Coronavirus Containment Corps Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 710 To create a Coronavirus Containment Corps, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 2, 2021 Mr. LEVIN of Michigan (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BASS, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. CARSON, Ms. DEAN, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. EVANS, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LAWSON of Flor- ida, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LIEU, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROSS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TRONE, and Mr. VARGAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To create a Coronavirus Containment Corps, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H710.IH H710 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 710 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; DEFINI- 1 TIONS. 2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 3 ‘‘Coronavirus Containment Corps Act’’. 4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 5 this Act is as follows: 6 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; definitions. Sec. 2. Nationwide contact tracing strategy. Sec. 3. Grants to public health departments. Sec. 4. Awards to Tribes and Tribal organizations. Sec. 5. Reporting by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sec. 6. Grants to State and Tribal workforce agencies. Sec. 7. GAO study. Sec. 8. Application of the Service Contract Act to contracts and grants. Sec. 9. Rule of construction. (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 7 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 8 mittees’’ means— 9 (A) the Committee on Education and 10 Labor of the House of Representatives; 11 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com- 12 merce of the House of Representatives; and 13 (C) the Committee on Health, Education, 14 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 15 (2) The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emer- 16 gency’’ means— 17 (A) the public health emergency declared 18 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 19 pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 20 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H710.IH H710 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 710 IH 2020, as a result of confirmed cases of 2019 1 Novel Coronavirus (2019–nCoV) and any suc- 2 cessor to such declaration; or 3 (B) the national emergency declared by the 4 President under the National Emergencies Act 5 (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) on March 13, 2020, 6 as a result of the COVID–19 outbreak. 7 (3) The term ‘‘State’’ includes any of the 50 8 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the 9 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 10 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 11 (4) The terms ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ and ‘‘Tribal or- 12 ganization’’ have the meanings given to the terms 13 ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ and ‘‘Tribal organization’’, respec- 14 tively, in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 15 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 16 SEC. 2. NATIONWIDE CONTACT TRACING STRATEGY. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 21 days after the 18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 19 and Human Services (in this section referred to as the 20 ‘‘Secretary’’), acting through the Director of the Centers 21 for Disease Control and Prevention, shall— 22 (1) provide to the appropriate congressional 23 committees a strategy to expand COVID–19 contact 24 tracing; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H710.IH H710 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 710 IH (2) include in such strategy recommendations 1 to augment the capacity of State, Tribal, and local 2 public health departments to train and place individ- 3 uals (to be referred to collectively as the 4 ‘‘Coronavirus Containment Corps’’) to— 5 (A) investigate cases of COVID–19; 6 (B) identify the contacts of individuals 7 confirmed or presumed to have been infected by 8 SARS–CoV–2; 9 (C) trace such contacts; and 10 (D) provide supports to ensure that such 11 contacts can take the precautions necessary to 12 safely quarantine to stop the spread of COVID– 13 19. 14 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the strategy 15 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with— 16 (1) State public health officials; 17 (2) Tribal public health officials, Tribal nations, 18 and Tribal organizations; 19 (3) local public health officials; 20 (4) the Director of the Indian Health Service; 21 and 22 (5) experts with knowledge of, or field experi- 23 ence concerning, racial and ethnic disparities in pub- 24 lic health and historically marginalized communities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H710.IH H710 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 710 IH (c) REQUIREMENTS.—The strategy under subsection 1 (a) shall identify— 2 (1) the minimum number of persons needed to 3 investigate cases of COVID–19 and identify the con- 4 tacts of individuals confirmed or presumed to have 5 been infected by SARS–CoV–2 for each State and 6 Indian Tribe; 7 (2) the minimum number of contact tracers 8 needed for each State and Indian Tribe; 9 (3) the minimum number of specialists needed 10 to connect contacts described in paragraph (1) to so- 11 cial supports to ensure those contacts can take the 12 precautions necessary to safely quarantine to stop 13 the spread of COVID–19 for each State and Indian 14 Tribe; 15 (4) the recommended qualifications necessary 16 for case investigators, contact tracers, and social 17 support specialists to perform such duties success- 18 fully; 19 (5) strategies to enable State, Tribal, and local 20 public health departments to hire, train, and deploy 21 case investigators, contact tracers, and social sup- 22 port specialists; 23 (6) strategies to rapidly develop guidance and 24 training materials necessary to support public health 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H710.IH H710 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 710 IH departments in preparing individuals to serve as 1 case investigators, contact tracers, and social sup- 2 port specialists; 3 (7) plans to use mobile or app-based contact 4 tracing technology, including— 5 (A) plans to prevent the misuse of data 6 and to ensure the automatic deletion of data 7 after the conclusion of the COVID–19 public 8 health emergency; and 9 (B) plans to prohibit data sharing with 10 and within the Federal Government, with the 11 exceptions of the Centers for Disease Control 12 and Prevention and the Indian Health Service; 13 (8) strategies to record and publicly report de- 14 identified data, while protecting— 15 (A) the privacy of individuals and informa- 16 tion regarding their personal health; and 17 (B) Tribal data sovereignty; 18 (9) protocols to limit the risks posed to indi- 19 vidual privacy and data security, including through 20 data minimization, anonymizing and redacting, and 21 limitations on sharing and storing personally identi- 22 fiable information; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H710.IH H710 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 710 IH (10) strategies to monitor and evaluate best 1 practices in contact tracing, with input from State, 2 Tribal, and local public health departments; and 3 (11) strategies to coordinate with State and 4 Tribal workforce agencies to recruit newly unem- 5 ployed individuals— 6 (A) prioritizing individuals from within the 7 communities in which they will work; and 8 (B) reflecting the diversity of that commu- 9 nity. 10 (d) STRATEGIES TO ENABLE HIRING, TRAINING, 11 AND DEPLOYMENT.—Not later than 7 days after the 12 strategy under subsection (a) is provided to the appro- 13 priate congressional committees, the Secretary shall pro- 14 vide the strategies described in subsection (c)(5) to States 15 and Tribes. 16 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENTS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap- 18 propriations, the Secretary Health and Human Services 19 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), acting 20 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 21 and Prevention, shall award a grant to each State and 22 local public health department that seeks a grant in ac- 23 cordance with this section to implement the strategy under 24 section 2(a). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H710.IH H710 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 710 IH (b) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall allocate amounts 1 made available pursuant to subsection (a) in accordance 2 with a formula to be established by the Secretary that— 3 (1) provides a minimum level of funding to each 4 grantee; and 5 (2) allocates— 6 (A) additional funding among grantees 7 based on— 8 (i) population, including the presence 9 of medically underserved populations (as 10 defined in section 330(b)(3) of the Public 11 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 12 254b(b)(3))); 13 (ii) the projected need for COVID–19 14 in vitro diagnostic products (as defined in 15 section 809.3 of title 21, Code of Federal 16 Regulations (or successor regulations)) 17 during the period of the grant; 18 (iii) the percentage of COVID–19 19 cases per 10,000 persons as of the date of 20 submission of the application for the grant; 21 (iv) the COVID–19 case growth rate; 22 and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H710.IH H710 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 710 IH (v) the projected number of COVID– 1 19 cases during the period of the grant; 2 and 3 (B) an additional increment for States that 4 have a plan to increase the percentage of the 5 population that will be tested. 6 (c) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—Amounts made 7 available to a grantee pursuant to subsection (a) shall be 8 used for the following activities: 9 (1) Costs, including wages and benefits, includ- 10 ing health care benefits, as appropriate, related to 11 the recruiting and hiring of individuals— 12 (A) to serve as case investigators, contact 13 tracers, and social support specialists described 14 in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively, of 15 section 2(c); and 16 (B) employed by— 17 (i) the State or local government in- 18 volved; or 19 (ii) a nonprofit organization with 20 demonstrated expertise in implementing 21 public health programs. 22 (2) Supplies necessary for grantees to imple- 23 ment the strategy established under section 2, in- 24 cluding any supplies, equipment, or technology for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H710.IH H710 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 710 IH individuals serving as case investigators, contact 1 tracers, or social support specialists. 2 (3) Administrative costs and activities necessary 3 for grantees to implement the strategy established 4 under section 2. 5 (4) Development of partnerships with State and 6 local workforce development systems as defined in 7 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 8 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102) to provide training and 9 supportive service for individuals serving as case in- 10 vestigators, contact tracers, or social support special- 11 ists. 12 (5) Reporting to the Centers for Disease Con- 13 trol and Prevention on— 14 (A) implementation of the strategy estab- 15 lished under section 2; and 16 (B) indicators of performance listed in sec- 17 tion 5(c)(1). 18 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 19 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 20 $10,000,000,000, to remain available until expended. 21 SEC. 4. AWARDS TO TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap- 23 propriations, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 24 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), acting 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H710.IH H710 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 710 IH through the Director of the Indian Health Service, in co- 1 ordination with the Director of the Centers for Disease 2 Control and Prevention, in consultation with Indian 3 Tribes and Tribal organizations, shall award funds to In- 4 dian Tribes and Tribal organizations to implement the 5 strategy established under section 2. 6 (b) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall allocate amounts 7 made available pursuant to subsection (a) in accordance 8 with a formula to be established by the Secretary in con- 9 sultation with Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations 10 that— 11 (1) provides a minimum level of funding to each 12 Indian Tribe and Tribal organization; and 13 (2) allocates additional funding on the basis of 14 population. 15 (c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Amounts made available 16 to an awardee pursuant to subsection (a) shall be used 17 for the following activities: 18 (1) Costs, including wages and benefits, includ- 19 ing health care benefits, as appropriate, related to 20 the recruiting and hiring of individuals— 21 (A) to serve as case investigators, contact 22 tracers, and social support specialists described 23 in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively, of 24 section 2(c); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H710.IH H710 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 710 IH (B) employed by— 1 (i) the Tribal government involved; or 2 (ii) a nonprofit organizations with 3 demonstrated expertise in implementing 4 public health programs. 5 (2) Supplies necessary for awardees to imple- 6 ment the strategy established under section 2, in- 7 cluding any supplies, equipment, or technology for 8 individuals serving as case investigators, contact 9 tracers, or social support specialists. 10 (3) Administrative costs and activities necessary 11 for awardees to implement the strategy established 12 under section 2. 13 (4) Development of partners [Text truncated for display. 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