COVID–19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6763 To provide for the establishment of a COVID–19 Racial and Ethnic Dispari- ties Task Force to gather data about disproportionately affected commu- nities and provide recommendations to combat the racial and ethnic disparities in the COVID–19 response. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 8, 2020 Ms. KELLY of Illinois (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, and Mr. ESPAILLAT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce, and in addition to the Committees on Small Business, Education and Labor, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for the establishment of a COVID–19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force to gather data about disproportionately affected communities and provide rec- ommendations to combat the racial and ethnic disparities in the COVID–19 response. 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 04:32 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6763.IH H6763 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6763 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Racial and 2 Ethnic Disparities Task Force Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. COVID–19 RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES TASK 4 FORCE. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 6 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec- 7 retary’’) shall establish an interagency task force, to be 8 known as the ‘‘COVID–19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities 9 Task Force’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘task 10 force’’), to gather data about disproportionately affected 11 communities and provide recommendations to combat the 12 racial and ethnic disparities in the COVID–19 response 13 throughout the United States and in response to future 14 public health crises. 15 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The task force shall be composed 16 of the following: 17 (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 18 ices. 19 (2) The Assistant Secretary for Planning and 20 Evaluation of the Department of Health and Human 21 Services. 22 (3) The Assistant Secretary for Preparedness 23 and Response of the Department of Health and 24 Human Services. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6763.IH H6763 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6763 IH (4) The Director of the Centers for Disease 1 Control and Prevention. 2 (5) The Director of the National Institutes of 3 Health. 4 (6) The Commissioner of Food and Drugs. 5 (7) The Administrator of the Federal Emer- 6 gency Management Agency. 7 (8) The Director of the National Institute on 8 Minority Health and Health Disparities. 9 (9) The Director of the Indian Health Service. 10 (10) The Administrator of the Centers for 11 Medicare & Medicaid Services. 12 (11) The Director of the Agency for Healthcare 13 Research and Quality. 14 (12) The Surgeon General. 15 (13) The Administrator of the Health Re- 16 sources and Services Administration. 17 (14) The Director of the Office of Minority 18 Health. 19 (15) The Secretary of Housing and Urban De- 20 velopment. 21 (16) The Secretary of Education. 22 (17) The Secretary of Labor. 23 (18) The Secretary of Defense. 24 (19) The Secretary of Transportation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6763.IH H6763 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6763 IH (20) The Secretary of the Treasury. 1 (21) The Administrator of the Small Business 2 Administration. 3 (22) The Administrator of the Environmental 4 Protection Agency. 5 (23) Five health care professionals with exper- 6 tise in addressing racial and ethnic disparities, with 7 at least one representative from a rural area, to be 8 appointed by the Secretary. 9 (24) Five policy experts specializing in address- 10 ing racial and ethnic disparities in education or ra- 11 cial and ethnic economic inequality to be appointed 12 by the Secretary. 13 (25) Six representatives from community-based 14 organizations specializing in providing culturally 15 competent care or services and addressing racial and 16 ethnic disparities, to be appointed by the Secretary, 17 with at least one representative from an urban In- 18 dian organization and one representative from a na- 19 tional organization that represents Tribal govern- 20 ments with expertise in Tribal public health. 21 (26) Six State, local, territorial, or Tribal public 22 health officials representing departments of public 23 health, who shall represent jurisdictions from dif- 24 ferent regions of the United States with relatively 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6763.IH H6763 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6763 IH high concentrations of historically marginalized pop- 1 ulations, to be appointed by the Secretary, with at 2 least one territorial representative and one rep- 3 resentative of a Tribal public health department. 4 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 5 (1) APPOINTMENT OF NON-GOVERNMENT MEM- 6 BERS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 7 the Secretary shall appoint all non-government mem- 8 bers of the task force within 30 days of the date en- 9 actment of this section. 10 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary shall serve 11 as the chairperson of the task force. The Director of 12 the Office of Minority Health shall serve as the vice 13 chairperson. 14 (3) STAFF.—The task force shall have 10 full- 15 time staff members. 16 (4) MEETINGS.—Not later than 45 days after 17 the date of enactment of this section, the full task 18 force shall have its first meeting. The task force 19 shall convene at least once a month thereafter. 20 (5) SUBCOMMITTEES.—The chairperson and 21 vice chairperson of the task force are authorized to 22 establish subcommittees to consider specific issues 23 related to the broader mission of addressing racial 24 and ethnic disparities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6763.IH H6763 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6763 IH (d) FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY 1 RESOURCE ALLOCATION REPORTING AND RECOMMENDA- 2 TIONS.— 3 (1) WEEKLY REPORTS.—Not later than 7 days 4 after the task force first meets, and weekly there- 5 after, the task force shall submit to Congress and 6 the Federal Emergency Management Agency a re- 7 port that includes— 8 (A) a description of COVID–19 patient 9 outcomes, including cases, hospitalizations, pa- 10 tients on ventilation, and mortality, 11 disaggregated by race and ethnicity (where such 12 data is missing, the task force shall utilize ap- 13 propriate authorities to improve data collec- 14 tion); 15 (B) the identification of communities that 16 lack resources to combat the COVID–19 pan- 17 demic, including personal protective equipment, 18 ventilators, hospital beds, testing kits, testing 19 supplies, vaccinations (when available), re- 20 sources to conduct surveillance and contact 21 tracing, funding, staffing, and other resources 22 the task force deems essential as needs arise; 23 (C) the identification of communities where 24 racial and ethnic disparities in COVID–19 in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6763.IH H6763 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6763 IH fection, hospitalization, and death rates are out 1 of proportion to the community’s population by 2 a certain threshold, to be determined by the 3 task force based on available public health data; 4 (D) recommendations about how to best al- 5 locate critical COVID–19 resources to— 6 (i) communities with disproportion- 7 ately high COVID–19 infection, hos- 8 pitalization, and death rates; and 9 (ii) communities identified in subpara- 10 graph (C); 11 (E) with respect to communities that are 12 able to reduce racial and ethnic disparities ef- 13 fectively, a description of best practices in- 14 volved; and 15 (F) an update with respect to the response 16 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 17 to the task force’s previous weeks’ recommenda- 18 tions under this section. 19 (2) GENERAL CONSULTATION.—In submitting 20 weekly reports and recommendations under this sub- 21 section, the task force shall consult with and notify 22 State, local, territorial, and Tribal officials and com- 23 munity-based organizations from communities iden- 24 tified as disproportionately impacted by COVID–19. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6763.IH H6763 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6763 IH (3) CONSULTATION WITH INDIAN TRIBES.—In 1 submitting weekly reports and recommendations 2 under this subsection, the Director of Indian Health 3 Service shall, in coordination with the task force, 4 consult with Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations 5 that are disproportionately affected by COVID–19 6 on a government to government basis to identify 7 specific needs and recommendations. 8 (4) DISSEMINATION.—Reports under this sub- 9 section shall be disseminated to all relevant stake- 10 holders, including State, local, territorial, and Tribal 11 officials, and public health departments. 12 (5) TRIBAL DATA.—The task force, in consulta- 13 tion with Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, 14 shall ensure that an Indian Tribe consents to any 15 public reporting of health data. 16 (e) COVID–19 RELIEF OVERSIGHT AND IMPLEMEN- 17 TATION REPORTS.—Not later than 14 days after the task 18 force first meets, and not later than every 14 days there- 19 after, the task force shall submit to Congress and the rel- 20 evant Federal agencies a report that includes— 21 (1) an examination of funds distributed under 22 COVID–19-related relief and stimulus laws (enacted 23 prior to and after the date of enactment of this Act), 24 including the Coronavirus Preparedness and Re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6763.IH H6763 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6763 IH sponse Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1 2020 (Public Law 116–123), the Families First 2 Coronavirus Response Act (Public Law 116–127), 3 the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security 4 Act (Public Law 116–136), and the Paycheck Pro- 5 tection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act 6 (Public Law 116–139), and how that distribution 7 impacted racial and ethnic disparities with respect to 8 the COVID–19 pandemic; and 9 (2) recommendations to relevant Federal agen- 10 cies about how to disburse any undisbursed funding 11 from COVID–19-related relief and stimulus laws 12 (enacted prior to and after the date of enactment of 13 this Act), including those laws described in para- 14 graph (1), to address racial and ethnic disparities 15 with respect to the COVID–19 pandemic, including 16 recommendations to— 17 (A) the Department of Health and Human 18 Services about disbursement of funds under the 19 Public Health and Social Service Emergency 20 Fund; 21 (B) the Small Business Administration 22 about disbursement of funds under the Pay- 23 check Protection Program and the Economic 24 Injury Disaster Loan Program; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6763.IH H6763 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6763 IH (C) the Department of Education about 1 disbursement of funds under the Education 2 Stabilization Fund. 3 (f) FINAL COVID–19 REPORTS.—Not later than 90 4 days after the date on which the President declares the 5 end of the COVID–19 public health emergency first de- 6 clared by the Secretary on January 31, 2020, the task 7 force shall submit to Congress a report that— 8 (1) describes inequities within the health care 9 system, implicit bias, structural racism, and social 10 determinants of health (including housing, nutrition, 11 education, economic, and environmental factors) that 12 contributed to racial and ethnic health disparities 13 with respect to the COVID–19 pandemic and how 14 these factors contributed to such disparities; 15 (2) examines the initial Federal response to the 16 COVID–19 pandemic and its impact on the racial 17 and ethnic disparities in COVID–19 infection, hos- 18 pitalization, and death rates; and 19 (3) contains recommendations to combat racial 20 and ethnic disparities in future infectious disease re- 21 sponses, including future COVID–19 outbreaks. 22 (g) SUNSET AND SUCCESSOR TASK FORCE.— 23 (1) SUNSET.—The task force shall terminate on 24 the date that is 90 days after the date on which the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6763.IH H6763 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6763 IH President declares the end of the COVID–19 public 1 health emergency first declared by the Secretary on 2 January 31, 2020. 3 (2) SUCCESSOR.—Upon the termination of the 4 task force under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 5 establish a permanent Infectious Disease Racial and 6 Ethnic Disparities Task Force based on the mem- 7 bership, convening, and reporting requirements rec- 8 ommended by the task force in reports submitted 9 under this section. 10 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 11 authorized to be appropriated, such sums as may be nec- 12 essary to carry out this section. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6763.IH H6763 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS