Educators are Heroes Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8334 To provide premium pay to educators at public schools for each hour of in-person work. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma (for herself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Mr. SAN NICOLAS) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor A BILL To provide premium pay to educators at public schools for each hour of in-person work. 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 ‘‘Educators are Heroes 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. EDUCATOR PREMIUM PAY. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 days after a 7 local educational agency receives a grant under subsection 8 (b), the local educational agency, for the duration of the 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8334.IH H8334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8334 IH emergency period, shall provide to each educator for each 1 hour that the educator works, in-person at a public school 2 served by the agency with premium pay equal to 25 per- 3 cent of the educator’s wage per hour. 4 (b) EDUCATOR FUND.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 6 Treasury of the United States a fund to be known 7 as the ‘‘Educator Fund’’ (referred to in this section 8 as the ‘‘Fund’’), consisting of amounts appropriated 9 to the fund under subsection (c). 10 (2) FUND ADMINISTRATION.—The fund shall be 11 administered by the Secretary of Treasury, in con- 12 sultation with the Secretary of Education. 13 (3) USE OF FUNDS.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Fund 15 shall be available to award a grant to each local 16 educational agency that applies for a grant 17 under subparagraph (B), for the purpose of 18 providing premium pay under subsection (a). 19 (B) APPLICATION.—Any local educational 20 agency seeking a grant under this subsection 21 shall submit an application to the Secretary of 22 the Treasury at such time, in such manner, and 23 complete with such information as the Sec- 24 retary may require. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8334.IH H8334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8334 IH (c) AUTHORIZATION AND APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 is authorized to be appropriated, and there is hereby ap- 2 propriated, such sums as may be necessary to carry out 3 this section, to remain available until expended. 4 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 5 (1) EDUCATOR.—The term ‘‘educator’’ includes 6 teachers and other staff. 7 (2) EMERGENCY PERIOD.—The term ‘‘emer- 8 gency period’’ means the period beginning on the 9 date of enactment of this Act, and ending on the 10 last day of the public health emergency first de- 11 clared on January 31, 2020, by the Secretary of 12 Health and Human Services under section 319 of 13 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) with 14 respect to COVID–19. 15 (3) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 16 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘other staff’’, 17 and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the meaning given such 18 terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 19 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 20 (4) PUBLIC SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘public 21 school’’ means a public elementary school or sec- 22 ondary school. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8334.IH H8334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS