VICTORY Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4302 To utilize national service programs to directly respond to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID–19) outbreak. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 23, 2020 Mr. YOUNG (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To utilize national service programs to directly respond to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID–19) outbreak. 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 ‘‘Volunteers in Contract 4 Tracing or Recovery Act’’ or the ‘‘VICTORY Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 6 The purpose of this Act is to utilize national service 7 programs to directly respond to the novel coronavirus dis- 8 ease (COVID–19) outbreak declared as a national emer- 9 gency by President Trump. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4302.IS S4302 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4302 IS SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) National service members and volunteers in 3 the United States are a critical part of addressing 4 the COVID–19 outbreak, including response activi- 5 ties related to health, education, nutrition, and in- 6 frastructure. 7 (2) In accordance with section 177 of the Na- 8 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 9 U.S.C. 12637), national service members and volun- 10 teers should never displace workers from employ- 11 ment in the United States. 12 (3) All volunteer activities should be carried out 13 in a manner that complies with applicable privacy 14 laws and laws relating to the protection of personal 15 information. 16 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 17 In this Act: 18 (1) CNCS TERMS.—The terms ‘‘approved na- 19 tional service position’’, ‘‘Corporation’’, ‘‘Indian 20 tribe’’, ‘‘national service laws’’, and ‘‘territory’’ have 21 the meaning given those terms in section 101 of the 22 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 23 U.S.C. 12511). 24 (2) VISTA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘VISTA’’ and 25 ‘‘VISTA volunteer’’ have the meaning given those 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4302.IS S4302 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4302 IS terms in section 421 of the Domestic Volunteer 1 Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 5061) 2 (3) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘eligible 3 activity’’ means— 4 (A) any activity directly related to the 5 coronavirus pandemic emergency response that 6 prioritizes public health needs, such as contact 7 tracing; and 8 (B) any other activity directly related to 9 the coronavirus pandemic emergency response 10 and recovery, which may include tutoring, deliv- 11 ering meals, or other activities. 12 (4) NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘na- 13 tional emergency’’ means— 14 (A) a public health emergency declared by 15 the Secretary of Health and Human Services 16 pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 17 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d); 18 (B) an event for which the President de- 19 clared a major disaster or an emergency under 20 section 401 or 501, respectively, of the Robert 21 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As- 22 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 and 5191); or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4302.IS S4302 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4302 IS (C) a national emergency declared by the 1 President under section 201 of the National 2 Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 3 SEC. 5. FLEXIBILITY FOR EXISTING GRANTS. 4 (a) NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—An entity receiving fi- 5 nancial assistance from a program authorized under the 6 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 7 12501 et seq.) or the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 8 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4950 et seq.), including subgrant funds, 9 that are appropriated for fiscal year 2020 or a subsequent 10 fiscal year (referred to in this Act as ‘‘eligible funds’’) may 11 modify the purposes of the grant or subgrant and the ac- 12 tivities carried out under the grant or subgrant in order 13 to carry out activities to respond to a national emergency. 14 (b) FLEXIBILITY DURING NON-EMERGENCY 15 TIMES.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity receiving eligible 17 funds may modify the purposes of the grant or 18 subgrant and the activities carried out under the 19 grant or subgrant during a time that is not a na- 20 tional emergency if the entity submits a plan and 21 the plan is approved in accordance with this sub- 22 section. 23 (2) APPROVAL REQUIRED FOR SUBGRANT RE- 24 CIPIENTS.—In the case of an entity that receives eli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4302.IS S4302 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4302 IS gible funds as a subgrant that desires to modify the 1 purposes of the subgrant and the activities carried 2 out under the subgrant, the subgrant recipient may 3 carry out such modification only after receiving ap- 4 proval from the relevant entity that disburses funds 5 for and oversees the subgrant. 6 (3) PLAN REQUIRED.—In the case of an entity 7 that receives eligible funds as a grant that desires to 8 modify the purposes of the grant and the activities 9 carried out under the grant, the entity shall submit 10 a plan to the Corporation. The plan shall include 11 each of the following, with respect to each project 12 that the entity desires to modify: 13 (A) A description of the existing project 14 scheduled to be carried out using the eligible 15 funds. 16 (B) A description of how the existing 17 project is no longer relevant or is overly burden- 18 some. 19 (C) A description of the phase down plan 20 that involves— 21 (i) incrementally decreasing the exist- 22 ing project activity to terminate the 23 project; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4302.IS S4302 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4302 IS (ii) modifying the project and using 1 significantly less eligible funding. 2 (D) A description of the planned new use 3 of eligible funds and an explanation of how 4 those activities are needed. 5 (E) A description of how the entity will 6 evaluate the modified project and how outcomes 7 will be measured for the new activities carried 8 out using eligible funds, including the evidence 9 that will be required, if applicable. 10 (4) APPROVAL PROCESS.—As expeditiously as 11 practicable after receipt of a plan under paragraph 12 (3), the Corporation shall review the plan and issue 13 an approval or denial notice to the entity that sub- 14 mitted the plan. Upon approval of a plan under 15 paragraph (3), the evaluation requirements and 16 other requirements that applied to a project before 17 termination or modification shall be waived and the 18 entity may use the remaining eligible funds to carry 19 out the activities described in the plan. 20 SEC. 6. APPROVED NATIONAL SERVICE POSITIONS AU- 21 THORIZED. 22 (a) FUNDS APPROPRIATED.—There are authorized to 23 be appropriated not less than $825,000,000 to carry out 24 this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4302.IS S4302 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4302 IS (b) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds made available 2 to carry out this section, the Corporation shall deter- 3 mine the amount of funding necessary for eligible 4 programs assisted under subtitle C and D of title I 5 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 6 (42 U.S.C. 12571), programs assisted under the 7 Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program 8 established under part A of title I of the Domestic 9 Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4951 et 10 seq.), and eligible programs that are assisted under 11 subtitle E of title I of the National and Community 12 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12611). 13 (2) AMERICORPS.—Of the funds made available 14 to carry out eligible programs assisted under subtitle 15 C and D of title I of the National and Community 16 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571), 1 percent 17 of funds shall be reserved for Indian tribes, 1 per- 18 cent of funds shall be reserved for territories, and 19 35.3 percent of funds shall be allocated to States, 20 the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of 21 Puerto Rico in an amount that bears the same ratio 22 to the remaining funds as the population of the 23 State, the District of Columbia, or the Common- 24 wealth of Puerto Rico bears to the total population 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4302.IS S4302 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4302 IS of the several States, the District of Columbia, and 1 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 2 (3) VISTA.—Of the funds made available to 3 carry out the Volunteers in Service to America 4 (VISTA) program established under part A of title 5 I of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 6 U.S.C. 4951 et seq.), the Corporation shall, to the 7 extent practicable, endeavor to award funds to 8 States, the District of Columbia, and the Common- 9 wealth of Puerto Rico in an amount that bears the 10 same ratio to such available funds as the population 11 of the State, the District of Columbia, or the Com- 12 monwealth of Puerto Rico bears to the total popu- 13 lation of the several States, the District of Columbia, 14 and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 15 (c) APPROVED NATIONAL.—Before the date that is 16 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Cor- 17 poration shall increase the number of approved national 18 service positions by 55,000. Those additional approved na- 19 tional service positions shall be allocated as follows: 20 (1) 48,000 approved national service positions 21 shall be made available for eligible programs assisted 22 under subtitle C of title I of the National and Com- 23 munity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4302.IS S4302 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4302 IS (2) 6,000 approved national service positions 1 shall be made available for eligible programs assisted 2 under the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) 3 program established under part A of title I of the 4 Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 5 4951 et seq.); and 6 (3) 1,000 approved national service positions 7 shall be made available for eligible programs for in- 8 dividuals who will deploy to regions across the 9 United States based on emergency need through eli- 10 gible programs that are assisted under subtitle E of 11 title I of the National and Community Service Act 12 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12611). 13 (d) REDISTRIBUTION.—In the case of a State that 14 does not want to accept additional approved national serv- 15 ice positions in accordance with this section, such positions 16 shall be reallocated evenly to the remainder of States ac- 17 cepting such additional positions. 18 (e) ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS.—In this section, the term 19 ‘‘eligible program’’ means a national service program 20 under subtitle C or subtitle E of title I of the National 21 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 22 et seq; 42 U.S.C. 12611 et seq.) or part A of title I of 23 the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 24 4951 et seq.), as the case may be. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4302.IS S4302 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4302 IS (f) PRIORITY.—In allocating approved national serv- 1 ice positions under this section, the Corporation shall give 2 priority to eligible programs that are carrying out eligible 3 activities. 4 (g) APPROVED NATIONAL SERVICE POSITION BENE- 5 FITS.—An individual in an approved national service posi- 6 tion established under this section shall have the same 7 benefits as an individual in an approved national service 8 position established under the National and Community 9 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.). 10 SEC. 7. VISTA WAIVER AUTHORITY. 11 Notwithstanding section 108 of the Domestic Volun- 12 teer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4958), in order to 13 address the needs of underserved communities during the 14 COVID–19 pandemic, not more than 75 percent of funds 15 appropriated under section 501 of that Act to carry out 16 part A of title I of that Act may be obligated for the direct 17 cost of supporting VISTA volunteers in programs and 18 projects, including new programs and projects, carried out 19 pursuant to grants or contracts made under part A of title 20 I of that Act, and such funds may be obligated without 21 competition regardless of when grant recipients com- 22 menced such programs and projects. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4302.IS S4302 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4302 IS SEC. 8. INCREASED COORDINATION. 1 The Corporation shall ensure that recipients of funds 2 under the national service laws— 3 (1) that are carrying out health related services, 4 have coordinated with the appropriate State and 5 local health departments; and 6 (2) that are carrying out other eligible activi- 7 ties, have coordinated with the appropriate Federal 8 agencies, which may include the Centers for Disease 9 Control and Prevention, the Department of Health 10 and Human Services, the Federal Emergency Man- 11 agement Agency, the Department of Labor, the De- 12 partment of Education, or another relevant Federal 13 agency, to ensure continuity in coronavirus response 14 and recovery activities and to ensure the eligible ac- 15 tivities are carried out in a manner that is aligned 16 with the work of Federal agencies. 17 SEC. 9. NCCC SEASON OF SERVICE. 18 Notwithstanding section 154 of the National and 19 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12614), dur- 20 ing the period of national emergency related to the novel 21 coronavirus (COVID–19), the Corporation may carry out 22 a pilot program through which the summer national serv- 23 ice program carried out under such section may be modi- 24 fied in order to carry out eligible activities that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4302.IS S4302 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4302 IS (1) take place during any months of the year; 1 and 2 (2) include individuals aged 18 through 26 3 years to serve in short term periods of service [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]