Invest in Our Democracy Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 640 To provide grants to support continuing education in election administration or cybersecurity for election officials and employees. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 9, 2021 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Ad- ministration A BILL To provide grants to support continuing education in election administration or cybersecurity for election officials and employees. 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 ‘‘Invest in Our Democ- 4 racy Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 (1) free and fair elections are central to our de- 8 mocracy; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S640.IS S640 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 640 IS (2) protecting our elections from foreign adver- 1 saries is a national security priority; 2 (3) the States conduct elections and it is impor- 3 tant to maintain State leadership in election admin- 4 istration; 5 (4) the States deserve Federal support to se- 6 cure our elections from interference by foreign na- 7 tions; and 8 (5) election security in the United States will 9 benefit from continued education and investment in 10 the individuals that administer our elections. 11 SEC. 3. SUPPORTING CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR ELEC- 12 TION OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES. 13 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY AND METHOD OF DIS- 14 TRIBUTION.—The Election Assistance Commission (in 15 this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall estab- 16 lish a program under which the Commission pays to each 17 eligible institution such sums as may be necessary to pay 18 to each eligible certificate program enrollee (as defined in 19 subsection (b)) for each academic year during which that 20 enrollee is enrolled in an accredited certificate program in 21 election administration or cybersecurity in the amount for 22 which that enrollee is eligible, as determined pursuant to 23 subsection (c). Not less than 85 percent of such sums shall 24 be advanced to eligible institutions prior to the start of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S640.IS S640 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 640 IS each payment period and shall be based upon an amount 1 requested by the institution as needed to pay eligible cer- 2 tificate program enrollees until such time as the Commis- 3 sion determines an alternative payment system that pro- 4 vides payments to institutions in an accurate and timely 5 manner, except that this sentence shall not be construed 6 to limit the authority of the Commission to place an insti- 7 tution on a reimbursement system of payment. 8 (b) ELIGIBLE CERTIFICATE PROGRAM ENROLLEE.— 9 In this section, the term ‘‘eligible certificate program en- 10 rollee’’ means an individual who— 11 (1) is a State or local election official, an em- 12 ployee of a State or local election official, or an em- 13 ployee of the Commission; 14 (2) certifies to the Commission their enrollment 15 in an accredited certificate program in election ad- 16 ministration or cybersecurity; and 17 (3) submits to the Commission— 18 (A) a receipt or other verification deter- 19 mined appropriate by the Commission of the 20 tuition amount for such certificate program; 21 and 22 (B) an application at such time, in such 23 manner, and containing such information as the 24 Commission may require. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S640.IS S640 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 640 IS (c) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The amount of a grant 1 for an eligible certificate program enrollee under this sec- 2 tion for a year shall be an amount equal to 75 percent 3 of the tuition amount for the accredited certificate pro- 4 gram in election administration or cybersecurity for the 5 year. 6 (d) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) ACCREDITED CERTIFICATE PROGRAM IN 8 ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OR CYBERSECURITY.— 9 The term ‘‘accredited certificate program in election 10 administration or cybersecurity’’ means a program 11 in election administration or cybersecurity that leads 12 to a certificate, or other nondegree recognized cre- 13 dential, at an eligible institution. 14 (2) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘eligi- 15 ble institution’’ means an institution of higher edu- 16 cation (as defined under section 101 of the Higher 17 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) that— 18 (A) offers an accredited certificate pro- 19 gram in election administration or cybersecu- 20 rity; and 21 (B) elects to participate in the program es- 22 tablished under this section. 23 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 24 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S640.IS S640 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 640 IS (1) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; and 1 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each of 2 fiscal years 2024 through 2030. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S640.IS S640 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS