[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7459 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7459

 To authorize the President to establish the Coronavirus Service Corps 
     as a means of providing gainful employment to unemployed and 
underemployed citizens of the United States through the performance of 
              useful public work, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 1, 2020

   Mr. Harder of California (for himself, Mr. Foster, Mr. Soto, Ms. 
Norton, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Ms. Jackson 
  Lee, and Mr. San Nicolas) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the President to establish the Coronavirus Service Corps 
     as a means of providing gainful employment to unemployed and 
underemployed citizens of the United States through the performance of 
              useful public work, 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 Service Corps Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF CORONAVIRUS SERVICE CORPS.

    (a) Establishment and Purpose.--In order to relieve the acute 
condition of widespread distress and unemployment existing in the 
United States and to provide for the mitigation of the health and 
economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis, the President shall 
establish and operate a Coronavirus Service Corps to employ citizens of 
the United States, who are otherwise unemployed or underemployed, in 
the carrying on of works of a public nature in connection with--
            (1) health care, including contact tracing, administering 
        COVID-19 tests, and peer mental health counseling;
            (2) assisting essential services and the reopening process, 
        including taking temperatures for businesses, childcare, and 
        training teachers and parents to use distance learning 
        technology; and
            (3) social services, assisting food banks, food assistance, 
        and hunger relief programs, including delivery, building 
        homeless shelters, senior care.
    (b) Leadership.--The Coronavirus Service Corps shall be 
administered by a board for which the Director of the Corporation for 
National and Community Service shall serve as the chairperson and 
appoint to such board 5 members, including--
            (1) at least one member who is an expert in nonprofit work; 
        and
            (2) at least two members who are leaders of a major 
        national or international union.
    (c) Role of Federal Agencies.--To operate the Coronavirus Service 
Corps, the President may utilize existing Federal departments and 
agencies, including the Department of Labor, the Department of Defense, 
the National Guard Bureau, the Department of the Interior, the 
Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department 
of Transportation, the Department of Energy, the Environmental 
Protection Agency, and Federal governmental corporations.
    (d) Contract Authority.--For the purpose of carrying out this Act, 
the President may enter into such contracts or agreements with States 
as may be necessary, including provisions for utilization of existing 
State administrative agencies.
    (e) Participation.--
            (1) Placement.--The chairperson of the Coronavirus Service 
        Corps shall, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and 
        Human Services and State and local governments, determine 
        employment placement under subsection (a) based on the areas of 
        most need.
            (2) Employment period.--A term of employment under 
        subsection (a) shall be for a period of less than or equal to 1 
        year. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit the 
        number of terms of employment a citizen may be employed under 
        such subsection.
            (3) Curriculum.--
                    (A) In general.--Citizens employed under subsection 
                (a) shall receive training under the Coronavirus 
                Service Corps in areas relevant to the employment of 
                such citizens.
                    (B) Development of curriculum.--The training 
                described in subparagraph (A) shall be developed 
                through partnerships with--
                            (i) apprenticeship programs registered 
                        under the National Apprenticeship Act (29 
                        U.S.C. 50 et seq.); and
                            (ii) institutions of higher education.
                    (C) Treatment of training.--The training described 
                in subparagraph (A) may be credited towards a 
                registered apprenticeship program or program of study, 
                as determined by such apprenticeship program or 
                institution of higher education, as applicable.
    (f) Payment.--Any person who is employed under subsection (a) shall 
receive compensation in an amount equal to the greater of the 
following:
            (1) An hourly wage equal to 150 percent of the minimum 
        hourly wage in the locality in which such person is employed.
            (2) An hourly wage equal to $15 an hour.
    (g) Acquisition of Real Property.--The President, or the head of 
any department or agency authorized by the President to construct any 
project or to carry on any public works under this Act, may acquire 
real property for such project or public work by purchase, donation, 
condemnation, or otherwise.

SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION OF CORONAVIRUS SERVICE CORPS.

    (a) Employment Preference.--If the President determines that 
amounts appropriated to carry out a Coronavirus Service Corps under 
this Act for a fiscal year will be insufficient to employ all of the 
citizens of the United States described in section 2(a) who are seeking 
or likely to seek employment in the Coronavirus Service Corps and 
continue the employment of current employees who desire to remain in 
the Coronavirus Service Corps, the President shall employ additional 
persons in the Coronavirus Service Corps in the following order of 
preference:
            (1) Unemployed veterans of the Armed Forces and unemployed 
        members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces.
            (2) Unemployed citizens who have exhausted their 
        entitlement to unemployment compensation.
            (3) Unemployed citizens, who immediately before employment 
        in the Coronavirus Service Corps, are eligible for unemployment 
        compensation payable under any State law or Federal 
        unemployment compensation law, including any additional 
        compensation or extended compensation under such laws.
            (4) Other citizens described in section 2(a).
    (b) Housing and Care of Employees.--The President may provide 
housing for persons employed in the Coronavirus Service Corps and 
furnish them with such subsistence, clothing, medical attendance and 
hospitalization, and cash allowance, as may be necessary, during the 
period they are so employed.
    (c) Transportation.--The President may provide for the 
transportation of persons employed in the Coronavirus Service Corps to 
and from the places of employment.
    (d) Non-Discrimination.--In employing citizens for the Coronavirus 
Service Corps, no discrimination shall occur in accordance with Federal 
employment law; except that no individual under conviction for crime 
and serving sentence therefore shall be employed under the provisions 
of this Act.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the President to establish and operate a Coronavirus 
Service Corps under this Act $60,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, to 
be available through September 30, 2022.
    (b) Duration of Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization of appropriations in subsection (a) shall remain 
available until expended.

SEC. 5. TERMINATION.

    The authority of the President to establish and operate a 
Coronavirus Service Corps under this Act shall expire on September 30, 
2022.
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