Support Our Election Workers Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3436 To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish a program to make grants to States to provide increased pay for election workers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2023 Mr. MORELLE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish a program to make grants to States to provide increased pay for election workers, 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 ‘‘Support Our Election 4 Workers Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROGRAM FOR GRANTS TO SUPPORT ELECTION 6 WORKERS. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Subtitle D of 8 title II of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:59 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3436.IH H3436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3436 IH 21001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘PART 7— PAYMENTS TO HELP SUPPORT 3 ELECTION WORKERS 4 ‘‘SEC. 297. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF GRANT 5 PROGRAM. 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall establish 7 and operate a program under which the Commission shall 8 make payments to eligible States for providing increased 9 pay for election workers, including individuals serving as 10 election officials or poll workers on a temporary or unpaid 11 basis. 12 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 13 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.—The amount of a payment 14 made to a State under the program established 15 under this part shall be equal to the greater of— 16 ‘‘(A) the reasonable costs the State expects 17 to incur in providing increased pay for election 18 workers, as determined by the Commission tak- 19 ing into account the information provided by 20 the State in the plan described in section 297A; 21 or 22 ‘‘(B) the minimum payment amount de- 23 scribed in paragraph (2) with respect to the fis- 24 cal year. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:59 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3436.IH H3436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3436 IH ‘‘(2) MINIMUM PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The min- 1 imum payment amount described in this paragraph 2 with respect to a fiscal year is equal to one-half of 3 1 percent of the aggregate amount made available 4 during the fiscal year for payments under the pro- 5 gram established under this part. 6 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—In order to be eligible to receive 7 a payment under the program established under this part, 8 a State shall submit to the Commission, at such time and 9 in such form as the Commission may require, an applica- 10 tion containing a description of a plan for how the State 11 will use the payment to provide increased pay to election 12 workers, as described in section 297A, together with such 13 other information and assurances as the Commission may 14 require. 15 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.—A State receiving a payment under 16 the program established under this part shall submit to 17 the Commission such reports on the State’s use of the pay- 18 ment as the Commission may require. 19 ‘‘SEC. 297A. STATE PLAN FOR PROVIDING INCREASED PAY 20 TO ELECTION WORKERS. 21 ‘‘(a) ELEMENTS OF PLAN.—A State’s plan for pro- 22 viding increased pay to election workers shall include the 23 following elements: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:59 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3436.IH H3436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3436 IH ‘‘(1) A description of how the State will use in- 1 creased pay to retain qualified election workers and 2 to recruit new election workers. 3 ‘‘(2) The requirements an individual must meet 4 in order to be eligible to receive increased pay under 5 the plan. 6 ‘‘(3) The amount of the reasonable costs the 7 State expects to incur in providing increased pay for 8 such eligible individuals. 9 ‘‘(4) The procedures for carrying out the plan, 10 including the extent to which State and local election 11 officials will be responsible for carrying out the plan. 12 ‘‘(b) OPPORTUNITY OF ALL ELECTION WORKERS TO 13 RECEIVE PAY.—Under the State’s plan, the State may 14 not treat an election worker as ineligible to receive in- 15 creased pay solely because the individual does not interact 16 directly with voters, individuals attempting to vote, or in- 17 dividuals attempting to register to vote. 18 ‘‘SEC. 297B. COVERAGE OF COMMONWEALTH OF NORTH- 19 ERN MARIANA ISLANDS. 20 ‘‘In this part, the Commonwealth of the Northern 21 Mariana Islands shall be considered a State. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:59 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3436.IH H3436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3436 IH ‘‘SEC. 297C. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for pay- 2 ments under this part such sums as may be necessary for 3 fiscal year 2024 and each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 5 of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 6 relating to subtitle D of title II the following: 7 ‘‘PART 7— PAYMENTS TO HELP SUPPORT ELECTION WORKERS ‘‘Sec. 297. Establishment and operation of grant program. ‘‘Sec. 297A. State plan for providing increased pay to election workers. ‘‘Sec. 297B. Coverage of Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. ‘‘Sec. 297C. Authorization of appropriations.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:59 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3436.IH H3436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS