To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to establish a core public health infrastructure program, and for other purposes.

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1849 To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to establish a core public health infrastructure program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 11, 2021 Miss RICE of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to establish a core public health infrastructure program, 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. CORE PUBLIC HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE FOR 3 STATE, LOCAL, TRIBAL, AND TERRITORIAL 4 HEALTH DEPARTMENTS. 5 (a) PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Health and Human 6 Services (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), act- 7 ing through the Director of the Centers for Disease Con- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1849.IH H1849 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1849 IH trol and Prevention, shall establish a core public health 1 infrastructure program consisting of awarding grants 2 under subsection (b). 3 (b) GRANTS.— 4 (1) AWARD.—For the purpose of addressing 5 core public health infrastructure needs, the Sec- 6 retary— 7 (A) shall award a grant to each State 8 health department; and 9 (B) may award grants on a competitive 10 basis to State, local, Tribal, or territorial health 11 departments. 12 (2) ALLOCATION.—Of the total amount of 13 funds awarded as grants under this subsection for a 14 fiscal year— 15 (A) not less than 50 percent shall be for 16 grants to State health departments under para- 17 graph (1)(A); and 18 (B) not less than 30 percent shall be for 19 grants to State, local, Tribal, or territorial 20 health departments under paragraph (1)(B). 21 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A State, local, Tribal, or terri- 22 torial health department receiving a grant under sub- 23 section (b) shall use the grant funds to address core public 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1849.IH H1849 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1849 IH health infrastructure needs, including those identified in 1 the accreditation process under subsection (g). 2 (d) FORMULA GRANTS TO STATE HEALTH DEPART- 3 MENTS.—In making grants under subsection (b)(1)(A), 4 the Secretary shall award funds to each State health de- 5 partment in accordance with— 6 (1) a formula based on population size, burden 7 of preventable disease and disability, and core public 8 health infrastructure gaps, including those identified 9 in the accreditation process under subsection (g); 10 and 11 (2) application requirements established by the 12 Secretary, including a requirement that the State 13 health department submit a plan that demonstrates 14 to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the State’s 15 health department will— 16 (A) address its highest priority core public 17 health infrastructure needs; and 18 (B) as appropriate, allocate funds to local 19 health departments within the State. 20 (e) COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO STATE, LOCAL, TRIB- 21 AL, AND TERRITORIAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS.—In 22 making grants under subsection (b)(1)(B), the Secretary 23 shall give priority to applicants demonstrating core public 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1849.IH H1849 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1849 IH health infrastructure needs identified in the accreditation 1 process under subsection (g). 2 (f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—The Secretary may 3 award a grant to an entity under subsection (b) only if 4 the entity demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Sec- 5 retary that— 6 (1) funds received through the grant will be ex- 7 pended only to supplement, and not supplant, non- 8 Federal and Federal funds otherwise available to the 9 entity for the purpose of addressing core public 10 health infrastructure needs; and 11 (2) with respect to activities for which the grant 12 is awarded, the entity will maintain expenditures of 13 non-Federal amounts for such activities at a level 14 not less than the level of such expenditures main- 15 tained by the entity for the fiscal year preceding the 16 fiscal year for which the entity receives the grant. 17 (g) ESTABLISHMENT OF A PUBLIC HEALTH ACCRED- 18 ITATION PROGRAM.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 20 (A) develop, and periodically review and 21 update, standards for voluntary accreditation of 22 State, local, Tribal, and territorial health de- 23 partments and public health laboratories for the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1849.IH H1849 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1849 IH purpose of advancing the quality and perform- 1 ance of such departments and laboratories; and 2 (B) implement a program to accredit such 3 health departments and laboratories in accord- 4 ance with such standards. 5 (2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The Secretary 6 may enter into a cooperative agreement with a pri- 7 vate nonprofit entity to carry out paragraph (1). 8 (h) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the Con- 9 gress an annual report on progress being made to accredit 10 entities under subsection (g), including— 11 (1) a strategy, including goals and objectives, 12 for accrediting entities under subsection (g) and 13 achieving the purpose described in subsection 14 (g)(1)(A); 15 (2) identification of gaps in research related to 16 core public health infrastructure; and 17 (3) recommendations of priority areas for such 18 research. 19 (i) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘core pub- 20 lic health infrastructure’’ includes— 21 (1) workforce capacity and competency; 22 (2) laboratory systems; 23 (3) testing capacity, including test platforms, 24 mobile testing units, and personnel; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1849.IH H1849 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1849 IH (4) health information, health information sys- 1 tems, and health information analysis; 2 (5) disease surveillance; 3 (6) contact tracing; 4 (7) communications; 5 (8) financing; 6 (9) other relevant components of organizational 7 capacity; and 8 (10) other related activities. 9 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 10 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated 11 $6,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2022 12 through 2026. 13 SEC. 2. CORE PUBLIC HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE AND AC- 14 TIVITIES FOR CDC. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 16 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 17 tion, shall expand and improve the core public health in- 18 frastructure and activities of the Centers for Disease Con- 19 trol and Prevention to address unmet and emerging public 20 health needs. 21 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the Con- 22 gress an annual report on the activities funded through 23 this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1849.IH H1849 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1849 IH (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘core 1 public health infrastructure’’ has the meaning given to 2 such term in section 1. 3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 4 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 5 $1,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2022 6 through 2026. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1849.IH H1849 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS