The CARES Act: Section by Section

Division A—Keeping Workers Paid and Employed, Health Care System Enhancements, and Economic Stabilization

Title I—Keeping American Workers Paid and Employed Act

Section 1101. Definitions
Section 1102. Paycheck Protection Program

Increases the government guarantee of loans made for the Payment Protection Program under section 7(a) of the Small Business Act to 100 percent through December 31, 2020.

Outlines the terms in this section.

Provides the authority for the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to make loans under the Paycheck Protection Program.

Requires the Administrator to register each loan using the taxpayer TIN, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service, within 15 days.

Defines eligibility for loans as a small business, 501(c)(3) nonprofit, a 501(c)(19) veteran’s organization, or Tribal business concern described in section 31(b)(2)(C) of the Small Business Act with not more than 500 employees, or the applicable size standard for the industry as provided by SBA, if higher.

Applies current SBA affiliation rules to eligible nonprofits.
Includes sole-proprietors, independent contractors, and other self-employed individuals as eligible for loans.

Allow businesses with more than one physical location that employs no more than 500 employees per physical location in certain industries to be eligible and is below a gross annual receipts threshold in certain industries to be eligible.

Waives affiliation rules for businesses in the hospitality and restaurant industries, franchises that are approved on the SBA’s Franchise Directory, and small businesses that receive financing through the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program.

Defines the covered loan period as beginning on February 15, 2020 and ending on June 30, 2020.

Establishes the maximum 7(a) loan amount to $10 million through December 31, 2020 and provides a formula by which the loan amount is tied to payroll costs incurred by the business to determine the size of the loan.

Specifies allowable uses of the loan include payroll support, such as employee salaries, paid sick or medical leave, insurance premiums, and mortgage, rent, and utility payments.

Provides delegated authority, which is the ability for lenders to make determinations on borrower eligibility and creditworthiness without going through all of SBA’s channels, to all current 7(a) lenders who make these loans to small businesses, and provides that same authority to lenders who join the program and make these loans.

For eligibility purposes, requires lenders to, instead of determining repayment ability, which is not possible during this crisis, to determine whether a business was operational on February 15, 2020, and had employees for whom it paid salaries and payroll taxes, or a paid independent contractor.

Provides an avenue, through the U.S. Department of Treasury, for additional lenders to be approved to help keep workers paid and employed. Additional lenders approved by Treasury are only permitted to make Paycheck Protection Program loans, not regular 7(a) loans.

Provides a limitation on a borrower from receiving this assistance and an economic injury disaster loan through SBA for the same purpose. However, it allows a borrower who has an EIDL loan unrelated to COVID-19 to apply for a PPP loan, with an option to refinance that loan into the PPP loan. The emergency EIDL grant award of up to $10,000 would be subtracted from the amount forgiven under the Paycheck Protection Program.

Requires eligible borrowers to make a good faith certification that the loan is necessary due to the uncertainty of current economic conditions caused by COVID-19; they will use the funds to retain workers and maintain payroll, lease, and utility payments; and are not receiving duplicative funds for the same uses from another SBA program.

Waives both borrower and lender fees for participation in the Paycheck Protection Program.

Waives the credit elsewhere test for funds provided under this program.

Waives collateral and personal guarantee requirements under this program.

Outlines the treatment of any portion of a loan that is not used for forgiveness purposes. The remaining loan balance will have a maturity of not more than 10 years, and the guarantee for that portion of the loan will remain intact.

Sets a maximum interest rate of four percent.

Ensures borrowers are not charged any prepayment fees.

Increases the government guarantee of 7(a) loans to 100 percent through December 31, 2020, at which point guarantee percentages will return to 75 percent for loans exceeding $150,000 and 85 percent for loans equal to or less than $150,000.

Allows complete deferment of 7(a) loan payments for at least six months and not more than a year, and requires SBA to disseminate guidance to lenders on this deferment process within 30 days.

Provides guidance for loans sold on the secondary market.

Provides the regulatory capital risk weight of loans made under this program, and temporary relief from troubled debt restructuring (TDR) disclosures for loans that are deferred under this program.

Requires the Administrator to provide a lender with a process fee for servicing the loan. Sets lender compensation fees at five percent for loans of not more than $350,000; three percent for loans of more than $350,000 and less than $2,000,000; and one percent for loans of not less than $2,000,000.

Includes a sense of the Senate for the Administrator to issue guidance to lenders and agents to ensure that the processing and disbursement of covered loans prioritizes small business concerns and entities in underserved and rural markets, including veterans and members of the military community, small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Provides an authorization level of $349 billion for the 7(a) program through December 31, 2020.

Increases the maximum loan for a SBA Express loan from $350,000 to $1 million through December 31, 2020, after which point the Express loan will have a maximum of $350,000.

Requires Veteran’s fee waivers for the 7(a) Express loan program to be permanently waived.

Permanently rescinds the interim final rule entitled, “Express Loan Programs: Affiliation Standards” (85 Fed. Reg. 7622 (February 10, 2020)).

Section 1103. Entrepreneurial Development

Authorizes SBA to provide additional financial awards to resource partners (Small Business Development Centers and Women’s Business Centers) to provide counseling, training, and education on SBA resources and business resiliency to small business owners affected by COVID-19.

Authorizes SBA to provide an association or associations representing resource partners with grants to establish:

• one online platform that consolidates resources and information available across multiple Federal agencies for small business concerns related to COVID–19; and
• a training program to educate Small Business Development Center, Women’s Business Center, Service Corps of Retired Executives, and Veteran’s Business Outreach Center counselors on the various federal resources available to ensure counselors are directing small businesses appropriately.

Section 1104. State Trade Expansion Program

Allows for federal grant funds appropriated to support the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) in FY 2018 and FY 2019 to remain available for use through FY 2021.

Allows for state STEP participants to be reimbursed for events canceled due to COVID-19, so long as it does not exceed their federal grant.

Section 1105. Waiver of Matching Funds Requirement Under the Women’s Business Center Program

Eliminates the non-federal match requirement for Women’s Business Centers (WBC) for a period of three months.

Section 1106. Loan Forgiveness

Establishes that the borrower shall be eligible for loan forgiveness equal to the amount spent by the borrower during an 8-week period after the origination date of the loan on payroll costs, interest payment on any mortgage incurred prior to February 15, 2020, payment of rent on any lease in force prior to February 15, 2020, and payment on any utility for which service began before February 15, 2020.

Amounts forgiven may not exceed the principal amount of the loan. Eligible payroll costs do not include compensation above $100,000 in wages. Forgiveness on a covered loan is equal to the sum of the following payroll costs incurred during the covered 8 week period compared to the previous year or time period, proportionate to maintaining employees and wages:

Payroll costs plus any payment of interest on any covered mortgage obligation (which shall not include any prepayment of or payment of principal on a covered mortgage obligation) plus any payment on any covered rent obligation + and any covered utility payment.

The amount forgiven will be reduced proportionally by any reduction in employees retained compared to the prior year and reduced by the reduction in pay of any employee beyond 25 percent of their prior year compensation. To encourage employers to rehire any employees who have already been laid off due to the COVID-19 crisis, borrowers that re-hire workers previously laid off will not be penalized for having a reduced payroll at the beginning of the period.

Allows forgiveness for additional wages paid to tipped workers.

Borrowers will verify through documentation to lenders their payments during the period. Lenders that receive the required documentation will not be subject to an enforcement action or penalties by the Administrator relating to loan forgiveness for eligible uses.

Upon a lender’s report of an expected loan forgiveness amount for a loan or pool of loans, the SBA will purchase such amount of the loan from the lender.

Canceled indebtedness resulting from this section will not be included in the borrower’s taxable income.

Any loan amounts not forgiven at the end of one year is carried forward as an ongoing loan with terms of a max of 10 years, at max 4% interest. The 100% loan guarantee remains intact.

Section 1107. Direct Appropriations

This section appropriates funds for the following uses:

• $349 billion for loan guarantees,
• $675 million for Small Business Administration salaries and expenses,
• $25 million for the Office of Inspector General,
• $240 million for small business development centers and women’s business centers for technical assistance for businesses,
• $25 million for resource partner associations to provide online information and training,
• $10 million for minority business centers for technical assistance for businesses,
• $10 billion for emergency EIDL grants,
• $17 billion for loan subsidies,
• $25 million for Department of Treasury salaries and expenses, and
• $100 billion for secondary market guarantee sales.

 Section 1108. Minority Business Development Agency

Authorizes $10 million for the Minority Business Development Agency within the Department of Commerce to provide grants to Minority Business Centers and Minority Chambers of Commerce for the purpose of providing counseling, training, and education on federal resources and business response to COVID-19 for small businesses.

Eliminates the Minority Business Center program’s non-federal match requirement for a period of three months and allows for centers to waive fee-for-service requirements through September 2021.

Section 1109. United States Treasury Program Management Authority

Establishes the authority of the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Farm Credit Administration, and other federal financial regulatory agencies to authorize bank and nonbank lenders to participate, including insured credit unions in loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program.

For financial institutions admitted under this section, gives Treasury the authority to issue regulations and guidance for terms concerning lender compensation, underwriting standards, interest rates, and maturity. Interest rates set under this authority may not exceed the maximum permissible rate of interest set on loans made under Section 1102 of this Act.

Requires that Treasury ensure that terms and conditions provided by this section are the same as the terms established for loans under Section 1102 of this Act for borrower eligibility, maximum loan amount, allowable uses, fee waivers, deferment, guarantee percentage, and loan forgiveness.

Allows Treasury to issue regulations and guidance as necessary, including to allow additional lenders to originate loans and establish terms.

Prohibits borrowers from applying for this loan if that borrower has a previously pending application for a 7(a) loan for the same purpose.

Establishes that the SBA will administer the program, including purchasing and guaranteeing loans, with guidance from Treasury.

All 7(a) lenders can opt-in to participate in the Paycheck Protection Program.

Section1110. Emergency EIDL Grants

Expands eligibility for access to Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) to include Tribal businesses, cooperatives, and ESOPs with fewer than 500 employees or any individual operating as a sole proprietor or an independent contractor during the covered period (January 31, 2020 to December 31, 2020). Private non-profits are also eligible for both grants and EIDLs.

Requires that for any SBA EIDL loans made in response to COVID-19 before December 31, 2020, the SBA shall waive any personal guarantee on advances and loans below $200,000, the requirement that an applicant needs to have been in business for the 1-year period before the disaster, and the credit elsewhere requirement.
During the covered period, allows SBA to approve and offer EIDL loans based solely on an applicant’s credit score, or use an alternative appropriate alternative method for determining applicant’s ability to repay.

Establishes an Emergency Grant to allow an eligible entity who has applied for an EIDL loan due to COVID-19 to request an advance on that loan, of not more than $10,000, which the SBA must distribute within 3 days.

Establishes that applicants shall not be required to repay advance payments, even if subsequently denied for an EIDL loan.
In advance of disbursing the advance payment, the SBA must verify that the entity is an eligible applicant for an EIDL loan. This approval shall take the form of a certification under penalty of perjury by the applicant that they are eligible.

Outlines that advance payment may be used for providing paid sick leave to employees, maintaining payroll, meeting increased costs to obtain materials, making rent or mortgage payments, and repaying obligations that cannot be met due to revenue losses.

Requires that an advance payment be considered when determining loan forgiveness, if the applicant transfers into a loan made under SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program.

Terminates the authority to carry out Emergency EIDL Grants on December 30, 2020.

Establishes that an emergency involving Federal primary responsibility determined to exist by the President under Section 501(b) of the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act qualifies as a new trigger for EIDL loans and, in such circumstances, the SBA Administrator shall deem that each State or subdivision has sufficient economic damage to small business concerns to qualify for assistance under this paragraph and the Administrator shall accept applications for such assistance immediately.

Adds “emergency” explicitly into other existing EIDL trigger language under Section 7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act.

Section 1111. Resources and Services Languages other than English

Directs $25 million for the SBA to offer resources and services in the 10 most commonly spoken languages, other than English.

Section 1112. Subsidy for Certain Loan Payments

Defines a covered loan as an existing 7(a) (including Community Advantage), 504, or microloan product. Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans are not covered.

Requires the SBA to pay the principal, interest, and any associated fees that are owed on the covered loans for a six month period starting on the next payment due. Loans that are already on deferment will receive six months of payment by the SBA beginning with the first payment after the deferral period. Loans made up until six months after enactment will also receive a full 6 months of loan payments by the SBA.

SBA must make payments no later than 30 days after the date on which the first payment is due. Requires the SBA to still make payments even if the loan was sold on the secondary market.

Requires SBA to encourage lenders to provide deferments and allows lenders, up until one year after enactment, to extend the maturity of SBA loans in deferment beyond existing statutory limits.

Section 1113. Bankruptcy

Amends the Small Business Reorganization Act to increase the eligibility threshold to file under subchapter V of chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to businesses with less than $7,500,000 of debt. The increase sunsets after one year and the eligibility threshold returns to $2,725,625.

Amends the definition of income in the Bankruptcy Code for chapters 7 and 13 to exclude coronavirus-related payments from the federal government from being treated as “income” for purposes of filing bankruptcy. Sunsets after one year.

Clarifies that the calculation of disposable income for purposes of confirming a chapter 13 plan shall not include coronavirus-related payments. Sunsets after one year.
Explicitly permits individuals and families currently in chapter 13 to seek payment plan modifications if they are experiencing a material financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic, including extending their payments for up to seven years after their initial plan payment was due. Sunsets after one year.

Section 1114. Emergency Rulemaking Authority

SBA is required to establish regulations no later than 15 days after enactment of this title.

Title II—Assistance for American Workers, Families, and Businesses

Subtitle A—Unemployment Insurance Provisions

Section 2101. Short Title

This title is called the Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act

Section 2102. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance

This section creates a temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program through December 31, 2020 to provide payment to those not traditionally eligible for unemployment benefits (self-employed, independent contractors, those with limited work history, and others) who are unable to work as a direct result of the coronavirus public health emergency.

Section 2103. Emergency Unemployment Relief for Governmental Entities and Nonprofit Organizations

This section provides payment to states to reimburse nonprofits, government agencies, and Indian tribes for half of the costs they incur through December 31, 2020 to pay unemployment benefits.

Section 2104. Emergency Increase in Unemployment Compensation Benefits

This section provides an additional $600 per week payment to each recipient of unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for up to four months.

Section 2105. Temporary Full Federal Funding of the First Week of Compensable Regular Unemployment for States with No Waiting Week

This section provides funding to pay the cost of the first week of unemployment benefits through December 31, 2020 for states that choose to pay recipients as soon as they become unemployed instead of waiting one week before the individual is eligible to receive benefits.

Section 2106. Emergency State Staffing Flexibility

This section provides states with temporary, limited flexibility to hire temporary staff, re-hire former staff, or take other steps to quickly process unemployment claims.

Section 2107. Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation

This section provides an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits through December 31, 2020 to help those who remain unemployed after weeks of state unemployment benefits are no longer available.

Section 2108. Temporary Financing of Short-Time Compensation Payments in States with Programs in Law

This section provides funding to support “short-time compensation” programs, where employers reduce employee hours instead of laying off workers and the employees with reduced hours receive a pro-rated unemployment benefit. This provision would pay 100 percent of the costs they incur in providing this short-time compensation through December 31, 2020.

Section 2109. Temporary Financing of Short-Time Compensation Agreements

This section provides funding to support states which begin “short-time compensation” programs. This provision would pay 50 percent of the costs that a state incurs in providing short-time compensation through December 31, 2020.

Section 2110. Grants for Short-Time Compensation Programs

This section provides $100 million in grants to states that enact “short-time compensation” programs to help them implement and administer these programs.

Section 2111. Assistance and Guidance in Implementing Programs

This section requires the Department of Labor to disseminate model legislative language for states, provide technical assistance, and establish reporting requirements related to “short-time compensation” programs.

Section 2112. Waiver of the 7-day Waiting Period for Benefits Under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act

This section temporarily eliminates the 7-day waiting period for railroad unemployment insurance benefits through December 31, 2020 (to make this program consistent with the change made in unemployment benefits for states through the same period in an earlier section of this subtitle).

Section 2113. Enhanced Benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act

This section provides an additional $600 per week payment to each recipient of railroad unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for up to four months (to make this program consistent with the change made in unemployment benefits for states in an earlier section of this subtitle).

Section 2114. Extended Unemployment under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act

This section provides an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits through December 31, 2020 to help those who remain unemployed after weeks of regular unemployment benefits are no longer available (to make this program consistent with the change made in unemployment benefits for states in an earlier section of this subtitle).

Section 2115. Funding for the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General for Oversight of Unemployment Provisions

This section provides the Department of Labor’s Inspector General with $25 million to carry out audits, investigations, and other oversight of the provisions of this subtitle.

Section 2116. Implementation

This section gives the Secretary of Labor the ability to issue operating instructions or other guidance as necessary in order to implement this subtitle, as well as allows the Department of Labor to waive Paperwork Reduction Act requirements, speeding up their ability to gather necessary information from states.

Subtitle B—Rebates and Other Individual Provisions

Section 2201. 2020 Recovery Rebates for Individuals

All U.S. residents with adjusted gross income up to $75,000 ($150,000 married), who are not a dependent of another taxpayer and have a work eligible social security number, are eligible for the full $1,200 ($2,400 married) rebate. In addition, they are eligible for an additional $500 per child. This is true even for those who have no income, as well as those whose income comes entirely from non-taxable means-tested benefit programs, such as SSI benefits.

For the vast majority of Americans, no action on their part will be required in order to receive a rebate check as IRS will use a taxpayer’s 2019 tax return if filed, or in the alternative their 2018 return. This includes many low-income individuals who file a tax return in order to take advantage of the refundable Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. The rebate amount is reduced by $5 for each $100 that a taxpayer’s income exceeds the phase-out threshold. The amount is completely phased-out for single filers with incomes exceeding $99,000, $146,500 for head of household filers with one child, and $198,000 for joint filers with no children.

Section 2202. Special Rules for Use of Retirement Funds

Consistent with previous disaster-related relief, the provision waives the 10-percent early withdrawal penalty for distributions up to $100,000 from qualified retirement accounts for coronavirus-related purposes made on or after January 1, 2020. In addition, income attributable to such distributions would be subject to tax over three years, and the taxpayer may recontribute the funds to an eligible retirement plan within three years without regard to that year’s cap on contributions. Further, the provision provides flexibility for loans from certain retirement plans for coronavirus-related relief.

A coronavirus-related distribution is a one made to an individual: (1) who is diagnosed with COVID-19, (2) whose spouse or dependent is diagnosed with COVID-19, or (3) who experiences adverse financial consequences as a result of being quarantined, furloughed, laid off, having work hours reduced, being unable to work due to lack of child care due to COVID-19, closing or reducing hours of a business owned or operated by the individual due to COVID-19, or other factors as determined by the Treasury Secretary.

Section 2203. Temporary Waiver of Required Minimum Distribution Rules for Certain Retirement Plans and Accounts

The provision waives the required minimum distribution rules for certain defined contribution plans and IRAs for calendar year 2020. This provision provides relief to individuals who would otherwise be required to withdraw funds from such retirement accounts during the economic slowdown due to COVID-19.

Section 2204. Allowance of Partial Above the Line Deduction for Charitable Contributions

The provision encourages Americans to contribute to churches and charitable organizations in 2020 by permitting them to deduct up to $300 of cash contributions, whether they itemize their deductions or not.

Section 2205. Modification of Limitations on Charitable Contributions During 2020

The provision increases the limitations on deductions for charitable contributions by individuals who itemize, as well as corporations. For individuals, the 50-percent of adjusted gross income limitation is suspended for 2020. For corporations, the 10-percent limitation is increased to 25 percent of taxable income. This provision also increases the limitation on deductions for contributions of food inventory from 15 percent to 25 percent.

Section 2206. Exclusion for Certain Employer Payments of Student Loans

The provision enables employers to provide a student loan repayment benefit to employees on a tax-free basis. Under the provision, an employer may contribute up to $5,250 annually toward an employee’s student loans, and such payment would be excluded from the employee’s income. The $5,250 cap applies to both the new student loan repayment benefit as well as other educational assistance (e.g., tuition, fees, books) provided by the employer under current law. The provision applies to any student loan payments made by an employer on behalf of an employee after date of enactment and before January 1, 2021.

Subtitle C—Business Provisions

Section 2301. Employee Retention Credit for Employers Subject to Closure Due to COVID-19

The provision provides a refundable payroll tax credit for 50 percent of wages paid by employers to employees during the COVID-19 crisis. The credit is available to employers whose (1) operations were fully or partially suspended, due to a COVID-19-related shut-down order, or (2) gross receipts declined by more than 50 percent when compared to the same quarter in the prior year.

The credit is based on qualified wages paid to the employee. For employers with greater than 100 full-time employees, qualified wages are wages paid to employees when they are not providing services due to the COVID-19-related circumstances described above. For eligible employers with 100 or fewer full-time employees, all employee wages qualify for the credit, whether the employer is open for business or subject to a shut-down order. The credit is provided for the first $10,000 of compensation, including health benefits, paid to an eligible employee. The credit is provided for wages paid or incurred from March 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020.

Section 2302. Delay of Payment of Employer Payroll Taxes

The provision allows employers and self-employed individuals to defer payment of the employer share of the Social Security tax they otherwise are responsible for paying to the federal government with respect to their employees. Employers generally are responsible for paying a 6.2-percent Social Security tax on employee wages. The provision requires that the deferred employment tax be paid over the following two years, with half of the amount required to be paid by December 31, 2021 and the other half by December 31, 2022. The Social Security Trust Funds will be held harmless under this provision.

Section 2303. Modifications for Net Operating Losses

The provision relaxes the limitations on a company’s use of losses. Net operating losses (NOL) are currently subject to a taxable-income limitation, and they cannot be carried back to reduce income in a prior tax year. The provision provides that an NOL arising in a tax year beginning in 2018, 2019, or 2020 can be carried back five years. The provision also temporarily removes the taxable income limitation to allow an NOL to fully offset income. These changes will allow companies to utilize losses and amend prior year returns, which will provide critical cash flow and liquidity during the COVID-19 emergency.

Section 2304. Modification of Limitation on Losses for Taxpayers Other Than Corporations

The provision modifies the loss limitation applicable to pass-through businesses and sole proprietors, so they can utilize excess business losses and access critical cash flow to maintain operations and payroll for their employees.

Section 2305. Modification of Credit for Prior Year Minimum Tax Liability of Corporations

The corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT) was repealed as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but corporate AMT credits were made available as refundable credits over several years, ending in 2021. The provision accelerates the ability of companies to recover those AMT credits, permitting companies to claim a refund now and obtain additional cash flow during the COVID-19 emergency.

Section 2306. Modification of Limitation on Business Interest

The provision temporarily increases the amount of interest expense businesses are allowed to deduct on their tax returns, by increasing the 30-percent limitation to 50 percent of taxable income (with adjustments) for 2019 and 2020. As businesses look to weather the storm of the current crisis, this provision will allow them to increase liquidity with a reduced cost of capital, so that they are able to continue operations and keep employees on payroll.

Section 2307. Technical Amendment Regarding Qualified Improvement Property

The provision enables businesses, especially in the hospitality industry, to write off immediately costs associated with improving facilities instead of having to depreciate those improvements over the 39-year life of the building. The provision, which corrects an error in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, not only increases companies’ access to cash flow by allowing them to amend a prior year return, but also incentivizes them to continue to invest in improvements as the country recovers from the COVID-19 emergency.

Section 2308. Temporary Exception From Excise Tax for Alcohol Used to Produce Hand Sanitizer

The provision waives the federal excise tax on any distilled spirits used for or contained in hand sanitizer that is produced and distributed in a manner consistent with guidance issued by the Food and Drug Administration and is effective for calendar year 2020.

Title III—Supporting America's Health Care System in the Fight Against the Coronavirus

Subtitle A—Health Provisions

Section 3001. Short Title

Part I—Addressing Supply Shortages

Subpart A—Medical Product Supplies

Section 3101. National Academies report on America’s medical product supply chain security

Directs the National Academies to study the manufacturing supply chain of drugs and medical devices and provide Congress with recommendations to strengthen the U.S. manufacturing supply chain.

Section 3102. Requiring the strategic national stockpile to include certain types of medical supplies

Clarifies that the Strategic National Stockpile can stockpile medical supplies, such as the swabs necessary for diagnostic testing for COVID-19.

Section 3103. Treatment of respiratory protective devices as covered countermeasures

Provides permanent liability protection for manufacturers of personal respiratory protective equipment, such as masks and respirators, in the event of a public health emergency, to incentivize production and distribution.

Subpart B—Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages

Section 3111. Prioritize reviews of drug applications; incentives

Requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prioritize and expedite the review of drug applications and inspections to prevent or mitigate a drug shortage.

Section 3112. Additional manufacturer reporting requirements in response to drug shortages

Requires drug manufacturers to submit more information when there is an interruption in supply, including information about active pharmaceutical ingredients, when active pharmaceutical ingredients are the cause of the interruption. Requires manufacturers to maintain contingency plans to ensure backup supply of products. Requires manufacturers to provide information about drug volume.

Subpart C—Preventing Medical Device Shortages

Section 3121. Discontinuance or interruption in the production of medical devices

Clarifies that during a public health emergency, a medical device manufacturer is required to submit information about a device shortage or device component shortage upon request of the FDA.

Part II—Access to Health Care for COVID-19 Patients

Subpart A—Coverage of Testing and Preventive Services

Section 3201. Coverage of diagnostic testing for COVID-19

Clarifies that all testing for COVID-19 is to be covered by private insurance plans without cost sharing, including those tests without an EUA by the FDA.

Section 3202. Pricing of diagnostic testing

For COVID-19 testing covered with no cost to patients, requires an insurer to pay either the rate specified in a contract between the provider and the insurer, or, if there is no contract, a cash price posted by the provider.

Section 3203. Rapid coverage of preventive services and vaccines for coronavirus

Provides free coverage without cost-sharing of a vaccine within 15 days for COVID-19 that has in effect a rating of “A” or “B” in the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force or a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

Subpart B—Support for Health Care Providers

Section 3211. Supplemental awards for health centers

Provides $1.32 billion in supplemental funding to community health centers on the front lines of testing and treating patients for COVID-19.

Section 3212. Telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs

Reauthorizes Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant programs that promote the use of telehealth technologies for health care delivery, education, and health information services. Telehealth offers flexibility for patients with, or at risk of contracting, COVID-19 to access screening or monitoring care while avoiding exposure to others.

Section 3213. Rural health care services outreach, rural health network development, and small health care provider quality improvement grant programs

Reauthorizes HRSA grant programs to strengthen rural community health by focusing on quality improvement, increasing health care access, coordination of care, and integration of services. Rural residents are disproportionately older and more likely to have a chronic disease, which could increase their risk for more severe illness if they contract COVID-19.

Section 3214. United States Public Health Service Modernization

Establishes a Ready Reserve Corps to ensure we have enough trained doctors and nurses to respond to COVID-19 and other public health emergencies.

Section 3215. Limitation on liability for volunteer health care professionals during COVID-19 emergency response

Makes clear that doctors who provide volunteer medical services during the public health emergency related to COVID-19 have liability protections.

Section 3216. Flexibility for members of National Health Service Corps during emergency period

Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reassign members of the National Health Service Corps to sites close to the one to which they were originally assigned, with the member’s agreement, in order to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Subpart C—Miscellaneous Provisions

Section 3221. Confidentiality and disclosure of records relating to substance use disorder

Allows for additional care coordination by aligning the 42 CFR Part 2 regulations, which govern the confidentiality and sharing of substance use disorder treatment records, with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), with initial patient consent.

Section 3222. Nutrition services

Waives nutrition requirements for Older Americans Act (OAA) meal programs during the public health emergency related to COVID-19 to ensure seniors can get meals in case certain food options are not available.

Section 3223. Continuity of service and opportunities for participants in community service activities under title V of the Older Americans Act of 1965

Allows the Secretary of Labor to extend older adults’ participation in community service projects under OAA and make administrative adjustments to facilitate their continued employment under the program.

Section 3224. Guidance on protected health information

Requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue guidance on what is allowed to be shared of patient record during the public health emergency related to COVID-19.

Section 3225. Reauthorization of healthy start program

Reauthorizes Healthy Start, which is a program that provides grants to improve access to services for women and their families, who may need additional support during the public health emergency related to COVID-19.

Section 3226. Importance of the blood supply

Directs the Secretary of HHS to carry out an initiative to improve awareness of the importance and safety of blood donation and the continued need for blood donations during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Part III—Innovation

Section 3301. Removing the cap on OTA for public health emergencies

Allows the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to more easily partner with private sector on research and development, which includes helping to scale up manufacturing as appropriate, by removing the cap on other transaction authority (OTA) during a public health emergency.

Section 3302. Priority zoonotic animal drugs

Provides Breakthrough Therapy designations for animal drugs that can prevent human diseases – i.e. speed up the development of drugs to treat animals to help prevent animal-to-human transmission, which is suspected to have occurred with outbreak of novel coronavirus, leading to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Part IV—Health Care Workforce

Section 3401. Reauthorization of health professions workforce programs
Section 3402. Health workforce coordination
Section 3403. Education and training relating to geriatrics

Reauthorizes and updates Title VII of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), which pertains to programs to support clinician training and faculty development, including the training of practitioners in family medicine, general internal medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, and other medical specialties.

Directs the Secretary of HHS to develop a comprehensive and coordinated plan for health workforce programs, which may include performance measures and the identification of gaps between the outcomes of such programs and relevant workforce projection needs.

Title VII programs strengthen the health professions workforce to better meet the health care needs of certain populations, such as older individuals and those with chronic diseases, who could be at increased risk of contracting COVID-19.

Section 3404. Nursing workforce development

Reauthorizes and updates Title VIII of the PHSA, which pertains to nurse workforce training programs. Updates reporting requirements to include information on the extent to which Title VIII programs meet the goals and performance measures for such activities, and the extent to which HHS coordinates with other Federal departments on related programs. Permits Nurse Corps loan repayment beneficiaries to serve at private institutions under certain circumstances. Title VIII programs help to address current and emerging health care challenges by supporting the development of a robust nursing workforce, as nurses are critical in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and future public health emergencies.

Subtitle B—Education Provisions

Section 3501. Short Title
Section 3502. Definitions

Sets definitions for terms of “coronavirus,” “qualifying emergency,” “institution of higher education,” and “Secretary.”

Section 3503. Campus-Based Aid Waivers

Waives the institutional matching requirement for campus-based aid programs. Allows institutions to transfer unused work-study funds to be used for supplemental grants.

Section 3504. Use of Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants for Emergency Aid

Allows institutions to award additional SEOG funds to students impacted by COVID-19.

Section 3505. Federal work-study during a qualifying emergency

Allows institutions to issue work-study payments to students who are unable to work due to work-place closures as a lump sum or in payments similar to paychecks.

Section 3506. Adjustments of Subsidized Loan Limits

For students who dropped out of school as a result of COVID-19 excludes the term from counting toward lifetime subsidized loan eligibility.

Section 3507. Exclusion from Federal Pell Grant Duration Limit

For students who dropped out of school as a result of COVID-19 excludes the term from counting toward lifetime Pell eligibility.

Section 3508. Institutional Refund and Federal Student Loan Flexibility

For students who dropped out of school as a result of COVID -19, the student is not required to return Pell grants or federal student loans to the Secretary. Waives the requirement that institutions calculate the amount of grant or loan assistance that the institution must return to the Secretary in the case of students who dropped out of school as a result of COVID-19.

Section 3509. Satisfactory Progress

For students who dropped out of school as a result of COVID -19, the student’s grades do not effect a student’s federal academic requirements to continue to receive Pell Grants or student loans.

Section 3510. Continuing Education at Affected Foreign Institutions

Permits foreign institutions to offer distance learning to U.S. students receiving title IV funds for the duration of the COVID-19 declaration of disaster.

Section 3511. National Emergency Educational Waivers

Provide the Secretary of Education with waiver authority to provide waivers from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, except civil rights laws, that are necessary and appropriate due to the COVID-19 declaration of disaster.

Section 3512. HBCU Capital Financing Program

Authorizes the Secretary of Education to defer payments on current HBCU Capital Financing loans during the national emergency period so HBCUs can devote financial resources to COVID-19 efforts.

Section 3513. Temporary Relief for Federal Student Loan Borrowers

Requires the Secretary to defer student loan payments, principal, and interest for 6 months, through September 30, 2020, without penalty to the borrower for all federally owned loans. This provides relief for over 95 percent of student loan borrowers.

Section 3514. Provisions Related to the Corporation for National and Community Service

Provide participants serving in the National Service Corps programs with the educational award they were due to receive before their duties had been suspended or placed on hold during the COVID-19 declaration of disaster. Extend the age limits and the terms of service to allow individuals serving in national service programs to continue participating in programs after the COVID-19 declaration of disaster ends.

Section 3515. Workforce Response Activities

Provides local workforce boards with additional flexibility to use funds received under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act for administrative costs, including for online resources. Allows Governors to utilize reserved workforce funds on rapid response activities in response to COVID-19.

Section 3516. Technical Amendments

Makes technical edits to the FUTURE Act to improve implementation and aid student loan borrowers.

Section 3517. Waiver Authority and Reporting Requirements for Institutional Aid

Authorizes the Secretary of Education to waive certain outcome requirements for FY2021 grant programs for HBCU and other Minority Serving Institutions.

Section 3518. Authorized Uses and Other Modifications for Grants

Authorizes the Secretary of Education to waive or modify current allowable uses of funds for institutional grant programs (TRIO/GEARUP/Title III/Title V/and sections of Title VII) so colleges can re-deploy resources and services to COVID-19 efforts. Permits institutions to request waivers from the Secretary of Education for financial matching requirements in competitive grant and other MSI grant programs in the Higher Education Act so colleges can devote institutional resources to COVID-19 efforts.

Section 3519. Service Obligation to Teachers

For teachers who could not finish their year of teaching service as a result of COVID-19, their partial year of service shall be counted as a full year of service toward TEACH grant obligations or Teacher Loan Forgiveness. Waives a requirement that teachers must serve consecutive years of teaching service for Teacher Loan Forgiveness eligibility, if a teacher’s service is not consecutive as a result of COVID-19.

Subtitle C—Labor Provisions

Section 3601. Limitation on Paid Leave

Creates a limitation stating an employer shall not be required to pay more than $200 per day and $10,000 in the aggregate for each employee under this section.

Section 3602. Emergency Paid Sick Leave Limitation

Creates a limitation stating an employer shall not be required to pay more than $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate for sick leave or more than $200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate to care for a quarantined individual or child for each employee under this section.

Section 3603. Unemployment Insurance

Provides that applications for unemployment compensation and assistance with the application process, to the extent practicable, be accessible in two ways: in person, by phone, or online.

Section 3604. OMB Waiver of Paid Family and Paid Sick Leave

Allows the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to exclude for good cause certain Executive Branch employees from the Paid Family Leave mandate. Allows the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to exclude for good cause certain Executive Branch employees from the Paid Sick Leave mandate.

Section 3605. Paid Leave for Rehired Employees

Allows an employee who was laid off by an employer March 1, 2020, or later to have access to paid family and medical leave in certain instances if they are rehired by the employer. Employee would have had to work for the employer at least 30 days prior to being laid off.

Section 3606. Advance Refunding of Credits

Allows employers to receive an advance tax credit from Treasury instead of having to be reimbursed on the back end. Creates regulatory authority to implement the tax credit advances.

Section 3607. Expansion of DOL Authority to Postpone Certain Deadlines

Amends Section 518 of ERISA to provide the Department of Labor the ability to postpone certain ERISA filing deadlines for a period of up to one year in the case of a public health emergency.

Section 3608. Single-Employer Plan Funding Rules

Provides single employer pension plan companies with more time to meet their funding obligations by delaying the due date for any contribution otherwise due during 2020 until January 1, 2021. At that time, contributions due earlier would be due with interest. The bill also provides that a plan’s status for benefit restrictions as of December 31, 2019, will apply throughout 2020.

Section 3609. Application of Cooperative and Small Employer Charity Pension Plan Rules to Certain Charitable Employers whose primary Exempt Purpose is Providing services with respect to Mothers and Children

Amends a the definition of CSEC Plans to provide that a pension plan will be a CSEC plan if, as of January 1, 2000, the plan was sponsored by an employer that (i) is exempt from taxation under Code section 501(c)(3), (ii) has been in existence since 1938, (iii) conducts medical research directly or indirectly through grant making, and (iv) has as its primary exempt purpose providing services with respect to mothers and children. This section is effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2018.

Section 3610. Federal Contractor Authority

Ensures that federal contractors who cannot perform work at their duty-station or telework because of the nature of their jobs due to COVID-19, continue to get paid.

Section 3611. Technical Corrections

Subtitle D—Finance Committee

Section 3701. Health Savings Accounts for Telehealth Services

This section would allow a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) with a health savings account (HSA) to cover telehealth services prior to a patient reaching the deductible, increasing access for patients who may have the COVID-19 virus and protecting other patients from potential exposure.

Section 3702. Over-the-Counter Medical Products without Prescription

This section would allow patients to use funds in HSAs and Flexible Spending Accounts for the purchase of over-the-counter medical products, including those needed in quarantine and social distancing, without a prescription from a physician.

Section 3703. Expanding Medicare Telehealth Flexibilities

This section would eliminate the requirement in Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-123) that limits the Medicare telehealth expansion authority during the COVID-19 emergency period to situations where the physician or other professional has treated the patient in the past three years. This would enable beneficiaries to access telehealth, including in their home, from a broader range of providers, reducing COVID-19 exposure.

Section 3704. Allowing Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics to Furnish Telehealth in Medicare

This section would allow, during the COVID-19 emergency period, Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics to serve as a distant site for telehealth consultations. A distant site is where the practitioner is located during the time of the telehealth service. This section would allow FQHCs and RHCs to furnish telehealth services to beneficiaries in their home. Medicare would reimburse for these telehealth services based on payment rates similar to the national average payment rates for comparable telehealth services under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. It would also exclude the costs associated with these services from both the FQHC prospective payment system and the RHC all-inclusive rate calculation.

Section 3705. Expanding Medicare Telehealth for Home Dialysis Patients

This section would eliminate a requirement during the COVID-19 emergency period that a nephrologist conduct some of the required periodic evaluations of a patient on home dialysis face-to-face, allowing these vulnerable beneficiaries to get more care in the safety of their home.

Section 3706. Allowing for the Use of Telehealth during the Hospice Care Recertification Process in Medicare

Under current law, hospice physicians and nurse practitioners cannot conduct recertification encounters using telehealth. This section would allow, during the COVID-19 emergency period, qualified providers to use telehealth technologies in order to fulfill the hospice face-to-face recertification requirement.

Section 3707. Encouraging the Use of Telecommunications Systems for Home Health Services in Medicare

This section would require the Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue clarifying guidance encouraging the use of telecommunications systems, including remote patient monitoring, to furnish home health services consistent with the beneficiary care plan during the COVID-19 emergency period.

Section 3708. Enabling Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners to Order Medicare Home Health Services

This section would allow physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and other professionals to order home health services for beneficiaries, reducing delays and increasing beneficiary access to care in the safety of their home.

Section 3709. Increasing Provider Funding through Immediate Medicare Sequester Relief

This section would provide prompt economic assistance to health care providers on the front lines fighting the COVID-19 virus, helping them to furnish needed care to affected patients. Specifically, this section would temporarily lift the Medicare sequester, which reduces payments to providers by 2 percent, from May 1 through December 31, 2020, boosting payments for hospital, physician, nursing home, home health, and other care. The Medicare sequester would be extended by one-year beyond current law to provide immediate relief without worsening Medicare’s long-term financial outlook.

Section 3710. Medicare Add-on for Inpatient Hospital COVID-19 Patients

This section would increase the payment that would otherwise be made to a hospital for treating a patient admitted with COVID-19 by 20 percent. It would build on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decision to expedite use of a COVID-19 diagnosis to enable better surveillance as well as trigger appropriate payment for these complex patients. This add-on payment would be available through the duration of the COVID-19 emergency period.

Section 3711. Increasing Medicare Access to Post-Acute Care

This section would provide acute care hospitals flexibility, during the COVID-19 emergency period, to transfer patients out of their facilities and into alternative care settings in order to prioritize resources needed to treat COVID-19 cases. Specifically, this section would waive the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) 3-hour rule, which requires that a beneficiary be expected to participate in at least 3 hours of intensive rehabilitation at least 5 days per week to be admitted to an IRF. It would allow a Long Term Care Hospital (LTCH) to maintain its designation even if more than 50 percent of its cases are less intensive. It would also temporarily pause the current LTCH site-neutral payment methodology.

Section 3712. Preventing Medicare Durable Medical Equipment Payment Reduction

This section would prevent scheduled reductions in Medicare payments for durable medical equipment, which helps patients transition from hospital to home and remain in their home, through the length of COVID-19 emergency period.

Section 3713. Eliminating Medicare Part B Cost-Sharing for the COVID-19 Vaccine

This section would enable beneficiaries to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Medicare Part B with no cost-sharing.

Section 3714. Allowing Up to 3-Month Fills and Refills of Covered Medicare Part D Drugs

This section would require that Medicare Part D plans provide up to a 90-day supply of a prescription medication if requested by a beneficiary during the COVID-19 emergency period.

Section 3715. Providing Home and Community-based Support Services during Hospital Stays

This section would allow state Medicaid programs to pay for direct support professionals, caregivers trained to help with activities of daily living, to assist disabled individuals in the hospital to reduce length of stay and free up beds.

Section 3716. Clarification Regarding Uninsured Individuals

This section would clarify a section of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-127) by ensuring that uninsured individuals can receive a COVID-19 test and related service with no cost-sharing in any state Medicaid program that elects to offer such enrollment option.

Section 3717. Clarification Regarding Coverage of Tests

This section would clarify a section of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-127) by ensuring that beneficiaries can receive all tests for COVID-19 in Medicare Part B with no cost-sharing.

Section 3718. Preventing Medicare Clinical Laboratory Test Payment Reduction

This section would prevent scheduled reductions in Medicare payments for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests furnished to beneficiaries in 2021. It would also delay by one year the upcoming reporting period during which laboratories are required to report private payer data.

Section 3719. Providing Hospitals Medicare Advance Payments

This section would expand, for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency period, an existing Medicare accelerated payment program. Hospitals, especially those facilities in rural and frontier areas, need reliable and stable cash flow to help them maintain an adequate workforce, buy essential supplies, create additional infrastructure, and keep their doors open to care for patients. Specifically, qualified facilities would be able to request up to a six month advanced lump sum or periodic payment. This advanced payment would be based on net reimbursement represented by unbilled discharges or unpaid bills. Most hospital types could elect to receive up to 100 percent of the prior period payments, with Critical Access Hospitals able to receive up to 125 percent. Finally, a qualifying hospital would not be required to start paying down the loan for four months, and would also have at least 12 months to complete repayment without a requirement to pay interest.

Sec. 3720. Providing State Access to Enhanced Medicaid FMAP

This section would amend a section of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-127) to ensure that states are able to receive the Medicaid 6.2 percent FMAP increase.

Subtitle E—Health and Human Services Extenders

Part I—Medicare Provisions

Section. 3801. Extension of Physician Work Geographic Index Floor

This section would increase payments for the work component of physician fees in areas where labor cost is determined to be lower than the national average through December 1, 2020.

Section 3802. Extension of Funding for Quality Measure Endorsement and Selection

This section would provide funding for HHS to contract with a consensus-based entity, e.g., the National Quality Forum (NQF), to carry out duties related to quality measurement and performance improvement through November 30, 2020.

Section 3803. Extension of Funding Outreach and Assistance for Low-Income Programs

This section would extend funding for beneficiary outreach and counseling related to low-income programs through November 30, 2020.

Part II—Medicaid Provisions

Section 3811. Extension of Money Follows the Person Demonstration Program

This section would extend the Medicaid Money Follows the Person demonstration that helps patients transition from the nursing home to the home setting through November 30, 2020.

Section 3812. Extension of Spousal Impoverishment Protections

This section would extend the Medicaid spousal impoverishment protections program through November 30, 2020 to help a spouse of an individual who qualifies for nursing home care to live at home in the community.

Section 3813. Delay of Disproportionate Share Hospital Reductions

The section would delay scheduled reductions in Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments through November 30, 2020.

Section 3814. Extension and Expansion of Community Mental Health Services Demonstration

This section would extend the Medicaid Community Mental Health Services demonstration that provides coordinated care to patients with mental health and substance use disorders, through November 30, 2020. It would also expand the demonstration to two additional states.

Part III—Human Services and Other Health Programs

Section 3821. Extension of Sexual Risk Avoidance Education

This section extends the Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) program through November 30, 2020 at current funding levels. This program provides funds to states to provide education exclusively focused on sexual risk avoidance (meaning voluntarily refraining from sexual activity).

Section 3822. Extension of Personal Responsibility Education

This section extends the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) through November 30, 2020 at current funding levels. PREP provides states, community groups, tribes, and tribal organizations with grants to implement evidence-based, or evidence-informed, innovative strategies for teen pregnancy and HIV/STD prevention, youth development, and adulthood preparation for young people.

Section 3823. Extension of Demonstration Projects to Address Health Professions Workforce Needs

This section extends the Health Professions Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program through November 30, 2020 at current funding levels. This program provides funding to help low-income individuals obtain education and training in high-demand, well-paid, health care jobs.

Section 3824. Extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program and Related Programs

This section extends TANF and related programs through November 30, 2020.

Part IV—Public Health Provisions

Section 3831. Extension for community health centers, the National Health Services Corps, and teaching health centers that operate GME programs

Extends mandatory funding for community health centers, the National Health Service Corps, and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program at current levels through November 30, 2020.

Section 3832. Diabetes programs

Extends mandatory funding for the Special Diabetes Program for Type I Diabetes and the Special Diabetes Program for Indians at current levels through November 30, 2020.

Part V—Miscellaneous Provisions

Section 3841. Prevention of duplicate appropriations for fiscal year 2020

Subtitle F—Over-the-Counter Drugs

Part I—OTC Review

Section 3851. Regulation of certain nonprescription drugs that are marketed with an approved drug application

Reforms the regulatory process for over-the-counter (OTC) drug monographs by allowing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve changes OTC drugs administratively, rather than going through a full notice and comment rulemaking. Currently, FDA can approve all other drugs without going through a full notice and comment rulemaking, and this legislation makes sure OTC medicines receive the same treatment as other drugs. Incentivizes companies to create more innovative products by providing an 18-month market-exclusivity component that rewards a return on investment for new OTC drugs.

Section 3852. Misbranding

Clarifies that an OTC drug that does not comply with the monograph requirements is misbranded.

Section 3853. Drugs excluded from over-the-counter drug review

Clarifies that nothing in this bill will apply to drugs previously excluded by the FDA from the Over-the-Counter Drug Review under a specified Federal Register document.

Section 3854. Treatment of Sunscreen Innovation Act

Clarifies that sponsors of sunscreen ingredients with pending orders have the option to see review in accordance with the Sunscreen Innovation act or to see review under the new monograph review process.

Section 3855. Annual update to Congress on appropriate pediatric indication for certain OTC cough and cold drugs

Requires an annual update to Congress regarding FDA’s progress in evaluating certain pediatric indications for certain cough and cold monograph drugs for children under age six.

Section 3856. Technical corrections

Includes technical corrections to the Food and Drug Administration Reauthorization Act of 2017 and existing law.

Part II—User Fees

Section 3861. Finding

Declares that the fees paid pursuant to this section will be dedicated to FDA review of over-the-counter monograph drugs.

Section 3862. Fees relating to over-the-counter drugs

Establishes a new FDA user fee to allow the agency to hire additional staff members to ensure there is adequate agency oversight to approve changes to OTC drugs.

Title IV—Economic Stabilization and Assistance to Severely Distressed Sectors of the Unites States Economy

Subtitle A—Coronavirus Economic Stabilization Act of 2020

Section 4001. Short Title.

Section 4002. Definitions.

Defines an “Eligible Business” as a United States business that has not otherwise received adequate economic relief in the form of loans or loan guarantees provided under this Act. This Section also defines a “State” as any of the several States, the District of Columbia, any of the territories and possessions of the United States, any bi-State or multi-State entity, and any Indian tribe.

Section 4003. Emergency Relief and Taxpayer Protections

• Provides $500 billion to Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund to provide loans, loan guarantees, and other investments, distributed as follows:
  • Direct lending, including:
    • $25 billion for passenger air carriers, eligible businesses that are certified under part 145 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, and approved to perform inspection, repair, replace, or overhaul services, and ticket agents;
    • $4 billion for cargo air carriers; and
    • $17 billion for businesses important to maintaining national security.
  • $454 billion, as well as any amounts available but not used for direct lending, for loans, loan guarantees, and investments in support of the Federal Reserve’s lending facilities to eligible businesses, states, and municipalities. Federal Reserve 13(3) lending is a critical tool that can be used in times of crisis to help mitigate extraordinary pressure in financial markets that would otherwise have severe adverse consequences for households, businesses, and the U.S. economy.
• All direct lending must meet the following criteria:
  • Alternative financing is not reasonably available to the business;
  • The loan is sufficiently secured or made at an interest rate that reflects the risk of the loan and, if possible, not less than an interest rate based on market conditions for comparable obligations before the coronavirus outbreak;
  • The duration of the loan shall be as short as possible and shall not exceed 5 years;
  • Borrowers and their affiliates cannot engage in stock buybacks, unless contractually obligated, or pay dividends until the loan is no longer outstanding or one year after the date of the loan;
  • Borrowers must, until September 30, 2020, maintain its employment levels as of March 24, 2020, to the extent practicable, and retain no less than 90 percent of its employees as of that date;
  • A borrower must certify that it is a U.S.-domiciled business and its employees are predominantly located in the U.S.;
  • The loan cannot be forgiven; and
  • In the case of borrowers critical to national security, their operations are jeopardized by losses related to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Any lending through a 13(3) facility established by the Federal Reserve under this Section must be broad-based, with verification that each participant is not insolvent and is unable to obtain adequate financing elsewhere. Loan forgiveness is not permissible in any such credit facility.
• Treasury will endeavor to implement a special 13(3) facility through the Federal Reserve targeted specifically at nonprofit organizations and businesses between 500 and 10,000 employees, subject to additional loan criteria and obligations on the recipient, such as:
  • The funds received must be used to retain at least 90 percent of the recipient’s workforce, with full compensation and benefits, through September 30, 2020;
  • The recipient will not outsource or offshore jobs for the term of the loan plus an additional two years;
  • (3) The recipient will not abrogate existing collective bargaining agreements for the term of the loan plus an additional two years; and
  • The recipient must remain neutral in any union organizing effort for the term of the loan.

Section 4004. Limitation on Certain Employee Compensation

Prohibits recipients of any direct lending authorized by this Title from increasing the compensation of any officer or employee whose total compensation exceeds $425,000, or from offering such employees severance pay or other benefits upon termination of employment which exceeds twice the maximum total annual compensation received by that employee, until one year after the loan is no longer outstanding. Officers or employees making over $3 Million last year would also be prohibited from earning more than $3 Million plus fifty percent of the amount their compensation last year exceeded $3 Million.

Section 4005. Continuation of Certain Air Service

Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to require air carriers receiving loans under this Title to maintain scheduled air transportation service where deemed necessary by the Secretary of Transportation.

Section 4006. Coordination with Secretary of Transportation

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to coordinate with the Secretary of Transportation in implementing this Title with respect to air carriers.

Section 4007. Suspension of Certain Aviation Excise Taxes

Repeals Federal Excise Taxes collected in relation to commercial aviation. Excise taxes are applied to the transportation of persons (i.e., ticket tax), the transportation of property (i.e., cargo tax), and aviation fuel.

Section 4008. Debt Guarantee Authority

Authorizes the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to temporarily establish a debt guarantee program to guarantee debt of solvent insured depositories and depository institution holding companies. Noninterest-bearing transaction accounts may be treated as a debt guarantee program. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is given authority to temporarily increase share insurance coverage for noninterest-bearing transaction accounts. Such authorities, programs, guarantees, and increases shall terminate no later than December 31, 2020.

Section 4009. Temporary Government in the Sunshine Act Relief

Temporarily permits the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (Federal Reserve) to conduct meetings without regards to the Government in the Sunshine Act, which institutes certain requirements for meetings that may be impracticable to carry out under certain unusual and exigent circumstances, such as those related to the coronavirus outbreak, if the Chairman determines, in writing, that such circumstances exist. The Federal Reserve is still required to keep a record of all votes and the reason for votes during this time. This authority expires at the earlier of December 31, 2020, or the date on which the national emergency declaration related to coronavirus is terminated.

Section 4010. Temporary Hiring Flexibility

Temporarily provides the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) additional hiring flexibility upon a determination by the respective agency heads that an expedited recruitment process is necessary and appropriate to respond to the coronavirus. Such authority expires at the earlier of December 31, 2020, or the date on which the national emergency declaration related to coronavirus is terminated.

Section 4011. Temporary Lending Limit Waiver

Temporarily provides a nonbank financial company an exception to the OCC’s lending limits aligned with the exception for financial companies, and temporarily authorizes the Comptroller of the Currency to exempt any transaction from the lending limits, if the exemption is in the public interest. The temporary exemption from lending limits and authorization to exempt transactions expires at the earlier of December 31, 2020, or the date on which the national emergency declaration related to coronavirus is terminated.

Section 4012. Temporary Relief for Community Banks

Requires the Federal banking agencies by interim rule to temporarily reduce the Community Bank Leverage Ratio (CBLR) for qualifying community banks from 9 percent to 8 percent, and provide for a reasonable grace period if a community bank’s CBLR falls below the prescribed level. The interim rule expires at the earlier of December 31, 2020, or the date on which the national emergency declaration related to coronavirus is terminated.

Section 4013. Temporary Relief from Troubled Debt Restructurings

A financial institution may elect to suspend requirements under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for loan modifications related to the coronavirus pandemic, and suspend any such determination regarding loans modified as a result of the effects of the coronavirus. Federal banking agencies and the NCUA must defer to a financial institution to make a suspension. Such election may begin on March 1, 2020 and last no later than 60 days after the lifting of the coronavirus national health emergency.

Section 4014. Optional Temporary Relief from Current Expected Credit Losses

An insured depository institution (including a credit union), bank holding company, or any of its affiliates has the option to temporarily delay measuring credit losses on financial instruments under the new Current Expected Credit Losses methodology. Such option to delay expires at the earlier of December 31, 2020, or the date on which the national emergency declaration related to coronavirus is terminated.

Section 4015. Non-Applicability of Restrictions on ESF During National Emergency

Temporarily suspends the statutory limitation on the use of the Exchange Stabilization Fund (Section 131 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) for guarantee programs for the United States money market mutual fund industry. Any guarantee shall be limited to the total value of a shareholder’s holdings in a participating fund as of the close of business on the day before the announcement of the guarantee. Any guarantee established as a result of the application of this Section shall terminate not later than December 31, 2020.

Section 4016. Temporary Credit Union Provisions; Expanding Liquidity

Temporarily enhances access to the Central Liquidity Facility (CLF), including for corporate credit unions, to meet liquidity needs. Increases resources available to meet liquidity needs through the Facility. The amendments provided under this section sunset on December 31, 2020.

Section 4017. Increasing Access to Materials Necessary for National Security and Pandemic Recovery

Waives for a two-year period the requirement for a separate act of Congress to authorize certain projects exceeding $50 million and the requirement that any amounts unused in the Defense Production Act Fund at the end of the fiscal year that exceed $750 million be swept and returned to the Treasury’s General Fund. This Section also waives for one year following enactment the requirement for a 30-day layover after Presidential notification to Congress before a project may start and the requirement that Congress separately authorize certain projects exceeding $50 million in aggregate cost.

Section 4018. Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery

Establishes within the Department of the Treasury the Office of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery. The Special Inspector General shall be appointed by the President and shall conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the making, purchase, management, and sale of loans, loan guarantees, and other investments made by the Treasury Secretary under this Title. The Special Inspector General shall keep Congress informed through quarterly reports that provide the details of all such loans, loan guarantees, or other investments.

Section 4019. Conflicts of Interest

Any company in which the President, Vice President, an executive department head, Member of Congress, or any of such individual’s spouse, child, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law own over 20 percent of the outstanding voting stock shall not be eligible for loans, loan guarantees, or other investments provided under this Title.

Section 4020. Congressional Oversight Commission

Establishes a Congressional Oversight Commission charged with oversight of the implementation of this Title by the Department of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, including efforts of the Department and the Board to provide economic stability as a result of coronavirus. The Oversight Commission shall consist of 5 members as follows:

• 1 member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
• 1 member appointed by the House Majority Leader;
• 1 member appointed by the Senate Majority Leader;
• 1 member appointed by the Senate Minority Leader;
• 1 member appointed by the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader, after consultation with the Senate Minority Leader and House Minority Leader.

The Panel may hold hearings, take testimony, and secure from any federal department or agency information it deems necessary to carry out its responsibility. The Panel is required to submit reports to Congress every 30 days specifying:

1. The impact of purchases made under this Title on the financial well-being of the people of the United States, financial markets, and financial institutions;
2. The extent to which the information made available on transactions under this Title has contributed to market transparency; and
3. The effectiveness of loans, loan guarantees, and investments made under this title of minimizing long-term costs to the taxpayer and maximizing the benefits for taxpayers.

The Oversight Commission shall terminate on September 30, 2025.

Section 4021. Credit Protection During Covid-19

This section requires that furnishers to credit reporting agencies who agree to account forbearance, or agree to modified payments with respect to an obligation or account of a consumer that has been impacted by COVID-19, report such obligation or account as “current” or as the status reported prior to the accommodation during the period of accommodation unless the consumer becomes current. This applies only to accounts for which the consumer has fulfilled requirements pursuant to the forbearance or modified payment agreement. Such credit protection is available beginning January 31, 2020 and ends at the later of 120 days after enactment or 120 days after the date the national emergency declaration related to the coronavirus is terminated.

Section 4022. Foreclosure Moratorium and Consumer Right to Request Forbearance

Prohibits foreclosures on all federally-backed mortgage loans for a 60-day period beginning on March 18, 2020. Provides up to 180 days of forbearance for borrowers of a federally-backed mortgage loan who have experienced a financial hardship related to the COVID-19 emergency. Applicable mortgages included those purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, insured by HUD, VA, or USDA, or directly made by USDA. The authority provided under this section terminates on the earlier of the termination date of the national emergency concerning the coronavirus or December 31, 2020.

Section 4023. Forbearance of Residential Mortgage Loan Payments for Multifamily Properties with Federally Backed Loans

Provides up to 90 days of forbearance for multifamily borrowers with a federally backed multifamily mortgage loan who have experienced a financial hardship. Borrowers receiving forbearance may not evict or charge late fees to tenants for the duration of the forbearance period. Applicable mortgages include loans to real property designed for 5 or more families that are purchased, insured, or assisted by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or HUD. The authority provided under this section terminates on the earlier of the termination date of the national emergency concerning the coronavirus or December 31, 2020.

Section 4024. Temporary Moratorium on Eviction Filings

For 120 days beginning on the date of enactment, landlords are prohibited from initiating legal action to recover possession of a rental unit or to charge fees, penalties, or other charges to the tenant related to such nonpayment of rent where the landlord’s mortgage on that property is insured, guaranteed, supplemented, protected, or assisted in any way by HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the rural housing voucher program, or the Violence Against Women Act of 1994.

Section 4025. Reports

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to publish on the Department’s website detailed information about each transaction authorized by this Act, within 72 hours of the time such transaction is executed. Requires the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on the loans, loan guarantees, and other investments provided under this Title, and to provide a report to Congress within nine months and annually thereafter.

Section 4026. Direct Appropriation

Authorizes the appropriation of funds necessary to implement this Title, prohibits the making of new loans after January 1, 2021, and requires any remaining funds to be transferred to the Treasury.

Section 4027. Rule of Construction

Limits all support provided by the Department of the Treasury under this Title to loans, loan guarantees, and other investments as provided by this Title.

Section 4028. Termination Authority

All authority to make new loans, loan guarantees, or other investments provided under this Title shall terminate on December 31, 2020. The duration of all loans under this Title shall not exceed five years.

Subtitle B—Air Carrier Worker Support

Section 4111. Definitions

Defines the term “contractor” to mean a person or entity that contractually performs airport ground support or catering services for the air carrier industry. Defines the term “employee” to be an individual, other than a corporate officer, employed by an air carrier or a contractor.

Section 4112. Pandemic Relief for Aviation Workers

Provides financial assistance for the exclusive use of employee wages, salaries, and benefits in the amounts of up to $25 billion for passenger air carriers, up to $4 billion for cargo air carriers, and up to $3 billion for airline contractors. Provides for $100 million for administrative fees associated with providing the financial assistance.

Section 4113. Procedures for Providing Payroll Support

Provides that a formula based on the salaries and benefits reported by an air carrier pursuant to part 241 of Title 14, CFR, for the period from April 1, 2019, through September 30, 2019 be used as the basis of support. Smaller air carriers and contractors that do not file part 241, must document wages, salaries and benefits for the same time period.

Defines the terms and conditions of financial assistance to be used, including such covenants, representations, warranties, and requirements (including requirements for audits), as the Secretary of the Treasury determines appropriate.

Requires the Secretary to publish procedures within five days for air carriers and contractors to submit financial assistance requests under this subtitle.

Requires the Secretary to make initial payments to air carriers and contractors that request financial assistance within 10 days.

The Secretary to determine an appropriate method for timely distribution of payments to air carriers and contractors with approved requests for financial assistance from any funds remaining available after providing initial financial assistance.

If the Secretary determines that the aggregate amount of financial assistance requested exceeds the amount available, the Secretary shall provide proportionate share of the formula derived above.

Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Treasury audit certifications made by small air carriers and contractors.

Section 4114. Required Assurances

To be eligible for a financial assistance, recipients enter into an agreement with the Secretary of the Treasury that it will not, until September 30, 2020, conduct furloughs, reduce pay rates, buy back stock, pay dividends, and meet requirements of Sections 4115 and 4117.

Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to require, to the extent practicable, that air carriers receiving financial support continue services to any point served by that carrier before March 1, 2020.

Requires the Secretary of Transportation to take into consideration the air transportation needs of small and remote communities and the need health care and pharmaceutical supply chains.

The authority under this subsection terminates on March 1, 2022.

Section 4115. Protection of Collective Bargaining Agreement

The Secretary of the Treasury cannot make conditions on financial assistance to force a carrier’s or contractor’s implementation of measures to enter into negotiations with the certified bargaining representative regarding pay or other terms and conditions of employment.
Defines the period of time for the application of this subsection that begins on the date which the carrier or contractor access financial assistance and ends on September 30, 2020.

Section 4116. Taxpayer Protections

Provides for Secretary of Treasury to receive warrants, options, stock and other financial instruments to provide appropriate compensation for the government for the assistance.

Section 4117. Limitation on Certain Employee Compensation

Financial assistance is dependent upon compensation limits, where recipient has entered into a binding agreement with the Secretary of the Treasury, no officer or employee of the air carrier or contractor whose total compensation exceeded $425,000 in calendar year 2019 (other than an employee whose compensation is determined through an existing collective bargaining agreement entered into prior to enactment of this Act). The period of time the limit applies begins on March 24, 2020, and ends on March 24, 2022.

Pay above $425,000 is frozen for two years. No retirement or severance packages can exceed twice the maximum total compensation during 2019. Further, no officer or employee whose total compensation exceeded $3,000,000 in 2019 may receive in excess of $3,000,000 and 50 percent of the excess over $3,000,000 of the total compensation received in 2019.

Defines “total compensation” to include salary, bonuses, awards of stock, and other financial benefits.

Section 4118. Reports

The Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report on the financial assistance provided to air carriers and contractors.

Not later than the last day of the 1-year period following the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall update and report to the Congressional committees.

Section 4119. Coordination

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to coordinate with the Secretary of Transportation.

Section 4120. Direct Appropriation

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, there is appropriated, out of amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $32,000,000,000 to carry out this subtitle.

Title V—Coronavirus Relief Funds

Section 5001. Coronavirus Relief Fund

Provides $150 billion to States, Territories, and Tribal governments to use for expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to COVID-19 in the face of revenue declines, allocated by population proportions, with a minimum of $1.25 billion for states with relatively small populations.

Title VI—Miscellaneous Provisions

Section 6001. COVID-19 Borrowing Authority for the United States Postal Service

Provides $10b of borrowing authority for the USPS to respond to effects of coronavirus while preserving the authority of the Treasury to set the terms of the loan. Treasury Department also has the ability to only provide the loan as-needed in the event that costs or revenues continue to suffer resulting from coronavirus.

Section 6002. Emergency Designation

The emergency designations preclude budgetary effects from causing a sequester or triggering other budgetary enforcement mechanisms.