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

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3721 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 13, 2020 Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BROWN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. PETERS, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. JONES, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Racial and 4 Ethnic Disparities Task Force Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:44 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3721.IS S3721 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3721 IS SEC. 2. COVID–19 RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES TASK 1 FORCE. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 3 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec- 4 retary’’) shall establish an interagency task force, to be 5 known as the ‘‘COVID–19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities 6 Task Force’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘task 7 force’’), to gather data about disproportionately affected 8 communities and provide recommendations to combat the 9 racial and ethnic disparities in the COVID–19 response 10 throughout the United States and in response to future 11 public health crises. 12 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The task force shall be composed 13 of the following: 14 (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 15 ices. 16 (2) The Assistant Secretary for Planning and 17 Evaluation of the Department of Health and Human 18 Services. 19 (3) The Assistant Secretary for Preparedness 20 and Response of the Department of Health and 21 Human Services. 22 (4) The Director of the Centers for Disease 23 Control and Prevention. 24 (5) The Director of the National Institutes of 25 Health. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:44 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3721.IS S3721 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3721 IS (6) The Commissioner of Food and Drugs. 1 (7) The Administrator of the Federal Emer- 2 gency Management Agency. 3 (8) The Director of the National Institute on 4 Minority Health and Health Disparities. 5 (9) The Director of the Indian Health Service. 6 (10) The Administrator of the Centers for 7 Medicare & Medicaid Services. 8 (11) The Director of the Agency for Healthcare 9 Research and Quality. 10 (12) The Surgeon General. 11 (13) The Administrator of the Health Re- 12 sources and Services Administration. 13 (14) The Director of the Office of Minority 14 Health. 15 (15) The Secretary of Housing and Urban De- 16 velopment. 17 (16) The Secretary of Education. 18 (17) The Secretary of Labor. 19 (18) The Secretary of Defense. 20 (19) The Secretary of Transportation. 21 (20) The Secretary of the Treasury. 22 (21) The Administrator of the Small Business 23 Administration. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:44 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3721.IS S3721 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3721 IS (22) The Administrator of the Environmental 1 Protection Agency. 2 (23) Five health professionals with expertise in 3 addressing racial and ethnic disparities, with at least 4 one representative from a rural area, to be ap- 5 pointed by the Secretary. 6 (24) Five policy experts specializing in address- 7 ing racial and ethnic disparities in education or ra- 8 cial and ethnic economic inequality to be appointed 9 by the Secretary. 10 (25) Six representatives from community-based 11 organizations specializing in providing culturally 12 competent care or services and addressing racial and 13 ethnic disparities, to be appointed by the Secretary, 14 with at least one representative from an urban In- 15 dian organization and one representative from a na- 16 tional organization that represents Tribal govern- 17 ments with expertise in Tribal public health. The 18 Secretary shall take into account regional distribu- 19 tion when appointing such representatives. 20 (26) Six State, local, territorial, or Tribal public 21 health officials representing departments of public 22 health, who shall represent jurisdictions from dif- 23 ferent regions of the United States with relatively 24 high concentrations of historically marginalized pop- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:44 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3721.IS S3721 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3721 IS ulations, to be appointed by the Secretary, with at 1 least one territorial representative and one rep- 2 resentative of a Tribal public health department. 3 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 4 (1) APPOINTMENT OF NON-GOVERNMENT MEM- 5 BERS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 6 the Secretary shall appoint all non-government mem- 7 bers of the task force within 30 days of the date en- 8 actment of this section. 9 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary shall serve 10 as the chairperson of the task force. The Director of 11 the Office of Minority Health shall serve as the vice 12 chairperson. 13 (3) STAFF.—The task force shall have 10 full- 14 time staff members. 15 (4) MEETINGS.—Not later than 45 days after 16 the date of enactment of this section, the full task 17 force shall have its first meeting. The task force 18 shall convene at least once a month thereafter. 19 (5) SUBCOMMITTEES.—The chairperson and 20 vice chairperson of the task force are authorized to 21 establish subcommittees to consider specific issues 22 related to the broader mission of addressing racial 23 and ethnic disparities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:44 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3721.IS S3721 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3721 IS (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, mortality, and vaccination 11 rates (when available), disaggregated by race 12 and ethnicity (where such data is missing, the 13 task force shall utilize appropriate authorities 14 to improve data collection and use appropriate, 15 science-based methods for estimating COVID– 16 19 patient outcomes); 17 (B) the identification of communities that 18 lack resources to combat the COVID–19 pan- 19 demic, including personal protective equipment, 20 ventilators, hospital beds, testing kits, testing 21 supplies, vaccinations (when available), re- 22 sources to conduct surveillance and contact 23 tracing, funding, staffing, and other resources 24 the task force deems essential as needs arise; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:44 