[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6467 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6467
To provide for an enhanced Coronavirus relief fund for units of
government with a population of 500,000 or less, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 7, 2020
Mr. Neguse (for himself, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Levin of Michigan, Mr.
Malinowski, Mr. Clay, Ms. Escobar, Mr. Carbajal, Ms. Barragan, Ms.
Dean, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Pingree, Mr. McGovern, Ms.
Stevens, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Shalala, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Kilmer, Ms.
Schakowsky, Ms. Speier, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Schneider, Mr.
Veasey, Mr. Perlmutter, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Crow, Mr.
Rouda, Mr. Keating, Mr. Soto, Ms. Craig, Ms. Wild, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr.
Stanton, Ms. Omar, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Ms. Sherrill, Ms.
Mucarsel-Powell, Mr. Bera, Mr. Pocan, Mrs. Lee of Nevada, Mr.
Gottheimer, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. Underwood, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Deutch, Ms.
Tlaib, Mr. Gonzalez of Texas, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Sires, Mr. Grijalva, Mr.
Blumenauer, Mr. Loebsack, Mr. Rush, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Pressley, Mr.
Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Gabbard, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mrs. Luria, Mr.
Cleaver, Mr. Phillips, Ms. Schrier, Mr. Delgado, Ms. Haaland, Ms.
Torres Small of New Mexico, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Lee of
California, Mr. Kildee, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. Welch, Ms.
Spanberger, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Ted Lieu of California)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Oversight and Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for an enhanced Coronavirus relief fund for units of
government with a population of 500,000 or less, 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 ``Coronavirus Community Relief Act''.
SEC. 2. CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND FOR UNITS OF GOVERNMENT WITH A
POPULATION OF 500,000 OR LESS.
Title VI of the Social Security Act (as added by section 5001 of
Public Law 116-136) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 602. CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND FOR UNITS OF GOVERNMENT WITH A
POPULATION OF 500,000 OR LESS.
``(a) Appropriation.--
``(1) In general.--Out of any money in the Treasury of the
United States not otherwise appropriated, there are
appropriated for making payments to units of local government
with a population of 500,000 or less $250,000,000,000 for
fiscal year 2020.
``(b) Authority To Make Payments.--The Secretary shall pay to a
unit of local government of the relative unit of local government
population proportion amount within 30 days after a unit of local
government of a State submits the certification required by subsection
(e).
``(c) Payment Amounts.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the maximum
aggregate amount paid under this section for fiscal year 2020
to units of local government in a State shall be the amount
equal to the relative population proportion amount determined
for the State under paragraph (2) for such fiscal year.
``(2) Relative population proportion amount.--For purposes
of paragraph (1), the relative population proportion amount
determined under this paragraph for a State for fiscal year
2020 is the product of--
``(A) the amount appropriated under paragraph (1)
of subsection (a) for fiscal year 2020; and
``(B) the relative State population proportion (as
defined in paragraph (3)).
``(3) Relative state population proportion defined.--For
purposes of paragraph (2)(B), the term `relative State
population proportion' means, with respect to a State, the
quotient of--
``(A) the population of the State; and
``(B) the total population of all States.
``(4) Relative unit of local government population
proportion amount.--For purposes of subsection (b), the term
`relative unit of local government population proportion
amount' means, with respect to a unit of local government, the
amount equal to the product of the Relative State Proportion
Amount and the quotient of--
``(A) the population of the unit of local
government; and
``(B) the aggregate total population of local
governments determined by adding the population of each
unit of local government.
``(5) Data.--For purposes of this subsection, the
population of States and units of local governments shall be
determined based on the most recent year for which data are
available from the Bureau of the Census.
``(6) Other relief.--Nothing in this section shall affect
appropriated funds to units of local government as a result of
Public Law 116-136, nor shall payments in this section be
reduced by amounts paid to units of local government through
Public Law 116-136.
``(d) Use of Funds.--A unit of local government shall use the funds
provided under a payment made under this section to cover only those
costs of the unit of local government that--
``(1) are costs that--
``(A) are reasonably deemed by the unit of local
government to be necessary; and
``(B) directly or indirectly involve, relate to,
are, have been, or will be incurred due to, or are,
have been, or will be a response to circumstances
caused by, the public health emergency with respect to
the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); and
``(2) were incurred during the period that begins on March
1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020.
To the extent that a unit of local government does not need all of the
funds paid to it, it may transfer such funds to another unit of local
government in the State for uses in paragraph (1) of this subsection
and such transfer is deemed to be a cost of the transferor.
``(e) Certification.--In order to receive a payment under this
section, a unit of local government shall provide the Secretary with a
certification signed by the Chief Executive (or equivalent) for the
unit of local government that the local government's uses of the funds
are or will be consistent with subsection (d).
``(f) Inspector General Oversight; Recoupment.--
``(1) Oversight authority.--The Inspector General of the
Department of the Treasury shall conduct monitoring and
oversight of the receipt, disbursement, and use of funds made
available under this section.
``(2) Recoupment.--If the Inspector General of the
Department of the Treasury determines that a unit of local
government has failed to comply with subsection (d), the amount
equal to the amount of funds used in violation of such
subsection shall be booked as a debt of such entity owed to the
Federal Government. Amounts recovered under this subsection
shall be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury.
``(3) Authority of inspector general.--Nothing in this
subsection shall be construed to diminish the authority of any
Inspector General, including such authority as provided in the
Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).
``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Costs.--The term `Costs' includes but is not limited
to lost revenue, reimbursement for expenses already incurred,
and increases in costs reasonably believed to be the direct or
indirect result of, or direct or indirect responses to
circumstances caused by, the public health emergency with
respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
``(2) Local government.--The term `unit of local
government' means any of the following that has a population of
500,000 or below: a county, municipality, town, township,
village, parish, borough, or other unit of general government
below the State level.
``(3) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of the Treasury.
``(4) State.--The term `State' means the 50 States, the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.''.
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