Service Assurance Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6976 To provide liability protection for nonprofit organizations during the COVID– 19 outbreak, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2020 Mrs. HARTZLER (for herself, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. BANKS, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BABIN, Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina, Mr. FLORES, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. BUDD, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. WALKER, Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, and Mr. WEBER of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide liability protection for nonprofit organizations during the COVID–19 outbreak, 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 ‘‘Service Assurance Act 4 of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6976.IH H6976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6976 IH SEC. 2. PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY FOR NONPROFIT OR- 1 GANIZATIONS IN CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS RE- 2 LATING TO COVID–19. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 4 (b), a nonprofit organization shall not be liable under Fed- 5 eral or State law for any act or omission of the organiza- 6 tion with respect to any harm arising from exposure to, 7 or infection by, the virus that causes COVID–19 during 8 a public health emergency with respect to COVID–19 de- 9 clared pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health Serv- 10 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 247d). 11 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not apply if 12 the harm was caused by an act or omission constituting 13 willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless 14 misconduct, or a conscious flagrant indifference to the 15 rights or safety of the individual harmed by the entity. 16 (c) PREEMPTION.—This section preempts the laws of 17 a State or any political subdivision of a State to the extent 18 that such laws are inconsistent with this section, unless 19 such laws provide greater protection from liability. 20 (d) DEFINITION.—In this Act, the term ‘‘nonprofit 21 organization’’ means an entity that is an organization de- 22 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 23 of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)) and exempt from tax under 24 section 501(a) of such Code (26 U.S.C. 501(a)). 25 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6976.IH H6976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS