Emergency Relief for State, Territorial and Local Governments Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6328 To authorize Federal reserve banks to purchase COVID–19 related municipal issuances, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2020 Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. SAN NICO- LAS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. OMAR, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. POCAN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. SOTO, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. NADLER, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, and Ms. HAALAND) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To authorize Federal reserve banks to purchase COVID– 19 related municipal issuances, 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 ‘‘Emergency Relief for 4 State, Territorial and Local Governments Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Apr 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6328.IH H6328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6328 IH SEC. 2. PURCHASE OF COVID–19 RELATED MUNICIPAL 1 ISSUANCES. 2 (a) AMENDMENT TO AUTHORITY TO BUY AND SELL 3 BONDS AND NOTES.—Section 14(b) of the Federal Re- 4 serve Act (12 U.S.C. 355) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (1)— 6 (A) by inserting ‘‘and during unusual and 7 exigent circumstances,’’ before ‘‘bonds issued’’; 8 and 9 (B) by striking ‘‘of 1933’’ and all that fol- 10 lows through ‘‘assured revenues’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(3) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the 13 term ‘State’ means each of the several States, the 14 District of Columbia, each territory and possession 15 of the United States, and each federally recognized 16 Indian Tribe.’’. 17 (b) FEDERAL RESERVE AUTHORIZATION TO PUR- 18 CHASE COVID–19 RELATED MUNICIPAL ISSUANCES.— 19 (1) AUTHORITY.—Within seven days after the 20 date of enactment of this subsection, the Federal 21 Reserve Board of Governors shall establish a facility 22 to buy and sell, at home or abroad, bills, notes, 23 bonds, and warrants that are issued by any State or 24 political subdivision thereof between March 1, 2020, 25 and July 1, 2021, in order to fund a public health 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Apr 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6328.IH H6328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6328 IH or public service response to the COVID–19 pan- 1 demic. The Board of Governors of the Federal Re- 2 serve System may extend the authority under this 3 subsection if the Board determines necessary. 4 (2) REQUIRED PURCHASES.—The Board of 5 Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall es- 6 tablish policies and procedures to require the direct 7 placement of bills, notes, bonds, and warrants de- 8 scribed in paragraph (1) with the Board at an inter- 9 est cost that does not exceed the Federal funds rate 10 target for short-term interbank lending, within seven 11 days after the date of enactment of this section. 12 (3) REVIEW OF SPENDING.—During the 3-year 13 period beginning on the date on which all purchases 14 under this section are completed, relevant Federal 15 authorities shall review such purchases to determine 16 if funds were diverted from legitimate public health 17 or public services responses to the COVID–19 pan- 18 demic to make such purchase. The relevant Federal 19 authorities shall take appropriate action based on 20 findings of such review. 21 (4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 22 (A) PUBLIC HEALTH OR PUBLIC SERVICE 23 RESPONSE TO THE COVID–19 PANDEMIC.—The 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Apr 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6328.IH H6328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6328 IH term ‘‘public health or public service response 1 to the COVID–19 pandemic’’ means— 2 (i) the purchase, manufacture, or de- 3 livery of medical equipment, facilities, or 4 services— 5 (I) to treat or quarantine 6 COVID–19 patients; 7 (II) to protect first responders 8 interacting with such patients; or 9 (III) to test for COVID–19 infec- 10 tions and track social contacts of pa- 11 tients who have tested positive for the 12 virus; 13 (ii) the purchase, manufacture, or de- 14 livery of basic living supports for individ- 15 uals who are not COVID–19 patients dur- 16 ing periods of voluntary or mandatory so- 17 cial distancing or quarantine designed to 18 prevent the spread of COVID–19; or 19 (iii) the maintenance and delivery of 20 basic public services to communities re- 21 sponding to the public health or economic 22 effects of the COVID–19 pandemic. 23 (B) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means 24 each of the several States, the District of Co- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Apr 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6328.IH H6328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6328 IH lumbia, each territory and possession of the 1 United States, and each federally recognized In- 2 dian Tribe. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Apr 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6328.IH H6328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS