II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4299 

To provide grants for tourism and events support and promotion in areas 

affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19), and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2020 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself, Mr. BLUNT, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. 

CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To provide grants for tourism and events support and promotion in areas affected by the Coronavirus Disease 

2019 (COVID–19), 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 ‘‘Sustaining Tourism 

5 Enterprises During the COVID–19 Pandemic Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘STEP Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 4299 IS

1 SEC. 2. TOURISM AND EVENTS SUPPORT AND PROMOTION. 

2 Title II of the Public Works and Economic Develop3 ment Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after section 

4 207 (42 U.S.C. 3147) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 208. TOURISM AND EVENTS SUPPORT AND PRO6 MOTION. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

8 date of enactment of the Sustaining Tourism Enterprises 

9 During the COVID–19 Pandemic Act, the Secretary shall 

10 provide grants to eligible entities— 

11 ‘‘(1) to assist with loss of revenue due to the 

12 economic impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 

13 (COVID–19); and 

14 ‘‘(2) to promote economic recovery in commu15 nities affected by a decline in tourism and events 

16 due to COVID–19. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to re18 ceive a grant under this section is an entity that performs 

19 tourism promotion responsibilities, hosts, organizes, owns, 

20 operates, or staffs an event venue, a convention, or a trade 

21 show, or provides services as a concessionaire to events 

22 and tourism locations, including— 

23 ‘‘(1) a State tourism board or department; 

24 ‘‘(2) a political subdivision or instrumentality of 

25 a State or local government; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 4299 IS

1 ‘‘(3) a unit of local government, including a 

2 county government; 

3 ‘‘(4) a Tribal government; 

4 ‘‘(5) a multijurisdictional or regional group; 

5 ‘‘(6) a nonprofit organization described in sec6 tion 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

7 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of 

8 that Code; 

9 ‘‘(7) a quasi-governmental organization; and 

10 ‘‘(8) a private business. 

11 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

12 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

13 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 

14 and containing such information as the Secretary may re15 quire. 

16 ‘‘(d) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select eligible 

17 entities to receive grants under this section based on fac18 tors to be determined by the Secretary, using the best 

19 available data, including economic impact information pro20 vided by applicants, such as information on job losses 

21 faced by the eligible entity or within the industry of the 

22 eligible entity, to address the economic recovery needs in 

23 areas impacted by the decline in travel, tourism, and 

24 events activities, and the associated revenues, due to 

25 COVID–19. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 4299 IS

1 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may use 

3 the funds from a grant under this section— 

4 ‘‘(A) to pay costs associated with tourism 

5 marketing and promotion activities necessary to 

6 assist with economic recovery from lost revenue 

7 due to COVID–19, including to purchase media 

8 advertisements on print, broadcast, or digital 

9 media for the purpose of marketing, public 

10 awareness, or information campaigns relating to 

11 local tourism; 

12 ‘‘(B) to pay costs to promote economic re13 covery in communities impacted by a decline in 

14 travel, tourism, and events revenue as a result 

15 of COVID–19, including through the provision 

16 of information on the safety and security of 

17 sites for traveler or attendee awareness; 

18 ‘‘(C) to pay cleaning and sanitary costs, in19 cluding physical modifications, associated with 

20 precautions to provide for safe worker, traveler, 

21 or event environments; and 

22 ‘‘(D) to pay the costs of salaries and ex23 penses associated with the operations of the eli24 gible entity with respect to activities described 

25 in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 4299 IS

1 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—Funds from a grant under 

2 this section may not be used for activities related to 

3 or for purposes of lobbying any governmental entity. 

4 ‘‘(f) DISTRIBUTION.—Of the amounts made available 

5 to carry out this section— 

6 ‘‘(1) $2,000,000,000 shall be for expedited 

7 grants to eligible entities to offset revenue losses due 

8 to the economic impact of COVID–19; and 

9 ‘‘(2) any remaining amounts shall be for grants 

10 for activities described in subparagraphs (A) 

11 through (D) of subsection (e)(1). 

12 ‘‘(g) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—An eligible en13 tity may not receive a grant under this section in an 

14 amount that is— 

15 ‘‘(1) in the case of a grant under subsection 

16 (f)(1), more than 80 percent of the loss in revenue 

17 experienced by the eligible entity during the period 

18 beginning March 1, 2020, and ending on the date of 

19 submission of the application, as compared to the 

20 same period in 2019; and 

21 ‘‘(2) in the case of a grant under subsection 

22 (f)(2), more than 80 percent of the revenue of the 

23 eligible entity during calendar year 2019. 

24 ‘‘(h) LIMITATION.— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 4299 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 15 percent 

2 of the amounts made available to carry out this sec3 tion may be used to provide grants to eligible enti4 ties that are private businesses. 

5 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri6 ority for the amounts under paragraph (1) to private 

7 businesses that are small business concerns (within 

8 the meaning of section 3 of the Small Business Act 

9 (15 U.S.C. 632)). 

10 ‘‘(i) NO CEDS REQUIRED.—To receive a grant under 

11 this section, an eligible entity shall not be required to have 

12 a comprehensive economic development strategy. 

13 ‘‘(j) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive, or specify 

14 alternative requirements for, any provision of any statute 

15 or regulation that the Secretary administers in connection 

16 with a grant under this section if the Secretary determines 

17 that any such waivers or alternative requirements are nec18 essary to expedite or facilitate the use of the amounts 

19 made available under this section. 

20 ‘‘(k) FEDERAL SHARE.—Notwithstanding section 

21 204, the Federal share of the cost of an activity carried 

22 out with a grant under this section shall be 100 percent. 

23 ‘‘(l) ADMINISTRATION.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 2 percent of 

25 the amounts made available to carry out this section 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 4299 IS

1 may be used for the administrative costs of carrying 

2 out this section. 

3 ‘‘(2) STAFFING.— 

4 ‘‘(A) TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT.—The 

5 Secretary may appoint and fix the compensa6 tion of such temporary personnel as may be 

7 necessary to carry out this section, without re8 gard to the provisions of title 5, United States 

9 Code, governing appointments in competitive 

10 service. 

11 ‘‘(B) PERMANENT APPOINTMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 

13 individual appointed as temporary per14 sonnel under subparagraph (A) who has 

15 served continuously for not less than 2 

16 years, the Secretary may appoint that indi17 vidual to a position in the Economic Devel18 opment Administration in the same man19 ner that competitive service employees with 

20 competitive status are considered for trans21 fer, reassignment, or promotion to such po22 sitions. 

23 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT.—An individual ap24 pointed to a position under clause (i) shall 

25 become a career-conditional employee, unVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4299.IS S4299

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 4299 IS

1 less the employee has already completed 

2 the service requirements for career tenure. 

3 ‘‘(3) INVESTIGATIONS AND AUDITS.—The Sec4 retary shall use $3,000,000 of the amounts made 

5 available to carry out this section to carry out inves6 tigations and audits related to the provision of 

7 grants under this section. 

8 ‘‘(m) FUNDING.— 

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec11 retary to carry out this section $10,000,000,000, to 

12 remain available until September 30, 2022. 

13 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—Notwithstanding 

14 any other provision of law, the Secretary may use 

15 any amounts made available to the Secretary under 

16 the heading ‘ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

17 PROGRAMS (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)’ 

18 under the heading ‘ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AD19 MINISTRATION’ under the heading ‘DEPARTMENT 

20 OF COMMERCE’ in title II of division B of the 

21 CARES Act (Public Law 116–136) that are unobli22 gated as of the date of enactment of the Sustaining 

23 Tourism Enterprises During the COVID–19 Pan24 demic Act to provide grants under this section.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS