G:\M\16\GONZOH\GONZOH_033.XML ..................................................................... (Original Signature of Member) 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. ll To reduce the spread of COVID–19 through payments to States to lease hotels to temporarily house, on a voluntary basis, eligible individuals, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on llllllllllllll A BILL To reduce the spread of COVID–19 through payments to States to lease hotels to temporarily house, on a voluntary basis, eligible individuals, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Isolate COVID–19 Act 5 of 2020’’. g:\VHLC\071420\071420.429.xml July 14, 2020 (5:45 p.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 17:45 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763751 16) PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\WPBURKE\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GONZOH_033 G:\M\16\GONZOH\GONZOH_033.XML 2 1 SEC. 2. REDUCING THE SPREAD OF COVID–19 THROUGH 2 PAYMENTS TO STATES TO LEASE HOTELS TO 3 TEMPORARILY 4 UALS. 5 HOUSE ELIGIBLE INDIVID- (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 6 Human Services may make payments to States to lease 7 hotels to temporarily house, on a voluntary basis, eligible 8 individuals. 9 (b) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall allocate the 10 amount appropriated to carry out this section pursuant 11 to a formula developed by the Secretary that— 12 13 (1) distributes the amount among the States that— 14 (A) submit applications in accordance with 15 subsection (c); and 16 (B) are determined by the Secretary to 17 need such payments; and 18 (2) takes into consideration— 19 (A) the number of active cases of individ- 20 uals infected with COVID–19 in the applying 21 State relative to the overall population of the 22 State; and 23 (B) the average income of individuals in 24 the applying State relative to the average in- 25 come of individuals in the United States. 26 (c) APPLICATIONS.— g:\VHLC\071420\071420.429.xml July 14, 2020 (5:45 p.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 17:45 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763751 16) PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\WPBURKE\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GONZOH_033 G:\M\16\GONZOH\GONZOH_033.XML 3 1 (1) IN seek a payment under 2 this section, a State shall submit an application to 3 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 4 containing such information and assurances as the 5 Secretary may require. 6 (2) PROCESS.—The Secretary shall— 7 (A) not later than 15 days after the date 8 of enactment of this Act, publish the process 9 for States to apply for payments under this sec- 10 tion; and 11 (B) not later than 15 days after the sub- 12 mission of an application in accordance with 13 such process, approve or disapprove the applica- 14 tion. 15 (3) CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall require 16 the application of a State under this section to in- 17 clude— 18 (A) a plan for leasing hotels as described 19 in subsection (a); 20 (B) health guidelines which the State will 21 require to be implemented to protect the staff 22 of the hotels; 23 (C) the rates to be paid to lease the hotels; 24 (D) a plan to ensure that the hotels each 25 have— g:\VHLC\071420\071420.429.xml July 14, 2020 (5:45 p.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 GENERAL.—To 17:45 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763751 16) PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\WPBURKE\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GONZOH_033 G:\M\16\GONZOH\GONZOH_033.XML 4 1 (i) workplace safety standards for 2 their staff; 3 (ii) proper personal protective equip- 4 ment and sanitation supplies; 5 (iii) a cleaning protocol for rooms and 6 facilities; and 7 (iv) at least one qualified health care 8 professional onsite or on call to monitor 9 the health of individuals being housed at 10 the hotels; 11 (E) a plan to feed and provide other nec- 12 essary materials to individuals described in sub- 13 section (a) at the hotels, including medications 14 and hygiene products, without letting such indi- 15 viduals leave their rooms or accept visitors; 16 (F) a plan to assist the hotels in removing 17 individuals who attempt to continue their stay 18 after the allotted time; 19 (G) a plan for hospital networks, local 20 health departments, and the hotels to coordi- 21 nate on the exchange and protection of patient 22 information in accordance with other applicable 23 law; 24 (H) a plan to effectively communicate the 25 State’s program funded through this section to g:\VHLC\071420\071420.429.xml July 14, 2020 (5:45 p.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 17:45 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763751 16) PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\WPBURKE\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GONZOH_033 G:\M\16\GONZOH\GONZOH_033.XML 5 1 racial and ethnic minority groups and low-in- 2 come communities; and 3 (I) each funding assurance listed in sub- 4 section (e). 5 6 (d) NO RESPONSIBILITY TION OF OR ADMINISTRA- MEDICINE.—Notwithstanding subsection FOR DIET 7 (c)(3)(E), a contract between a State and a hotel pursuant 8 to this section shall not make the hotel responsible for the 9 diet of, or the administration of medications to, individuals 10 described in subsection (a). 11 (e) FUNDING ASSURANCES.—As a condition on re- 12 ceipt of a payment of this section, a State shall give such 13 assurances as the Secretary may require that— 14 (1) each contract between the State and a hotel 15 pursuant to this section will be entered into on a vol- 16 untary basis, and no hotel will be required by the 17 State to participate in the program under this sec- 18 tion; 19 (2) individuals described in subsection (a) will 20 not be charged for their lodging at a hotel pursuant 21 to this section, except that such individuals may be 22 required to reimburse the costs of receiving food and 23 beverages; 24 (3) individuals described in subsection (a) will 25 retain the option of self-isolating at home (including g:\VHLC\071420\071420.429.xml July 14, 2020 (5:45 p.