Delivering Immediate Relief to America’s Families, Schools and Small Businesses Act

II Calendar No. 564 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4775 To provide continued emergency assistance, educational support, and health care response for individuals, families, and businesses affected by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 30 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 29), 2020 Mr. MCCONNELL introduced the following bill; which was read the first time OCTOBER 1, 2020 Read the second time and placed on the calendar A BILL To provide continued emergency assistance, educational sup- port, and health care response for individuals, families, and businesses affected by the 2020 coronavirus pan- demic. 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 ‘‘Delivering Immediate 4 Relief to America’s Families, Schools and Small Busi- 5 nesses Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4775.PCS S4775 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4775 PCS SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. References. DIVISION A—LIABILITY PROTECTIONS, CONTINUED RELIEF FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND WORKERS, PUBLIC HEALTH EN- HANCEMENTS, AND EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT TITLE I—SUNSETS AND OFFSETS Sec. 1001. Emergency relief and taxpayer protections. Sec. 1002. Direct appropriation. Sec. 1003. Termination of authority. Sec. 1004. Rescissions. TITLE II—CORONAVIRUS LIABILITY RELIEF Sec. 2001. Short title. Sec. 2002. Findings and purposes. Sec. 2003. Definitions. Subtitle A—Liability Relief PART I—LIABILITY LIMITATIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS AND ENTITIES ENGAGED IN BUSINESSES, SERVICES, ACTIVITIES, OR ACCOMMODATIONS Sec. 2121. Application of part. Sec. 2122. Liability; safe harbor. PART II—LIABILITY LIMITATIONS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS Sec. 2141. Application of part. Sec. 2142. Liability for health care professionals and health care facilities dur- ing coronavirus public health emergency. PART III—SUBSTANTIVE AND PROCEDURAL PROVISIONS FOR CORONAVIRUS- RELATED ACTIONS GENERALLY Sec. 2161. Jurisdiction. Sec. 2162. Limitations on suits. Sec. 2163. Procedures for suit in district courts of the united states. Sec. 2164. Demand letters; cause of action. PART IV—RELATION TO LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAWS Sec. 2181. Limitation on violations under specific laws. Sec. 2182. Liability for conducting testing at workplace. Sec. 2183. Joint employment and independent contracting. Sec. 2184. Exclusion of certain notification requirements as a result of the COVID–19 public health emergency. Subtitle B—Products VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S4775.PCS S4775 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4775 PCS Sec. 2201. Applicability of the targeted liability protections for pandemic and epidemic products and security countermeasures with respect to covid–19. Subtitle C—General Provisions Sec. 2301. Severability. TITLE III—ASSISTANCE FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES Sec. 3001. Short title. Sec. 3002. Extension of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program. TITLE IV—SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Sec. 4001. Small business recovery. TITLE V—POSTAL SERVICE ASSISTANCE Sec. 5001. COVID–19 funding for the United States Postal Service. TITLE VI—EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT AND CHILD CARE Subtitle A—Emergency Education Freedom Grants; Tax Credits for Contributions to Eligible Scholarship-granting Organizations Sec. 6001. Emergency education freedom grants. Sec. 6002. Tax credits for contributions to eligible scholarship-granting organi- zations. Sec. 6003. Education Freedom Scholarships web portal and administration. Sec. 6004. 529 account funding for homeschool and additional elementary and secondary expenses. Subtitle B—Back to Work Child Care Grants Sec. 6101. Back to Work Child Care grants. TITLE VII—PANDEMIC PREPARATION AND STRATEGIC STOCKPILE Sec. 7001. Sustained on-shore manufacturing capacity for public health emer- gencies. Sec. 7002. Improving and sustaining State medical stockpiles. Sec. 7003. Strengthening the Strategic National Stockpile. TITLE VIII—CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND EXTENSION Sec. 8001. Extension of period to use Coronavirus Relief Fund payments. TITLE IX—CHARITABLE GIVING Sec. 9001. Increase in limitation on partial above the line deduction for chari- table contributions. TITLE X—CRITICAL MINERALS Sec. 10001. Mineral security. Sec. 10002. Rare earth element advanced coal technologies. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S4775.PCS S4775 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4775 PCS TITLE XI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Sec. 11001. Emergency designation. DIVISION B—CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ADDITIONAL SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2020 SEC. 3. REFERENCES. 1 Except as expressly provided otherwise, any reference 2 to ‘‘this Act’’ contained in any division of this Act shall 3 be treated as referring only to the provisions of that divi- 4 sion. 5 DIVISION A—LIABILITY PROTEC- 6 TIONS, CONTINUED RELIEF 7 FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND 8 WORKERS, PUBLIC HEALTH 9 ENHANCEMENTS, AND EDU- 10 CATIONAL SUPPORT 11 TITLE I—SUNSETS AND OFFSETS 12 SEC. 1001. EMERGENCY RELIEF AND TAXPAYER PROTEC- 13 TIONS. 14 Section 4003 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9061) 15 is amended in subsection (e) by striking ‘‘Amounts’’ and 16 inserting ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 17 amounts’’. 18 SEC. 1002. DIRECT APPROPRIATION. 19 Section 4027 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9063) 20 is amended by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(d) REDUCTION.—The appropriation made under 22 this section shall be reduced, on January 19, 2021, by 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4775.PCS S4775 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4775 PCS an amount equal to the difference between 1 $454,000,000,000 and the aggregate amount of loans, 2 loan guarantees, and other investments that the Secretary 3 has made or committed to make under section 4003(b)(4) 4 as of such date.’’. 5 SEC. 1003. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 6 Section 4029 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9063) 7 is amended by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL RESERVE PROGRAMS OR FACILI- 9 TIES.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 11 provision of law, after January 4, 2021, the Board 12 of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the 13 Federal Reserve banks shall not make any loan, pur- 14 chase any obligation, asset, security, or other inter- 15 est, or make any extension of credit through any 16 program or facility established under section 13(3) 17 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 343(3)) in 18 which the Secretary made a loan, loan guarantee, or 19 other investment using funds appropriated under 20 section 4027, other than any such loan, purchase, or 21 extension of credit for which a complete application 22 was submitted on or before January 4, 2021, pro- 23 vided that such loan, purchase, or extension of credit 24 is made on or before January 18, 2021, and under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4775.PCS S4775 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4775 PCS the terms and conditions of the program or facility 1 as in effect on the date the complete application was 2 submitted. 3 ‘‘(2) NO MODIFICATION.—On or after January 4 19, 2021, the Board of Governors of the Federal Re- 5 serve System and the Federal Reserve banks shall 6 not modify the terms and conditions of any program 7 or facility established under section 13(3) of the 8 Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 343(3)) in which 9 the Secretary made a loan, loan guarantee, or other 10 investment using funds appropriated under section 11 4027, but may modify or restructure a loan, obliga- 12 tion, asset, security, or other interest, or extension 13 of credit made or purchased through any such pro- 14 gram or facility provided that— 15 ‘‘(A) the loan, obligation, asset, security, 16 or other interest, or extension of credit is for an 17 eligible business, including an eligible nonprofit 18 organization; and 19 ‘‘(B) the modification or restructuring re- 20 lates to a single and specific eligible business, 21 including an eligible nonprofit organization; and 22 ‘‘(C) the modification or restructuring is 23 necessary to minimize costs to taxpayers that 24 could arise from a default on the loan, obliga- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4775.PCS S4775 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4775 PCS tion, asset, security, or other interest, or exten- 1 sion of credit.’’. 2 SEC. 1004. RESCISSIONS. 3 (a) PPP AND SUBSIDY FOR CERTAIN LOAN PAY- 4 MENTS.—Of the unobligated balances in the appropria- 5 tions account under the heading ‘‘Small Business Admin- 6 istration—Business Loans Program Account, CARES 7 Act’’ as of the day before the date of enactment of this 8 Act, effective on the date of enactment of this Act 9 $146,000,000,000 shall be rescinded and deposited into 10 the general fund of the Treasury. 11 (b) EXCHANGE STABILIZATION FUND.—Section 12 4003 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9042) is amended— 13 (1) in subsection (a), by striking 14 ‘‘$500,000,000,000’’ and inserting 15 ‘‘$296,000,000,000’’; and 16 (2) in subsection (b)(4), in the matter pre- 17 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking 18 ‘‘$454,000,000,000’’ and inserting 19 ‘‘$250,000,000,000’’. 20 TITLE II—CORONAVIRUS 21 LIABILITY RELIEF 22 SEC. 2001. SHORT TITLE. 23 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Safeguarding Amer- 24 ica’s Frontline Employees To Offer Work Opportunities 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4775.PCS S4775 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4775 PCS Required to Kickstart the Economy Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 1 TO WORK Act’’. 2 SEC. 2002. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 4 (1) The SARS–CoV–2 virus that originated in 5 China and causes the disease COVID–19 has caused 6 untold misery and devastation throughout the world, 7 including in the United States. 8 (2) For months, frontline health care workers 9 and health care facilities have fought the virus with 10 courage and resolve. They did so at first with very 11 little information about how to treat the virus and 12 developed strategies to save lives of the people of the 13 United States in real time. They risked their per- 14 sonal health and wellbeing to protect and treat their 15 patients. 16 (3) Businesses in the United States kicked into 17 action to produce and procure personal protective 18 equipment, such as masks, gloves, face shields, and 19 hand sanitizer, and other necessary medical supplies, 20 such as ventilators, at unprecedented rates. 21 (4) To halt the spread of the disease, State and 22 local governments took drastic measures. They shut 23 down small and large businesses, schools, colleges 24 and universities, religious, philanthropic and other 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4775.PCS S4775 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4775 PCS nonprofit institutions, and local government agen- 1 cies. They ordered people to remain in their homes. 2 (5) This standstill was needed to slow the 3 spread of the virus. But it devastated the economy 4 of the United States. The sum of hundreds of local- 5 level and State-level decisions to close nearly every 6 space in which people might gather brought inter- 7 state commerce nearly to a halt. 8 (6) This halt led to the loss of millions of jobs. 9 These lost jobs were not a natural consequence of 10 the economic environment, but rather the result of 11 a drastic, though temporary, response to the unprec- 12 edented nature of this global pandemic. 13 (7) Congress passed a series of statutes to ad- 14 dress the health care and economic crises—the 15 Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supple- 16 mental Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116– 17 123; 134 Stat. 146), the Families First Coronavirus 18 Response Act (Public Law 116–127; 134 Stat. 178), 19 the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security 20 Act or the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136), and 21 the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care 22 Enhancement Act (Public Law 116–139; 134 Stat. 23 620). In these laws Congress exercised its power 24 under the Commerce and Spending Clauses of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4775.PCS S4775 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4775 PCS Constitution of the United States to direct trillions 1 of taxpayer dollars toward efforts to aid workers, 2 businesses, State and local governments, health care 3 workers, and patients. 4 (8) This legislation provided short-term insula- 5 tion from the worst of the economic storm, but these 6 laws alone cannot protect the United States from 7 further devastation. Only reopening the economy so 8 that workers can get back to work and students can 9 get back to school can accomplish that goal. 10 (9) The Constitution of the United States spe- 11 cifically enumerates the legislative powers of Con- 12 gress. One of those powers is the regulation of inter- 13 state commerce. The Government is not a substitute 14 for the economy, but it has the authority and the 15 duty to act when interstate commerce is threatened 16 and damaged. As applied to the present crisis, Con- 17 gress can deploy its power over interstate commerce 18 to promote a prudent reopening of businesses and 19 other organizations that serve as the foundation and 20 backbone of the national economy and of commerce 21 among the States. These include small and large 22 businesses, schools (which are substantial employers 23 in their own right and provide necessary services to 24 enable parents and other caregivers to return to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4775.PCS S4775 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4775 PCS work), colleges and universities (which are substan- 1 tial employers and supply the interstate market for 2 higher-education services), religious, philanthropic 3 and other nonprofit institutions (which are substan- 4 tial employers and provide necessary services to their 5 communities), and local government agencies. 6 (10) Congress must also ensure that the Na- 7 tion’s health care workers and health care facilities 8 are able to act fully to defeat the virus. 9 (11) Congress must also safegu [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]