COVID–19 Funeral Assistance Fund

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6828 To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish a fund to provide financial assistance for funeral expenses related to a deceased individual who died of COVID–19, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 12, 2020 Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. MENG, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. MOORE, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- ture A BILL To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency to establish a fund to provide financial assistance for funeral expenses related to a deceased individual who died of COVID–19, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘COVID–19 Funeral 4 Assistance Fund’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6828.IH H6828 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6828 IH SEC. 2. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR FUNERAL EXPENSES 1 RELATED TO COVID–19. 2 (a) GENERAL RULE.—The Administrator of the Fed- 3 eral Emergency Management Agency shall provide finan- 4 cial assistance to individuals and funeral homes for funeral 5 expenses related to a deceased individual who died— 6 (1) of COVID–19; and 7 (2) without sufficient insurance to pay for such 8 funeral expenses. 9 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—Not later than 30 10 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad- 11 ministrator shall establish a fund to be known as the 12 ‘‘COVID–19 Funeral Assistance Fund’’ (in this Act re- 13 ferred to as the ‘‘Fund’’) for the purpose of providing fi- 14 nancial assistance under subsection (a). 15 (c) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR FUNERAL EX- 16 PENSES.— 17 (1) ELIGIBILITY.— 18 (A) INDIVIDUALS.—To be eligible to re- 19 ceive financial assistance from the Fund, an in- 20 dividual shall— 21 (i) submit to the Administrator an ap- 22 plication based on the criteria under para- 23 graph (2); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6828.IH H6828 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6828 IH (ii) demonstrate a common familial 1 relationship to the deceased individual de- 2 scribed in subsection (a). 3 (B) FUNERAL HOMES.—To be eligible to 4 receive financial assistance from the Fund, a 5 funeral home shall— 6 (i) submit to the Administrator an ap- 7 plication based on the criteria under para- 8 graph (2); and 9 (ii) demonstrate that the funeral home 10 is licensed or registered as a business in a 11 State. 12 (C) NO CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENT.—An 13 individual described in subparagraph (A) may 14 be— 15 (i) a citizen of the United States; or 16 (ii) a nonresident alien. 17 (2) APPLICATION CRITERIA.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The application under 19 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 20 (i) Funeral expenses for a deceased 21 individual described in subsection (a) that 22 were incurred or will be incurred during 23 the period beginning on January 21, 2020, 24 and ending on December 31, 2021. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6828.IH H6828 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6828 IH (ii) Proof of the date of death of the 1 deceased individual. 2 (iii) Proof that COVID–19 was the 3 cause of death (directly or indirectly) of 4 the deceased individual as determined by 5 the Administrator based on a death certifi- 6 cate from an official of competent jurisdic- 7 tion. 8 (iv) With respect to an individual, 9 proof of the identity of the individual ap- 10 plying for assistance under this section. 11 (v) With respect to a funeral home— 12 (I) a certification that a deceased 13 individual described in subsection (a) 14 has not been claimed by any indi- 15 vidual in 7 days or more; and 16 (II) proof that the funeral ex- 17 penses of the deceased individual de- 18 scribed in subclause (I) are commen- 19 surate with the funeral expenses of 20 other deceased individuals who are not 21 claimed at such funeral home or in 22 the county of such funeral home. 23 (B) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT IF IN- 24 SURED.—If the deceased individual described in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6828.IH H6828 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6828 IH subsection (a) had insurance not greater than 1 $10,000, the application shall include proof of 2 insurance with respect to the funeral expenses 3 of the deceased individual. 4 (C) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR BUR- 5 IAL TRUST.—If a contract exists (including a 6 burial trust) for the purpose of paying the fu- 7 neral expenses in an amount not greater than 8 $10,000 of a deceased individual described in 9 subsection (a), the application shall include 10 proof of such contract with respect to the fu- 11 neral expenses of the deceased individual. 12 (3) DISTRIBUTION.—Beginning not later than 13 30 days after the date of the enactment of this sec- 14 tion, the Administrator shall provide financial assist- 15 ance in accordance with the requirements under this 16 section to an individual who submitted such applica- 17 tion. 18 (4) LIMITATION.—The amount allowed for a 19 payment to an individual pursuant to paragraph (1) 20 shall not exceed $10,000 with respect to each de- 21 ceased individual described in subsection (a). 22 (5) NO REQUIREMENT TO RESIDE IN A PRESI- 23 DENTIALLY DECLARED DISASTER AREA.—The Ad- 24 ministrator may not require an individual to reside 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6828.IH H6828 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6828 IH in a Presidentially declared disaster area to receive 1 financial assistance pursuant to this section. 2 (d) VERIFICATION AND APPLICATION PROCESS RE- 3 QUIREMENTS.—In carrying out this section, the Adminis- 4 trator shall— 5 (1) verify the identity and address of an indi- 6 vidual that receives financial assistance under this 7 section; 8 (2) minimize the risk of making a duplicative 9 payment for a fraudulent application under this sec- 10 tion; 11 (3) recover any duplicate payment provided 12 pursuant to this section; and 13 (4) conduct an expedited and simplified review 14 and appeal process for an individual whose applica- 15 tion for assistance under this section is denied. 16 (e) FUNERAL ASSISTANCE DISREGARDED IN ADMIN- 17 ISTRATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS.—Notwithstanding 18 any other provision of law, financial assistance provided 19 to an individual under this section shall not be taken into 20 account as income, and shall not be taken into account 21 as resources for a period of 12 months from receipt, for 22 purposes of determining the eligibility of such individual 23 for benefits or assistance (or the amount or extent of bene- 24 fits or assistance) under any Federal program or under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6828.IH H6828 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6828 IH any State or local program financed in whole or in part 1 with Federal funds. 2 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 days 3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 1 year 4 thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a 5 report on— 6 (1) the number of applications received pursu- 7 ant to subsection (c); 8 (2) the amount of financial assistance provided 9 pursuant to this section for funeral expenses related 10 to a deceased individual described in subsection (a); 11 and 12 (3) the recipients who received the financial as- 13 sistance described in paragraph (2) disaggregated by 14 socioeconomic factors. 15 (g) DIRECT APPROPRIATION.—There is appro- 16 priated, out of amounts in the Treasury not otherwise ap- 17 propriated, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, 18 $500,000,000 to carry out this Act. 19 (h) PRESIDENTIALLY DECLARED DISASTER AREA 20 DEFINED.— 21 (1) PRESIDENTIALLY DECLARED DISASTER 22 AREA.—The term ‘‘Presidentially declared disaster 23 area’’ means an area for which the President has de- 24 clared a major disaster under section 401 of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6828.IH H6828 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6828 IH Robert T. Stafford Relief and Emergency Assistance 1 Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 2 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 3 the several States or any territory or possession of 4 the United States. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6828.IH H6828 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS