[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 201 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 201

   To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide Federal aid and 
 economic stimulus through a one-time revenue grant to the States and 
                        their local governments.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 22, 2003

Mr. Schumer (for himself and Ms. Snowe) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide Federal aid and 
 economic stimulus through a one-time revenue grant to the States and 
                        their local governments.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``State and Local Aid and Economic 
Stimulus Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. ONE-TIME REVENUE GRANT TO STATES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 67 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 6721. One-time revenue grant to States and local governments
    ``(a) Appropriation.--There is authorized to be appropriated and is 
appropriated to carry out this section $40,000,000,000 for fiscal year 
2003.
    ``(b) Allotments.--From the amount appropriated under subsection 
(a) for fiscal year 2003, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, as soon 
as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, allot to 
each of the States as follows:
            ``(1) $20 billion based on population.--
                    ``(A) State level.--$10,000,000,000 shall be 
                allotted among such States on the basis of the relative 
                population of each such State, as determined by the 
                Secretary on the basis of the most recent satisfactory 
                data.
                    ``(B) Local government level.--$10,000,000,000 
                shall be allotted among such States as determined under 
                subparagraph (A) for distribution to the various units 
                of general local government within such States on the 
                basis of the relative population of each such unit 
                within each such State, as determined by the Secretary 
                on the basis of the most recent satisfactory data.
            ``(2) $20 billion based on change in unemployment rate.--
                    ``(A) Tier 1.--
                            ``(i) State level.--$2,500,000,000 shall be 
                        allotted among such States which have 
                        experienced a tier 1 unemployment rate on the 
                        basis of the relative number of unemployed 
                        individuals for calendar year 2002 in each such 
                        State, as determined by the Secretary on the 
                        basis of the most recent satisfactory data.
                            ``(ii) Local government level.--
                        $2,500,000,000 shall be allotted among such 
                        States which have experienced a tier 1 
                        unemployment rate as determined under clause 
                        (i) for distribution to the various units of 
                        general local government within such States on 
                        the basis of the relative number of unemployed 
                        individuals for calendar year 2002 in each such 
                        unit within each such State, as determined by 
                        the Secretary on the basis of the most recent 
                        satisfactory data.
                    ``(B) Tier 2.--
                            ``(i) State level.--$7,500,000,000 shall be 
                        allotted among such States which have 
                        experienced a tier 2 unemployment rate on the 
                        basis of the relative number of unemployed 
                        individuals for calendar year 2002 in each such 
                        State, as determined by the Secretary on the 
                        basis of the most recent satisfactory data.
                            ``(ii) Local government level.--
                        $7,500,000,000 shall be allotted among such 
                        States which have experienced a tier 2 
                        unemployment rate as determined under clause 
                        (i) for distribution to the various units of 
                        general local government within such States on 
                        the basis of the relative number of unemployed 
                        individuals for calendar year 2002 in each such 
                        unit within each such State, as determined by 
                        the Secretary on the basis of the most recent 
                        satisfactory data.
    ``(c) Guidelines for Use of Funds.--It is the sense of Congress 
that priority for using the funds allotted under this section should be 
given to homeland security, medicaid, public health, highway 
construction, childcare, elementary, secondary, and higher education, 
and the prevention of additional property tax increases.
    ``(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) State.--The term `State' means any of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico.
            ``(2) Unit of general local government.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `unit of general local 
                government' means--
                            ``(i) a county, parish, township, city, or 
                        political subdivision of a county, parish, 
                        township, or city, that is a unit of general 
                        local government as determined by the Secretary 
                        of Commerce for general statistical purposes; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) the District of Columbia, the 
                        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the recognized 
                        governing body of an Indian tribe or Alaskan 
                        native village that carries out substantial 
                        governmental duties and powers.
                    ``(B) Treatment of subsumed areas.--For purposes of 
                determining a unit of general local government under 
                this section, the rules under section 6720(c) of title 
                31, United States Code, shall apply.
            ``(3) Unemployment.--With respect to any State or unit of 
        general local government--
                    ``(A) Tier 1 unemployment rate.--The term `tier 1 
                unemployment rate' means an unemployment rate for 
                calendar year 2002 which was at least .4 but not more 
                than 1.0 percentage point greater than such rate for 
                calendar year 2000.
                    ``(B) Tier 2 unemployment rate.--The term `tier 2 
                unemployment rate' means an unemployment rate for 
                calendar year 2002 which was more than 1.0 percentage 
                point greater than such rate for calendar year 2000.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 67 of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new item:

``6721. One-time revenue grant to States and local governments.''.
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