Expanding Representation at HHS Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8374 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for establishment of an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion within each covered agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. CAR- SON of Indiana, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. LEE of Cali- fornia, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. SEWELL of Ala- bama, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. SIRES, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. FUDGE, and Ms. MOORE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for establishment of an Office of Minority and Women Inclu- sion within each covered agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8374.IH H8374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8374 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding Represen- 2 tation at HHS Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF MINORITY AND WOMEN INCLUSION. 4 Part A of title II of the Public Health Service Act 5 is amended by inserting after section 229 of such Act (42 6 U.S.C. 237a) the following new section: 7 ‘‘SEC. 229A. OFFICE OF MINORITY AND WOMEN INCLUSION. 8 ‘‘(a) OFFICE OF MINORITY AND WOMEN INCLU- 9 SION.— 10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than the 11 date that is 6 months after the date of enactment 12 of the Expanding Representation at HHS Act of 13 2020, the agency administrator of each covered 14 agency shall establish an office to be known as the 15 Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (in this sec- 16 tion referred to as an ‘Office’) within the covered 17 agency to be responsible for all matters of the cov- 18 ered agency relating to diversity in the management, 19 employment, and business activities of the covered 20 agency. 21 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITIES.—The 22 agency administrator of each covered agency that, 23 preceding the establishment of an Office pursuant to 24 paragraph (1) within the covered agency, assigned 25 the responsibilities described in paragraph (1) (or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8374.IH H8374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8374 IH comparable responsibilities) to an office other than 1 such Office shall ensure that such responsibilities 2 are transferred to such Office. 3 ‘‘(3) DUTIES WITH RESPECT TO CIVIL RIGHTS 4 LAWS.—The responsibilities described in paragraph 5 (1) do not include enforcement of statutes, regula- 6 tions, or Executive orders pertaining to civil rights, 7 except that the Director of each Office shall coordi- 8 nate with the agency administrator of the respective 9 covered agency regarding the design and implemen- 10 tation of any remedies resulting from violations of 11 such statutes, regulations, or Executive orders. 12 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office of a covered 14 agency shall be headed by a Director, who shall be 15 appointed by, and shall report directly to, the agency 16 administrator of the covered agency. 17 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION.—The position of Director 18 shall be— 19 ‘‘(A) a career reserved position in the Sen- 20 ior Executive Service, as such terms are defined 21 in section 3132 of title 5, United States Code; 22 or 23 ‘‘(B) an equivalent position. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8374.IH H8374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8374 IH ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The agency administrator of 1 each covered agency, in consultation with the Direc- 2 tor of the Office of the covered agency, shall develop 3 standards for— 4 ‘‘(A) developing and overseeing the imple- 5 mentation of standards for— 6 ‘‘(i) equal employment opportunity 7 and the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity 8 of the workforce and senior management 9 of the covered agency; 10 ‘‘(ii) increased participation of minor- 11 ity-led and women-led businesses in the 12 programs and contracts of the covered 13 agency, including standards for coordi- 14 nating technical assistance to such busi- 15 nesses; and 16 ‘‘(iii) assessing the diversity policies 17 and practices of entities receiving financial 18 assistance from the covered agency, except 19 that the agency administrator shall exempt 20 small entities from the assessment, as de- 21 termined to be appropriate by the agency 22 administrator; and 23 ‘‘(B) advising the agency administrator of 24 the covered agency on the impact of the policies 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8374.IH H8374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8374 IH and regulations of the covered agency on minor- 1 ity-led and women-led grantees and sub- 2 grantees. 3 ‘‘(c) STAFF.—Each Office shall be staffed at the ap- 4 propriate levels to carry out the functions and responsibil- 5 ities of the Office under this section. 6 ‘‘(d) INCLUSION IN ALL LEVELS OF GRANTEE AND 7 SUBGRANTEE ACTIVITIES.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The agency administrator 9 of each covered agency, in consultation with the Di- 10 rector of the Office of the covered agency, shall de- 11 velop and implement standards and procedures to 12 ensure, to the maximum extent possible, the fair in- 13 clusion and utilization of minorities, women, and mi- 14 nority-led and women-led grantees and subgrantees 15 in all activities of the covered agency at all levels, in- 16 cluding in procurement, insurance, and all types of 17 contracts. 18 ‘‘(2) GRANTMAKING AND CONTRACTS.—The 19 procedures established by each covered agency for 20 review and evaluation of grant- and subgrant-mak- 21 ing and contract proposals and for hiring service 22 providers shall include, to the extent consistent with 23 applicable law, a component that gives consideration 24 to the diversity of the applicant. Such procedures 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8374.IH H8374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8374 IH shall include a written statement, in a form and with 1 such content as the Director of the Office of the cov- 2 ered agency shall prescribe, that a grantee, sub- 3 grantee, or contractor shall ensure, to the maximum 4 extent possible, the fair inclusion of women and mi- 5 norities in the workforce of the grantee, subgrantee, 6 contractor, and subcontractors. 7 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION.— 8 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION.—The standards 9 and procedures developed and implemented 10 under this subsection shall include a procedure 11 for the Director of the Office involved to deter- 12 mine whether a grantee, subgrantee, contractor, 13 or subcontractor of the covered agency has 14 failed to make a good faith effort to include mi- 15 norities and women in the workforce of the 16 grantee, subgrantee, contractor, or subcon- 17 tractor. 18 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF DETERMINATION.— 19 ‘‘(i) RECOMMENDATION TO AGENCY 20 ADMINISTRATOR.—Upon a determination 21 under subparagraph (A) of a failure de- 22 scribed in such subparagraph, the Director 23 of the Office involved shall recommend to 24 the agency administrator of the covered 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8374.IH H8374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8374 IH agency that the grant, subgrant, contract, 1 or subcontract, as applicable, be termi- 2 nated. 3 ‘‘(ii) ACTION BY AGENCY ADMINIS- 4 TRATOR.—Upon receipt of a recommenda- 5 tion under clause (i), the agency adminis- 6 trator of the covered agency may— 7 ‘‘(I) terminate the grant or con- 8 tract, or direct the grantee or con- 9 tractor to terminate the subgrant or 10 subcontract, as the case may be; 11 ‘‘(II) make a referral to the Of- 12 fice of Federal Contract Compliance 13 Programs of the Department of 14 Labor; or 15 ‘‘(III) take other appropriate ac- 16 tion. 17 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies with re- 18 spect to all grant agreements and other contracts of a cov- 19 ered agency, including for services of any kind, including 20 the services of adoption agencies, child welfare organiza- 21 tions, energy companies participating in the Low Income 22 Home Energy Assistance Program, legal service providers. 23 The grants, subgrants, contracts, and subcontracts re- 24 ferred to in this subsection include all contracts for all 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8374.IH H8374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8374 IH business and activities of a covered agency, at all levels, 1 including grants, subgrants, contracts, and subcontracts 2 for the programs and services provided by Department of 3 Health and Human Services grantees, subgrantees, con- 4 tractors, and subcontractors. 5 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.—The agency administrator of each 6 covered agency, in consultation with the Director of the 7 Office of the covered agency, shall submit to the Congress 8 an annual report regarding the actions taken by the Office 9 and the respective covered agency pursuant to this section. 10 Each such report shall include— 11 ‘‘(1) a statement of the total amounts paid by 12 the covered agency to grantees and contractors, and 13 the total amounts paid by grantees and contractors 14 to subgrantees and subcontractors, during the 12- 15 month covered reporting period; 16 ‘‘(2) the percentage of the amounts described in 17 paragraph (1) that were paid to minority-led or 18 women-led grantees, subgrantees, contractors, and 19 subcontractors, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and 20 gender; 21 ‘‘(3) the successes achieved and challenges 22 faced by the covered agency in operating minority 23 and women outreach programs; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8374.IH H8374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8374 IH ‘‘(4) the challenges the covered agency has ex- 1 perienced during the 12-month covered reporting pe- 2 riod in hiring qualified minority and women employ- 3 ees and awarding grants and contracting with quali- 4 fied minority-led and women-led grantees, sub- 5 grantees, contractors, and subcontractors; and 6 ‘‘(5) any other information, findings, conclu- 7 sions, and recommendations for legislative or agency 8 action, as the agency administrator determines ap- 9 propriate. 10 ‘‘(g) DIVERSITY IN COVERED AGENCY WORK- 11 FORCE.—The agency administrator of each covered agen- 12 cy shall take affirmative steps to seek diversity in the 13 workforce of the covered agency at all levels of the covered 14 agency in a manner consistent with applicable law. Such 15 steps shall include— 16 ‘‘(1) recruiting at historically Black colleges 17 and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, wom- 18 en’s colleges, and other colleges and universities at 19 which a majority of the students are members of mi- 20 nority populations; 21 ‘‘(2) sponsoring and recruiting at job fairs in 22 high-poverty communities; 23 ‘‘(3) placing employment advertisements in 24 newspapers, magazines, and technologically appro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8374.IH H8374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8374 IH priate mediums, such as the internet or online job 1 boards oriented toward minorities and women; 2 ‘‘(4) partnering with organizations that are fo- 3 cused on developing opportunities for minorities and 4 women to place talented young minorities and 5 women in industry internships, summer employment, 6 and full-time positions; and 7 ‘‘(5) any other mass media communications 8 that the agency administrator of the covered agency 9 determines necessary. 10 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 11 ‘‘(1) AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR.—The term 12 ‘agency administrator’ means the head of an agency. 13 ‘‘(2) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘covered 14 agency’— 15 ‘‘(A) means an agency or office of the De- 16 partment of Health and Human Services with 17 the authority to award grants or other financial 18 assistance; and 19 ‘‘(B) includes— 20 ‘‘(i) the Office of the Secretary; 21 ‘‘(ii) the Administration for Children 22 and Families; 23 ‘‘(iii) the Agency for Healthcare Re- 24 search and Quality; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8374.IH H8374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8374 IH ‘‘(iv) the Office of the Assistant Sec- 1 retary for Health; 2 ‘‘(v) the Office of the Assistant Sec- 3 retary for Preparedness and Response; 4 ‘‘(vi) the Center for Faith and Oppor- 5 tunity Initiatives; 6 ‘‘(vii) the Centers for Disease Control 7 and Prevention; 8 ‘‘(viii) the Centers for Medicare & 9 Medicaid Services; 10 ‘‘(ix) the Food and Drug Administra- 11 tion; 12 ‘‘(x) the Health Resources and Serv- 13 ices Administration; 14 ‘‘(xi) the National Institutes of 15 Health; 16 ‘‘(xii) the Office of Global Affairs; 17 ‘‘(xiii) the Office of the National Co- 18 ordinator for Health Information Tech- 19 nology; and 20 ‘‘(xiv) the Substance Abuse and Men- 21 tal Health Services Administration. 22 ‘‘(3) MINORITY.—The term ‘minority’ means 23 any Black American, Native American, Hispanic 24 American, or Asian American. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8374.IH H8374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8374 IH ‘‘(4) MINORITY-LED.—The term ‘ minority-led’ 1 means— 2 ‘‘(A) more than 50 percent of the leader- 3 ship, control, or ownership of which is held by 4 one or more minority individuals; 5 ‘‘(B) a significant percentage of senior 6 management or leadership positions of which 7 are held by minority individuals; and 8 ‘‘(C) in the case of a for-profit entity, more 9 than 50 percent of the net profit or loss of 10 which accrues to one or more minority individ- 11 uals. 12 ‘‘(5) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of- 13 fice of Minority and Women Inclusion established by 14 a covered agency pursuant to subsection (a). 15 ‘‘(6) WOMEN-LED.—The term ‘women-led’ 16 means— 17 ‘‘(A) more than 50 percent of the owner- 18 ship or control of which is held by [Text truncated for display. 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