Coronavirus Containment Corps Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6871 To create a Coronavirus Containment Corps, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 14, 2020 Mr. LEVIN of Michigan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Commit- tees on Education and Labor, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con- cerned A BILL To create a Coronavirus Containment Corps, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS; DEFINI- 3 TIONS. 4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 5 ‘‘Coronavirus Containment Corps Act’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 7 this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; definitions. Sec. 2. Nationwide contact tracing strategy. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6871 IH Sec. 3. Grants to public health departments. Sec. 4. Awards to Tribes and Tribal organizations. Sec. 5. Reporting by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sec. 6. Grants to State and Tribal workforce agencies. Sec. 7. GAO study. Sec. 8. Application of the Service Contract Act to contracts and grants. Sec. 9. Rule of construction. (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 1 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 2 mittees’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on Education and 4 Labor of the House of Representatives; 5 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com- 6 merce of the House of Representatives; and 7 (C) the Committee on Health, Education, 8 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 9 (2) The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emer- 10 gency’’ means— 11 (A) the public health emergency declared 12 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 13 pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 14 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 15 2020, as a result of confirmed cases of 2019 16 Novel Coronavirus (2019–nCoV) and any suc- 17 cessor to such declaration; or 18 (B) the national emergency declared by the 19 President under the National Emergencies Act 20 (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) on March 13, 2020, 21 as a result of the COVID–19 outbreak. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6871 IH (3) The term ‘‘State’’ includes any of the 50 1 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the 2 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 3 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 4 (4) The terms ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ and ‘‘Tribal or- 5 ganization’’ have the meanings given to the terms 6 ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ and ‘‘tribal organization’’, respec- 7 tively, in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 8 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 9 SEC. 2. NATIONWIDE CONTACT TRACING STRATEGY. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 21 days after the 11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 12 and Human Services (in this section referred to as the 13 ‘‘Secretary’’), acting through the Director of the Centers 14 for Disease Control and Prevention, shall— 15 (1) provide to the appropriate congressional 16 committees a strategy to expand COVID–19 contact 17 tracing; and 18 (2) include in such strategy recommendations 19 to augment the capacity of State, Tribal, and local 20 public health departments to train and place individ- 21 uals (to be referred to collectively as the 22 ‘‘Coronavirus Containment Corps’’) to— 23 (A) investigate cases of COVID–19; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6871 IH (B) identify the contacts of individuals 1 confirmed or presumed to have been infected by 2 SARS–CoV–2; 3 (C) trace such contacts; and 4 (D) provide supports to ensure that such 5 contacts can take the precautions necessary to 6 safely quarantine to stop the spread of COVID– 7 19. 8 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the strategy 9 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with— 10 (1) State public health officials; 11 (2) Tribal public health officials, Tribal nations, 12 and Tribal organizations; 13 (3) local public health officials; 14 (4) the Director of the Indian Health Service; 15 and 16 (5) experts with knowledge of, or field experi- 17 ence concerning, racial and ethnic disparities in pub- 18 lic health and historically marginalized communities. 19 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—The strategy under subsection 20 (a) shall identify— 21 (1) the minimum number of persons needed to 22 investigate cases of COVID–19 and identify the con- 23 tacts of individuals confirmed or presumed to have 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6871 IH been infected by SARS–CoV–2 for each State and 1 Indian Tribe; 2 (2) the minimum number of contact tracers 3 needed for each State and Indian Tribe; 4 (3) the minimum number of specialists needed 5 to connect contacts described in paragraph (1) to so- 6 cial supports to ensure those contacts can take the 7 precautions necessary to safely quarantine to stop 8 the spread of COVID–19 for each State and Indian 9 Tribe; 10 (4) the recommended qualifications necessary 11 for case investigators, contact tracers, and social 12 support specialists to perform such duties success- 13 fully; 14 (5) strategies to enable State, Tribal, and local 15 public health departments to hire, train, and deploy 16 case investigators, contact tracers, and social sup- 17 port specialists; 18 (6) strategies to rapidly develop guidance and 19 training materials necessary to support public health 20 departments in preparing individuals to serve as 21 case investigators, contact tracers, and social sup- 22 port specialists; 23 (7) plans to use mobile or app-based contact 24 tracing technology, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6871 IH (A) plans to prevent the misuse of data 1 and to ensure the automatic deletion of data 2 after the conclusion of the COVID–19 public 3 health emergency; and 4 (B) plans to prohibit data sharing with 5 and within the Federal Government, with the 6 exceptions of the Centers for Disease Control 7 and Prevention and the Indian Health Service; 8 (8) strategies to record and publicly report de- 9 identified data, while protecting— 10 (A) the privacy of individuals and informa- 11 tion regarding their personal health; and 12 (B) Tribal data sovereignty; 13 (9) protocols to limit the risks posed to indi- 14 vidual privacy and data security, including through 15 data minimization, anonymizing and redacting, and 16 limitations on sharing and storing personally identi- 17 fiable information; 18 (10) strategies to monitor and evaluate best 19 practices in contact tracing, with input from State, 20 Tribal, and local public health departments; and 21 (11) strategies to coordinate with State and 22 Tribal workforce agencies to recruit newly unem- 23 ployed individuals— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6871 IH (A) prioritizing individuals from within the 1 communities in which they will work; and 2 (B) reflecting the diversity of that commu- 3 nity. 4 (d) STRATEGIES TO ENABLE HIRING, TRAINING, 5 AND DEPLOYMENT.—Not later than 7 days after the 6 strategy under subsection (a) is provided to the appro- 7 priate congressional committees, the Secretary shall pro- 8 vide the strategies described in subsection (c)(5) to States 9 and Tribes. 10 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENTS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap- 12 propriations, the Secretary Health and Human Services 13 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), acting 14 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 15 and Prevention, shall award a grant to each State and 16 local public health department that seeks a grant in ac- 17 cordance with this section to implement the strategy under 18 section 2(a). 19 (b) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall allocate amounts 20 made available pursuant to subsection (a) in accordance 21 with a formula to be established by the Secretary that— 22 (1) provides a minimum level of funding to each 23 grantee; and 24 (2) allocates— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6871 IH (A) additional funding among grantees 1 based on— 2 (i) population; 3 (ii) the projected need for COVID–19 4 in vitro diagnostic products (as defined in 5 section 809.3 of title 21, Code of Federal 6 Regulations (or successor regulations)) 7 during the period of the grant; 8 (iii) the percentage of COVID–19 9 cases per 10,000 persons as of the date of 10 submission of the application for the grant; 11 (iv) the COVID–19 case growth rate; 12 and 13 (v) the projected number of COVID– 14 19 cases during the period of the grant; 15 and 16 (B) an additional increment for States that 17 have a plan to increase the percentage of the 18 population that will be tested. 19 (c) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—Amounts made 20 available to a grantee pursuant to subsection (a) shall be 21 used for the following activities: 22 (1) Costs, including wages and benefits, includ- 23 ing health care benefits, as appropriate, related to 24 the recruiting and hiring of individuals— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6871 IH (A) to serve as case investigators, contact 1 tracers, and social support specialists described 2 in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively, of 3 section 2(c); and 4 (B) employed by— 5 (i) the State or local government in- 6 volved; or 7 (ii) a nonprofit organization with 8 demonstrated expertise in implementing 9 public health programs. 10 (2) Supplies necessary for grantees to imple- 11 ment the strategy established under section 2, in- 12 cluding any supplies, equipment, or technology for 13 individuals serving as case investigators, contact 14 tracers, or social support specialists. 15 (3) Administrative costs and activities necessary 16 for grantees to implement the strategy established 17 under section 2. 18 (4) Development of partnerships with State and 19 local workforce development systems as defined in 20 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 21 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102) to provide training and 22 supportive service for individuals serving as case in- 23 vestigators, contact tracers, or social support special- 24 ists. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6871 IH (5) Reporting to the Centers for Disease Con- 1 trol and Prevention on— 2 (A) implementation of the strategy estab- 3 lished under section 2; and 4 (B) indicators of performance listed in sec- 5 tion 5(c)(1). 6 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 7 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 8 $10,000,000,000, to remain available until expended. 9 SEC. 4. AWARDS TO TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap- 11 propriations, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 12 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), acting 13 through the Director of the Indian Health Service, in co- 14 ordination with the Director of the Centers for Disease 15 Control and Prevention, in consultation with Indian 16 Tribes and Tribal organizations, shall award funds to In- 17 dian Tribes and Tribal organizations to implement the 18 strategy established under section 2. 19 (b) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall allocate amounts 20 made available pursuant to subsection (a) in accordance 21 with a formula to be established by the Secretary in con- 22 sultation with Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations 23 that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6871 IH (1) provides a minimum level of funding to each 1 Indian Tribe and Tribal organization; and 2 (2) allocates additional funding on the basis of 3 population. 4 (c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Amounts made available 5 to an awardee pursuant to subsection (a) shall be used 6 for the following activities: 7 (1) Costs, including wages and benefits, includ- 8 ing health care benefits, as appropriate, related to 9 the recruiting and hiring of individuals— 10 (A) to serve as case investigators, contact 11 tracers, and social support specialists described 12 in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively, of 13 section 2(c); and 14 (B) employed by— 15 (i) the Tribal government involved; or 16 (ii) a nonprofit organizations with 17 demonstrated expertise in implementing 18 public health programs. 19 (2) Supplies necessary for awardees to imple- 20 ment the strategy established under section 2, in- 21 cluding any supplies, equipment, or technology for 22 individuals serving as case investigators, contact 23 tracers, or social support specialists. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6871 IH (3) Administrative costs and activities necessary 1 for awardees to implement the strategy established 2 under section 2. 3 (4) Development of partnerships with State and 4 local workforce development systems as defined in 5 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 6 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102) to provide training and 7 supportive service for individuals serving as case in- 8 vestigators, contact tracers, or social support special- 9 ists. 10 (5) Reporting to the Indian Health Service, 11 which shall then report the information to the Cen- 12 ters for Disease Control and Prevention, on— 13 (A) implementation of the strategy estab- 14 lished under section 2; and 15 (B) indicators of performance listed in sec- 16 tion 5(c)(1). 17 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 18 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 19 $1,000,000,000, to rema [Text truncated for display. 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