Essential Worker Pandemic Compensation Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6955 To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a program of death and hospitalization benefits for essential workers who die as a result of COVID–19 or related complications, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 19, 2020 Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. ROSE of New York, Mr. BLU- MENAUER, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. SOTO, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. VELA, and Ms. JUDY CHU of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Ways and Means, 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 concerned A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a program of death and hospitalization benefits for essen- tial workers who die as a result of COVID–19 or related complications, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6955.IH H6955 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6955 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Essential Worker Pan- 2 demic Compensation Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. PANDEMIC COMPENSATION PROGRAM. 4 Title II of the Public Health Service Act (43 U.S.C. 5 202 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 6 new part: 7 ‘‘PART E—PANDEMIC COMPENSATION PROGRAM 8 ‘‘SEC. 275. DEATH AND HOSPITALIZATION BENEFITS FOR 9 ESSENTIAL WORKERS. 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 11 compensation program under which the Secretary pays— 12 ‘‘(1) death benefits in accordance with sub- 13 section (b) to the survivor or survivors in the same 14 manner as death benefits are paid pursuant to the 15 Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program under sub- 16 part 1 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime 17 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 of each essen- 18 tial worker who dies as a result of COVID–19 or re- 19 lated complications; and 20 ‘‘(2) a hospitalization benefit in accordance with 21 subsection (c) to each essential worker who is hos- 22 pitalized, and does not die, as a result of COVID– 23 19 or related complications. 24 ‘‘(b) DEATH BENEFITS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6955.IH H6955 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6955 IH ‘‘(1) BASE AMOUNT.—The base amount of the 1 death benefits paid with respect to an essential 2 worker under subsection (a)(1) in a fiscal year shall 3 be equal to the amount of the comparable benefit 4 calculated under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits 5 Program under subpart 1 of part L of title I of the 6 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 7 1968 in such fiscal year, without regard to any re- 8 duction attributable to a limitation on appropria- 9 tions. 10 ‘‘(2) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO WORKER’S 11 CHILDREN AND SPOUSE.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the 13 base amount under paragraph (1), subject to 14 subparagraphs (C) and (D), the death benefits 15 paid with respect to an essential worker under 16 subsection (a)(1) shall include payment of edu- 17 cational assistance— 18 ‘‘(i) to each child of the worker who, 19 on or after the date of the worker’s death, 20 is enrolled full-time or part-time at an in- 21 stitution of higher education; and 22 ‘‘(ii) to the spouse of the worker who, 23 on or after the date of the worker’s death, 24 is so enrolled. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6955.IH H6955 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6955 IH ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—The pro- 1 visions of subpart 2 of part L of title I of the 2 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 3 1968 shall apply with respect to educational as- 4 sistance provided by the Secretary to the child, 5 children, or spouse of an essential worker under 6 this paragraph to the same extent and in the 7 same manner as such provisions apply with re- 8 spect to educational assistance provided by the 9 Attorney General to the child, children, or 10 spouse of an eligible public safety worker. 11 ‘‘(c) HOSPITALIZATION BENEFIT.—The amount of 12 the hospitalization benefit program paid with respect to 13 an essential worker under subsection (a)(2) shall be half 14 the base amount of the death benefit payable as described 15 in subsection (b)(1). 16 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF BENEFITS.— 17 ‘‘(1) EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME.—For 18 purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 19 gross income shall not include a payment under sub- 20 section (a). 21 ‘‘(2) NO REDUCTION BECAUSE OF PAYMENT 22 FROM OTHER SOURCE.—The Secretary may not re- 23 duce a payment under subsection (a) on the basis of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6955.IH H6955 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6955 IH any amount paid, or obligated to be paid, pursuant 1 to law or contract, from another source. 2 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 4 through a Special Master appointed by the Sec- 5 retary, shall— 6 ‘‘(A) administer the compensation program 7 under this section; 8 ‘‘(B) promulgate all procedural and sub- 9 stantive rules (which may be issued by regula- 10 tion) for the administration of this section; and 11 ‘‘(C) employ and supervise hearing officers 12 and other administrative personnel to perform 13 the duties of the Special Master under this sec- 14 tion. 15 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR 16 COMPENSATION.— 17 ‘‘(A) FILING OF CLAIM.—A claimant may 18 file a claim for compensation under this section 19 with the Special Master. The claim— 20 ‘‘(i) shall be on the form developed 21 under subparagraph (B); and 22 ‘‘(ii) shall state the factual basis for 23 eligibility for compensation and the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6955.IH H6955 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6955 IH amount of compensation sought, including 1 by demonstrating— 2 ‘‘(I) employment as an essential 3 worker; 4 ‘‘(II) death or hospitalization as 5 described in subsection (a); and 6 ‘‘(III) the deceased or hospital- 7 ized essential worker became infected 8 with SARS–CoV–2 during the period 9 of employment as an essential worker. 10 ‘‘(B) CLAIM FORM.—The Special Master 11 shall develop a claim form that claimants shall 12 use when submitting claims under subpara- 13 graph (A). The Special Master shall ensure that 14 such form can be filed electronically, if deter- 15 mined to be practicable. 16 ‘‘(C) DEADLINE.—No claim for compensa- 17 tion under this section may be filed after July 18 1, 2021. 19 ‘‘(3) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary may ap- 20 point the Special Master without regard to the provi- 21 sions of title 5, United States Code, governing ap- 22 pointments in the competitive service. Any such em- 23 ployee shall serve at the pleasure of the Secretary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6955.IH H6955 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6955 IH The Secretary shall fix the annual salary of the Spe- 1 cial Master. 2 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 ‘‘(1) The term ‘child’ has the meaning given to 4 the term ‘child’ in section 1204 of the Omnibus 5 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, except 6 that the reference in section 1204(3) of such Act to 7 ‘a deceased or permanently and totally disabled pub- 8 lic safety officer who, at the time of the public safety 9 officer’s fatal or catastrophic injury’ shall be treated 10 as reference to ‘a deceased or hospitalized essential 11 worker who, at the time of the worker’s death or 12 hospitalization’. 13 ‘‘(2) The term ‘essential worker’ means— 14 ‘‘(A) a worker identified as an essential 15 critical infrastructure worker in version 3.0 of 16 the guidance titled ‘Guidance on the Essential 17 Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring 18 Community and National Resilience in COVID– 19 19 Response’ issued by the Department of 20 Homeland Security on April 17, 2020; and 21 ‘‘(B) any other worker identified by the 22 Special Master as an essential worker for pur- 23 poses of this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6955.IH H6955 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6955 IH ‘‘(3) The term ‘hospitalized’ means furnished 1 inpatient services (as defined in section 1861(b) of 2 the Social Security Act). 3 ‘‘(4) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 4 has the meaning given to that term in section 5 102(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 6 ‘‘(5) The term ‘Special Master’ means the Spe- 7 cial Master appointed under subsection (e)(3). 8 ‘‘(6) The term ‘spouse of the worker’ means the 9 spouse of the essential worker on the date of the 10 worker’s death. 11 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.— 12 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATIONS FOR BENEFITS.—There 13 are appropriated, out of monies in the Treasury not 14 otherwise obligated, such sums as may be necessary 15 to pay all death and hospitalization benefits under 16 subsection (a) that are sought by claimants who 17 qualify for such benefits and apply in accordance 18 with this section. 19 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR 20 ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—There are authorized 21 to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary 22 to pay the administrative costs of the Secretary and 23 the Special Master in carrying out this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6955.IH H6955 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6955 IH ‘‘(h) SUNSET DATE.—At the end of calendar year 1 2021, the Secretary shall terminate the program under 2 this section except to the extent necessary to carry out 3 the scholarship program under subsection (b)(2).’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6955.IH H6955 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS