[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4308 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4308
To amend the Social Security Act to include special districts in the
coronavirus relief fund, to direct the Secretary to include special
districts as an eligible issuer under the Municipal Liquidity Facility,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 23, 2020
Ms. Sinema (for herself, Mr. Cornyn, and Ms. Harris) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Social Security Act to include special districts in the
coronavirus relief fund, to direct the Secretary to include special
districts as an eligible issuer under the Municipal Liquidity Facility,
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 ``Special Districts Provide Essential
Services Act''.
SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF SPECIAL DISTRICTS IN THE CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND.
(a) In General.--Section 601(a) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 801(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(3) Funds for special districts.--If an amount in excess
of $150,000,000,000 is appropriated for payments made under
this section, special districts shall be eligible for payments
from the portion of such excess amount paid to States in
accordance with subsection (c)(6).''.
(b) Amount for Special Districts.--Section 601(c) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 801(c)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through (8) as
paragraphs (8) through (10), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new
paragraphs:
``(6) Special districts.--
``(A) In general.--If a portion of any excess
amount described in subsection (a)(3) is paid to a
State, the State shall allocate at least 5 percent of
such portion for distributing payments to special
districts in the State that submit to the Governor of
the State or the entity designated by the Governor to
distribute such payments (referred to in this paragraph
as the `designated payment entity') a request for a
payment during the COVID-19 emergency and information
described in subparagraph (B) demonstrating the need
for the payment, which the Governor of the State or the
designated payment entity has determined, on the basis
of a good faith effort, is accurate.
``(B) Information described.--Information described
in this subparagraph is written documentation
demonstrating with respect to a comparable period
before the COVID-19 emergency that the special district
has experienced or is likely to experience during the
COVID-19 emergency--
``(i) reduced revenue or operational
funding derived from provided services, taxes,
fees, or other sources of revenue;
``(ii) reduced indirect funding from the
Federal Government, the State, or a unit of
general government below the State level; or
``(iii) as a result of the COVID-19
emergency, increased expenditures necessary to
continue operations.
``(C) Amount of payment.--
``(i) In general.--Subject to clauses (ii)
and (iii), the amount of the payment for a
special district shall be determined by the
Governor or the State or the designated payment
entity, taking into consideration the extent of
a projected budget shortfall for the special
district during the COVID-19 emergency and the
need of the special district to supplement
projected revenue.
``(ii) Limitation.--Except as provided in
clause (iii), the amount paid to a special
district shall not exceed the amount of
expenditures made by the special district for
any quarter of calendar year 2019.
``(iii) Exception for providers of
essential critical infrastructure sector
services.--If a special district provides
essential critical infrastructure sector
services (as defined by the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency of the
Department of Homeland Security), the amount
paid to the special district may exceed the
limit applicable under clause (ii).
``(iv) Rule of construction.--Nothing in
the preceding clauses of this subparagraph
shall be construed as requiring payment of an
amount sufficient to provide a special district
with full operational funding during the COVID-
19 emergency.
``(D) Responsible authority for recoupment.--If it
is determined that a payment made to a special district
did not comply with the requirements of the preceding
subparagraphs, or was otherwise fraudulent or improper,
the special district shall be liable for the debt owed
to the Federal Government under subsection (f), unless
all or a part of the basis for such determination is
that the determination required under subparagraph (A)
regarding the accuracy of the information demonstrating
the need for the payment was not made in good faith, in
which case the State shall be liable for all or a part
of such debt, as the Secretary determines appropriate.
``(E) Deadline for distribution of funds.--Payments
to special districts in a State shall be distributed
not later than 60 days after the State receives a
payment from any excess amount described in subsection
(a)(3).
``(F) COVID-19 emergency.--For purposes of this
paragraph, the term `COVID-19 emergency' means the
public health emergency declared by the Secretary of
Health and Human Services pursuant to section 319 of
the Public Health Service Act on January 31, 2020,
entitled `Determination that a Public Health Emergency
Exists Nationwide as the Result of the 2019 Novel
Coronavirus' and includes any renewal of such
declaration pursuant to such section 319.
``(7) Excess funds waiver.--
``(A) In general.--If a State has allocated funds
from a payment to the State described in paragraph (6)
to special districts in that State, but has not met the
5 percent allocation requirement of that paragraph, the
Governor of the State may submit to the Secretary, in
writing, a request for an excess funds waiver to exempt
the State from having to make additional allocations
from such funds to make up the remainder of such 5
percent requirement, and to allow the State to use the
funds remaining in accordance with this section.
``(B) Requirements.--A waiver request submitted
under subparagraph (A) shall provide--
``(i) information regarding how funds from
the payment to the State described in paragraph
(6) were allocated to special districts in the
State and otherwise used; and
``(ii) an explanation why the requirement
for the State to meet the 5 percent allocation
requirement of paragraph (6) should be waived.
``(C) Deadlines.--
``(i) Waiver request.--A request for an
excess funds waiver shall be submitted to the
Secretary not later than 60 days after the
State receives a payment described in paragraph
(6).
``(ii) Approval or disapproval.--The
Secretary shall approve or disapprove a waiver
request submitted under subparagraph (A), in
writing, not later than 14 days after the
Secretary receives the request.''.
(c) Definition of Special District.--Section 601(g) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 801(g)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (5) as
paragraphs (5) through (6), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new
paragraph:
``(4) Special district.--The term `special district' means
a political subdivision of a State, formed pursuant to general
law or special act of the State, for the purpose of performing
one or more governmental or proprietary functions.''.
(d) Treasury IG Oversight Authority.--Section 601(f)(2) of such Act
(42 U.S.C. 801(f)(2)) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``or that a special district or State has
not complied with the requirements of paragraph (6) or (7) of
subsection (c) (as applicable),'' after ``subsection (d),'';
and
(2) by striking ``such subsection'' and inserting
``subsection (d) or paragraph (6) or (7) of subsection (c) (as
applicable)''.
(e) Update to Guidance.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall update
any guidance issued with respect to the Coronavirus Relief Fund
established under section 601 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
801) to reflect the inclusion of special districts as eligible for
payments from amounts appropriated under such section, to the extent
such amounts exceed $150,000,000,000.
SEC. 3. INCLUDING SPECIAL DISTRICTS IN THE MUNICIPAL LIQUIDITY
FACILITY.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall include
special districts, as defined in section 601(g)(4) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 801(g)(4)) (as added by section 2(c)), as
eligible issuers in the Municipal Liquidity Facility program authorized
under section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 343(3)).
<all>
Special Districts Provide Essential Services Act
#4308 | S Congress #116
Policy Area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: AppropriationsCardiovascular and respiratory healthEmergency medical services and trauma careFederal Reserve SystemGovernment information and archivesGovernment studies and investigationsInfectious and parasitic diseasesSecuritiesState and local financeState and local government operations
Last Action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (7/23/2020)
Bill Text Source: Congress.gov
Summary and Impacts
Original Text