Homeless Veterans Coronavirus Response Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3898 To provide flexibility for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in caring for homeless veterans during a covered public health emergency, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 4, 2020 Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. MORAN, Mr. TESTER, Mr. CRAPO, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. LOEFFLER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. TILLIS, Ms. HIRONO, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. KAINE, Mr. CRUZ, Mrs. GILLI- BRAND, Mr. RISCH, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. HOEVEN, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. ERNST, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CRAMER, and Ms. MCSALLY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To provide flexibility for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in caring for homeless veterans during a covered public health emergency, 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 ‘‘Homeless Veterans 4 Coronavirus Response Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3898.IS S3898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3898 IS SEC. 2. FLEXIBILITY FOR THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS 1 AFFAIRS IN CARING FOR HOMELESS VET- 2 ERANS DURING A COVERED PUBLIC HEALTH 3 EMERGENCY. 4 (a) GENERAL SUPPORT.— 5 (1) USE OF FUNDS.—During a covered public 6 health emergency, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 7 may use amounts appropriated or otherwise made 8 available to the Department of Veterans Affairs to 9 carry out sections 2011, 2012, 2031, and 2061 of 10 title 38, United States Code, to provide to homeless 11 veterans and veterans participating in the program 12 carried out under section 8(o)(19) of the United 13 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 14 1437f(o)(19)) (commonly referred to as ‘‘HUD– 15 VASH’’), as the Secretary determines is needed, the 16 following: 17 (A) Assistance required for safety and sur- 18 vival (such as food, shelter, clothing, blankets, 19 and hygiene items). 20 (B) Transportation required to support 21 stability and health (such as for appointments 22 with service providers, conducting housing 23 searches, and obtaining food and supplies). 24 (C) Communications equipment and serv- 25 ices (such as tablets, smartphones, disposable 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3898.IS S3898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3898 IS phones, and related service plans) required to 1 support stability and health (such as maintain- 2 ing contact with service providers, prospective 3 landlords, and family). 4 (D) Such other assistance as the Secretary 5 determines is needed. 6 (2) HOMELESS VETERANS ON LAND OF THE 7 DEPARTMENT.— 8 (A) COLLABORATION.—During a covered 9 public health emergency, to the extent possible, 10 the Secretary may collaborate with one or more 11 organizations to manage use of land of the De- 12 partment for homeless veterans for living and 13 sleeping. 14 (B) ELEMENTS.—Collaboration under sub- 15 paragraph (A) may include the provision by ei- 16 ther the Secretary or the organization of food 17 services and security for property, buildings, 18 and other facilities owned or controlled by the 19 Department. 20 (b) GRANT AND PER DIEM PROGRAM.— 21 (1) LIMITS ON RATES FOR PER DIEM PAY- 22 MENTS.—Section 20013(b) of the Coronavirus Aid, 23 Relief, and Economic Security Act (Public Law 24 116–136) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3898.IS S3898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3898 IS (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 1 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 2 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 3 (A), as so redesignated, by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ be- 4 fore ‘‘In the case’’; and 5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(2) If the Secretary waives any limit on grant 7 amounts or rates for per diem payments under paragraph 8 (1), notwithstanding section 2012(a)(2)(B) of such title, 9 the maximum rate for per diem payments described in 10 paragraph (1)(B) shall be three times the rate authorized 11 for State homes for domiciliary care under section 1741 12 of such title.’’. 13 (2) USE OF PER DIEM PAYMENTS.—During a 14 covered public health emergency, a recipient of a 15 grant or an eligible entity under the grant and per 16 diem program of the Department (in this subsection 17 referred to as the ‘‘program’’) may use per diem 18 payments under sections 2012 and 2061 of title 38, 19 United States Code, to provide assistance required 20 for safety and survival (such as food, shelter, cloth- 21 ing, blankets, and hygiene items) for— 22 (A) homeless veterans; and 23 (B) formerly homeless veterans residing in 24 a facility operated wholly or in part by such a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3898.IS S3898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3898 IS recipient or eligible entity receiving per diem 1 payments under section 2012 of such title. 2 (3) ADDITIONAL TRANSITIONAL HOUSING.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—During a covered pub- 4 lic health emergency, under the program, the 5 Secretary may provide amounts for additional 6 transitional housing beds to facilitate access to 7 housing and services provided to homeless vet- 8 erans. 9 (B) NOTICE; COMPETITION; PERIOD OF 10 PERFORMANCE.—The Secretary may provide 11 amounts under subparagraph (A)— 12 (i) without notice or competition; and 13 (ii) for a period of performance deter- 14 mined by the Secretary. 15 (4) INSPECTIONS AND LIFE SAFETY CODE RE- 16 QUIREMENTS.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—During a covered pub- 18 lic health emergency, the Secretary may waive 19 any requirement under subsection (b) or (c) of 20 section 2012 of title 38, United States Code, in 21 order to allow the recipient of a grant or an eli- 22 gible entity under the program— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3898.IS S3898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3898 IS (i) to quickly identify temporary alter- 1 nate sites of care for homeless veterans 2 that are suitable for habitation; 3 (ii) to facilitate social distancing or 4 isolation needs; or 5 (iii) to facilitate activation or continu- 6 ation of a program for which a grant has 7 been awarded. 8 (B) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may 9 waive a requirement pursuant to the authority 10 provided by subparagraph (A) with respect to a 11 facility of a recipient of a grant or an eligible 12 entity under the program only if the facility 13 meets applicable local safety requirements, in- 14 cluding fire safety requirements. 15 (c) INSPECTION AND LIFE SAFETY CODE REQUIRE- 16 MENTS FOR THERAPEUTIC HOUSING.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—During a covered public 18 health emergency, the Secretary may waive any in- 19 spection or life safety code requirement under sub- 20 section (c) of section 2032 of title 38, United States 21 Code— 22 (A) to allow quick identification of tem- 23 porary alternate sites of care for homeless vet- 24 erans that are suitable for habitation; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3898.IS S3898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3898 IS (B) to facilitate social distancing or isola- 1 tion needs; or 2 (C) to facilitate the operation of housing 3 under such section. 4 (2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may waive a 5 requirement pursuant to the authority provided by 6 paragraph (1) with respect to a residence or facility 7 referred to in such section 2032 only if the residence 8 or facility, as the case may be, meets applicable local 9 safety requirements, including fire safety require- 10 ments. 11 (d) ACCESS TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 12 FAIRS TELEHEALTH SERVICES.—To the extent prac- 13 ticable, during a covered public health emergency, the Sec- 14 retary shall ensure that veterans participating in or receiv- 15 ing services from a program under chapter 20 of title 38, 16 United States Code, have access to telehealth services to 17 which such veterans are eligible under the laws adminis- 18 tered by the Secretary, including by ensuring that tele- 19 health capabilities are available to— 20 (1) such veterans; 21 (2) case managers of the Department of pro- 22 grams for homeless veterans authorized under such 23 chapter; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3898.IS S3898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3898 IS (3) community-based service providers for 1 homeless veterans receiving funds from the Depart- 2 ment through grants or contracts. 3 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) COVERED PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.— 5 The term ‘‘covered public health emergency’’ means 6 an emergency with respect to COVID–19 declared 7 by a Federal, State, or local authority. 8 (2) HOMELESS VETERAN; VETERAN.—The 9 terms ‘‘homeless veteran’’ and ‘‘veteran’’ have the 10 meanings given those terms in section 2002 of title 11 38, United States Code. 12 (3) TELEHEALTH.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘telehealth’’ 14 means the use of electronic information and 15 telecommunications technologies to support and 16 promote long-distance clinical health care, pa- 17 tient and professional health-related education, 18 public health, and health administration. 19 (B) TECHNOLOGIES.—For purposes of 20 subparagraph (A), ‘‘telecommunications tech- 21 nologies’’ include video conferencing, the inter- 22 net, streaming media, and terrestrial and wire- 23 less communications. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3898.IS S3898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3898 IS SEC. 3. EMERGENCY DESIGNATIONS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act is designated as an 2 emergency requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the 3 Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)). 4 (b) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the Senate, this 5 Act is designated as an emergency requirement pursuant 6 to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), 7 the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 8 2018. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3898.IS S3898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS