A bill to require payment of hazardous duty pay for members of the Armed Forces performing duty in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019, and for other purposes.

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3617 To require payment of hazardous duty pay for members of the Armed Forces performing duty in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 6, 2020 Ms. ERNST introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To require payment of hazardous duty pay for members of the Armed Forces performing duty in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019, 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. HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY FOR MEMBERS OF THE 3 ARMED FORCES PERFORMING DUTY IN RE- 4 SPONSE TO THE CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the military de- 6 partment concerned shall pay hazardous duty pay under 7 this section to a member of a regular or reserve component 8 of the Armed Forces who— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3617.IS S3617 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3617 IS (1) performs duty in response to the 1 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19); and 2 (2) is entitled to basic pay under section 204 of 3 title 37, United States Code, or compensation under 4 section 206 of such title, for the performance of 5 such duty. 6 (b) REGULATIONS.—Hazardous duty pay shall be 7 payable under this section in accordance with regulations 8 prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. Such regulations 9 shall specify the duty in response to the Coronavirus Dis- 10 ease 2019 qualifying a member for payment of such pay 11 under this section. 12 (c) AMOUNT.—The amount of hazardous duty pay 13 paid a member under this section shall be such amount 14 per month, not less than $150 per month, as the Secretary 15 of Defense shall specify in the regulations under sub- 16 section (b). 17 (d) MONTHLY PAYMENT; NO PRORATION.— 18 (1) MONTHLY PAYMENT.—Hazardous duty pay 19 under this section shall be paid on a monthly basis. 20 (2) NO PRORATION.—Hazardous duty pay is 21 payable to a member under this section for a month 22 if the member performs any duty in that month 23 qualifying the person for payment of such pay. 24 (e) MONTHS FOR WHICH PAYABLE.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3617.IS S3617 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3617 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Hazardous duty pay is pay- 1 able under this section for qualifying duty performed 2 in months occurring during the period— 3 (A) beginning on January 1, 2020; and 4 (B) ending on December 31, 2020. 5 (2) RETROACTIVE PAYMENT.—Hazardous duty 6 pay under this section is payable on a retroactive 7 basis. 8 (f) CONSTRUCTION WITH OTHER PAY.—Hazardous 9 duty pay payable to a member under this section is in ad- 10 dition to the following: 11 (1) Any other pay and allowances to which the 12 member is entitled by law. 13 (2) Any other hazardous duty pay to which the 14 member is entitled under section 351 of title 37, 15 United States Code (or any other provision of law), 16 for duty that also constitutes qualifying duty for 17 payment of such pay under this section. 18 (g) EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME.—For pur- 19 poses of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, gross income 20 shall not include any amount of hazardous duty pay re- 21 ceived under this section. 22 (h) SENSE OF SENATE.—It is the sense of the Senate 23 that the Secretary of Defense should also authorize haz- 24 ardous duty pay for members of the Armed Forces not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3617.IS S3617 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3617 IS under orders specific to the response to the Coronavirus 1 Disease 2019 who provide— 2 (1) healthcare in a military medical treatment 3 facility for individuals infected with the Coronavirus 4 Disease 2019; or 5 (2) technical or administrative support for the 6 provision of healthcare as described in paragraph 7 (1). 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3617.IS S3617 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS