Breaking the Gridlock Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 626 To advance commonsense policy priorities. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 30, 2023 Mr. DESAULNIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Science, Space, and Technology, Natural Resources, Transportation and Infrastructure, Over- sight and Accountability, Financial Services, Agriculture, House Adminis- tration, the Judiciary, Small Business, Homeland Security, Rules, Ethics, the Budget, Foreign Affairs, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Armed Services, and Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To advance commonsense policy priorities. 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 ‘‘Breaking the Gridlock 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 626 IH TITLE I 1 SEC. 101. FEDERAL TASK FORCE TO SUPPORT GRAND- 2 PARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Fed- 4 eral Task Force to Support Grandparents Raising Grand- 5 children (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 6 (b) OLDER RELATIVE CAREGIVER.—In this section, 7 the term ‘‘older relative caregiver’’ has the meaning given 8 the term under section 372(a)(3) of the National Family 9 Caregiver Support (42 U.S.C. 3030s(a)(3)). 10 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall be 12 composed of the following members, or their des- 13 ignee: 14 (A) The Secretary of Health and Human 15 Services. 16 (B) The Attorney General. 17 (C) The Administrator of the Administra- 18 tion for Community Living. 19 (D) The Director of the Centers for Dis- 20 ease Control and Prevention. 21 (E) The Assistant Secretary for Mental 22 Health and Substance Use. 23 (F) The Assistant Secretary for the Ad- 24 ministration for Children and Families. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 626 IH (G) The Director of the Indian Health 1 Service. 2 (H) The Administrator of the Centers for 3 Medicare & Medicaid Services. 4 (I) The head of each Federal department, 5 agency, or other governmental entity identified 6 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 7 as having responsibilities, or administering pro- 8 grams, relating to the current health, edu- 9 cational, nutritional, and other needs and cur- 10 rent issues affecting older relative caregivers, 11 including grandparents, raising children in their 12 care. 13 (J) A grandparent raising a grandchild or 14 grandchildren as well as another older relative 15 caregiver of children. 16 (2) LEAD AGENCY.—The Department of Health 17 and Human Services shall be the lead agency for the 18 Task Force. 19 (d) DUTIES.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.— 21 (A) INFORMATION.—The Task Force shall 22 identify, coordinate, and disseminate informa- 23 tion publicly about Federal information, re- 24 sources, and best practices available, on the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 626 IH date of the determination, to help older relative 1 caregivers, including grandparents, raising chil- 2 dren in their care, including those raising chil- 3 dren in their care as a result of the opioid cri- 4 sis, meet the health, educational, nutritional, 5 and other needs of the children in their care as 6 well as maintain their own physical and mental 7 health and emotional well-being. 8 (B) NATIVE AMERICANS.—In carrying out 9 the duties described in subparagraph (A), the 10 Task Force shall ensure that the needs of Na- 11 tive Americans (as defined in section 102 of the 12 Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 13 3002)) are considered. 14 (2) REPORT.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 360 16 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 17 the Task Force shall submit a report to the 18 Special Committee on Aging, the Committee on 19 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and 20 the Committee on Finance of the Senate and 21 the Committee on Education and the Work- 22 force, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 23 and the Committee on Ways and Means of the 24 House of Representatives that includes— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 626 IH (i) best practices, resources, and other 1 useful information for older relative care- 2 givers, including grandparents, raising chil- 3 dren in their care; and 4 (ii) an identification of the gaps in 5 needs of older relative caregivers, including 6 grandparents, raising children in their 7 care. 8 (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 4 9 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 10 the Task Force shall submit a final report to 11 the Special Committee on Aging, the Committee 12 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 13 and the Committee on Finance of the Senate 14 and the Committee on Education and the 15 Workforce, the Committee on Energy and Com- 16 merce, and the Committee on Ways and Means 17 of the House of Representatives that includes 18 the final findings of the Task Force, rec- 19 ommendations for future actions to address 20 issues faced by older relative caregivers, includ- 21 ing grandparents, raising children in their care, 22 and any other useful information. 23 (3) PROCESS FOR PUBLIC INPUT.—The Task 24 Force shall establish a process for public input to in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 626 IH form the identification of, and updates to, the best 1 practices, resources, and other useful information 2 and the gaps in needs described in paragraph (2), 3 including a process for the public to submit rec- 4 ommendations to the Task Force and an opportunity 5 for public comment. 6 (e) SUNSET.—The Task Force shall terminate on the 7 date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this 8 Act. 9 (f) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM- 10 MITTEE REQUIREMENTS.—The provisions of chapter 10 11 of part I of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply 12 to the Task Force. 13 (g) FUNDING.—No additional funds are authorized 14 to be appropriated to carry out this section. The Task 15 Force shall be carried out with funds otherwise appro- 16 priated. 17 TITLE II 18 SEC. 201. MODIFICATION OF FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 19 (a) FINDINGS.—Section 2 of the Earthquake Haz- 20 ards Reduction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7701) is amend- 21 ed— 22 (1) in paragraph (1)— 23 (A) by inserting ‘‘, and the Commonwealth 24 of Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘States’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 626 IH (B) by inserting ‘‘Oregon,’’ after ‘‘New 1 York,’’; and 2 (C) by inserting ‘‘Tennessee,’’ after ‘‘South 3 Carolina’’; 4 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘prediction 5 techniques and’’; 6 (3) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 7 following: 8 ‘‘(4) A well-funded seismological research pro- 9 gram could provide the scientific understanding 10 needed to fully implement an effective earthquake 11 early warning system.’’; 12 (4) in paragraphs (6) and (7), by striking ‘‘life- 13 lines’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘lifeline 14 infrastructure’’; and 15 (5) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(12) The built environment has generally been 17 constructed and maintained to meet the needs of the 18 users under normal conditions. When earthquakes 19 occur, the built environment is generally designed to 20 prevent severe injuries or loss of human life and is 21 not expected to remain operational or able to recover 22 under any specified schedule. 23 ‘‘(13) The National Research Council published 24 a study on reducing hazards and risks associated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 626 IH with earthquakes based on the goals and objectives 1 for achieving national earthquake resilience de- 2 scribed in the strategic plan entitled ‘Strategic Plan 3 for the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction 4 Program’. The study and an accompanying report 5 called for work in 18 tasks focused on research, pre- 6 paredness, and mitigation and annual funding of ap- 7 proximately $300,000,000 per year for 20 years.’’. 8 (b) PURPOSE.—Section 3 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 9 7702) is amended— 10 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), in 11 the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘and increase the re- 12 silience of communities’’ after ‘‘future earthquakes’’; 13 (2) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘to individ- 14 uals and the communities’’ after ‘‘an earthquake’’; 15 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘in time of 16 disaster’’ and inserting ‘‘to facilitate community- 17 wide post-earthquake recovery and in times of dis- 18 aster’’; 19 (4) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘for predicting 20 damaging earthquakes and’’; 21 (5) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘and plan- 22 ning’’ after ‘‘model building’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 626 IH (6) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘reconstruc- 1 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘re-occupancy, recovery, recon- 2 struction,’’. 3 (c) DEFINITIONS.— 4 (1) LIFELINE INFRASTRUCTURE.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(6) of such 6 Act (42 U.S.C. 7703(6)) is amended by striking 7 ‘‘lifelines’’ and inserting ‘‘lifeline infrastruc- 8 ture’’. 9 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Such Act 10 (42 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.) is amended by striking 11 ‘‘lifelines’’ each place it appears and inserting 12 ‘‘lifeline infrastructure’’. 13 (2) COMMUNITY RESILIENCE.—Section 4 of 14 such Act (42 U.S.C. 7703) is amended by adding at 15 the end the following: 16 ‘‘(10) The term ‘community resilience’ means 17 the ability of a community to prepare and plan for, 18 absorb, recover from, and more successfully adapt to 19 adverse seismic events.’’. 20 SEC. 202. MODIFICATION OF NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE HAZ- 21 ARDS REDUCTION PROGRAM. 22 (a) MODIFICATION OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—Sub- 23 section (a)(2) of section 5 of the Earthquake Hazards Re- 24 duction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7704) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 626 IH (1) in subparagraph (B)— 1 (A) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘, commu- 2 nity resilience,’’ after ‘‘seismic risk’’; and 3 (B) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(iv) publishing a systematic set of 5 maps of active faults and folds, lique- 6 faction susceptibility, susceptibility for 7 earthquake induced landslides, and other 8 seismically induced hazards; and’’; and 9 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘develop, 10 operate’’ and all that follows through ‘‘7708),’’ and 11 inserting ‘‘continue the development of the Advanced 12 National Seismic System, including earthquake early 13 warning capabilities’’. 14 (b) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO INTERAGENCY CO- 15 ORDINATING COMMITTEE ON EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS RE- 16 DUCTION.— 17 (1) CLARIFICATION REGARDING MEMBER- 18 SHIP.—Subparagraph (B) of subsection (a)(3) of 19 such section is amended, in the matter preceding 20 clause (i), by striking ‘‘The committee’’ and insert- 21 ing ‘‘In addition to the Director, the committee’’. 22 (2) REDUCTION IN MINIMUM FREQUENCY OF 23 MEETINGS OF INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COM- 24 MITTEE ON EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS REDUCTION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 626 IH Subparagraph (C) of such subsection is amended by 1 striking ‘‘not less than 3 times a year’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘not less frequently than once each year’’. 3 (3) EXPANSION OF DUTIES.—Subparagraph 4 (D) of such subsection is amended to read as fol- 5 lows: 6 ‘‘(D) DUTIES.— 7 ‘‘(i) GENERAL DUTY.—The Inter- 8 agency Coordinating Committee shall over- 9 see the planning, management, and coordi- 10 nation of the Program. 11 ‘‘(ii) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—The duties 12 of the Interagency Coordinating Committee 13 include the following: 14 ‘‘(I) Developing, not later than 6 15 months after the date of the enact- 16 ment of the National Earthquake 17 Hazards Reduction Program Reau- 18 thorization Act of 2004 and updating 19 periodically— 20 ‘‘(aa) a strategic plan that 21 establishes goals and priorities 22 for the Program activities de- 23 scribed under subsection (a)(2); 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 626 IH ‘‘(bb) a detailed manage- 1 ment plan to implement such 2 strategic plan. 3 ‘‘(II) Developing a coordinated 4 interagency budget for the Program 5 that will ensure appropriate balance 6 among the Program activities de- 7 scribed under subsection (a)(2), and, 8 in accordance with the plans devel- 9 oped under subclause (I), submitting 10 such budget to the Director of the Of- 11 fice of Management and Budget at 12 the time designated by the Director 13 for agencies to submit biennial budg- 14 ets. 15 ‘‘(III) Developing interagency 16 memorandums of understanding with 17 any relevant Federal agencies on data 18 sharing and resource commitment in 19 the event of an earthquake disaster. 20 ‘‘(IV) Coordinating with the 21 Interagency Coordinating Committee 22 on Windstorm Impact Reduction and 23 other natural hazards coordination 24 committees as the Director determines 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 626 IH appropriate to share data and best 1 practices. 2 ‘‘(V) Coordinating with the Ad- 3 ministrator of the National Aero- 4 nautics and Space Administration and 5 the Administrator of the National 6 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- 7 tion on data sharing and resource al- 8 location to ensure judicious use of 9 Government resources and the free- 10 flowin [Text truncated for display. 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