STOP COVID–19 Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 302 To establish a program to support county and municipal government entities in reducing the spread of COVID–19 through standardized testing and evaluation measures, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 8, 2021 Mr. SCOTT of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish a program to support county and municipal government entities in reducing the spread of COVID– 19 through standardized testing and evaluation meas- ures, 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 ‘‘Set Testing and Objec- 4 tives Plan for COVID–19 Act’’ or the ‘‘STOP COVID– 5 19 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •S 302 IS SEC. 2. PROGRAM FOR COVID–19 TESTING, CONTACT TRAC- 1 ING, AND OTHER EFFORTS TO REDUCE THE 2 SPREAD OF COVID–19. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 4 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec- 5 retary’’) shall establish a program to award grants to 6 county and municipal government entities, to support 7 COVID–19 testing, contact tracing, and other efforts to 8 reduce the spread of COVID–19 in such counties and mu- 9 nicipalities. 10 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive a 11 grant under this section, a county or municipal govern- 12 ment entity shall— 13 (1) have a public health department; and 14 (2) submit an application to the Secretary at 15 such time, in such manner, and containing such in- 16 formation as the Secretary may require, including 17 the entity’s operational plan and proposed uses of 18 the grant funds. 19 (c) TECHNICAL SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall pro- 20 vide technical assistance to the public health department 21 of government entities awarded a grant under this section. 22 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this sec- 23 tion may be used in support of programs to increase 24 COVID–19 testing and to reduce the spread of COVID– 25 19, which may include hiring staff for COVID–19 testing 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •S 302 IS centers, funding mobile testing centers, hiring contact 1 tracers, purchasing IT equipment, conducting public 2 awareness campaigns, and paying for COVID–19 testing 3 or testing related equipment. 4 (e) REQUIREMENTS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each government entity re- 6 ceiving a grant under this section shall— 7 (A) develop a data-driven program for 8 COVID–19 testing, contact tracing, and other 9 efforts to stop the spread of COVID–19; 10 (B) operate a searchable, publicly available 11 website that lists every participating COVID–19 12 PCR testing center in the jurisdiction and, with 13 respect to each such center, state— 14 (i) whether testing is free or the cost 15 of such testing; 16 (ii) whether health insurance covers 17 the testing, and, if so, what information 18 health insurers will require before pro- 19 viding such coverage; and 20 (iii) the average time to obtain a test 21 result; and 22 (C) report weekly on the metrics described 23 in subsection (f)(1), for each neighborhood es- 24 tablished under paragraph (2)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •S 302 IS (i) identifying any neighborhood for 1 which there is nonattainment on any such 2 metric during the applicable reporting pe- 3 riod; and 4 (ii) describing the specific mitigation 5 measures planned for any such neighbor- 6 hood to reach attainment, including a de- 7 scription of the measures required under 8 subsection (g)(2). 9 (2) NEIGHBORHOODS.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of meet- 11 ing the requirements under paragraph (1), each 12 government entity receiving a grant under this 13 section shall divide its jurisdiction into neigh- 14 borhoods, with each neighborhood being an area 15 with approximately 10,000 residents. 16 (B) PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON 17 MAP.—Each government entity shall make 18 available a map of the total jurisdiction that il- 19 lustrates the neighborhoods established pursu- 20 ant to subparagraph (A), and shall provide the 21 information required under paragraph (1) by 22 neighborhood. 23 (C) DESIGNATION OF PARTICULAR NEIGH- 24 BORHOODS.—With respect to any neighborhood 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •S 302 IS that has not met the evaluation standards de- 1 scribed in subsection (f)(2) for a weekly report- 2 ing period under subsection (f)(1), the entity 3 shall highlight such nonattainment on the map, 4 in a manner to notify public users of areas not 5 meeting the evaluation standards. 6 (f) EVALUATION STANDARDS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The standards for purposes 8 of determining compliance under paragraph (2) are 9 as follows: 10 (A) POSITIVITY RATE.— 11 (i) A positivity rate at or below 5 per- 12 cent for PCR testing. 13 (ii) A rate of newly infected residents 14 at or below 10 residents per 100,000 popu- 15 lation. 16 (iii) PCR testing at or above 750 resi- 17 dents per 100,000 population. 18 (iv) Rate of infection of less than 1.0. 19 (B) CONTACT TRACING.— 20 (i) Eighty percent of new cases of in- 21 fection are contacted by a contact tracer 22 within 24 hours. 23 (ii) Eighty percent of new cases of in- 24 fection identify contacts. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •S 302 IS (iii) At least a median of 3 contacts 1 identified by a contact tracer per case. 2 (iv) Eighty percent of new cases fol- 3 lowed up on, on a daily basis, by a contact 4 tracer until the subject is out of isolation. 5 (v) Seventy percent of contacts re- 6 spond to the contact tracer. 7 (vi) Eighty-five percent of contacts 8 who are identified are tested. 9 (C) TEST RESULTS.—Eighty-five percent 10 of PCR tests have results within 48 hours. 11 (D) OTHER STANDARDS.—The Secretary 12 may modify or replace standards described in 13 subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), or add new 14 evaluation standards, provided such modifica- 15 tion, replacement, or addition is based on data- 16 driven research that demonstrates the basis of 17 the Secretary’s determination. 18 (2) COMPLIANCE.—A government entity shall 19 be considered to be in compliance with the require- 20 ments of this section for a weekly reporting period 21 if each neighborhood in the entity has met 85 per- 22 cent of the standards under paragraph (1) for such 23 reporting period. 24 (g) EFFECTS OF NONCOMPLIANCE.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •S 302 IS (1) GRANT REDUCTION.— 1 (A) INITIAL PERIOD.—For the 2-month 2 period immediately proceeding the date of en- 3 actment of this Act, there shall be no reduction 4 to the grant amount received by a government 5 entity as a result of non-compliance as de- 6 scribed in subsection (f)(2). 7 (B) SUBSEQUENT PERIODS.—Beginning 2 8 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 9 in the case of a government entity that is not 10 in compliance for a reporting period as de- 11 scribed in subsection (f)(2), the entity shall 12 remit to the Federal Government an amount 13 equal to 25 percent of the total Federal funds 14 expended for the government entity pursuant to 15 the grant under this section for the applicable 16 weekly reporting period. 17 (2) TESTING AVAILABILITY MITIGATION EF- 18 FORTS.—In the case of a government entity that is 19 not in compliance for a weekly reporting period as 20 described in subsection (f)(2), the entity shall ensure 21 that, in the subsequent week, in each neighborhood 22 within the jurisdiction that did not meet 85 percent 23 of the standards under subsection (f)(1), residents 24 have access to PCR testing sites as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 8 •S 302 IS (A) In urban areas, 90 percent of residents 1 have access to a testing site within 2 miles of 2 their residence. 3 (B) In suburban areas, 90 percent of resi- 4 dents have access to a testing site within 5 5 miles of their residence. 6 (C) In rural areas, 70 percent of residents 7 have access to a testing site within 15 miles of 8 their residence. 9 (h) FUNDING.—The Secretary may use any unobli- 10 gated funds made available to the Public Health and So- 11 cial Services Emergency Fund to carry out this section. 12 (i) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to have force 13 or effect on the earlier of the date on which all funds de- 14 scribed in subsection (h) are expended or 180 days after 15 the date of enactment of this Act. 16 SEC. 3. PROGRAM FOR COVID–19 VACCINATION. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 18 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec- 19 retary’’) shall establish a program to award grants to 20 States to support COVID–19 vaccination in the States. 21 (b) APPLICATIONS.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State desiring a grant 23 under this section shall submit an application to the 24 Secretary, at such time, in such manner, and con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 9 •S 302 IS taining such information as the Secretary may re- 1 quire, including a vaccination plan, operational de- 2 tails, and proposed use of the grant funds. 3 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 4 shall provide technical assistance to States for pur- 5 poses of developing the vaccination plans to be in- 6 cluded in applications under paragraph (1). 7 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this sec- 8 tion shall be used to support increasing vaccination efforts 9 in the State, such as meeting increased staffing needs, es- 10 tablishing and supporting vaccination centers, conducting 11 public awareness campaigns, and obtaining equipment for 12 vaccine distribution. 13 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—As a condition of receipt of a 14 grant under this section, a State shall agree to— 15 (1) submit and publicly post weekly reports, as 16 described in subsection (e); 17 (2) develop a unified registration process for 18 residents and assign each resident to a vaccination 19 site, with the goal of matching residents with the 20 nearest vaccination site, and taking into account the 21 availability of vaccine supply; and 22 (3) administer 95 percent of the State’s vaccine 23 allocation each month, or, for each month the State 24 fails to administer such amount, remit to the Fed- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 10 •S 302 IS eral Government an amount equal to 25 percent of 1 the amount received by the State under this section 2 for that month. 3 (e) VACCINE DATA REPORTING.—Each State receiv- 4 ing a grant under this section shall submit to the Sec- 5 retary, and post on a publicly available website, a weekly 6 report on, with respect to the State— 7 (1) the State’s current vaccination plan and 8 vaccine distribution methodology; 9 (2) the State’s vaccination targets for the pro- 10 ceeding week; 11 (3) whether the State met its vaccination tar- 12 gets for the previous week, and, if not, details on 13 why the targets were missed; 14 (4) the daily and weekly cumulative totals of— 15 (A) the number of vaccines (of each type) 16 received; 17 (B) the number of first shot vaccines ad- 18 ministered; 19 (C) the number of vaccine series com- 20 pleted; and 21 (D) the number of vaccine doses wasted or 22 lost; 23 (5) the vaccine priority groups in the State 24 and— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 11 •S 302 IS (A) an estimate of how many people are in 1 each priority group, by State, county, and 2 neighborhood (as designated under section 3 2(e)(2)(A) pursuant to the program under sec- 4 tion 2, or, in the case of a State not partici- 5 pating in the program under section 2, as des- 6 ignated for purposes of this section, as de- 7 scribed section 2(e)(2)(A)); and 8 (B) an estimate of how many people in 9 each priority group have been vaccinated, by 10 State, county, and neighborhood (as so des- 11 ignated); 12 (6) the percent of vaccine coverage— 13 (A) by neighborhood (as so designated); 14 (B) by age demographic, and an estimate 15 of how many people are in each such demo- 16 graphic, by State, county, and neighborhood (as 17 so designated); and 18 (C) by race, ethnic group, and sex, and an 19 estimate of how many people are in each such 20 group by State, county, and neighborhood (as 21 so designated); 22 (7) the number of people who scheduled vac- 23 cination— 24 (A) online; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 12 •S 302 IS (B) by phone; and 1 (C) by walk-up at a vaccination center; 2 (8) the number of vaccinations performed by 3 providers at— 4 (A) mass vaccination centers; 5 (B) physician’s offices and medical prac- 6 tices; 7 (C) hospitals; 8 (D) pharmacies; 9 (E) community centers; and 10 (F) health departments; and 11 (9) the wait time to be vaccinated. 12 (f) FUNDING.—Out of any unobligated amounts 13 made available to the Secretary under the heading ‘‘CDC- 14 Wide Activities and Program Support’’ under the heading 15 ‘‘Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’’ under the 16 heading ‘‘Department of Health and Human Services’’ 17 under title III of the Coronavirus Response and Relief 18 Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116– 19 260), the Secretary may allocate $8,750,000,000 to carry 20 out this section. 21 (g) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 22 ‘‘State’’ includes each of the 50 States, territories, and 23 the District of Columbia. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S302.IS S302 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 13 •S 302 IS (h) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to have forc [Text truncated for display. 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