II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5073 

To establish a program to support county and municipal government entities 

in reducing the spread of COVID–19 through standardized testing and 

evaluation measures, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 19, 2020 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a program to support county and municipal 

government entities in reducing the spread of COVID– 

19 through standardized testing and evaluation measures, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Set Testing and Objec5 tives Plan for COVID–19 Act’’ or the ‘‘STOP COVID– 

6 19 Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 5073 IS

1 SEC. 2. PROGRAM FOR COVID–19 TESTING, CONTACT TRAC2 ING, AND OTHER EFFORTS TO REDUCE THE 

3 SPREAD OF COVID–19. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

5 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec6 retary’’) shall establish a program to award grants to 

7 county and municipal government entities, to support 

8 COVID–19 testing, contact tracing, and other efforts to 

9 reduce the spread of COVID–19 in such counties and mu10 nicipalities. 

11 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive a 

12 grant under this section, a county or municipal govern13 ment entity shall— 

14 (1) have a public health department; and 

15 (2) submit an application to the Secretary at 

16 such time, in such manner, and containing such in17 formation as the Secretary may require, including 

18 the entity’s operational plan and proposed uses of 

19 the grant funds. 

20 (c) TECHNICAL SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall pro21 vide technical assistance to the public health department 

22 of government entities awarded a grant under this section. 

23 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this sec24 tion may be used in support of programs to increase 

25 COVID–19 testing and to reduce the spread of COVID– 

26 19, which may include hiring staff for COVID–19 testing 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 5073 IS

1 centers, funding mobile testing centers, hiring contact 

2 tracers, purchasing IT equipment, conducting public 

3 awareness campaigns, and paying for COVID–19 testing 

4 or testing related equipment. 

5 (e) REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each government entity re7 ceiving a grant under this section shall— 

8 (A) develop a data-driven program for 

9 COVID–19 testing, contact tracing, and other 

10 efforts to stop the spread of COVID–19; 

11 (B) operate a searchable, publicly available 

12 website that lists every participating COVID–19 

13 PCR testing center in the jurisdiction and, with 

14 respect to each such center, state— 

15 (i) whether testing is free or the cost 

16 of such testing; 

17 (ii) whether health insurance covers 

18 the testing, and, if so, what information 

19 health insurers will require before pro20 viding such coverage; and 

21 (iii) the average time to obtain a test 

22 result; and 

23 (C) report weekly on the metrics described 

24 in subsection (f)(1), for each neighborhood es25 tablished under paragraph (2)— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 5073 IS

1 (i) identifying any neighborhood for 

2 which there is nonattainment on any such 

3 metric during the applicable reporting pe4 riod; and 

5 (ii) describing the specific mitigation 

6 measures planned for any such neighbor7 hood to reach attainment, including a de8 scription of the measures required under 

9 subsection (g)(2). 

10 (2) NEIGHBORHOODS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of meet12 ing the requirements under paragraph (1), each 

13 government entity receiving a grant under this 

14 section shall divide its jurisdiction into neigh15 borhoods, with each neighborhood being an area 

16 with approximately 10,000 residents. 

17 (B) PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON

18 MAP.—Each government entity shall make 

19 available a map of the total jurisdiction that il20 lustrates the neighborhoods established pursu21 ant to subparagraph (A), and shall provide the 

22 information required under paragraph (1) by 

23 neighborhood. 

24 (C) DESIGNATION OF PARTICULAR NEIGH25 BORHOODS.—With respect to any neighborhood 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 5073 IS

1 that has not met the evaluation standards de2 scribed in subsection (f)(2) for a weekly report3 ing period under subsection (f)(1), the entity 

4 shall highlight such nonattainment on the map, 

5 in a manner to notify public users of areas not 

6 meeting the evaluation standards. 

7 (f) EVALUATION STANDARDS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The standards for purposes 

9 of determining compliance under paragraph (2) are 

10 as follows: 

11 (A) POSITIVITY RATE.— 

12 (i) A positivity rate at or below 5 per13 cent for PCR testing. 

14 (ii) A rate of newly infected residents 

15 at or below 10 residents per 100,000 popu16 lation. 

17 (iii) PCR testing at or above 750 resi18 dents per 100,000 population. 

19 (iv) Rate of infection of less than 1.0. 

20 (B) CONTACT TRACING.— 

21 (i) Eighty percent of new cases of in22 fection are contacted by a contact tracer 

23 within 24 hours. 

24 (ii) Eighty percent of new cases of in25 fection identify contacts. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 5073 IS

1 (iii) At least a median of 3 contacts 

2 identified by a contact tracer per case. 

3 (iv) Eighty percent of new cases fol4 lowed up on, on a daily basis, by a contact 

5 tracer until the subject is out of isolation. 

6 (v) Seventy percent of contacts re7 spond to the contact tracer. 

8 (vi) Eighty-five percent of contacts 

9 who are identified are tested. 

10 (C) TEST RESULTS.—Eighty-five percent 

11 of PCR tests have results within 48 hours. 

12 (D) OTHER STANDARDS.—The Secretary 

13 may modify or replace standards described in 

14 subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), or add new 

15 evaluation standards, provided such modifica16 tion, replacement, or addition is based on data17 driven research that demonstrates the basis of 

18 the Secretary’s determination. 

19 (2) COMPLIANCE.—A government entity shall 

20 be considered to be in compliance with the require21 ments of this section for a weekly reporting period 

22 if each neighborhood in the entity has met 85 per23 cent of the standards under paragraph (1) for such 

24 reporting period. 

25 (g) EFFECTS OF NONCOMPLIANCE.— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 5073 IS

1 (1) GRANT REDUCTION.— 

2 (A) INITIAL PERIOD.—For the 2-month 

3 period immediately proceeding the date of en4 actment of this Act, there shall be no reduction 

5 to the grant amount received by a government 

6 entity as a result of non-compliance as de7 scribed in subsection (f)(2). 

8 (B) SUBSEQUENT PERIODS.—Beginning 2 

9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

10 in the case of a government entity that is not 

11 in compliance for a reporting period as de12 scribed in subsection (f)(2), the entity shall 

13 remit to the Federal Government an amount 

14 equal to 25 percent of the total Federal funds 

15 expended for the government entity pursuant to 

16 the grant under this section for the applicable 

17 weekly reporting period. 

18 (2) TESTING AVAILABILITY MITIGATION EF19 FORTS.—In the case of a government entity that is 

20 not in compliance for a weekly reporting period as 

21 described in subsection (f)(2), the entity shall ensure 

22 that, in the subsequent week, in each neighborhood 

23 within the jurisdiction that did not meet 85 percent 

24 of the standards under subsection (f)(1), residents 

25 have access to PCR testing sites as follows: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 5073 IS

1 (A) In urban areas, 90 percent of residents 

2 have access to a testing site within 2 miles of 

3 their residence. 

4 (B) In suburban areas, 90 percent of resi5 dents have access to a testing site within 5 

6 miles of their residence. 

7 (C) In rural areas, 70 percent of residents 

8 have access to a testing site within 15 miles of 

9 their residence. 

10 (h) FUNDING.—The Secretary may use any unobli11 gated funds made available to the Public Health and So12 cial Services Emergency Fund to carry out this section. 

13 (i) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to have force 

14 or effect on the earlier of the date on which all funds de15 scribed in subsection (h) are expended or 180 days after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS