[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8015 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8015
To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish a program to
make grants to States to provide enhanced pay for election workers, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 9, 2022
Mr. Levin of Michigan (for himself, Mr. Allred, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms.
Blunt Rochester, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Carson, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick,
Ms. Chu, Mr. Cleaver, Ms. Dean, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Evans, Mr. Garcia of
Illinois, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr.
Jones, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Nadler,
Ms. Newman, Ms. Norton, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. San Nicolas,
Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Scott of
Virginia, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Slotkin, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thompson of
Mississippi, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Veasey, Ms.
Velazquez, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Jayapal, and Mr. Gallego)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish a program to
make grants to States to provide enhanced pay for election workers, 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 ``Enhanced Pay for Election Workers
Act''.
SEC. 2. PROGRAM FOR GRANTS FOR ENHANCED PAY FOR ELECTION WORKERS.
(a) Establishment of Program.--Subtitle D of title II of the Help
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``PART 7--ENHANCED PAY FOR ELECTION WORKERS
``SEC. 297. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--The Commission shall establish and operate a
program under which the Commission shall make payments to eligible
States for providing enhanced pay for election workers, including
individuals serving as election officials or poll workers on a
temporary or unpaid basis.
``(b) Amount of Payment.--
``(1) Amount.--The amount of a payment made to a State
under the program established under this part shall be equal to
the greater of--
``(A) the reasonable costs the State expects to
incur in providing enhanced pay for election workers,
as determined by the Commission taking into account the
information provided by the State in the plan described
in section 297A; or
``(B) the minimum payment amount described in
paragraph (2) with respect to the fiscal year.
``(2) Minimum payment amount.--The minimum payment amount
described in this paragraph with respect to a fiscal year is
equal to one-half of 1 percent of the aggregate amount made
available during the fiscal year for payments under the program
established under this part.
``(c) Application.--In order to be eligible to receive a payment
under the program established under this part, a State shall submit to
the Commission, at such time and in such form as the Commission may
require, an application containing a description of a plan for how the
State will use the payment to provide enhanced pay to election workers,
as described in section 297A, together with such other information and
assurances as the Commission may require.
``(d) Reports.--A State receiving a payment under the program
established under this part shall submit to the Commission such reports
on the State's use of the payment as the Commission may require.
``SEC. 297A. STATE PLAN FOR PROVIDING ENHANCED PAY TO ELECTION WORKERS.
``(a) Elements of Plan.--A State's plan for providing enhanced pay
to election workers shall include the following elements:
``(1) A description of how the State will use enhanced pay
to retain qualified election workers and to recruit new
election workers.
``(2) The requirements an individual must meet in order to
be eligible to receive enhanced pay under the plan.
``(3) The amount of the reasonable costs the State expects
to incur in providing enhanced pay for such eligible
individuals.
``(4) The procedures for carrying out the plan, including
the extent to which State and local election officials will be
responsible for carrying out the plan.
``(b) Opportunity of All Election Workers To Receive Pay.--Under
the State's plan, the State may not treat an election worker as
ineligible to receive enhanced pay solely because the individual does
not interact directly with voters, individuals attempting to vote, or
individuals attempting to register to vote.
``SEC. 297B. COVERAGE OF COMMONWEALTH OF NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS.
``In this part, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
shall be considered a State.
``SEC. 297C. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated for payments under this
part such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2023 and each
succeeding fiscal year.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act is
amended by adding at the end of the items relating to part D of title
II the following:
``Part 7--Enhanced Pay for Election Workers
``Sec. 297. Establishment and operation of grant program.
``Sec. 297A. State plan for providing enhanced pay to election workers.
``Sec. 297B. Coverage of Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands.
``Sec. 297C. Authorization of appropriations.''.
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