Coronavirus Community Relief Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3623 To provide for an enhanced Coronavirus relief fund for units of government with a population of 500,000 or less, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 6, 2020 Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mr. JONES, Mrs. MURRAY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. UDALL, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. WARREN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. PETERS, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Ap- propriations A BILL To provide for an enhanced Coronavirus relief fund for units of government with a population of 500,000 or less, 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 ‘‘Coronavirus Commu- 4 nity Relief Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3623.IS S3623 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3623 IS SEC. 2. CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND FOR UNITS OF GOV- 1 ERNMENT WITH A POPULATION OF 500,000 OR 2 LESS. 3 Title VI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 801 4 et seq.) (as added by section 5001(a) of the Coronavirus 5 Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116– 6 136)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 602. CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND FOR UNITS OF GOV- 8 ERNMENT WITH A POPULATION OF 500,000 OR 9 LESS. 10 ‘‘(a) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any money in the 11 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, 12 there are appropriated for making payments to units of 13 local government with a population of 500,000 or less, 14 $250,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2020. 15 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO MAKE PAYMENTS.—The Sec- 16 retary shall pay to a unit of local government the relative 17 unit of local government population proportion amount de- 18 termined for such government under subsection (c)(4) 19 within 30 days after such government submits the certifi- 20 cation required by subsection (e). 21 ‘‘(c) PAYMENT AMOUNTS.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The maximum aggregate 23 amount paid under this section for fiscal year 2020 24 to units of local government in a State shall not ex- 25 ceed the relative population proportion amount de- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3623.IS S3623 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3623 IS termined for the State under paragraph (2) for such 1 fiscal year. 2 ‘‘(2) RELATIVE POPULATION PROPORTION 3 AMOUNT.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the rel- 4 ative population proportion amount determined 5 under this paragraph for a State for fiscal year 6 2020 is the product of— 7 ‘‘(A) the amount appropriated under sub- 8 section (a) for fiscal year 2020; and 9 ‘‘(B) the relative State population propor- 10 tion determined under paragraph (3). 11 ‘‘(3) RELATIVE STATE POPULATION PROPOR- 12 TION DEFINED.—For purposes of paragraph (2)(B), 13 with respect to a State, the relative State population 14 proportion is the quotient of— 15 ‘‘(A) the population of the State; and 16 ‘‘(B) the total population of all States. 17 ‘‘(4) RELATIVE UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT 18 POPULATION PROPORTION AMOUNT.—For purposes 19 of subsection (b), with respect to a unit of local gov- 20 ernment, the relative unit of local government popu- 21 lation proportion amount is equal to the product 22 of— 23 ‘‘(A) the relative population proportion 24 amount determined under paragraph (2) for the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3623.IS S3623 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3623 IS State in which the unit of local government is 1 located; and 2 ‘‘(B) the quotient of— 3 ‘‘(i) the population of the unit of local 4 government; and 5 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the population of all 6 units of local government with a population 7 of 500,000 or less within the State that 8 submit the certification required by sub- 9 section (e) by the deadline specified in that 10 subsection. 11 ‘‘(5) DATA.—For purposes of this subsection, 12 the population of States and units of local govern- 13 ments shall be determined based on the most recent 14 year for which data are available from the Bureau 15 of the Census. 16 ‘‘(6) OTHER RELIEF.—The payments made 17 under this section shall be in addition to, and shall 18 not affect or reduce, payments made to units of local 19 government with a population that exceeds 500,000 20 under section 601. 21 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A unit of local government 23 shall use the funds provided under a payment made 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3623.IS S3623 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3623 IS under this section to cover only those costs of the 1 unit of local government that— 2 ‘‘(A) such government reasonably deems to 3 be necessary and directly or indirectly involve, 4 relate to, are, have been, or will be incurred due 5 to, or are, have been, or will be a response to 6 circumstances caused by, the public health 7 emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Dis- 8 ease 2019 (COVID–19); and 9 ‘‘(B) were incurred during the period that 10 begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on Decem- 11 ber 30, 2020. 12 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO TRANSFER FUNDS.—If a 13 unit of local government determines it will not ex- 14 pend all of the funds paid to the government under 15 this section by the end of the period described in 16 paragraph (1)(B), the government may transfer the 17 unexpended portion of such funds to another unit of 18 local government in the State with a population of 19 500,000 or less. Funds transferred under this para- 20 graph— 21 ‘‘(A) shall be used by the unit of local gov- 22 ernment receiving such funds consistent with 23 the requirements of paragraph (1); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3623.IS S3623 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3623 IS ‘‘(B) shall be deemed to be a cost of the 1 unit of local government making the transfer. 2 ‘‘(e) CERTIFICATION.—In order to receive a payment 3 under this section, a unit of local government shall provide 4 the Secretary with a certification signed by the Chief Ex- 5 ecutive (or equivalent) for the unit of local government 6 that the local government’s uses of the funds are or will 7 be consistent with subsection (d) not later than 15 days 8 after the date of enactment of this section. 9 ‘‘(f) INSPECTOR GENERAL OVERSIGHT; 10 RECOUPMENT.— 11 ‘‘(1) OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY.—The Inspector 12 General of the Department of the Treasury shall 13 conduct monitoring and oversight of the receipt, dis- 14 bursement, and use of funds made available under 15 this section. 16 ‘‘(2) RECOUPMENT.—If the Inspector General 17 of the Department of the Treasury determines that 18 a unit of local government has failed to comply with 19 subsection (d), the amount equal to the amount of 20 funds used in violation of such subsection shall be 21 booked as a debt of such entity owed to the Federal 22 Government. Amounts recovered under this sub- 23 section shall be deposited into the general fund of 24 the Treasury. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3623.IS S3623 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3623 IS ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 1 Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to di- 2 minish the authority of any Inspector General, in- 3 cluding such authority as provided in the Inspector 4 General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 5 ‘‘(4) FUNDING.—Notwithstanding section 6 601(f)(3), the Inspector General of the Department 7 of the Treasury may use the amounts appropriated 8 under that section to carry out oversight and 9 recoupment activities under this section in addition 10 to the oversight and recoupment activities carried 11 out under section 601(f). 12 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 13 ‘‘(1) COSTS.—The term ‘costs’ includes, but is 14 not limited to, lost revenue, reimbursement for ex- 15 penses incurred before the date of enactment of this 16 section, and increases in costs reasonably believed to 17 be the direct or indirect result of, or direct or indi- 18 rect responses to circumstances caused by, the pub- 19 lic health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus 20 Disease 2019 (COVID–19). 21 ‘‘(2) LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘unit of 22 local government’ means any of the following that 23 has a population of 500,000 or below: a county, mu- 24 nicipality, town, township, village, parish, borough, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3623.IS S3623 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3623 IS or other unit of general government below the State 1 level. 2 ‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 3 the Secretary of the Treasury. 4 ‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the 50 5 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 6 of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, 7 Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 8 Islands, and American Samoa.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3623.IS S3623 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS