SMART Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6954 To amend title VI of the Social Security Act to establish a Coronavirus Local Community Stabilization Fund. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 19, 2020 Ms. SHERRILL (for herself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. TED LIEU of Cali- fornia, Mr. UPTON, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, and Mr. REED) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Re- form A BILL To amend title VI of the Social Security Act to establish a Coronavirus Local Community Stabilization Fund. 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 ‘‘State Municipal Assist- 4 ance for Response and Transition Act’’ or the ‘‘SMART 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6954 IH SEC. 2. CORONAVIRUS LOCAL COMMUNITY STABILIZATION 1 FUND. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VI of the Social Security 3 Act, as added by section 5001(a) of the Coronavirus Aid, 4 Relief, and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116–136), 5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 602. CORONAVIRUS LOCAL COMMUNITY STABILIZA- 7 TION FUND. 8 ‘‘(a) APPROPRIATION.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Out of any money in the 10 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appro- 11 priated, there are appropriated for making payments 12 to States under this section, $500,000,000,000 for 13 fiscal year 2020, to remain available until expended. 14 ‘‘(2) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Of the amount 15 appropriated under paragraph (1), the Secretary 16 shall reserve $16,000,000,000 of such amount for 17 making payments to Tribal governments under sub- 18 section (c)(7). 19 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO MAKE PAYMENTS.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pay 21 each State the following amounts: 22 ‘‘(A) Not later than 30 days after the date 23 of enactment of this section, the relative popu- 24 lation proportion amount determined for the 25 State under subsection (c)(1). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6954 IH ‘‘(B) Not later than 30 days after the date 1 of enactment of this section, the relative in- 2 fected population proportion amount deter- 3 mined for the State under subsection (c)(2). 4 ‘‘(C) As soon as practicable after Decem- 5 ber 31, 2020, the relative lost revenue propor- 6 tion amount determined for the State under 7 subsection (c)(3). 8 ‘‘(2) AMOUNTS RESERVED FOR PAYMENTS TO 9 LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—A State shall reserve 1⁄3 of 10 each amount received by the State under paragraph 11 (1) to make direct payments to units of local govern- 12 ment in the State under subsection (c)(6). 13 ‘‘(c) PAYMENT AMOUNTS.— 14 ‘‘(1) RELATIVE POPULATION PROPORTION 15 AMOUNT.—Subject to paragraph (5), the relative 16 population proportion amount for a State is the 17 product of— 18 ‘‘(A) $161,333,333,333; and 19 ‘‘(B) the amount equal to the quotient 20 of— 21 ‘‘(i) the population of the State; and 22 ‘‘(ii) the total population of all States. 23 ‘‘(2) RELATIVE INFECTED POPULATION PRO- 24 PORTION AMOUNT.—Subject to subparagraph (5), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6954 IH the relative infected population proportion amount 1 determined under this paragraph for a State is the 2 product of— 3 ‘‘(A) $161,333,333,333; and 4 ‘‘(B) the quotient of— 5 ‘‘(i) the cumulative population of the 6 State that has been infected with Corona- 7 virus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) as of 8 June 1, 2020 (including individuals who 9 were infected and have recovered as of 10 such date); and 11 ‘‘(ii) the total cumulative population 12 of all States that has been infected with 13 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) as 14 of such date (including individuals who 15 were infected and have recovered as of 16 such date). 17 ‘‘(3) RELATIVE LOST REVENUE PROPORTION 18 AMOUNT.—The relative lost revenue proportion 19 amount determined under this paragraph for a State 20 is the product of— 21 ‘‘(A) $161,333,333,333; and 22 ‘‘(B) the quotient of— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6954 IH ‘‘(i) the lost revenue amount deter- 1 mined for the State under paragraph (4); 2 and 3 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the lost revenue 4 amounts determined for all States under 5 paragraph (4). 6 ‘‘(4) LOST REVENUE AMOUNT.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para- 8 graph (3), with respect to a State, the lost rev- 9 enue amount is the amount equal to the 10 amount by which— 11 ‘‘(i) the amount of revenue from taxes 12 or other sources for the State for calendar 13 year 2019; exceeds 14 ‘‘(ii) subject to subparagraph (B), the 15 amount of revenue from taxes or other 16 sources for the State for calendar year 17 2020 (as certified by the Governor of the 18 State). 19 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENTS TO LOST REVENUE 20 AMOUNT.—For purposes of subparagraph 21 (A)(ii), the amount of revenue from taxes or 22 other sources for a State and calendar year 23 2020 shall be adjusted in the following manner: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6954 IH ‘‘(i) Such amount shall exclude any 1 funds received by the State in calendar 2 year 2020 under this title. 3 ‘‘(ii) Such amount shall be increased 4 by the amount of any reduction to State 5 revenue from taxes or other sources for 6 calendar year 2020 that results from the 7 State— 8 ‘‘(I) enacting a tax cut, rebate, 9 deduction, or credit; or 10 ‘‘(II) reducing, delaying, or elimi- 11 nating any fee or other source of rev- 12 enue. 13 ‘‘(iii) Such amount shall be reduced 14 by the amount of any expenditures made 15 by the State during calendar year 2020 16 necessary to meet the non-Federal share 17 contribution requirement of any public as- 18 sistance that is provided under the Robert 19 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 20 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) on 21 the basis of a disaster or emergency dec- 22 laration under such Act that— 23 ‘‘(I) is declared during the period 24 beginning on January 1, 2020, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6954 IH ending on the date of enactment of 1 this section; and 2 ‘‘(II) is not related to the 3 COVID–19 pandemic. 4 ‘‘(5) COMBINED MINIMUM PAYMENT AMOUNT 5 FOR RELATIVE POPULATION AND RELATIVE IN- 6 FECTED POPULATION AMOUNTS.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The sum of the 8 amounts determined under paragraphs (1) and 9 (2) for a State described in subparagraph (C) 10 shall not be less than $2,000,000,000. 11 ‘‘(B) PRO RATA ADJUSTMENTS.—The Sec- 12 retary shall adjust on a pro rata basis the 13 amounts determined under paragraph (2) for 14 each State described in subparagraph (C) to the 15 extent necessary to comply with the require- 16 ment of subparagraph (A). 17 ‘‘(C) STATES DESCRIBED.—The States de- 18 scribed in this subparagraph are each of the 50 19 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto 20 Rico. 21 ‘‘(6) DIRECT PAYMENTS TO UNITS OF LOCAL 22 GOVERNMENT.—Not later than 15 days after a 23 State receives a payment under paragraph (1) of 24 subsection (b), the State shall make the following 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6954 IH payments from the amount reserved by the State 1 under paragraph (2) of that subsection with respect 2 to such State payment: 3 ‘‘(A) DIRECT PAYMENTS TO COUNTIES 4 AND MUNICIPALITIES BASED ON POPU- 5 LATION.—From each of the amounts reserved 6 by a State under paragraph (2) of subsection 7 (b) with respect to the payments received by the 8 State under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 9 paragraph (1) of that subsection, the State 10 shall pay to each unit of local government in 11 the State that is a county or a municipality an 12 amount equal to the product of— 13 ‘‘(i) 50 percent of the amount so re- 14 served; and 15 ‘‘(ii) the quotient of— 16 ‘‘(I) the population of the county 17 or municipality (as applicable); and 18 ‘‘(II) the total population of— 19 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a coun- 20 ty, all counties in the State; or 21 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a mu- 22 nicipality, all municipalities in 23 the State. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6954 IH ‘‘(B) DIRECT PAYMENTS TO COUNTIES 1 AND MUNICIPALITIES BASED ON LOST REV- 2 ENUE.—From the amount reserved by a State 3 under paragraph (2) of subsection (b) with re- 4 spect to the payment received by the State 5 under subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of 6 that subsection, the State shall pay to each unit 7 of local government in the State that is a coun- 8 ty or a municipality an amount equal to the 9 product of— 10 ‘‘(i) 50 percent of the amount so re- 11 served; and 12 ‘‘(ii) the quotient of— 13 ‘‘(I) the lost revenue amount de- 14 termined for the county or munici- 15 pality (as applicable) under subpara- 16 graph (C); and 17 ‘‘(II) the total lost revenue 18 amounts determined under subpara- 19 graph (C) for— 20 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a coun- 21 ty, all counties in the State; or 22 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a mu- 23 nicipality, all municipalities in 24 the State. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6954 IH ‘‘(C) LOST REVENUE AMOUNT.—For pur- 1 poses of subparagraph (B), with respect to a 2 county or municipality, the lost revenue amount 3 shall be determined in the same manner as the 4 lost revenue amount for a State is determined 5 under paragraph (4). 6 ‘‘(7) PAYMENTS TO TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.— 7 The amounts paid under this section to Tribal gov- 8 ernments from the amount reserved under sub- 9 section (a)(2) shall be paid not later than 30 days 10 after the date of enactment of this section, and shall 11 be determined in the same manner as the amounts 12 paid to Tribal governments under section 601(c)(7) 13 except that, for purposes of this section— 14 ‘‘(A) the term ‘Tribal government’ means 15 the governing body of an Indian Tribe included 16 on the most recent list published by the Sec- 17 retary pursuant to section 104 of the Federally 18 Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 19 U.S.C. 5131); and 20 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Indian Tribe’ has the 21 meaning given that term in section 102 of such 22 Act (25 U.S.C. 5130), except that such term 23 shall not include an Alaska Native regional or 24 village corporation established pursuant to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6954 IH Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 1 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 2 ‘‘(8) DATA.—For purposes of this subsection— 3 ‘‘(A) the population of States, units of 4 local governments, and Indian Tribes shall be 5 determined based on the most recent year for 6 which data are available from the Bureau of the 7 Census; 8 ‘‘(B) the determination of the populations 9 of States infected with COVID–19 shall be 10 based on data from the Centers for Disease 11 Control and Prevention; and 12 ‘‘(C) where Indian Tribal population can- 13 not be readily determined by the most recent 14 year for which data are available from the Bu- 15 reau of the Census, the Department may con- 16 sider tribal population data from the Depart- 17 ment of Interior or Department of Housing and 18 Urban Development. 19 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts paid or distrib- 21 uted under this subsection shall be used— 22 ‘‘(A) to cover only those costs of the State, 23 unit of local government, or Tribal government 24 that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Jun 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6954 IH ‘‘(i) are necessary expenditures in- 1 curred due to the public health emergency 2 with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 3 2019 (COVID–19) (including expenditures 4 necessary to meet the non-Federal share 5 contribution requirement of any public as- 6 sistance that is provided under the Robert 7 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 8 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.)) 9 on the basis of a disaster or emergency 10 declaration under such Act that is declared 11 in calendar year 2020; 12 ‘‘(ii) were not accounted for in the 13 budget most recently approved as of March 14 27, 2020, for the State or local govern- 15 ment; and 16 ‘‘(iii) were incurred during the period 17 that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on 18 December 31, 2022; or 19 ‘‘(B) for expenditures in calendar year 20 2020, 2021, or 2022 that the State, Tribal gov- 21 ernment, or unit of local government would oth- 22 erwise be unable to make because of decreased 23 or delayed revenues. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Jun 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6954.IH H6954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 6954 IH ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—No State may use funds 1 made available under this section for deposit into 2 any State pension fund. 3 ‘‘(e) FAIR AND EQUITABLE BUDGETING REQUIRE- 4 MENT.—As a condition for receiving amounts paid under 5 this subsection, each State, to the extent allowable by 6 State law, shall agree— 7 ‘‘(1) to base any cut to funding to units of local 8 government under the State budget on emergency 9 need, and shall ensure that such cuts are balanced 10 to ensure all units of local government are treated 11 fairly; 12 ‘‘(2) to primarily use economic conditions, 13 budgetary shortfall, and revenue loss for each re- 14 spective county and municipality, as compared to 15 2019 levels, to determine whether any such cut is 16 balanced and appropriate; and 17 ‘‘(3) that the State legislative body shall have 18 the authority to disapprove such a cut if it violates 19 a condition of paragraph (1) or (2). 20 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION OF OTHER PROVISIONS.— 21 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 23 provided in this paragraph and subsection 24 (c)( [Text truncated for display. 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