Opportunities for Heroes Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6699 To establish a commission to determine essential employment during the COVID–19 crisis period and provide loan repayment and education credit to workers employed in such essential employment during such crisis, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 5, 2020 Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. DEAN, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. CICILLINE, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. RYAN, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms. LEE of Cali- fornia, Mr. KILMER, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. WELCH, Ms. MENG, Mr. VARGAS, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, and Ms. JACKSON LEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To establish a commission to determine essential employment during the COVID–19 crisis period and provide loan repayment and education credit to workers employed in such essential employment during such crisis, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6699 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Opportunities for Heroes Act of 2020’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 4 this Act are as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. TITLE I—COMMISSION ON ESSENTIAL EMPLOYMENT Sec. 101. Commission established. TITLE II—BORROWER RELIEF Sec. 201. Student loan relief as a result of essential work during the COVID– 19 crisis period. Sec. 202. Essential worker credit. Sec. 203. Notification to borrowers. Sec. 204. Data to implement. Sec. 205. Memorandums of understanding. Sec. 206. Exclusion from gross income. Sec. 207. Transfer of benefits to survivors of essential workers. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) COVERED LOAN.—The term ‘‘covered loan’’ 8 means— 9 (A) a loan made, insured, or guaranteed 10 under part B of title IV of the Higher Edu- 11 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.); 12 (B) a loan made under part D of title IV 13 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 14 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.); and 15 (C) a Federal Perkins Loan made pursu- 16 ant to part E of title IV of the Higher Edu- 17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087aa et seq.). 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6699 IH (2) COVID–19 CRISIS PERIOD.—The term 1 ‘‘COVID–19 crisis period’’ means the period begin- 2 ning January 27, 2020, and ending December 31, 3 2020. 4 (3) ESSENTIAL WORKER.—The term ‘‘essential 5 worker’’ means an individual who— 6 (A) was employed in an essential employ- 7 ment area (as published in the list required 8 under section 101(b)(1)) for not less than 480 9 hours in a 120-day consecutive period during 10 the COVID–19 crisis period; 11 (B) was employed in an essential employ- 12 ment area (as published in the list required 13 under section 101(b)(1)) but was unable to 14 complete 480 hours of work in a 120-day con- 15 secutive period due to the diagnosis or sus- 16 pected case of COVID–19 with respect to such 17 individual or the family member (a child, 18 spouse, grandparent, or relative that lives in the 19 primary residence of the essential worker) of 20 such individual for which such individual pro- 21 vided care; or 22 (C) was employed in an essential employ- 23 ment area (as published in the list required 24 under section 101(b)(1)) but was unable to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6699 IH complete 480 hours of work in a 120-day con- 1 secutive period due perishing from COVID–19 2 or a suspected case of COVID–19. 3 (4) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.—The term 4 ‘‘private education loan’’ has the meaning given the 5 term in section 140 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 6 U.S.C. 1650). 7 (5) QUALIFIED BORROWER.—The term ‘‘quali- 8 fied borrower’’ means— 9 (A) a borrower of a covered loan or a pri- 10 vate education loan; and 11 (B) who is an essential worker. 12 (6) SECRETARIES CONCERNED.—The term 13 ‘‘Secretaries concerned’’ means— 14 (A) the Secretary of Education, with re- 15 spect to covered loans and borrowers of such 16 covered loans; and 17 (B) the Secretary of the Treasury, with re- 18 spect to private education loans and borrowers 19 of such private education loans. 20 (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 21 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ means an in- 22 stitution of higher education, as defined in section 23 101, or a postsecondary vocational institution, as de- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6699 IH fined in section 102(c), of the Higher Education 1 Act. 2 (8) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.— 3 The term ‘‘workforce development program’’ means 4 a program of training services, provided through an 5 eligible training provider, as described under section 6 122(d) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 7 Act. 8 (9) CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION.—The 9 term ‘‘continuing medical education’’ means edu- 10 cational activities which serve to maintain, develop, 11 or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional 12 performance and relationships that a physician uses 13 to provide services for patients, the public or the 14 profession. The content of continuing medical edu- 15 cation is the body of knowledge and skills generally 16 recognized and accepted by the profession as within 17 the basic medical sciences, the discipline of clinical 18 medicine and the provision of health care to the pub- 19 lic. 20 TITLE I—COMMISSION ON 21 ESSENTIAL EMPLOYMENT 22 SEC. 101. COMMISSION ESTABLISHED. 23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not less than 30 days after 24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6699 IH Labor shall establish a commission to be known as the 1 ‘‘Essential Employment Commission’’ (in this Act referred 2 to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 3 (b) DUTY OF THE COMMISSION.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis- 6 sion shall, publish a list of the types of employment 7 that are essential during the COVID–19 crisis pe- 8 riod. 9 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining the 10 types of employment that are essential under para- 11 graph (1), the Commission shall consider whether— 12 (A) the employment protected the health, 13 safety, or well-being of the American public; 14 and 15 (B) the employment involved considerable 16 risk of exposure to COVID–19. 17 (3) CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT REQUIRED ESSEN- 18 TIAL.—The Commission shall determine the fol- 19 lowing types of employment to be essential under 20 paragraph (1): 21 (A) Employment in the sale of food and 22 pharmaceuticals, including employment by gro- 23 cery stores, pharmacies, convenience stores, and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6699 IH other businesses that primarily sell food and 1 beverages. 2 (B) Employment in the field of healthcare, 3 including as a home health aid or a pharmacist. 4 (C) Employment as a firefighter or emer- 5 gency medical technician. 6 (D) Employment as an emergency re- 7 sponders, including a paramedic. 8 (E) Employment at a 911 call center. 9 (F) Employment in health manufacturing 10 for essential medical products, including per- 11 sonal protective equipment, isolation barriers, 12 medical gases, pharmaceuticals, blood and blood 13 products, vaccines, testing materials, laboratory 14 supplies, cleaning, sanitizing, disinfecting or 15 sterilization supplies, and tissue and paper 16 towel products. 17 (G) Employment in manufacturing of ma- 18 terials and products necessary to produce the 19 products described in subparagraph (F). 20 (H) Employment in producing, harvesting, 21 or processing agricultural goods, meat, poultry, 22 and dairy products for human consumption. 23 (I) Employment in cafeterias that serve 24 other essential workers, medical patients, stu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6699 IH dents, or vulnerable populations, including the 1 homeless. 2 (J) Employment in postal, parcel, courier, 3 last-mile delivery, and shipping. 4 (K) Employment in the distribution or de- 5 livery of food, pharmaceuticals, or medical prod- 6 ucts. 7 (L) Employment in the delivery of pre- 8 cooked food. 9 (M) Employment in the fields of research, 10 development, and testing related to COVID–19. 11 (N) Employment in security and sanitation 12 of locations where other essential workers are 13 employed. 14 (O) Employment in providing child care 15 for children of other essential workers. 16 (P) Employment in transportation, includ- 17 ing as a truck driver, bus driver, dispatcher, 18 maintenance and repair technician, warehouse 19 worker, truck stop or rest area worker, towing 20 and recovery service employee, roadside assist- 21 ance worker, intermodal transportation per- 22 sonnel, maintenance worker, taxi driver, vehicle 23 rental service provider, car-sharing driver, 24 transportation network provider, air traffic con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6699 IH troller, maintenance personnel, ramp worker, 1 aviation or aerospace safety worker, pilot or 2 flight crew, operations personnel, or accident in- 3 vestigations personnel. 4 (Q) Employment as a social worker. 5 (R) Employment in mortuary services, in- 6 cluding cremation, burial, coffin making, and 7 funeral home services. 8 (S) Employment as a community advocate 9 for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. 10 (T) Employment as a law enforcement or 11 corrections officer. 12 (c) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall include 13 the following members: 14 (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 15 ices (or designee). 16 (2) The Secretary of Homeland Security (or 17 designee). 18 (3) The Secretary of Education (or designee). 19 (4) The governors of the three States with the 20 highest incidences of COVID–19 on the date of en- 21 actment of this Act (or a designee for each such gov- 22 ernor). 23 (5) Three representatives from national labor 24 organizations certified by the National Labor Rela- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6699 IH tions Board, National Mediation Board, Federal 1 Labor Relations Authority, or State agencies with 2 similar jurisdiction and authority. 3 (6) A member of the U.S. House of Representa- 4 tives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Rep- 5 resentatives (or designee). 6 (7) A member of the Senate appointed by the 7 majority leader of the Senate (or designee). 8 (8) A physician. 9 (d) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 10 on the date the list required under subsection (b)(1) is 11 published. 12 TITLE II—BORROWER RELIEF 13 SEC. 201. STUDENT LOAN RELIEF AS A RESULT OF ESSEN- 14 TIAL WORK DURING THE COVID–19 CRISIS PE- 15 RIOD. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 17 date the list required under section 101(b)(1) is published, 18 the Secretaries concerned shall jointly carry out a program 19 under which a qualified borrower, with respect to the cov- 20 ered loans and private education of loans of such qualified 21 borrower, shall be eligible to receive in accordance with 22 subsection (b) an amount equal to the lesser of the fol- 23 lowing: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 May 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6699 IH (1) The total amount of each covered loan and 1 each private education loan of the borrower and the 2 total amount of each covered loan of the spouse or 3 children of the essential worker. 4 (2) $25,000. 5 (b) ELECTION BY BORROWER.—A qualified borrower 6 may elect to apply the amount determined with respect 7 to such borrower under subsection (a) to— 8 (1) any covered loan of the borrower; 9 (2) any private education loan of the borrower; 10 (3) any covered loan or private education loan 11 of the spouse or child of the borrower; and 12 (4) any combination of the loans described in 13 paragraphs (1) through (3). 14 SEC. 202. ESSENTIAL WORKER CREDIT. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 16 shall make available to each essential worker an amount 17 equal to— 18 (1) $25,000; minus 19 (2) the amount the essential worker received 20 under section 201(a). 21 (b) USE OF CREDIT.—The amount an essential work- 22 er receives under subsection (a) may only be used to at- 23 tend an institution of higher education, a workforce devel- 24 opment program, or continuing medical education (as de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6699 IH fined in section 2) by the essential worker and their spouse 1 or children. 2 (c) AVAILABILITY.—The amount available to an es- 3 sential worker under subsection (a) may be used in accord- 4 ance with subsection (b) not later than December 31, 5 2070. 6 SEC. 203. NOTIFICATION TO BORROWERS. 7 Not later than 30 days after the date described in 8 section 201(a), the Secretaries concerned shall notify each 9 qualified borrower and essential worker of— 10 (1) the requirements to provide loan relief and 11 essential worker credits to essential workers and 12 their children or spouse under this title; 13 (2) the opportunity for such a borrower to 14 make an election under section 201(b) with respect 15 to the application of such loan relief to the covered 16 loans and private education loans of such borrower [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]