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 17:45 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763751 16) PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\WPBURKE\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GONZOH_033 G:\M\16\GONZOH\GONZOH_033.XML 6 1 the option of checking out early and returning to 2 their homes) rather than being required to stay at 3 a hotel funded pursuant to this section; 4 (4) before an individual is allowed to stay at a 5 hotel pursuant to this section, the individual will be 6 required to present, in such form and manner as 7 may be required by the local department of health, 8 documentation from a physician that the individual 9 meets the criteria described in subsection (a); 10 (5) any non-transient homeless population re- 11 siding at a hotel will not be displaced for purposes 12 of entering into or carrying out a contract between 13 the State and the hotel under this section; and 14 (6) the State will pay (from funds provided to 15 the State under this section or from other State 16 funds)— 17 (A) at least 40 percent of the costs of the 18 personal protective equipment and sanitation 19 supplies needed by individuals staying at a hotel 20 pursuant to this section and the staff of such 21 hotel; and 22 (B) all of the costs of having one or more 23 qualified health care professionals described in 24 subsection (c)(3)(D)(iii) for the provision of g:\VHLC\071420\071420.429.xml July 14, 2020 (5:45 p.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 17:45 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763751 16) PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\WPBURKE\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GONZOH_033 G:\M\16\GONZOH\GONZOH_033.XML 7 1 monitoring described in such subsection (wheth- 2 er by being onsite or on call). 3 (f) REVIEW.—At the conclusion of the program under 4 this section, the Inspector General of the Department of 5 Health and Human Services shall— 6 7 (1) review the program and activities of each State funded pursuant to this section; and 8 9 (2) submit a report on the results of the review to— 10 (A) the Committee on Energy and Com- 11 merce and the Committee on Ways and Means 12 of the House of Representatives; and 13 (B) the Committee on Finance and the 14 Committee on Health, Education, Labor and 15 Pensions of the Senate. 16 (g) LIABILITY PROTECTION.— 17 (1) IN as provided under 18 paragraph (2), a hotel or member of the staff shall 19 not be liable under Federal or State law for— 20 (A) any harm caused by an act or omission 21 in the provision of hotel services pursuant to 22 this section; or 23 (B) failing to keep an individual who is 24 staying at a hotel pursuant to this section iso- 25 lated from people other than the staff of the g:\VHLC\071420\071420.429.xml July 14, 2020 (5:45 p.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 GENERAL.—Except 17:45 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763751 16) PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\WPBURKE\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GONZOH_033 G:\M\16\GONZOH\GONZOH_033.XML 8 1 hotel and any qualified health care professional 2 described in subsection (c)(3)(D)(iii). 3 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not apply 4 in the case that the harm was caused by an act or 5 omission constituting willful or criminal misconduct, 6 gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious 7 flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the in- 8 dividual harmed. 9 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 (1) The term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an in- 11 dividual who is unable to self-isolate at home, does 12 not require inpatient or outpatient health care treat- 13 ment, and— 14 (A) has a laboratory-confirmed case of 15 COVID–19; 16 (B) has a presumptive positive case of 17 COVID–19; or 18 (C) is a person under investigation who is 19 displaying symptoms of COVID–19. 20 (2) The terms ‘‘Indian tribe’’ and ‘‘tribal orga- 21 nization’’ have the meanings given to those terms in 22 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 23 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 24 25 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. g:\VHLC\071420\071420.429.xml July 14, 2020 (5:45 p.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 17:45 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763751 16) PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\WPBURKE\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GONZOH_033 G:\M\16\GONZOH\GONZOH_033.XML 9 1 (4) The term ‘‘State’’ includes each of 50 2 States, the District of Columbia, each Indian Tribe 3 and tribal organization, Guam, American Samoa, the 4 United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of 5 Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the North- 6 ern Mariana Islands. 7 (i) FUNDING.—To carry out this section, there is au- 8 thorized to be appropriated $1,000,000,000, to remain 9 available through the earlier of— 10 (1) the end of calendar year 2021; or 11 (2) the end of the emergency period (as defined 12 in section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act 13 (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)). g:\VHLC\071420\071420.429.xml July 14, 2020 (5:45 p.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 17:45 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763751 16) PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\WPBURKE\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GONZOH_033