Flexibility for States and Localities Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7094 To amend title VI of the Social Security Act to expand the permissible use of funds under the Coronavirus Relief Fund. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 4, 2020 Mr. DAVIDSON of Ohio (for himself, Mr. BUDD, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. ROUZER, and Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To amend title VI of the Social Security Act to expand the permissible use of funds under the Coronavirus Relief 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 ‘‘Flexibility for States 4 and Localities Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7094.IH H7094 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7094 IH SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS 1 UNDER THE CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 601(d) of the Social Secu- 3 rity Act, as added by section 5001(a) of the CARES Act 4 (Public Law 116–136), is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—A State, Tribal government, 6 and unit of local government shall use the funds provided 7 under a payment made under this section— 8 ‘‘(1) to cover those costs of the State, Tribal 9 government, or unit of local government (or of any 10 other unit of local government with a population not 11 greater than 500,000 within such State, Tribal gov- 12 ernment, or unit of local government) that— 13 ‘‘(A) are necessary expenditures incurred 14 due to the public health emergency with respect 15 to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19); 16 ‘‘(B) were not accounted for in the budget 17 most recently approved as of the date of enact- 18 ment of this section for the State or govern- 19 ment; and 20 ‘‘(C) were incurred during the period that 21 begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on Decem- 22 ber 30, 2020; or 23 ‘‘(2) to offset budgetary shortfalls of the State 24 or government that occurred due to such public 25 health emergency and that were not accounted for in 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7094.IH H7094 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7094 IH such budget (except that such funds may not be 1 used to make contributions to any underfunded pen- 2 sion plan in excess of the contributions accounted 3 for in such budget).’’. 4 (b) APPLICATION OF PROVISIONS.—Amounts appro- 5 priated for fiscal year 2020 under section 601(a)(1) of the 6 Social Security Act (as modified by subsection (a)) shall 7 be subject to the requirements contained in Public Law 8 116–94 for funds for programs authorized under sections 9 330 through 340 of the Public Health Service Act (42 10 U.S.C. 254 through 256). 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7094.IH H7094 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS