[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 854 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 854

    To amend the Compact of Free Association of 1985 to provide for 
adequate Compact-impact aid to affected States and territories, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 10, 2015

  Mr. Takai (for himself, Mr. Sablan, Ms. Gabbard, and Ms. Bordallo) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
   Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, 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 amend the Compact of Free Association of 1985 to provide for 
adequate Compact-impact aid to affected States and territories, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Compact-Impact Aid Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) In approving the Compact of Free Association it was not 
        the intent of Congress to cause adverse consequences for 
        States, territories, and other jurisdictions of the United 
        States.
            (2) Congress declared that if any adverse consequences to 
        States, territories, and other jurisdictions of the United 
        States resulted from implementation of the Compact of Free 
        Association, Congress would act sympathetically and 
        expeditiously to redress those adverse consequences.
            (3) The Government Accountability Office has reported that 
        migration from the Freely Associated States has had a 
        significant impact on Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
        Mariana Islands, and the State of Hawaii and some areas of the 
        continental United States.
            (4) By placing demands on local governments for health, 
        educational, and other social services, migration under the 
        Compact has adversely affected the budgetary resources of 
        several States and territories.
            (5) Insufficient sums have been appropriated to cover the 
        costs incurred by Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
        Mariana Islands, and the State of Hawaii, resulting from 
        increased demands placed on health, educational, and other 
        social services by individuals from the Federated States of 
        Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 
        Republic of Palau.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to address the unfunded 
mandate and adverse financial consequences resulting from the Compact 
by meeting the obligations set forth in the Compact.

SEC. 3. ENSURING MANDATORY APPROPRIATIONS AND HEALTH SERVICES 
              REIMBURSEMENT AS PART OF COMPACT-IMPACT AID.

    (a) In General.--Section 104(e)(6) of the Compact of Free 
Association Act of 1985 (48 U.S.C. 1904(e)(6)) is amended to read as 
follows:
            ``(6) Impact costs.--
                    ``(A) Authorization and continuing 
                appropriations.--
                            ``(i) In general.--There is hereby 
                        authorized and appropriated to the Secretary of 
                        the Interior, for fiscal year 2015, 
                        $185,000,000 with subsequent increases as 
                        needed to address significant increases in 
                        migration for grants to any local government of 
                        the United States that demonstrates financial 
                        strain due to demands on public services by 
                        significant immigration of individuals from the 
                        Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of 
                        the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of 
                        Palau, and to aid in defraying costs incurred 
                        by their governments as a result of increased 
                        demands placed on health, educational, social, 
                        or public safety services, or infrastructure 
                        related to such services due to the residence 
                        of qualified nonimmigrants.
                            ``(ii) Awarding.--The grants under clause 
                        (i) shall be--
                                    ``(I) awarded and administered by 
                                the Department of the Interior, Office 
                                of Insular Affairs, or any successor 
                                thereto, in accordance with 
                                regulations, policies and procedures 
                                applicable to grants so awarded and 
                                administered; and
                                    ``(II) used only for health, 
                                educational, social, or public safety 
                                services, or infrastructure related to 
                                such services, specially affected by 
                                qualified nonimmigrants.
                            ``(iii) Enumeration.--For purposes of 
                        carrying out this subparagraph, the Secretary 
                        of the Interior shall provide for periodic 
                        enumerations of qualified nonimmigrants in the 
                        States and territories of the United States. 
                        The enumerations--
                                    ``(I) shall be conducted at such 
                                intervals as the Secretary of the 
                                Interior shall determine; and
                                    ``(II) shall be supervised by the 
                                United States Bureau of the Census or 
                                any other organization that the 
                                Secretary of the Interior selects.
                            ``(iv) Allocation.--The Secretary of the 
                        Interior shall allocate to each of the 
                        governments of qualified affected areas, grants 
                        under clause (i) for a fiscal year on the basis 
                        of the ratio of the number of qualified 
                        immigrants (as most recently enumerated under 
                        clause (iii)) in the respective jurisdiction to 
                        the total of such numbers for all the 
                        jurisdictions.
                    ``(B) Treatment of certain health care impact 
                costs.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for 
                purposes of providing medical assistance for qualified 
                nonimmigrants under title XIX of the Social Security 
                Act in the case of a State or territory referred to in 
                subparagraph (A)(i)--
                            ``(i) such individuals shall be treated in 
                        the same manner as an individual described in 
                        section 402(a)(2)(G) of Public Law 104-193, as 
                        amended;
                            ``(ii) the Federal medical assistance 
                        percentage shall be the same percentage as is 
                        applied to medical assistance for services 
                        which are received through an Indian Health 
                        Service Facility; and
                            ``(iii) payments under such title for 
                        medical assistance for such individuals shall 
                        not be taken into account in applying any 
                        limitations under section 1108 of the Social 
                        Security Act.
                    ``(C) Qualified nonimmigrant defined.--In this 
                paragraph, term `qualified nonimmigrant' means a person 
                admitted to the United States pursuant to--
                            ``(i) section 141 of the Compact of Free 
                        Association set forth in title II; or
                            ``(ii) section 141 of the Compact of Free 
                        Association between the United States and the 
                        Government of Palau.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--Section 104(e)(6)(B) of the Compact of Free 
Association Act of 1985, as amended by subsection (a), shall apply to 
medical assistance for items and services furnished during or after 
fiscal year 2015.
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