[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 302 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 302
To establish a program to support county and municipal government
entities in reducing the spread of COVID-19 through standardized
testing and evaluation measures, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 8, 2021
Mr. Scott of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a program to support county and municipal government
entities in reducing the spread of COVID-19 through standardized
testing and evaluation measures, 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 ``Set Testing and Objectives Plan for
COVID-19 Act'' or the ``STOP COVID-19 Act''.
SEC. 2. PROGRAM FOR COVID-19 TESTING, CONTACT TRACING, AND OTHER
EFFORTS TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF COVID-19.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') shall establish a
program to award grants to county and municipal government entities, to
support COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and other efforts to reduce
the spread of COVID-19 in such counties and municipalities.
(b) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, a county or municipal government entity shall--
(1) have a public health department; and
(2) submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary
may require, including the entity's operational plan and
proposed uses of the grant funds.
(c) Technical Support.--The Secretary shall provide technical
assistance to the public health department of government entities
awarded a grant under this section.
(d) Use of Funds.--Grants awarded under this section may be used in
support of programs to increase COVID-19 testing and to reduce the
spread of COVID-19, which may include hiring staff for COVID-19 testing
centers, funding mobile testing centers, hiring contact tracers,
purchasing IT equipment, conducting public awareness campaigns, and
paying for COVID-19 testing or testing related equipment.
(e) Requirements.--
(1) In general.--Each government entity receiving a grant
under this section shall--
(A) develop a data-driven program for COVID-19
testing, contact tracing, and other efforts to stop the
spread of COVID-19;
(B) operate a searchable, publicly available
website that lists every participating COVID-19 PCR
testing center in the jurisdiction and, with respect to
each such center, state--
(i) whether testing is free or the cost of
such testing;
(ii) whether health insurance covers the
testing, and, if so, what information health
insurers will require before providing such
coverage; and
(iii) the average time to obtain a test
result; and
(C) report weekly on the metrics described in
subsection (f)(1), for each neighborhood established
under paragraph (2)--
(i) identifying any neighborhood for which
there is nonattainment on any such metric
during the applicable reporting period; and
(ii) describing the specific mitigation
measures planned for any such neighborhood to
reach attainment, including a description of
the measures required under subsection (g)(2).
(2) Neighborhoods.--
(A) In general.--For purposes of meeting the
requirements under paragraph (1), each government
entity receiving a grant under this section shall
divide its jurisdiction into neighborhoods, with each
neighborhood being an area with approximately 10,000
residents.
(B) Provision of information on map.--Each
government entity shall make available a map of the
total jurisdiction that illustrates the neighborhoods
established pursuant to subparagraph (A), and shall
provide the information required under paragraph (1) by
neighborhood.
(C) Designation of particular neighborhoods.--With
respect to any neighborhood that has not met the
evaluation standards described in subsection (f)(2) for
a weekly reporting period under subsection (f)(1), the
entity shall highlight such nonattainment on the map,
in a manner to notify public users of areas not meeting
the evaluation standards.
(f) Evaluation Standards.--
(1) In general.--The standards for purposes of determining
compliance under paragraph (2) are as follows:
(A) Positivity rate.--
(i) A positivity rate at or below 5 percent
for PCR testing.
(ii) A rate of newly infected residents at
or below 10 residents per 100,000 population.
(iii) PCR testing at or above 750 residents
per 100,000 population.
(iv) Rate of infection of less than 1.0.
(B) Contact tracing.--
(i) Eighty percent of new cases of
infection are contacted by a contact tracer
within 24 hours.
(ii) Eighty percent of new cases of
infection identify contacts.
(iii) At least a median of 3 contacts
identified by a contact tracer per case.
(iv) Eighty percent of new cases followed
up on, on a daily basis, by a contact tracer
until the subject is out of isolation.
(v) Seventy percent of contacts respond to
the contact tracer.
(vi) Eighty-five percent of contacts who
are identified are tested.
(C) Test results.--Eighty-five percent of PCR tests
have results within 48 hours.
(D) Other standards.--The Secretary may modify or
replace standards described in subparagraphs (A), (B),
and (C), or add new evaluation standards, provided such
modification, replacement, or addition is based on
data-driven research that demonstrates the basis of the
Secretary's determination.
(2) Compliance.--A government entity shall be considered to
be in compliance with the requirements of this section for a
weekly reporting period if each neighborhood in the entity has
met 85 percent of the standards under paragraph (1) for such
reporting period.
(g) Effects of Noncompliance.--
(1) Grant reduction.--
(A) Initial period.--For the 2-month period
immediately proceeding the date of enactment of this
Act, there shall be no reduction to the grant amount
received by a government entity as a result of non-
compliance as described in subsection (f)(2).
(B) Subsequent periods.--Beginning 2 months after
the date of enactment of this Act, in the case of a
government entity that is not in compliance for a
reporting period as described in subsection (f)(2), the
entity shall remit to the Federal Government an amount
equal to 25 percent of the total Federal funds expended
for the government entity pursuant to the grant under
this section for the applicable weekly reporting
period.
(2) Testing availability mitigation efforts.--In the case
of a government entity that is not in compliance for a weekly
reporting period as described in subsection (f)(2), the entity
shall ensure that, in the subsequent week, in each neighborhood
within the jurisdiction that did not meet 85 percent of the
standards under subsection (f)(1), residents have access to PCR
testing sites as follows:
(A) In urban areas, 90 percent of residents have
access to a testing site within 2 miles of their
residence.
(B) In suburban areas, 90 percent of residents have
access to a testing site within 5 miles of their
residence.
(C) In rural areas, 70 percent of residents have
access to a testing site within 15 miles of their
residence.
(h) Funding.--The Secretary may use any unobligated funds made
available to the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to
carry out this section.
(i) Sunset.--This section shall cease to have force or effect on
the earlier of the date on which all funds described in subsection (h)
are expended or 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. PROGRAM FOR COVID-19 VACCINATION.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') shall establish a
program to award grants to States to support COVID-19 vaccination in
the States.
(b) Applications.--
(1) In general.--A State desiring a grant under this
section shall submit an application to the Secretary, at such
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the
Secretary may require, including a vaccination plan,
operational details, and proposed use of the grant funds.
(2) Technical assistance.--The Secretary shall provide
technical assistance to States for purposes of developing the
vaccination plans to be included in applications under
paragraph (1).
(c) Use of Funds.--Grants awarded under this section shall be used
to support increasing vaccination efforts in the State, such as meeting
increased staffing needs, establishing and supporting vaccination
centers, conducting public awareness campaigns, and obtaining equipment
for vaccine distribution.
(d) Requirements.--As a condition of receipt of a grant under this
section, a State shall agree to--
(1) submit and publicly post weekly reports, as described
in subsection (e);
(2) develop a unified registration process for residents
and assign each resident to a vaccination site, with the goal
of matching residents with the nearest vaccination site, and
taking into account the availability of vaccine supply; and
(3) administer 95 percent of the State's vaccine allocation
each month, or, for each month the State fails to administer
such amount, remit to the Federal Government an amount equal to
25 percent of the amount received by the State under this
section for that month.
(e) Vaccine Data Reporting.--Each State receiving a grant under
this section shall submit to the Secretary, and post on a publicly
available website, a weekly report on, with respect to the State--
(1) the State's current vaccination plan and vaccine
distribution methodology;
(2) the State's vaccination targets for the proceeding
week;
(3) whether the State met its vaccination targets for the
previous week, and, if not, details on why the targets were
missed;
(4) the daily and weekly cumulative totals of--
(A) the number of vaccines (of each type) received;
(B) the number of first shot vaccines administered;
(C) the number of vaccine series completed; and
(D) the number of vaccine doses wasted or lost;
(5) the vaccine priority groups in the State and--
(A) an estimate of how many people are in each
priority group, by State, county, and neighborhood (as
designated under section 2(e)(2)(A) pursuant to the
program under section 2, or, in the case of a State not
participating in the program under section 2, as
designated for purposes of this section, as described
section 2(e)(2)(A)); and
(B) an estimate of how many people in each priority
group have been vaccinated, by State, county, and
neighborhood (as so designated);
(6) the percent of vaccine coverage--
(A) by neighborhood (as so designated);
(B) by age demographic, and an estimate of how many
people are in each such demographic, by State, county,
and neighborhood (as so designated); and
(C) by race, ethnic group, and sex, and an estimate
of how many people are in each such group by State,
county, and neighborhood (as so designated);
(7) the number of people who scheduled vaccination--
(A) online;
(B) by phone; and
(C) by walk-up at a vaccination center;
(8) the number of vaccinations performed by providers at--
(A) mass vaccination centers;
(B) physician's offices and medical practices;
(C) hospitals;
(D) pharmacies;
(E) community centers; and
(F) health departments; and
(9) the wait time to be vaccinated.
(f) Funding.--Out of any unobligated amounts made available to the
Secretary under the heading ``CDC-Wide Activities and Program Support''
under the heading ``Centers for Disease Control and Prevention'' under
the heading ``Department of Health and Human Services'' under title III
of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act,
2021 (Public Law 116-260), the Secretary may allocate $8,750,000,000 to
carry out this section.
(g) State.--For purposes of this section, the term ``State''
includes each of the 50 States, territories, and the District of
Columbia.
(h) Sunset.--This section shall cease to have force or effect on
the earlier of December 31, 2021, or the date on which the amounts
described in subsection (f) have been expended.
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