Uplifting Our Local Communities Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7717 To authorize Federal reserve banks to purchase COVID–19 related municipal issuances, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 21, 2020 Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. WATERS, and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To authorize Federal reserve banks to purchase COVID– 19 related municipal issuances, 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 ‘‘Uplifting Our Local 4 Communities Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7717.IH H7717 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7717 IH SEC. 2. EMERGENCY RELIEF FOR STATE, TERRITORIAL, 1 TRIBAL, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. 2 (a) PURCHASE OF COVID–19 RELATED MUNICIPAL 3 ISSUANCES.— 4 (1) AMENDMENT TO AUTHORITY TO BUY AND 5 SELL BONDS AND NOTES.—Section 14(b) of the 6 Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 355) is amended by 7 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 8 ‘‘(3) UNUSUAL AND EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES.— 9 Under unusual and exigent circumstances, to buy any 10 bills, notes, revenue bonds, and warrants issued by any 11 State, county, district, political subdivision, municipality, 12 or entity that is a combination of any of the several States, 13 the District of Columbia, or any of the territories and pos- 14 sessions of the United States. In this paragraph, the term 15 ‘State’ means each of the several States, the District of 16 Columbia, each territory and possession of the United 17 States, and each federally recognized Indian Tribe.’’. 18 (2) FEDERAL RESERVE AUTHORIZATION TO 19 PURCHASE COVID–19 RELATED MUNICIPAL 20 ISSUANCES.— 21 (A) AUTHORITY.—Within 7 days after the 22 date of the enactment of this subsection, the 23 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys- 24 tem shall modify the Municipal Liquidity Facil- 25 ity (established on April 9, 2020, pursuant to 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7717.IH H7717 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7717 IH section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 1 U.S.C. 343(3))) to— 2 (i) ensure such facility is operational 3 until December 31, 2021; 4 (ii) allow for the purchase of bills, 5 notes, bonds, and warrants with maximum 6 maturity of 10 years from the date of such 7 purchase; 8 (iii) ensure that any purchases made 9 are at an interest rate equal to the dis- 10 count window primary credit interest rate 11 most recently published on the Federal Re- 12 serve Statistical Release on selected inter- 13 est rates (daily or weekly), commonly re- 14 ferred to as the ‘‘H.15 release’’ or the 15 ‘‘Federal funds rate’’; 16 (iv) ensure that an eligible issuer does 17 not need to attest to an inability to secure 18 credit elsewhere; and 19 (v) include in the list of eligible 20 issuers for such purchases— 21 (I) any of the territories and pos- 22 sessions of the United States; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7717.IH H7717 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7717 IH (II) a political subdivision of a 1 State with a population of more than 2 50,000 residents; and 3 (III) an entity that is a combina- 4 tion of any of the several States, the 5 District of Columbia, or any of the 6 territories and possessions of the 7 United States. 8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF A LONG-TERM MUNICIPAL 9 BORROWING FACILITY.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Of amounts appropriated 11 under section 4027(a) of the CARES Act (Public 12 Law 116–136) that remain unobligated or unex- 13 pended, the Board of Governors and the Secretary 14 of the Treasury shall provide support for long-term 15 municipal borrowing markets in addition to support 16 provided for such markets through the Municipal Li- 17 quidity Facility. 18 (2) GOAL.—The purpose of support for long- 19 term municipal borrowing markets shall be to ensure 20 that each State, county, district, political subdivi- 21 sion, or municipality in the United States can access 22 capital for long-term capital expenditures, infra- 23 structure projects, and other long-term general obli- 24 gations at low and stable prices for the entire dura- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7717.IH H7717 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7717 IH tion of any economic disruption caused by the 1 COVID–19 pandemic. 2 (c) APPLICABILITY OF THE LIMITATION ON LOAN 3 FORGIVENESS.—Section 4003(d)(3) of the CARES Act 4 (Public Law 116–136) is amended by striking ‘‘, State, 5 or municipality’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7717.IH H7717 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS