116th CONGRESS 2d Session |
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide assistance to individuals affected by a pandemic, and for other purposes.
May 1, 2020
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide assistance to individuals affected by a pandemic, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Pandemic Disaster Assistance Act of 2020”.
SEC. 2. Assistance for pandemics.
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) is amended—
(1) in section 102(1) (42 U.S.C. 5122(1)), by inserting “or pandemic” after “catastrophe”;
(2) in section 301 (42 U.S.C. 5141), by inserting “or an emergency due to a pandemic” after “major disaster” each place the term appears;
(3) in section 408(e) (42 U.S.C. 5174(e)), by inserting “or an emergency due to a pandemic” after “major disaster” each place the term appears;
(4) in section 410 (42 U.S.C. 5177)—
(A) in subsection (a), by inserting “or an emergency due to a pandemic” after “major disaster” each place the term appears; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
“(c) Assistance during a pandemic.—In the case of an emergency due to a pandemic—
“(1) assistance authorized under this section shall be made available to an individual regardless of whether the individual is entitled to any other unemployment compensation (as that term is defined in section 85(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986); and
“(2) the minimum weekly benefit shall be 1.5 times the national average State unemployment compensation weekly benefit for the previous year.”;
(5) in section 412 (42 U.S.C. 5179)—
(A) by inserting “or an emergency due to a pandemic” after “major disaster” each place the term appears;
(B) in subsection (a) by inserting “without regard to regular allotments” after the reference to the Food and Nutrition Act; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
“(d) Assistance during a pandemic.—In the case of an emergency due to a pandemic, for purposes of providing benefits under this section, the Secretary of Agriculture shall remove or delay the requirement of an in-person interview and if an interview occurs, provide an alternative to the in-person interview requirement for all applicants. Assistance shall be provided based on need and not lost provisions.”; and
(6) in section 502(a) (42 U.S.C. 5192(a))—
(A) in paragraph (7), by striking “and” at the end;
(B) in paragraph (8)(B), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
“(9) provide unemployment assistance in accordance with section 410; and
“(10) provide assistance in accordance with section 412.”.
Provided that there are hereby appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of Labor such amounts as are necessary to carry out section 2(5) and section 2(4), respectively. Provided, that such amount is designated by the Congress as being for an emergency requirement pursuant to Section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.