Health Force and Resilience Force Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3606 To provide for the establishment of a Health Force and a Resilience Force to respond to public health emergencies and meet public health needs. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 5, 2020 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. HARRIS, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide for the establishment of a Health Force and a Resilience Force to respond to public health emer- gencies and meet public health needs. 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 ‘‘Health Force and Re- 4 silience Force Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. HEALTH FORCE. 6 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of the Health Force 7 established under this section to recruit, train, and employ 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3606 IS Americans to respond to the COVID–19 pandemic in their 1 communities, provide capacity for ongoing and future pub- 2 lic health care needs, and build skills for new workers to 3 enter the public health and health care workforce. 4 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established 5 within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a 6 Health Force (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Force’’) 7 composed of community members dedicated to responding 8 to public health emergencies as declared by the Secretary 9 of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the 10 Public Health Service Act, including the COVID–19 emer- 11 gency, and providing increased capacity to address ongo- 12 ing and future public health needs. 13 (c) ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Centers for Disease 15 Control and Prevention shall— 16 (A) award grants, contracts, or enter into 17 cooperative agreements for the recruitment, hir- 18 ing, managing, administration, and organization 19 of the Force to States, localities, territories, In- 20 dian Tribes, Tribal organizations, urban Indian 21 health organizations, or health service providers 22 to Tribes through the Public Health Emergency 23 Preparedness and Public Health Crisis Re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3606 IS sponse programs implemented through such 1 Centers; and 2 (B) provide assistance for expenses in- 3 curred by States, localities, territories, Indian 4 Tribes, Tribal organizations, urban Indian 5 health organizations, or health service providers 6 to Tribes prior to the awarding of a grant, con- 7 tract, or cooperative agreement under subpara- 8 graph (A) to facilitate the implementation of 9 the Force, including assistance for planning and 10 recruitment activities, as provided for in section 11 424 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 12 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 13 5189b). 14 (2) DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR.—The Director 15 of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 16 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Director’’) 17 shall— 18 (A) identify training resource packages to 19 be utilized by the Force and develop new train- 20 ing resource packages, as needed, including 21 by— 22 (i) collaborating with other Federal 23 agencies, including the Health Resources 24 and Services Administration; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3606 IS (ii) collaborating with Centers for Dis- 1 ease Control and Prevention implementing 2 partners, including public health, health 3 care, and community-based organizational 4 partners, to identify and develop such 5 training resource packages; and 6 (B) carry out any other activities deter- 7 mined appropriate by the Director to carry out 8 this section. 9 (d) SERVICE.— 10 (1) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Force shall be 12 composed of eligible members selected pursuant 13 to guidelines developed by the Director in con- 14 sultation with States, localities, territories, In- 15 dian Tribes, Tribal organizations, urban Indian 16 health organizations, or health service providers 17 to Tribes funded entities. At a minimum such 18 guidelines shall ensure that a member of the 19 Force— 20 (i) is at least 18 years of age; and 21 (ii) has a high school diploma or 22 equivalent or has successfully completed an 23 employment literacy test. 24 (B) OTHER ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3606 IS (i) CITIZENSHIP OR IMMIGRATION 1 STATUS.—An individual who is authorized 2 to work in the United States, including an 3 individual with Deferred Action for Child- 4 hood Arrivals (DACA) or Temporary Pro- 5 tected Status (TPS) under section 244 of 6 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 7 U.S.C. 1254a), shall not be disqualified for 8 appointment under this section as a mem- 9 ber of the Force because of citizenship or 10 immigration status. 11 (ii) BANKRUPTCY.—An individual 12 shall not be disqualified for appointment 13 under this section as a member of the 14 Force because of the bankruptcy or poor 15 credit rating of such individual determined 16 to be the result of the coronavirus public 17 health emergency. 18 (2) RECRUITMENT.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The guidelines devel- 20 oped under paragraph (1) shall provide for 21 Force recruitment information to be distributed 22 at the national level through all available chan- 23 nels and partnerships as practicable. Such 24 guidelines shall also, as practicable, require that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3606 IS all graduating high school seniors be made 1 aware of Force employment opportunities while 2 in their senior year, and every 2 years there- 3 after, unless they opt out of receiving notifica- 4 tions or have joined the Force. As practicable, 5 Federal and State Departments of Labor shall 6 share information about Force opportunities 7 with those individuals applying for or receiving 8 unemployment benefits. 9 (B) RECRUITMENT BY STATE, LOCALITY, 10 TERRITORY, INDIAN TRIBES, TRIBAL ORGANIZA- 11 TIONS, URBAN INDIAN HEALTH ORGANIZA- 12 TIONS, OR HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS TO 13 TRIBES FUNDED ENTITIES.—With respect to 14 the employment of Force members in States, lo- 15 calities, territories, Indian Tribes, Tribal orga- 16 nizations, urban Indian health organizations, or 17 health service providers to Tribes funded enti- 18 ties, such areas and entities shall support ex- 19 tensive recruitment efforts for Force personnel, 20 including efforts to recruit Force members 21 among focal communities as described in sub- 22 section (g), as well as low-income, minority, and 23 historically marginalized populations. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3606 IS (3) PREFERENCE.—Preference in the hiring of 1 Force members shall be given to individuals who are 2 veterans, unemployed or underemployed, recently 3 furloughed community-based nonprofit, public health 4 or health care professionals, or from focal commu- 5 nities as described in subsection (g). 6 (4) TRAINING.— 7 (A) INITIAL TRAINING.— 8 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 9 days after the date of enactment of this 10 Act, the Director shall identify an evi- 11 dence-informed training program for Force 12 members in accordance with this para- 13 graph. Such initial training program shall 14 focus on building public health surveillance 15 knowledge and skills, particularly contact 16 tracing knowledge and skills, to address 17 training requirements for Force members 18 to successfully conduct contact tracing ac- 19 tivities under subsection (e)(1). States, lo- 20 calities, territories, Indian Tribes, Tribal 21 organizations, urban Indian health organi- 22 zations, or health service providers to 23 Tribes shall determine which Force re- 24 cruits will be provided with initial training 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3606 IS to meet State, locality, territory, and Trib- 1 al public health needs. 2 (ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The initial 3 training program under this subparagraph 4 shall— 5 (I) be adaptable by State, local- 6 ity, territorial, Indian Tribe, Tribal 7 organization, urban Indian health or- 8 ganization, or health service providers 9 to Tribes funded entities to meet local 10 needs; 11 (II) be implemented as quickly as 12 possible by either or both of the Cen- 13 ters for Disease Control and Preven- 14 tion and State, locality, territorial, In- 15 dian Tribe, Tribal organization, urban 16 Indian health organization, or health 17 service providers to Tribes funded en- 18 tities, based on local needs and abili- 19 ties; 20 (III) be distance-based eLearning 21 that can be accessed with a 22 smartphone, with the goal of limiting 23 opportunities for disease transmission 24 while maximizing knowledge and skills 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3606 IS acquisition and retention among 1 Force trainees; 2 (IV) include refresher training at 3 regular and frequent intervals as de- 4 termined appropriate by the Director; 5 (V) include training components 6 on personal safety, including staying 7 safe around animals in home- and 8 community-based settings, use of per- 9 sonal protective equipment, and health 10 privacy and ethics; 11 (VI) include standardized testing 12 to measure knowledge and skills ac- 13 quisition and retention; and 14 (VII) use individual results of 15 such standardized testing to ensure 16 that only successfully trained individ- 17 uals are maintained as Force mem- 18 bers. 19 (B) ADDITIONAL TRAINING.—Not later 20 than 90 days after the date of enactment of 21 this Act, the Director shall identify and, as nec- 22 essary, develop additional evidence-informed 23 training resource packages to provide Force 24 members the knowledge and skills necessary to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3606 IS conduct the full complement of activities de- 1 scribe in subsections (e) and (f). States, local- 2 ities, territories, Indian Tribes, Tribal organiza- 3 tions, urban Indian health organizations, or 4 health service providers to Tribes shall deter- 5 mine which Force members will be provided 6 with additional training to meet State, locality, 7 territory, and Tribal public health needs. 8 (C) MISCELLANEOUS.—Where determined 9 necessary, the Director may— 10 (i) recommend training under this 11 subparagraph that includes face-to-face 12 interaction; 13 (ii) collaborate with public univer- 14 sities, including nursing, medical, and vet- 15 erinary schools, community colleges, or 16 other career and technical education insti- 17 tutes, community health centers and other 18 community-based organizations, federally 19 recognized Minority Serving Institutions, 20 as well as public health associations and 21 State and local health departments, to de- 22 velop and implement training under this 23 subparagraph, particularly for skills that 24 typically have licensure requirements; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3606 IS (iii) develop training and communica- 1 tions materials in multiple languages. 2 (D) TIMING.—The training provided under 3 subparagraph (A)(i) shall be designed to be 4 completed by Force members within 14 days of 5 the start of such training. The training pro- 6 grams under subparagraph (B) shall be made 7 available where necessary to ensure that Force 8 members are fully trained as soon as possible 9 after commencing such training. 10 (E) SPECIALIZED TRAINING.—In orga- 11 nizing the Force under this section, the Direc- 12 tor may elect to establish divisions of Force 13 members who receive specialized comprehensive 14 training, including divisions of Force members 15 who have met State licensure requirements, 16 have prior relevant experience, or have super- 17 visory skills or demonstrated aptitude. 18 (F) PAYMENT DURING TRAINING.—Indi- 19 viduals shall be paid for each hour spent in 20 training (including refresher training) under 21 this paragraph at a rate of not less than $15 22 per hour (to be increased each year based on 23 increases in the Consumer Price Index for such 24 year). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3606 IS (5) SALARY AND BENEFITS.— 1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Force 2 shall be paid directly by State, locality, terri- 3 torial, Indian Tribe, Tribal organization, urban 4 Indian health organization, or health service 5 providers to Tribes funded entities and sub- 6 partners using funds provided by the Centers 7 for Disease Control and Prevention under 8 grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements 9 under this section. All Force positions shall be 10 salaried with health and retirement benefits, in- 11 cluding paid family leave. Payment of salaries 12 and benefits shall be in accordance with the 13 policies of the State or unit of local government 14 involved and have the approval of the State or 15 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 as applicable. 17 (B) OVERTIME PAY.—The entire amount 18 of overtime costs, including payments related to 19 backfilling personnel, that are the direct result 20 of time spent on the design, development and 21 conduct of Force activities are allowable ex- 22 penses under this section. Such costs shall be 23 allowed only to the extent that payment for 24 such services is in accordance with the policies 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3606.IS S3606 pamtmann on DSKB [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]