I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7459 

To authorize the President to establish the Coronavirus Service Corps as 

a means of providing gainful employment to unemployed and underemployed citizens of the United States through the performance of useful 

public work, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 1, 2020 

Mr. HARDER of California (for himself, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. SOTO, Ms. NORTON, 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. JACKSON

LEE, and Mr. SAN NICOLAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To authorize the President to establish the Coronavirus Service Corps as a means of providing gainful employment 

to unemployed and underemployed citizens of the United 

States through the performance of useful public work, 

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 ‘‘Coronavirus Service 

5 Corps Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF CORONAVI2 RUS SERVICE CORPS. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.—In order to re4 lieve the acute condition of widespread distress and unem5 ployment existing in the United States and to provide for 

6 the mitigation of the health and economic impacts of the 

7 coronavirus crisis, the President shall establish and oper8 ate a Coronavirus Service Corps to employ citizens of the 

9 United States, who are otherwise unemployed or under10 employed, in the carrying on of works of a public nature 

11 in connection with— 

12 (1) health care, including contact tracing, ad13 ministering COVID–19 tests, and peer mental 

14 health counseling; 

15 (2) assisting essential services and the reopen16 ing process, including taking temperatures for busi17 nesses, childcare, and training teachers and parents 

18 to use distance learning technology; and 

19 (3) social services, assisting food banks, food 

20 assistance, and hunger relief programs, including de21 livery, building homeless shelters, senior care. 

22 (b) LEADERSHIP.—The Coronavirus Service Corps 

23 shall be administered by a board for which the Director 

24 of the Corporation for National and Community Service 

25 shall serve as the chairperson and appoint to such board 

26 5 members, including— 

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1 (1) at least one member who is an expert in 

2 nonprofit work; and 

3 (2) at least two members who are leaders of a 

4 major national or international union. 

5 (c) ROLE OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—To operate the 

6 Coronavirus Service Corps, the President may utilize ex7 isting Federal departments and agencies, including the 

8 Department of Labor, the Department of Defense, the 

9 National Guard Bureau, the Department of the Interior, 

10 the Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engi11 neers, the Department of Transportation, the Department 

12 of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and 

13 Federal governmental corporations. 

14 (d) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—For the purpose of car15 rying out this Act, the President may enter into such con16 tracts or agreements with States as may be necessary, in17 cluding provisions for utilization of existing State adminis18 trative agencies. 

19 (e) PARTICIPATION.— 

20 (1) PLACEMENT.—The chairperson of the 

21 Coronavirus Service Corps shall, in coordination 

22 with the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

23 and State and local governments, determine employ24 ment placement under subsection (a) based on the 

25 areas of most need. 

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1 (2) EMPLOYMENT PERIOD.—A term of employ2 ment under subsection (a) shall be for a period of 

3 less than or equal to 1 year. Nothing in this para4 graph shall be construed to limit the number of 

5 terms of employment a citizen may be employed 

6 under such subsection. 

7 (3) CURRICULUM.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Citizens employed 

9 under subsection (a) shall receive training 

10 under the Coronavirus Service Corps in areas 

11 relevant to the employment of such citizens. 

12 (B) DEVELOPMENT OF CURRICULUM.— 

13 The training described in subparagraph (A) 

14 shall be developed through partnerships with— 

15 (i) apprenticeship programs registered 

16 under the National Apprenticeship Act (29 

17 U.S.C. 50 et seq.); and 

18 (ii) institutions of higher education. 

19 (C) TREATMENT OF TRAINING.—The 

20 training described in subparagraph (A) may be 

21 credited towards a registered apprenticeship 

22 program or program of study, as determined by 

23 such apprenticeship program or institution of 

24 higher education, as applicable. 

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1 (f) PAYMENT.—Any person who is employed under 

2 subsection (a) shall receive compensation in an amount 

3 equal to the greater of the following: 

4 (1) An hourly wage equal to 150 percent of the 

5 minimum hourly wage in the locality in which such 

6 person is employed. 

7 (2) An hourly wage equal to $15 an hour. 

8 (g) ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY.—The Presi9 dent, or the head of any department or agency authorized 

10 by the President to construct any project or to carry on 

11 any public works under this Act, may acquire real prop12 erty for such project or public work by purchase, donation, 

13 condemnation, or otherwise. 

14 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION OF CORONAVIRUS SERVICE 

15 CORPS. 

16 (a) EMPLOYMENT PREFERENCE.—If the President 

17 determines that amounts appropriated to carry out a 

18 Coronavirus Service Corps under this Act for a fiscal year 

19 will be insufficient to employ all of the citizens of the 

20 United States described in section 2(a) who are seeking 

21 or likely to seek employment in the Coronavirus Service 

22 Corps and continue the employment of current employees 

23 who desire to remain in the Coronavirus Service Corps, 

24 the President shall employ additional persons in the 

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1 Coronavirus Service Corps in the following order of pref2 erence: 

3 (1) Unemployed veterans of the Armed Forces 

4 and unemployed members of the reserve components 

5 of the Armed Forces. 

6 (2) Unemployed citizens who have exhausted 

7 their entitlement to unemployment compensation. 

8 (3) Unemployed citizens, who immediately be9 fore employment in the Coronavirus Service Corps, 

10 are eligible for unemployment compensation payable 

11 under any State law or Federal unemployment com12 pensation law, including any additional compensa13 tion or extended compensation under such laws. 

14 (4) Other citizens described in section 2(a). 

15 (b) HOUSING AND CARE OF EMPLOYEES.—The 

16 President may provide housing for persons employed in 

17 the Coronavirus Service Corps and furnish them with such 

18 subsistence, clothing, medical attendance and hospitaliza19 tion, and cash allowance, as may be necessary, during the 

20 period they are so employed. 

21 (c) TRANSPORTATION.—The President may provide 

22 for the transportation of persons employed in the 

23 Coronavirus Service Corps to and from the places of em24 ployment. 

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1 (d) NON-DISCRIMINATION.—In employing citizens 

2 for the Coronavirus Service Corps, no discrimination shall 

3 occur in accordance with Federal employment law; except 

4 that no individual under conviction for crime and serving 

5 sentence therefore shall be employed under the provisions 

6 of this Act. 

7 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to the President to es10 tablish and operate a Coronavirus Service Corps under 

11 this Act $60,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, to be avail12 able through September 30, 2022. 

13 (b) DURATION OF AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appro14 priated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in 

15 subsection (a) shall remain available until expended. 

16 SEC. 5. TERMINATION. 

17 The authority of the President to establish and oper18 ate a Coronavirus Service Corps under this Act shall ex19 pire on September 30, 2022. 

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