New Jersey, New York, and Highly Impacted States COVID–19 Relief Fund Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6914 Making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2020 Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. KING of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Appropria- tions, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL Making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, 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 ‘‘New Jersey, New 4 York, and Highly Impacted States COVID–19 Relief 5 Fund Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6914.IH H6914 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6914 IH SEC. 2. CORONAVIRUS STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL RELIEF 1 FUNDS. 2 The following sums are hereby appropriated, out of 3 any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 4 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for 5 other purposes, namely: 6 DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 7 OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 8 SALARIES AND EXPENSES 9 For an additional amount for ‘‘Salaries and Ex- 10 penses’’, $15,000,000, to remain available until expended, 11 to conduct monitoring and oversight of the receipt, dis- 12 bursement, and use of funds made available under the 13 ‘‘Coronavirus State Fiscal Relief Fund’’ and the 14 ‘‘Coronavirus Local Fiscal Relief Fund’’ (collectively, 15 ‘‘Fiscal Relief Funds’’): Provided, That, if the Inspector 16 General of the Department of the Treasury determines 17 that an entity receiving a payment from amounts provided 18 by the Fiscal Relief Funds has failed to comply with the 19 provisions governing the use of such funding, the Inspec- 20 tor General shall transmit any relevant information re- 21 lated to such determination to the Committees on Appro- 22 priations of the House of Representatives and the Senate 23 not later than 5 days after any such determination is 24 made: Provided further, That such amount is designated 25 by the Congress as being for an emergency requirement 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6914.IH H6914 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6914 IH pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budg- 1 et and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. 2 CORONAVIRUS STATE FISCAL RELIEF FUND 3 For making payments to States, territories, and Trib- 4 al governments to mitigate the fiscal effects stemming 5 from the public health emergency with respect to the 6 Coronavirus Disease (COVID–19), $300,000,000,000 to 7 remain available until expended, which shall be in addition 8 to any other amounts available for making payments to 9 States, territories, and Tribal governments for any pur- 10 pose (including payments made under section 601 of the 11 Social Security Act), of which: 12 (1) $10,000,000,000 shall be for making pay- 13 ments to the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of 14 Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, Guam, 15 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 16 and American Samoa: Provided, That of the amount 17 made available in this paragraph, half shall be allo- 18 cated equally among each entity specified in this 19 paragraph, and half shall be allocated as an addi- 20 tional amount to each such entity in an amount 21 which bears the same proportion to half of the total 22 amount provided under this paragraph as the rel- 23 ative population of each such entity bears to the 24 total population of all such entities; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6914.IH H6914 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6914 IH (2) $10,000,000,000 shall be for making pay- 1 ments to Tribal governments: Provided, That pay- 2 ments of amounts made available in this paragraph 3 shall be made to each Tribal Government in an 4 amount determined by the Secretary of the Treas- 5 ury, in consultation with the Secretary of the Inte- 6 rior and Indian Tribes, that is based on increased 7 aggregate expenditures of each such Tribal govern- 8 ment (or a tribally owned entity of such Tribal gov- 9 ernment) in fiscal year 2020 relative to aggregate 10 expenditures in fiscal year 2019 by the Tribal gov- 11 ernment (or tribally owned entity) and determined in 12 such manner as the Secretary determines appro- 13 priate to ensure that all amounts available pursuant 14 to the preceding proviso for fiscal year 2020 are dis- 15 tributed to Tribal governments; 16 (3) $280,000,000,000 shall be for making pay- 17 ments to each of the 50 States, of which— 18 (A) $40,000,000,000 shall be allocated 19 equally between each of the 50 States; 20 (B) $140,000,000,000 shall be allocated as 21 an additional amount to each such entity in an 22 amount which bears the same proportion to the 23 total amount provided under this subparagraph 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6914.IH H6914 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6914 IH as the relative population of each such entity 1 bears to the total population of all such entities; 2 (C) $100,000,000,000 shall be allocated as 3 additional amounts among each of the 50 4 States, the District of Columbia, and the Five 5 Territories in an amount which bears the same 6 proportion to the total amount provided under 7 this subparagraph as the relative prevalence of 8 COVID–19 within each such entity bears to the 9 total prevalence of COVID–19 within all such 10 entities: Provided, That the relative prevalence 11 of COVID–19 shall be calculated using the 12 most recent data on the number of confirmed 13 and probable cases as published on the internet 14 by the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 15 tion for each entity specified in the preceding 16 proviso; 17 Provided further, That any entity receiving a payment 18 from funds made available under this heading in this Act 19 shall only use such amounts to respond to, mitigate, cover 20 costs or replace foregone revenues not projected on Janu- 21 ary 31, 2020 stemming from the public health emergency, 22 or its negative economic impacts, with respect to the 23 Coronavirus Disease (COVID–19): Provided further, That 24 if the Inspector General of the Department of the Treas- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6914.IH H6914 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6914 IH ury determines that an entity receiving a payment from 1 amounts provided under this heading has failed to comply 2 with the preceding proviso, the amount equal to the 3 amount of funds used in violation of such subsection shall 4 be booked as a debt of such entity owed to the Federal 5 Government, and any amounts recovered under this sub- 6 section shall be deposited into the general fund of the 7 Treasury as discretionary offsetting receipts: Provided fur- 8 ther, That for purposes of the preceding provisos under 9 this heading in this Act, the population of each entity de- 10 scribed in any such proviso shall be determined based on 11 the most recent year for which data are available from 12 the Bureau of the Census, or in the case of an Indian 13 tribe, shall be determined based on data certified by the 14 Tribal government: Provided further, That as used under 15 this heading in this Act, the terms ‘‘Tribal government’’ 16 and ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ have the same meanings as specified 17 in section 601(g) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 18 601(g)), as added by section 5001 of the CARES Act 19 (Public Law 116–136), and the term ‘‘State’’ means one 20 of the 50 States: Provided further, That the Secretary of 21 Treasury shall make all payments required pursuant to 22 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) not later than 30 days after 23 the date of enactment of this Act. Provided further, That 24 such amount is designated by the Congress as being for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6914.IH H6914 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6914 IH an emergency requirement pursuant to section 1 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 2 Deficit Control Act of 1985. 3 CORONAVIRUS LOCAL FISCAL RELIEF FUND 4 For making payments to metropolitan cities, coun- 5 ties, and other units of general local government to miti- 6 gate the fiscal effects stemming from the public health 7 emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 8 (COVID–19), $200,000,000,000, to remain available until 9 expended, which shall be in addition to any other amounts 10 available for making payments to metropolitan cities, 11 counties, and other units of general local government (in- 12 cluding payments made under section 601 of the Social 13 Security Act), of which— 14 (1) $100,000,000,000 shall be for making pay- 15 ments to metropolitan cities and other units of gen- 16 eral local government (as those terms are defined in 17 section 102 of the Housing and Community Devel- 18 opment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302)), of which— 19 (A) $750,000,000 shall be allocated pursu- 20 ant to the formula under section 106(b)(1) of 21 the Housing and Community Development Act 22 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5306(b)(1)) to metropolitan 23 cities (as defined in section 102(a)(4) of such 24 Act (42 U.S.C. 5302(a)(4)), including metro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6914.IH H6914 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6914 IH politan cities that have relinquished or deferred 1 their status as a metropolitan city as of the 2 date of enactment of this Act: Provided, That 3 the funds provided under this subparagraph 4 shall be paid not later than 30 days after the 5 date of enactment of this Act; and 6 (B) $250,000,000 shall be distributed to 7 each State (as that term is defined in section 8 102 of the Housing and Community Develop- 9 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302)) for use by 10 units of general local government, other than 11 counties or parishes, in nonentitlement areas 12 (as defined in such section 102) of such States 13 in an amount which bears the same proportion 14 to the total amount provided under this sub- 15 paragraph as the total population of such units 16 of general local government within the State 17 bears to the total population of all such units 18 of general local government in all such States: 19 Provided, That the funds provided under this 20 subparagraph and allocated to each such unit of 21 general local government shall be distributed to 22 each such unit of general local government not 23 later than 30 days after the date of enactment 24 of this Act: Provided further, That if a State 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6914.IH H6914 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6914 IH has not elected to distribute amounts allocated 1 under this paragraph, the Secretary of the 2 Treasury shall pay the applicable amounts 3 under this subparagraph to such units of gen- 4 eral local government in the State not later 5 than 30 days after the date on which the State 6 would otherwise have received the amounts 7 from the Secretary; and 8 (2) $100,000,000,000 shall be paid directly to 9 counties within the 50 States, the District of Colum- 10 bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 11 States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of 12 the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa 13 in an amount which bears the same proportion to 14 the total amount provided under this paragraph as 15 the relative population of each such county bears to 16 the total population of all such entities: Provided, 17 That the funds provided under this paragraph and 18 allocated to each such county shall be distributed to 19 each such county not later than 30 days after the 20 date of enactment of this Act: Provided further, That 21 no county that is an ‘‘urban county’’ (as defined in 22 section 102 of the Housing and Community Devel- 23 opment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302)) shall receive 24 less than the amount the county would otherwise re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6914.IH H6914 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6914 IH ceive if the amount distributed under this paragraph 1 were allocated to metropolitan cities and urban 2 counties under section 106(b) of the Housing and 3 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 4 5306(b)): Provided further, That in the case of an 5 amount to be paid to a county that is not a unit of 6 general local government, the amount shall instead 7 be paid to the State in which such county is located, 8 and such State shall distribute such amount to units 9 of general local government within such county in an 10 amounts that bear the same proportion as the popu- 11 lation of such units of general local government bear 12 to the total population of such county: 13 Provided further, That any entity receiving a payment 14 from funds made available under this heading in this Act 15 shall only use such amounts to respond to, mitigate, cover 16 costs or replace foregone revenues not projected on Janu- 17 ary 31, 2020 stemming from the public health emergency, 18 or its negative economic impacts, with respect to the 19 Coronavirus Disease (COVID–19): Provided further, That 20 if the Inspector General of the Department of the Treas- 21 ury determines that an entity receiving a payment from 22 amounts provided under this heading has failed to comply 23 with the preceding proviso, the amount equal to the 24 amount of funds used in violation of such subsection shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6914.IH H6914 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6914 IH be booked as a debt of such entity owed to the Federal 1 Government, and any amounts recovered under this sub- 2 section shall be deposited into the general fund of the 3 Treasury as discretionary offsetting receipts: Provided fur- 4 ther, That nothing in paragraph (1) or (2) shall be con- 5 strued as prohibiting a unit of general local government 6 that has formed a consolidated government, or that is geo- 7 graphically contained (in full or in part) within the b [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]