Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4150 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to provide assistance to certain providers of transportation services affected by the novel coronavirus. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 2, 2020 Mr. REED (for himself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Secretary of the Treasury to provide assist- ance to certain providers of transportation services af- fected by the novel coronavirus. 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 ‘‘Coronavirus Economic 4 Relief for Transportation Services Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR PROVIDERS OF TRANSPORTATION 6 SERVICES AFFECTED BY COVID–19. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4150.IS S4150 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4150 IS (1) PROVIDER OF TRANSPORTATION SERV- 1 ICES.—The term ‘‘provider of transportation serv- 2 ices’’ means an entity that— 3 (A) is established or organized— 4 (i) in the United States; or 5 (ii) pursuant to Federal law; 6 (B) has significant operations, and a ma- 7 jority of employees based, in the United States; 8 (C) was in operation on March 1, 2020; 9 and 10 (D) is the operator of— 11 (i) a vessel of the United States (as 12 defined in section 116 of title 46, United 13 States Code) that is— 14 (I) a passenger vessel (as defined 15 in section 2101 of title 46, United 16 States Code) carrying fewer than 17 2,400 passengers; or 18 (II) a small passenger vessel (as 19 defined in section 2101 of title 46, 20 United States Code); 21 (ii) a company providing transpor- 22 tation services using a bus characterized 23 by an elevated passenger deck located over 24 a baggage compartment (commonly known 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4150.IS S4150 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4150 IS as an ‘‘over-the-road bus’’), including local 1 and intercity fixed-route service, commuter 2 service, and charter or tour service (includ- 3 ing tour or excursion service that includes 4 features in addition to bus transportation, 5 such as meals, lodging, admission to points 6 of interest or special attractions, or the 7 services of a guide); 8 (iii) a company providing transpor- 9 tation services using a school bus (as de- 10 fined in section 571.3 of title 49, Code of 11 Federal Regulations (or successor regula- 12 tions)); or 13 (iv) any other transportation service 14 company subject to regulation by the De- 15 partment of Transportation as the Sec- 16 retary, in consultation with the Secretary 17 of Transportation, determines to be appro- 18 priate. 19 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 20 the Secretary of the Treasury. 21 (b) FUNDING.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Out of any funds in the 23 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there are ap- 24 propriated to provide grants and other forms of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4150.IS S4150 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4150 IS emergency assistance to eligible providers of trans- 1 portation services under this section, 2 $10,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2020. 3 (2) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided 5 by this section are designated as an emergency 6 requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the 7 Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 8 U.S.C. 933(g)). 9 (B) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the 10 Senate, this section is designated as an emer- 11 gency requirement pursuant to section 4112(a) 12 of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), the con- 13 current resolution on the budget for fiscal year 14 2018. 15 (c) PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta- 17 tion with the Secretary of Transportation, shall use 18 the amounts made available under subsection (b) to 19 provide grants and other forms of emergency assist- 20 ance to eligible providers of transportation services 21 described in paragraph (2) that have experienced a 22 significant revenue loss as direct or indirect result of 23 the novel coronavirus (COVID–19). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4150.IS S4150 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4150 IS (2) DESCRIPTION OF ELIGIBLE PROVIDERS OF 1 TRANSPORTATION SERVICES.—An eligible provider 2 of transportation services referred to in paragraph 3 (1) is— 4 (A) a provider of transportation services 5 that, on March 1, 2020— 6 (i) had 500 or fewer employees; and 7 (ii) was not a subsidiary of, or con- 8 trolled by, another entity with a combined 9 total full-time workforce of more than 500 10 employees; or 11 (B) a provider of transportation services 12 that— 13 (i) on March 1, 2020, had more than 14 500 employees; and 15 (ii) has not received assistance under 16 paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 17 4003(b), or subtitle B of title IV, of the 18 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Se- 19 curity Act (Public Law 116–136; 134 Stat. 20 281). 21 (3) AMOUNT.— 22 (A) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.—In 23 determining the amount of assistance to be pro- 24 vided to an eligible provider of transportation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4150.IS S4150 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4150 IS services under this subsection, the Secretary 1 shall take into consideration— 2 (i) the estimated revenue and cash 3 flow of the provider of transportation serv- 4 ices during the 12-month period beginning 5 on the date of receipt of the assistance; 6 (ii) the amount of debt owed by the 7 provider of transportation services on 8 major equipment, if any; and 9 (iii) other sources of Federal assist- 10 ance provided to the provider of transpor- 11 tation services, if any. 12 (B) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall en- 13 sure that the amount of assistance provided to 14 a provider of transportation services under this 15 subsection, when combined with any other Fed- 16 eral assistance provided in response to COVID– 17 19 under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Eco- 18 nomic Security Act (Public Law 116–136; 134 19 Stat. 281), the Paycheck Protection Program 20 and Health Care Enhancement Act (Public Law 21 116–139; 134 Stat. 620), or any other provi- 22 sion of law, does not exceed the total amount 23 of revenue earned by the provider of transpor- 24 tation services during calendar year 2019. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4150.IS S4150 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4150 IS (4) TYPE OF ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 1 ensure that not less than 50 percent of the amounts 2 made available under subsection (b) are used to pro- 3 vide grants. 4 (5) EQUAL ACCESS.—The Secretary shall en- 5 sure equal access to the assistance provided under 6 this section to eligible providers of transportation 7 services that are small, minority-owned, and women- 8 owned businesses. 9 (6) CONDITION OF RECEIPT.—As a condition of 10 receipt of assistance under this subsection, the Sec- 11 retary shall require that a provider of transportation 12 services shall agree— 13 (A) to use the funds, on a priority basis 14 and to the extent available, to maintain through 15 December 31, 2020, pay, paid administrative 16 leave, and benefits to all employees as of the 17 date of enactment of this Act, after making any 18 adjustments required for— 19 (i) retirement; or 20 (ii) voluntary employee separation; 21 and 22 (B) to recall or rehire any employee laid 23 off, furloughed, or terminated because of re- 24 duced service as a result of COVID–19 or the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4150.IS S4150 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4150 IS effects of COVID–19, to the extent warranted 1 by increased service levels. 2 (d) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—A provider of transpor- 3 tation services shall use assistance provided under sub- 4 section (c) only for— 5 (1) activities to ensure the preservation of jobs 6 based in the United States; 7 (2) the acquisition of services, equipment, in- 8 cluding personal protective equipment, and other 9 measures needed to protect workers and customers 10 from COVID–19; or 11 (3) continued operations and maintenance of 12 existing capital equipment and facilities (including 13 rent, leases, insurance, and debt service) during the 14 period of economic distress caused by the outbreak 15 of COVID–19. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4150.IS S4150 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS