RISER Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4792 To extend the availability of Coronavirus Relief Fund payment funds for States or governments that use such funds to respond to the COVID– 19 public health emergency in accordance with a qualifying economic development plan. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 1, 2020 Mr. MORAN (for himself and Mr. ROBERTS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To extend the availability of Coronavirus Relief Fund pay- ment funds for States or governments that use such funds to respond to the COVID–19 public health emer- gency in accordance with a qualifying economic develop- ment plan. 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 ‘‘Remove Impediments 4 for a Successful Economic Recovery Act’’ or the ‘‘RISER 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4792.IS S4792 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4792 IS SEC. 2. EXTENDED AVAILABILITY FOR CORONAVIRUS RE- 1 LIEF FUND PAYMENTS USED IN ACCORD- 2 ANCE WITH A QUALIFYING ECONOMIC DE- 3 VELOPMENT PLAN. 4 Section 601(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 5 801(d)) is amended to read as follows: 6 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS; AVAILABILITY.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State, Tribal govern- 8 ment, and unit of local government shall use the 9 funds provided under a payment made under this 10 section to cover only those costs of the State, Tribal 11 government, or unit of local government that— 12 ‘‘(A) are necessary expenditures incurred 13 due to the public health emergency with respect 14 to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19); 15 ‘‘(B) were not accounted for in the budget 16 most recently approved as of the date of enact- 17 ment of this section for the State or govern- 18 ment; and 19 ‘‘(C) subject to paragraph (2), were in- 20 curred during the period that begins on March 21 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020. 22 ‘‘(2) EXTENDED AVAILABILITY FOR FUNDS 23 USED IN ACCORDANCE WITH A QUALIFYING ECO- 24 NOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4792.IS S4792 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4792 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sub- 1 paragraph (C) of paragraph (1), funds provided 2 under a payment made under this section shall 3 remain available to a State, Tribal government, 4 or unit of local government until December 31, 5 2022, for obligation by the State or govern- 6 ment— 7 ‘‘(i) for costs of the State or govern- 8 ment that— 9 ‘‘(I) are necessary expenditures 10 incurred due to the public health 11 emergency with respect to the 12 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID– 13 19); and 14 ‘‘(II) were not accounted for in 15 the budget most recently approved as 16 of the date of enactment of this sec- 17 tion for the State or government; and 18 ‘‘(ii) in accordance with a qualifying 19 economic development plan. 20 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—Any funds obligated 21 under subparagraph (A) as of the date specified 22 in such subparagraph shall remain available 23 until expended. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4792.IS S4792 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4792 IS ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—In 1 order to use funds provided under a payment 2 under this section in accordance with this para- 3 graph, a State, Tribal government, or unit of 4 local government shall provide the Secretary 5 with a certification signed by the Chief Execu- 6 tive of the State or government that the pro- 7 posed uses of the funds under the qualifying 8 economic development plan are consistent with 9 the requirements of subparagraph (A)(i). 10 ‘‘(D) QUALIFYING ECONOMIC DEVELOP- 11 MENT PLAN.—For purposes of subparagraph 12 (A), the term ‘qualifying economic development 13 plan’ means, with respect to a State or govern- 14 ment, a plan for using funds paid or distributed 15 to the State or government under this section 16 to respond to the COVID–19 public health 17 emergency, including by expanding access in a 18 technology neutral manner to broadband and 19 telemedicine services to unserved locations or 20 consumers, that is approved by the State or the 21 governing board of a university before Decem- 22 ber 30, 2020.’’. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4792.IS S4792 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS