and annually thereafter, the Sec- 18 retary shall pay each eligible State, tribal and terri- 19 torial government, and each unit of local government 20 that meets the condition described in paragraph (2), 21 the amount determined for the State, Tribal govern- 22 ment, or unit of local government, for fiscal year 23 2021 through 2026 under subsection (c). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H313.IH H313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 313 IH (2) DIRECT PAYMENTS TO UNITS OF LOCAL 1 GOVERNMENT.—If a unit of local government of a 2 State submits the certification required by sub- 3 section (e) for purposes of receiving a direct pay- 4 ment from the Secretary under the authority of this 5 paragraph, the Secretary shall reduce the amount al- 6 located in (a)(2)(C) by the relative unit of local gov- 7 ernment population proportion amount described in 8 subsection (c)(5) and pay such amount directly to 9 such unit of local government. 10 (c) PAYMENT AMOUNTS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 12 the amount paid under this section for each of fiscal 13 years 2021 through 2026 to a State that is 1 of the 14 10 eligible States shall be the amount equal to the 15 relative population proportion amount determined 16 for the State under paragraph (3) for such fiscal 17 year. 18 (2) MINIMUM PAYMENT.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—No State that is 1 of 20 the States receiving payment shall receive a 21 payment under this section for any fiscal year 22 that is less than $1,000,000,000. 23 (B) PRO RATA ADJUSTMENTS.—The Sec- 24 retary shall adjust on a pro rata basis the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H313.IH H313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 313 IH amount of the payments for each of the eligible 1 States determined under this subsection without 2 regard to this subparagraph to the extent nec- 3 essary to comply with the requirements of sub- 4 paragraph (A). 5 (3) RELATIVE POPULATION PROPORTION 6 AMOUNT.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the rel- 7 ative population proportion amount determined 8 under this paragraph for a State for fiscal years 9 2021 through 2026 is the product of— 10 (A) the amount appropriated under para- 11 graph (1) of subsection (a) that remains after 12 the application of paragraph (2) of that sub- 13 section; and 14 (B) the relative State population propor- 15 tion (as defined in paragraph (4)). 16 (4) RELATIVE STATE POPULATION PROPORTION 17 DEFINED.—For purposes of paragraph (3)(B), the 18 term ‘‘relative State population proportion’’ means, 19 with respect to a State, the quotient of— 20 (A) the population of the State; and 21 (B) the total population of all eligible 22 States (excluding the District of Columbia and 23 territories specified in subsection (a)(2)(A)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H313.IH H313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 313 IH (5) RELATIVE UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT 1 POPULATION PROPORTION AMOUNT.—For purposes 2 of subsection (b)(2), the term ‘‘relative unit of local 3 government population proportion amount’’ means, 4 with respect to a unit of local government of a per- 5 sistent poverty county, the amount equal to the 6 quotient of— 7 (A) the population of the unit of local gov- 8 ernment; and 9 (B) the total population of all persistent 10 poverty counties in the eligible States. 11 (6) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND TERRI- 12 TORIES.—The amount paid under this section for 13 fiscal year 2020 to a State that is the District of Co- 14 lumbia or a territory specified in subsection 15 (a)(2)(A) shall be the amount equal to the product 16 of— 17 (A) the amount set aside under subsection 18 (a)(2)(A) for such fiscal year; and 19 (B) each such District’s and territory’s 20 share of the combined total population of the 21 District of Columbia and all such territories, as 22 determined by the Secretary. 23 (7) TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.—From the amount 24 set aside under subsection (a)(2)(B) for fiscal years 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H313.IH H313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 313 IH 2021 through 2026, the amount paid under this sec- 1 tion for each fiscal year to a Tribal government shall 2 be the amount the Secretary shall determine, in con- 3 sultation with the Secretary of the Interior and In- 4 dian Tribes, that is based on increased expenditures 5 of each such Tribal government (or a tribally owned 6 entity of such Tribal government) relative to aggre- 7 gate expenditures in fiscal year 2019 by the Tribal 8 government (or tribally owned entity) and deter- 9 mined in such manner as the Secretary determines 10 appropriate to ensure that all amounts available 11 under subsection (a)(2)(B) for fiscal years 2021 12 through 2026 are distributed to Tribal governments. 13 (8) DATA.—For purposes of this subsection, the 14 population of States and units of local governments 15 shall be determined based on the most recent year 16 for which data are available from the Bureau of the 17 Census. 18 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A State, Tribal government, 19 and unit of local government shall use the funds provided 20 under a payment made under this section to cover only 21 those costs of the State, Tribal government, or unit of 22 local government that— 23 (1) are necessary expenditures to create or ex- 24 pand activity or programs consistent with the pur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H313.IH H313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 313 IH poses of this Act that will improve measurable out- 1 comes for health, education, and quality of life for 2 residents; 3 (2) were not accounted for in the budget most 4 recently approved as of the date of enactment of this 5 section for the State or government; and 6 (3) were incurred during the period that begins 7 on the date of enactment of this section, and ends 8 five years from the date of enactment of this section. 9 (e) CERTIFICATION.—In order to receive a payment 10 under this section, a unit of local government shall provide 11 the Secretary with a certification signed by the Chief Ex- 12 ecutive for the unit of local government that the local gov- 13 ernment’s proposed uses of the funds are consistent with 14 subsection (d) and the unit of government is located in 15 a persistent poverty county. 16 (f) INSPECTOR GENERAL OVERSIGHT; 17 RECOUPMENT.— 18 (1) OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY.—The Inspector 19 General of the Department of the Treasury shall 20 conduct monitoring and oversight of the receipt, dis- 21 bursement, and use of funds made available under 22 this section. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H313.IH H313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS