National Public Health Corps Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6822 To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish a national public health service program to respond to public health emergencies, including the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 12, 2020 Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself, Mr. BERA, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. WALTZ, Ms. SCHRIER, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. SOTO, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. KILMER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CROW, Mr. COX of California, Mr. SUOZZI, Ms. WILD, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. ADAMS, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, and Mr. DEUTCH) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish a national public health service program to respond to public health emergencies, including the COVID–19 pandemic, 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 ‘‘National Public Health 4 Corps Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6822 IH SEC. 2. NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE PROGRAM. 1 (a) NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE PRO- 2 GRAM.—Subtitle E of the National and Community Serv- 3 ice Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12611 et seq.) is amended— 4 (1) in section 151 (42 U.S.C. 12611)— 5 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 6 the end; 7 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe- 8 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(6) public health.’’; 11 (2) in section 152 (42 U.S.C. 12612)— 12 (A) in paragraph (b)— 13 (i) by striking ‘‘two’’; and 14 (ii) by adding at the end the following 15 paragraph: 16 ‘‘(3) A national public health service program.’’; 17 and 18 (B) in paragraph (c), by striking ‘‘Both’’ 19 and inserting ‘‘The’’; 20 (3) by adding after section 154 (42 U.S.C. 21 12614) the following new section: 22 ‘‘SEC. 154A. NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE PRO- 23 GRAM. 24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6822 IH ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di- 2 rector, in consultation with the Secretary, shall es- 3 tablish the national public health service program as 4 a component of the National Civilian Community 5 Corps Program as authorized by section 152(a). 6 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—Under the national public 7 health service program established under paragraph 8 (1), the Director shall, in accordance with section 9 155(c), ensure the preparation and assignment of 10 participants under such program to units which 11 shall serve service sites in response to public health 12 emergencies, including the COVID–19 pandemic. 13 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days 14 after the establishment of the national public health 15 service program, the Director shall notify the fol- 16 lowing about applying to participate in the national 17 public health service program: 18 ‘‘(A) Volunteers under the Peace Corps 19 Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.)— 20 ‘‘(i) as of the date of the enactment of 21 the National Public Health Service Pro- 22 gram Act of 2020; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6822 IH ‘‘(ii) that successfully completed the 1 requirements of the Peace Corps Act (22 2 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.). 3 ‘‘(B) Volunteers under title I serving dur- 4 ing the emergency period (as defined in para- 5 graph (1)(B) of section 1135(g) of the Social 6 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g))) who were 7 unsuccessful in completing the requirements of 8 such programs due to COVID–19. 9 ‘‘(C) Volunteers under title I of the Do- 10 mestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 11 U.S.C. 4951 et seq.) serving during the emer- 12 gency period (as defined in paragraph (1)(B) of 13 section 1135(g) of the Social Security Act (42 14 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g))) who were unsuccessful in 15 completing the requirements of such programs 16 due to COVID–19. 17 ‘‘(D) Any individuals from organizations 18 the Director determines appropriate. 19 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS.—The Director shall 20 establish criteria to determine eligibility for the national 21 public health service program established under subsection 22 (a). 23 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSIONS BY SERVICE SITES.—Each service 24 site shall submit to the Director a request that includes— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6822 IH ‘‘(1) the preference of such service site with re- 1 spect to— 2 ‘‘(A) the number of participants under the 3 national public health service program assigned 4 to serve such service site; 5 ‘‘(B) the method of service for such par- 6 ticipants; and 7 ‘‘(C) the duration of service for such par- 8 ticipants; 9 ‘‘(2) information pertaining to the work such 10 participants would be engaging in at such service 11 site; 12 ‘‘(3) an agreement that such service site— 13 ‘‘(A) may receive training from the Sec- 14 retary with respect to the appropriate use of 15 contact tracing tools, including the Text Illness 16 Monitoring system; and 17 ‘‘(B) shall provide personal protective 18 equipment to such participants if the work such 19 participants are assigned to do at such service 20 site requires the use of such personal protective 21 equipment; and 22 ‘‘(4) any other information that the Director, in 23 coordination with the Secretary, determines nec- 24 essary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6822 IH ‘‘(d) ASSIGNMENT OF NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH 1 SERVICE PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS.— 2 ‘‘(1) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES.—If a 3 public health emergency is declared by the Secretary 4 of Health and Human Services under section 319 of 5 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), the 6 campus director may task participants under the na- 7 tional public health service program to assist in re- 8 sponse. 9 ‘‘(2) ASSIGNMENT.—Under paragraph (1), the 10 Director, in coordination with the campus director, 11 may— 12 ‘‘(A) assign interested participants under 13 the national public health service program to 14 service sites to assist with contact tracing, test- 15 ing, and providing support for the administra- 16 tion of vaccinations for COVID–19; 17 ‘‘(B) make travel arrangements for the as- 18 signed national public health service program 19 participants to service sites; and 20 ‘‘(C) provide funds to the service sites to 21 which national public health service program 22 participants are assigned, to enable such sites 23 to coordinate and provide housing, living sti- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6822 IH pends, and insurance for those assigned mem- 1 bers. 2 ‘‘(e) COVID–19 PROJECTS.—With respect to partici- 3 pants under the national public health service program 4 who serve during the emergency period (as defined in 5 paragraph (1)(B) of section 1135(g) of the Social Security 6 Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g))), the campus director shall 7 encourage such participants to perform tasks, in-person 8 or virtually, to address issues arising during such emer- 9 gency period which include— 10 ‘‘(1) contact tracing; 11 ‘‘(2) supporting the administration of testing 12 for COVID–19; 13 ‘‘(3) supporting the administration of vaccina- 14 tions; and 15 ‘‘(4) any other activities recommended by the 16 Secretary to address issues arising relating to 17 COVID–19. 18 ‘‘(f) SECRETARY DEFINED.—In this section, the term 19 ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Health and Human 20 Services acting through— 21 ‘‘(1) the Director of the Centers for Disease 22 Control and Prevention; and 23 ‘‘(2) the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness 24 and Response.’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6822 IH (4) in section 155 (42 U.S.C. 12615)— 1 (A) in subsection (b)— 2 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘in 3 the national service’’ and all that follows 4 through ‘‘Program’’ and inserting ‘‘in a 5 program under section 152(b)’’; 6 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 7 (I) by striking ‘‘The Director’’ 8 and inserting ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 9 The Director’’; and 10 (II) by adding at the end the fol- 11 lowing new subparagraph: 12 ‘‘(B) PREFERRED PARTICIPANTS FOR NA- 13 TIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE PROGRAM.— 14 In selecting individuals for the national public 15 health service program, the Director shall 16 prioritize applicants that, due to the emergency 17 period (as defined in paragraph (1)(B) of sec- 18 tion 1135(g) of the Social Security Act (42 19 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)))— 20 ‘‘(i) were selected to participate in a 21 program under title I and title I of the Do- 22 mestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 23 U.S.C. 4951 et seq.) but were unsuccessful 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6822 IH in completing the requirements of such 1 programs; and 2 ‘‘(ii) experienced unemployment.’’; 3 and 4 (iii) in paragraph (3)— 5 (I) by striking ‘‘To be selected’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To 7 be selected’’; and 8 (II) by adding at the end the fol- 9 lowing new subparagraph: 10 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 11 PROGRAM SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—With re- 12 spect to an individual applying for participation 13 in the national public health service program— 14 ‘‘(i) each individual shall include in 15 the application under subparagraph (A)— 16 ‘‘(I) information about the work 17 experience of the applicant and suffi- 18 cient information to enable the Direc- 19 tor to determine whether selection of 20 the applicant for such program is ap- 21 propriate; and 22 ‘‘(II) the preference of the appli- 23 cant with respect to— 24 ‘‘(aa) length of service; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6822 IH ‘‘(bb) method of service (in- 1 person, virtually, or a combina- 2 tion of virtual and in-person); 3 and 4 ‘‘(ii) the Director may waive the appli- 5 cation under subparagraph (A) and select, 6 in accordance with paragraph (2), an indi- 7 vidual under section 154A(a)(3).’’; and 8 (B) in subsection (e)— 9 (i) by striking ‘‘The Director shall en- 10 sure’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 11 The Director shall ensure’’; and 12 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 13 lowing: 14 ‘‘(2) UNITS FOR NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH 15 SERVICE PROGRAM.—With respect to a unit of par- 16 ticipants under the national public health service 17 program, the Director, in consultation with the cam- 18 pus director, may assign such unit to assist more 19 than one service site depending on the number of 20 participants requested by such service site under sec- 21 tion 154A(c).’’; 22 (5) in section 156 (42 U.S.C. 12616)— 23 (A) in subsection (a)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6822 IH (i) by striking ‘‘Each member’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each mem- 2 ber’’; and 3 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(2) WAIVER FOR NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH 6 SERVICE PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS.—With respect to 7 a participant under the national public health service 8 program, the Director may waive or modify the re- 9 quirements of paragraph (1) for such participant 10 during an emergency period declared by the Sec- 11 retary of Health and Human Services under section 12 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 13 247d).’’; and 14 (B) in subsection (b), by adding at the end 15 the following new paragraph: 16 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE PRO- 17 GRAM.—Members of the Corps participating in the 18 national public health service program— 19 ‘‘(A) shall receive the training required by 20 State or Federal Government to perform tasks 21 assigned to such member; and 22 ‘‘(B) may receive training from or ap- 23 proved by the Secretary of Health and Human 24 Services with respect to the appropriate use of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Jun 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6822 IH contact tracing tools, including the Text Illness 1 Monitoring system.’’; 2 (6) in section 157 (42 U.S.C. 12617)— 3 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by adding ‘‘public 4 health,’’ after ‘‘conservation,’’; 5 (B) in subsection (b)(1)— 6 (i) in paragraph (A), by adding ‘‘the 7 Secretary of Health and Human Services, 8 the Director of the Centers for Disease 9 Control and Prevention, the Assistant Sec- 10 retary for Preparedness and Response,’’ 11 after ‘‘Transportation,’’; and 12 (ii) in paragraph (B), by adding 13 ‘‘service sites’’ after ‘‘entities’’; and 14 (C) in subsection (c), by adding the fol- 15 lowing new paragraph: 16 ‘‘(3) SUPPORTING COVID–19 RESPONSE.—The 17 campus director of participants under the national 18 public health service program shall be encouraged to 19 select projects that support the response to COVID– 20 19 which may include contact tracing.’’; and 21 (7) in section 165 (42 U.S.C. 12626) by adding 22 at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(11) CONTACT TRACING.—The term ‘contact 24 tracing’ means the technological and interpersonal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6822.IH H6822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 6822 IH process of identifying persons who may have come 1 into contact with an infected person and subse- 2 quently collecting further information about these 3 contacts to implement mitigation measures and re- 4 duce infections in the population. 5 ‘‘(12) COVID–19.—The term ‘COVID–19’ 6 means the 2019 novel coronavirus or the SARS– 7 CoV–2. 8 ‘‘(13) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 9 means any Indian Tribe, band, nation, or other or- 10 ganized group or community (including any Native [Text truncated for display. 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