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3721.IS S3721 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3721 IS (C) the identification of communities where 1 racial and ethnic disparities in COVID–19 in- 2 fection, hospitalization, and death rates are out 3 of proportion to the community’s population by 4 a certain threshold, to be determined by the 5 task force based on available public health data; 6 (D) recommendations about how to best al- 7 locate critical COVID–19 resources to— 8 (i) communities with disproportion- 9 ately high COVID–19 infection, hos- 10 pitalization, and death rates; 11 (ii) communities with high social 12 vulnerabilities to COVID–19 infection; and 13 (iii) communities identified in sub- 14 paragraph (C); 15 (E) with respect to communities that are 16 able to reduce racial and ethnic disparities ef- 17 fectively, a description of best practices in- 18 volved; and 19 (F) an update with respect to the response 20 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 21 to the task force’s previous weeks’ recommenda- 22 tions under this section. 23 (2) GENERAL CONSULTATION.—In submitting 24 weekly reports and recommendations under this sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:44 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3721.IS S3721 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3721 IS section, the task force shall consult with and notify 1 State, local, territorial, and Tribal officials and com- 2 munity-based organizations from communities iden- 3 tified as disproportionately impacted by COVID–19. 4 (3) CONSULTATION WITH INDIAN TRIBES.—In 5 submitting weekly reports and recommendations 6 under this subsection, the Director of Indian Health 7 Service shall, in coordination with the task force, 8 consult with Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations 9 that are disproportionately affected by COVID–19 10 on a government to government basis to identify 11 specific needs and recommendations. 12 (4) DISSEMINATION.—Reports under this sub- 13 section shall be disseminated to all relevant stake- 14 holders, including State, local, territorial, and Tribal 15 officials, and public health departments. 16 (5) TRIBAL DATA.—The task force, in consulta- 17 tion with Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, 18 shall ensure that an Indian Tribe consents to any 19 public reporting of health data. 20 (e) COVID–19 RELIEF OVERSIGHT AND IMPLEMEN- 21 TATION REPORTS.—Not later than 14 days after the task 22 force first meets, and not later than every 14 days there- 23 after, the task force shall submit to Congress and the rel- 24 evant Federal agencies a report that includes— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:44 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3721.IS S3721 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3721 IS (1) an examination of funds distributed under 1 COVID–19-related relief and stimulus laws (enacted 2 prior to and after the date of enactment of this Act), 3 including the Coronavirus Preparedness and Re- 4 sponse Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 5 2020 (Public Law 116–123), the Families First 6 Coronavirus Response Act (Public Law 116–127), 7 the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security 8 Act (Public Law 116–136), and the Paycheck Pro- 9 tection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act 10 (Public Law 116–139), and how that distribution 11 impacted racial and ethnic disparities with respect to 12 the COVID–19 pandemic; and 13 (2) recommendations to relevant Federal agen- 14 cies about how to disburse any undisbursed funding 15 from COVID–19-related relief and stimulus laws 16 (enacted prior to and after the date of enactment of 17 this Act), including those laws described in para- 18 graph (1), to address racial and ethnic disparities 19 with respect to the COVID–19 pandemic, including 20 recommendations to— 21 (A) the Department of Health and Human 22 Services about disbursement of funds under the 23 Public Health and Social Service Emergency 24 Fund; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:44 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3721.IS S3721 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3721 IS (B) the Small Business Administration 1 about disbursement of funds under the Pay- 2 check Protection Program and the Economic 3 Injury Disaster Loan Program; and 4 (C) the Department of Education about 5 disbursement of funds under the Education 6 Stabilization Fund. 7 (f) FINAL COVID–19 REPORTS.—Not later than 90 8 days after the date on which the President declares the 9 end of the COVID–19 public health emergency first de- 10 clared by the Secretary on January 31, 2020, the task 11 force shall submit the to Congress a report that— 12 (1) describes inequities within the health care 13 system, implicit bias, structural racism, and social 14 determinants of health (including housing, nutrition, 15 education, economic, and environmental factors) that 16 contributed to racial and ethnic health disparities 17 with respect to the COVID–19 pandemic and how 18 these factors contributed to such disparities; 19 (2) examines the initial Federal response to the 20 COVID–19 pandemic and its impact on the racial 21 and ethnic disparities in COVID–19 infection, hos- 22 pitalization, and death rates; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:44 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3721.IS S3721 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3721 IS (3) contains recommendations to combat racial 1 and ethnic disparities in future infectious disease re- 2 sponses, including future COVID–19 outbreaks. 3 (g) SUNSET AND SUCCESSOR TASK FORCE.— 4 (1) SUNSET.—The task force shall terminate on 5 the date that is 90 days after the date on which the 6 President declares the end of the COVID–19 public 7 health emergency first declared by the Secretary on 8 January 31, 2020. 9 (2) SUCCESSOR.—Upon the termination of the 10 task force under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 11 establish a permanent Infectious Disease Racial and 12 Ethnic Disparities Task Force based on the mem- 13 bership, convening, and reporting requirements rec- 14 ommended by the task force in reports submitted 15 under this section. 16 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 17 authorized to be appropriated, such sums as may be nec- 18 essary to carry out this section. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:44 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3721.IS S3721 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS