II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 476 

To provide for the establishment of a COVID–19 Compensation Fund, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of a COVID–19 

Compensation Fund, 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 ‘‘Pandemic Heroes 

5 Compensation Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

8 (1) CLAIMANT.—The term ‘‘claimant’ ’’ means 

9 an individual filing a claim for compensation under 

10 this Act. 


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1 (2) COLLATERAL SOURCE.—The term ‘‘collat2 eral source’’ means all compensation other than 

3 compensation under this Act, including life insur4 ance, pension funds, death benefit programs, and 

5 payments by Federal, State, Territory, or local Gov6 ernments. 

7 (3) COVID–19.—The term ‘‘COVID–19’’ 

8 means novel coronavirus disease 2019, as identified 

9 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

10 (4) ECONOMIC LOSS.—The term ‘‘economic 

11 loss’’ means any pecuniary loss (including the loss of 

12 earnings or other benefits related to employment, 

13 medical expense loss, replacement services loss, loss 

14 due to death, burial costs, and loss of business or 

15 employment opportunities) resulting from harm due 

16 to COVID–19 to the extent recovery for such loss is 

17 allowed under applicable Federal, State, local, Trib18 al, or territorial law. 

19 (5) ESSENTIAL WORKER.—The term ‘‘essential 

20 worker’’ means any individual, employee, or con21 tractor working for a person, business, nonprofit en22 tity, or Federal, State, tribal, territorial or local gov23 ernment that is determined, during the response to 

24 the COVID–19 pandemic, to be essential, based on 

25 State, local, tribal, or territorial orders or declaraVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:49 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S476.IS S476

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1 tions (or equivalent), or Federal guidance published 

2 by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 

3 Agency (CISA), and who performed work outside 

4 their place of residence. 

5 (6) NONECONOMIC LOSSES.—The term ‘‘non6 economic losses’’ means losses for physical and emo7 tional pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical im8 pairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of en9 joyment of life, loss of society and companionship, 

10 loss of consortium (other than loss of domestic serv11 ice), hedonic damages, injury to reputation, and all 

12 other nonpecuniary losses of any kind or nature. 

13 (7) SPECIAL MASTER.—The term ‘‘Special Mas14 ter’’ means the Special Master appointed by the At15 torney General under section 3. 

16 (8) PLACE OF RESIDENCE.—The term ‘‘place of 

17 residence’’ means the physical location or locations 

18 at which claimant resided or was residing during the 

19 eligibility period. 

20 (9) ELIGIBILITY PERIOD.—The term ‘‘eligibility 

21 period’’ means any time during which any Federal, 

22 State, Tribal, territorial, or local COVID–19-related 

23 emergency order or declaration (or equivalent) is or 

24 was in effect, regardless of the claimant’s place of 

25 residence. 


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1 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, acting 

3 through a Special Master appointed by the Attorney Gen4 eral, shall— 

5 (1) administer the compensation program es6 tablished under this Act; 

7 (2) promulgate all procedural and substantive 

8 rules for the administration of this Act; and 

9 (3) employ and supervise hearing officers and 

10 other administrative personnel to perform the duties 

11 of the Special Master under this Act. 

12 (b) APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL MASTER AND DEP13 UTY SPECIAL MASTERS.—The Attorney General may ap14 point a Special Master and no more than two Deputy Spe15 cial Masters without regard to the provisions of title 5, 

16 United States Code, governing appointments in the com17 petitive service. Any such employee shall serve at the 

18 pleasure of the Attorney General. The Attorney General 

19 shall fix the annual salary of the Special Master and the 

20 Deputy Special Masters. 

21 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

23 necessary to pay the administrative and support costs for 

24 the Special Master in carrying out this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR COMPENSA2 TION. 

3 (a) FILING OF CLAIM.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A claimant may file a claim 

5 for compensation under this Act with the Special 

6 Master. The claim shall be on the form developed 

7 under paragraph (2) and shall state the factual basis 

8 for eligibility for compensation and the amount of 

9 compensation sought. 

10 (2) CLAIM FORM.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Special Master 

12 shall develop a claim form that claimants shall 

13 use when submitting claims under paragraph 

14 (1). The Special Master shall ensure that such 

15 form can be filed electronically, if determined to 

16 be practicable. 

17 (B) CONTENTS.—The form developed 

18 under subparagraph (A) shall request— 

19 (i) information from the claimant con20 cerning the harm that the claimant suf21 fered as a result of COVID–19, or in the 

22 case of a claim filed on behalf of a dece23 dent, information confirming the dece24 dent’s death, as a result of COVID–19; 


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1 (ii) information establishing that the 

2 claimant or decedent was an essential 

3 worker; 

4 (iii) information from the claimant 

5 concerning any possible economic and non6 economic losses that the claimant suffered 

7 as a result of COVID–19 or that was 

8 caused by the death of the decedent from 

9 COVID–19; and 

10 (iv) information regarding collateral 

11 sources of compensation the claimant has 

12 received or is entitled to receive as a result 

13 of COVID–19. 

14 (3) LIMITATION.—No claim may be filed under 

15 paragraph (1) after the date that is 5 years after 

16 the end of the eligibility period. 

17 (b) REVIEW AND DETERMINATION.— 

18 (1) REVIEW.—The Special Master shall review 

19 a claim submitted under subsection (a) and deter20 mine— 

21 (A) whether the claimant is an eligible in22 dividual under subsection (c); and 

23 (B) with respect to a claimant determined 

24 to be an eligible individual— 


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1 (i) the extent of the harm to the 

2 claimant, including any economic and non3 economic losses; and 

4 (ii) subject to paragraph (7), the 

5 amount of compensation to which the 

6 claimant is entitled based on the harm to 

7 the claimant, the facts of the claim, and 

8 the individual circumstances of the claim9 ant. 

10 (2) NEGLIGENCE.—With respect to a claimant, 

11 the Special Master shall not consider negligence or 

12 any other theory of liability. 

13 (3) DETERMINATION.—A determination under 

14 this subsection shall be final and not subject to judi15 cial review. 

16 (4) RIGHTS OF CLAIMANT.—A claimant in a re17 view under paragraph (1) shall have— 

18 (A) the right to be represented by an at19 torney or other representative; 

20 (B) the right to present evidence, including 

21 the presentation of witnesses and documents; 

22 and 

23 (C) any other due process rights deter24 mined appropriate by the Special Master. 


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1 (5) NO PUNITIVE DAMAGES.—The Special Mas2 ter may not include amounts for punitive damages 

3 in any compensation paid under a claim under this 

4 Act. 

5 (6) COLLATERAL COMPENSATION.—The Special 

6 Master shall reduce the amount of compensation de7 termined under paragraph (1) by the amount of the 

8 collateral source compensation the claimant has re9 ceived or is entitled to receive as a result of the 

10 claimant suffering from COVID–19. 

11 (7) LIMITATIONS ON CLAIMS.—Noneconomic 

12 losses shall not exceed such limit as the Special Mas13 ter may impose. 

14 (c) ELIGIBILITY.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—A claimant or decedent shall 

16 be determined to be an eligible individual for pur17 poses of this subsection if the Special Master deter18 mines that such claimant or decedent— 

19 (A) was designated an essential worker 

20 during the eligibility period or was a family 

21 member of such an essential worker who re22 sided with the essential worker during the eligi23 bility period; 

24 (B) expressed symptoms consistent with 

25 COVID–19, including those with laboratory 


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1 confirmations, diagnosis by a healthcare pro2 vider, or for whom there is or was an absence 

3 of an alternate diagnosis that explains claim4 ant’s or decedent’s symptoms; 

5 (C) suffered economic loss; and 

6 (D) meets the requirements of paragraph 

7 (2). 

8 (2) SINGLE CLAIM.—Not more than one claim 

9 may be submitted under this Act by an individual or 

10 on behalf of a deceased individual. If the claimant 

11 dies during the pendency of a claim, the decedent’s 

12 family or other individual representing the decedent 

13 may continue the claimant’s claim with added ex14 penses related to the claimant’s death, as needed. 

15 SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE TO CLAIMANTS. 

16 The Special Master will establish an office to provide 

17 assistance to all claimants in submitting claims. 

18 SEC. 6. PAYMENTS TO ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limitations under 

20 subsection (d), not later than 20 days after the date on 

21 which a determination is made by the Special Master re22 garding the amount of compensation due a claimant under 

23 this Act, the Special Master shall authorize payment to 

24 such claimant of the amount determined with respect to 

25 the claimant. 


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1 (b) FUNDING.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is au3 thorized to accept such amounts as may be contrib4 uted by individuals, business concerns, or other enti5 ties to carry out this Act, under such terms and con6 ditions as the Attorney General may impose. 

7 (2) USE OF SEPARATE ACCOUNT.—In making 

8 payments under this section, amounts contained in 

9 any account containing funds provided under para10 graph (1) shall be used prior to using appropriated 

11 amounts. 

12 (c) DEVELOPMENT OF AGENCY POLICIES AND PRO13 CEDURES.—Not later than 120 days after the date of en14 actment the Special Master shall develop agency policies 

15 and procedures that meet the requirements including poli16 cies and procedures for presumptive award schedules, ad17 ministrative expenses, and related internal memoranda. 

18 (d) ATTORNEY FEES.—The Special Master shall have 

19 the sole discretion to determine reasonable compensation 

20 for services rendered for attorney fees for services ren21 dered, if any. 

22 SEC. 7. REGULATIONS. 

23 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the 


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1 Special Master, shall promulgate regulations to carry out 

2 this Act, including regulations with respect to— 

3 (1) forms to be used in submitting claims under 

4 this Act; 

5 (2) the information to be included in such 

6 forms; 

7 (3) procedures for hearing and the presentation 

8 of evidence; 

9 (4) procedures to assist an individual in filing 

10 and pursuing claims under this Act; and 

11 (5) other matters determined appropriate by 

12 the Attorney General. 

13 SEC. 8. RIGHT OF SUBROGATION. 

14 The United States shall have the right of subrogation 

15 with respect to any claim paid by the United States, sub16 ject to the limitation described in this Act. 

17 SEC. 9. VICTIM COMPENSATION FUND. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Treas19 ury of the United States a fund to be known as the 

20 ‘‘COVID–19 Compensation Fund’’, consisting of amounts 

21 deposited into such fund under subsection (b). 

22 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts deposited 

23 into the COVID–19 Compensation Fund shall be avail24 able, without further appropriation, to the Special Master 

25 to provide compensation. 


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1 (c) TERMINATION.—The COVID–19 Compensation 

2 Fund shall be permanently closed on the date that is 1 

3 year after the Special Master determines that no addi4 tional claims may be filed. 

5 SEC. 10. APPROPRIATION. 

6 There is authorized to be appropriated for purposes 

7 of carrying out this Act such sums as may be necessary 

8 for fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal year thereafter 

9 through fiscal year 2026, to remain available until ex10 pended. 

Æ 


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