Getting Americans Safely Back to Work Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 953 To provide for the establishment of a COVID–19 containment and mitigation for essential workers program for assisting small businesses and employee representatives of essential workers to reopen or operate consistent with guidance and practices intended to prevent the spread of COVID–19, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 8, 2021 Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself and Mrs. KIM of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To provide for the establishment of a COVID–19 contain- ment and mitigation for essential workers program for assisting small businesses and employee representatives of essential workers to reopen or operate consistent with guidance and practices intended to prevent the spread of COVID–19, 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 ‘‘Getting Americans 4 Safely Back to Work Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H953.IH H953 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 953 IH SEC. 2. GRANTS TO STATE, LOCAL, TRIBAL, OR TERRI- 1 TORIAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS FOR COVID– 2 19 CONTAINMENT AND MITIGATION FOR ES- 3 SENTIAL WORKERS. 4 (a) PROGRAM.—The Secretary, acting through the 5 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 6 tion and in consultation with the Director of the National 7 Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and Assist- 8 ant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, shall 9 establish a COVID–19 containment and mitigation for es- 10 sential workers program consisting of awarding grants 11 under subsection (b). 12 (b) GRANTS.—For the purpose of improving essential 13 worker safety, the Secretary— 14 (1) shall award a grant to each State health de- 15 partment; and 16 (2) may award grants on a competitive basis to 17 State, local, Tribal, or territorial health depart- 18 ments. 19 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A State, local, Tribal, or terri- 20 torial health department receiving a grant under sub- 21 section (b) shall use the grant funds— 22 (1) to purchase or procure personal protective 23 equipment and rapid testing equipment and supplies 24 for distribution to employers of essential workers, in- 25 cluding public employers; or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H953.IH H953 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 953 IH (2) to support the implementation of other 1 workplace safety measures for use in containment 2 and mitigation of COVID–19 transmission among 3 essential workers in their workplaces, including 4 workplaces of public employers. 5 (d) FORMULA GRANTS TO STATE HEALTH DEPART- 6 MENTS.—In making grants under subsection (b)(1), the 7 Secretary shall award funds to each State health depart- 8 ment in accordance with a formula based on overall popu- 9 lation size, essential workers population size, and burden 10 of COVID–19. 11 (e) COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO STATE, LOCAL, TRIB- 12 AL, AND TERRITORIAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS.—In 13 making grants under subsection (b)(2), the Secretary shall 14 give priority to applicants demonstrating a commitment 15 to containing and mitigating COVID–19 among racial and 16 ethnic minority groups who are disproportionately rep- 17 resented in essential worker settings. 18 (f) NO DUPLICATIVE ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 19 may not provide, and a State, local, Tribal, or territorial 20 health department or employer of essential workers may 21 not accept, assistance under this section for containment 22 and mitigation of COVID–19 transmission among essen- 23 tial workers in their workplaces with respect to which— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H953.IH H953 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 953 IH (1) the State, local, Tribal, or territorial health 1 department or employer of essential workers receives 2 assistance from other sources for such purposes; or 3 (2) other sources are obligated to provide as- 4 sistance to such health department or employer for 5 such purposes. 6 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In carrying out the 7 program under this section, the Secretary shall provide 8 technical assistance to State, local, Tribal, or territorial 9 health departments. 10 (h) REPORT.—No later than 90 days after the date 11 of enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, 12 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy 13 and Commerce and the Committee on Education and 14 Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee 15 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate 16 a report on the activities funded through this section, in- 17 cluding— 18 (1) the amount expended and the awardees 19 under subsection (b)(1); 20 (2) the amount expended and the awardees 21 under subsection (b)(2); 22 (3) the total amount remaining of the amounts 23 appropriated or otherwise made available to carry 24 out this section; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H953.IH H953 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 953 IH (4) evaluating the progress of State, local, Trib- 1 al, and territorial health departments in reducing 2 COVID–19 burden among essential workers. 3 SEC. 3. CONSULTATION WITH ESSENTIAL WORKER EM- 4 PLOYERS AND ESSENTIAL WORKERS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In developing the COVID–19 con- 6 tainment and mitigation for essential workers program 7 under section 2 and in determining criteria for distribu- 8 tion of competitive grants under section 2(b)(2), the Sec- 9 retary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Dis- 10 ease Control and Prevention and in consultation with the 11 Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety 12 and Health, shall consult in advance with— 13 (1) employers of essential workers; and 14 (2) representatives of essential workers. 15 (b) OPTIONAL ADVANCE CONSULTATION.—A State 16 health department may, before receiving funds through a 17 grant under section 2, consult with employers of essential 18 workers and representatives of essential workers in deter- 19 mining— 20 (1) priorities for the use of such funds; and 21 (2) the distribution of COVID–19 containment 22 and mitigation equipment and supplies. 23 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 24 In this Act: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H953.IH H953 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 953 IH (1) CONTAINMENT AND MITIGATION.—The 1 term ‘‘containment and mitigation’’ includes— 2 (A) the use of— 3 (i) personal protective equipment; and 4 (ii) other protections, including ex- 5 panding or improving workplace infrastruc- 6 ture through engineering and work prac- 7 tice controls, such as ventilation systems, 8 plexiglass partitions, air filters, and the 9 use of hand sanitizer or sanitation sup- 10 plies; 11 (B) access to medical evaluations, testing 12 (including rapid testing), and contact tracing; 13 and 14 (C) other related activities or equipment 15 recommended or required by the Director of 16 Centers of Disease Control and Prevention or 17 required pursuant to the Occupational Safety 18 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 19 or a State plan approved pursuant to section 18 20 of that Act (29 U.S.C. 667). 21 (2) ESSENTIAL WORKER.—The term ‘‘essential 22 worker’’ refers to— 23 (A) the ‘‘essential critical infrastructure 24 workers’’ identified in the Department of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H953.IH H953 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 953 IH Homeland Security’s ‘‘Advisory Memorandum 1 on Ensuring Essential Critical Infrastructure 2 Workers Ability to Work During the COVID– 3 19 Response’’ released on August 18, 2020 (or 4 any successor document); and 5 (B) workers included as essential workers 6 in executive orders issued by the Governor of a 7 State. 8 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 10 (4) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘small busi- 11 ness’’ means— 12 (A) a small business concern described in 13 section 31(b)(2)(C) of the Small Business Act 14 (15 U.S.C. 657a(b)(2)(C)); or 15 (B) an individual who operates— 16 (i) under a sole proprietorship; 17 (ii) as an independent contractor; or 18 (iii) as an eligible self-employed indi- 19 vidual. 20 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this Act, there is au- 22 thorized to be appropriated $1,000,000,000, to remain 23 available until expended. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H953.IH H953 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 953 IH (b) SMALL BUSINESSES.—Of the amounts made 1 available to grantees pursuant to section 2, at least 2 $250,000,000 shall be reserved for small businesses. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H953.IH H953 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS