Public Health Emergency Shelter Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6362 To authorize emergency homeless assistance grants under the Emergency Solutions Grants program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development for response to the public health emergency relating to coronavirus, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2020 Ms. PRESSLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To authorize emergency homeless assistance grants under the Emergency Solutions Grants program of the Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Development for response to the public health emergency relating to coronavirus, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Health Emer- 4 gency Shelter Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6362.IH H6362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6362 IH SEC. 2. EMERGENCY HOMELESS ASSISTANCE. 1 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 2 authorized to be appropriated under the Emergency Solu- 3 tions Grants program under subtitle B of title IV of the 4 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5 11371 et seq.) $15,500,000,000 for grants under such 6 subtitle in accordance with this section to respond to needs 7 arising from the public health emergency relating to 8 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). 9 (b) FORMULA.—Notwithstanding sections 413 and 10 414 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 11 U.S.C. 11372, 11373), the Secretary of Housing and 12 Urban Development (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec- 13 retary’’) shall allocate amounts made available pursuant 14 to subsection (a) in accordance with a formula to be estab- 15 lished by the Secretary that takes into consideration the 16 following factors: 17 (1) Risk of transmission of coronavirus in a ju- 18 risdiction. 19 (2) Whether a jurisdiction has a high number 20 or rate of sheltered and unsheltered homeless indi- 21 viduals and families. 22 (3) Economic and housing market conditions in 23 a jurisdiction. 24 (c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—In addition to eligible ac- 25 tivities under section 415(a) of the McKinney-Vento 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6362.IH H6362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6362 IH Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11374(a), amounts 1 made available pursuant to subsection (a) may also be 2 used for costs of the following activities: 3 (1) Providing training on infectious disease pre- 4 vention and mitigation. 5 (2) Providing hazard pay, including for time 6 worked before the effectiveness of this clause, for 7 staff working directly to prevent and mitigate the 8 spread of coronavirus or COVID-19 among people 9 experiencing or at risk of homelessness. 10 (3) Reimbursement of costs for eligible activi- 11 ties (including activities described in this paragraph) 12 relating to preventing, preparing for, or responding 13 to the coronavirus or COVID-19 that were accrued 14 before the date of the enactment of this Act. 15 Use of such amounts for activities described in this para- 16 graph shall not be considered use for administrative pur- 17 poses for purposes of section 418 of the McKinney-Vento 18 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11377). 19 (d) INAPPLICABILITY OF PROCUREMENT STAND- 20 ARDS.—To the extent amounts made available pursuant 21 to subsection (a) are used to procure goods and services 22 relating to activities to prevent, prepare for, or respond 23 to the coronavirus or COVID-19, the standards and re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6362.IH H6362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6362 IH quirements regarding procurement that are otherwise ap- 1 plicable shall not apply. 2 (e) INAPPLICABILITY OF HABITABILITY AND ENVI- 3 RONMENTAL REVIEW STANDARDS.—Any Federal stand- 4 ards and requirements regarding habitability and environ- 5 mental review shall not apply with respect to any emer- 6 gency shelter that is assisted with amounts made available 7 pursuant to subsection (a) and has been determined by 8 a State or local health official, in accordance with such 9 requirements as the Secretary shall establish, to be nec- 10 essary to prevent and mitigate the spread of coronavirus 11 or COVID-19, such shelters. 12 (f) INAPPLICABILITY OF CAP ON EMERGENCY SHEL- 13 TER ACTIVITIES.—Subsection (b) of section 415 of the 14 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act shall not apply 15 to any amounts made available pursuant to subsection 16 (a)(1) of this section. 17 (g) INITIAL ALLOCATION OF ASSISTANCE.—Section 18 417(b) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 19 (42 U.S.C. 11376(b)) shall be applied with respect to 20 amounts made available pursuant to subsection (a) by 21 substituting ‘‘30-day’’ for ‘‘60-day’’. 22 (h) WAIVERS AND ALTERNATIVE REQUIREMENTS.— 23 (1) AUTHORITY.—In administering amounts 24 made available pursuant to subsection (a), the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6362.IH H6362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6362 IH retary may waive, or specify alternative require- 1 ments for, any provision of any statute or regulation 2 (except for any requirements related to fair housing, 3 nondiscrimination, labor standards, and the environ- 4 ment) that the Secretary administers in connection 5 with the obligation or use by the recipient of such 6 amounts, if the Secretary finds that good cause ex- 7 ists for the waiver or alternative requirement and 8 such waiver or alternative requirement is consistent 9 with the purposes described in this subsection. 10 (2) EFFECTIVENESS; APPLICABILITY.—Any 11 such waivers shall be deemed to be effective as of 12 the date a State or unit of local government began 13 preparing for coronavirus and shall apply to the use 14 of amounts made available pursuant to subsection 15 (a) and amounts provided in prior appropriation 16 Acts for fiscal year 2020 under the heading ‘‘De- 17 partment of Housing and Urban Development— 18 Community Planning and Development—Commu- 19 nity Development Fund’’ and used by recipients for 20 the purposes described in this subsection. 21 (3) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall notify 22 the public through the Federal Register or other ap- 23 propriate means 5 days before the effective date of 24 any such waiver or alternative requirement, and any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6362.IH H6362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6362 IH such public notice may be provided on the internet 1 at the appropriate government website or through 2 other electronic media, as determined by the Sec- 3 retary. 4 (4) EXEMPTION.—The use of amounts made 5 available pursuant to subsection (a) shall not be sub- 6 ject to the consultation, citizen participation, or 7 match requirements that otherwise apply to the 8 Emergency Solutions Grants program, except that a 9 recipient shall publish how it has and will utilize its 10 allocation at a minimum on the internet at the ap- 11 propriate government website or through other elec- 12 tronic media. 13 (i) INAPPLICABILITY OF MATCHING REQUIRE- 14 MENT.—Subsection (a) of section 416 of the McKinney- 15 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11375(a)) 16 shall not apply to any amounts made available pursuant 17 to subsection (a) of this section. 18 (j) PROHIBITION ON PREREQUISITES.—None of the 19 funds authorized under this section may be used to require 20 people experiencing homelessness to receive treatment or 21 perform any other prerequisite activities as a condition for 22 receiving shelter, housing, or other services. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6362.IH H6362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS