I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7634 

To reduce the spread of COVID–19 through payments to States to lease 

hotels to temporarily house, on a voluntary basis, eligible individuals, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2020 

Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio (for himself, Mr. RYAN, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, and Mr. GOTTHEIMER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To reduce the spread of COVID–19 through payments to 

States to lease hotels to temporarily house, on a voluntary basis, eligible individuals, 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 ‘‘Isolate COVID–19 Act 

5 of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REDUCING THE SPREAD OF COVID–19 THROUGH 

2 PAYMENTS TO STATES TO LEASE HOTELS TO 

3 TEMPORARILY HOUSE ELIGIBLE INDIVID4 UALS. 

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

6 Human Services may make payments to States to lease 

7 hotels to temporarily house, on a voluntary basis, eligible 

8 individuals. 

9 (b) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall allocate the 

10 amount appropriated to carry out this section pursuant 

11 to a formula developed by the Secretary that— 

12 (1) distributes the amount among the States 

13 that— 

14 (A) submit applications in accordance with 

15 subsection (c); and 

16 (B) are determined by the Secretary to 

17 need such payments; and 

18 (2) takes into consideration— 

19 (A) the number of active cases of individ20 uals infected with COVID–19 in the applying 

21 State relative to the overall population of the 

22 State; and 

23 (B) the average income of individuals in 

24 the applying State relative to the average in25 come of individuals in the United States. 

26 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—To seek a payment under 

2 this section, a State shall submit an application to 

3 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

4 containing such information and assurances as the 

5 Secretary may require. 

6 (2) PROCESS.—The Secretary shall— 

7 (A) not later than 15 days after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, publish the process 

9 for States to apply for payments under this sec10 tion; and 

11 (B) not later than 15 days after the sub12 mission of an application in accordance with 

13 such process, approve or disapprove the applica14 tion. 

15 (3) CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall require 

16 the application of a State under this section to in17 clude— 

18 (A) a plan for leasing hotels as described 

19 in subsection (a); 

20 (B) health guidelines which the State will 

21 require to be implemented to protect the staff 

22 of the hotels; 

23 (C) the rates to be paid to lease the hotels; 

24 (D) a plan to ensure that the hotels each 

25 have— 


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1 (i) workplace safety standards for 

2 their staff; 

3 (ii) proper personal protective equip4 ment and sanitation supplies; 

5 (iii) a cleaning protocol for rooms and 

6 facilities; and 

7 (iv) at least one qualified health care 

8 professional onsite or on call to monitor 

9 the health of individuals being housed at 

10 the hotels; 

11 (E) a plan to feed and provide other nec12 essary materials to individuals described in sub13 section (a) at the hotels, including medications 

14 and hygiene products, without letting such indi15 viduals leave their rooms or accept visitors; 

16 (F) a plan to assist the hotels in removing 

17 individuals who attempt to continue their stay 

18 after the allotted time; 

19 (G) a plan for hospital networks, local 

20 health departments, and the hotels to coordi21 nate on the exchange and protection of patient 

22 information in accordance with other applicable 

23 law; 

24 (H) a plan to effectively communicate the 

25 State’s program funded through this section to 


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1 racial and ethnic minority groups and low-in2 come communities; and 

3 (I) each funding assurance listed in sub4 section (e). 

5 (d) NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR DIET OR ADMINISTRA6 TION OF MEDICINE.—Notwithstanding subsection 

7 (c)(3)(E), a contract between a State and a hotel pursuant 

8 to this section shall not make the hotel responsible for the 

9 diet of, or the administration of medications to, individuals 

10 described in subsection (a). 

11 (e) FUNDING ASSURANCES.—As a condition on re12 ceipt of a payment of this section, a State shall give such 

13 assurances as the Secretary may require that— 

14 (1) each contract between the State and a hotel 

15 pursuant to this section will be entered into on a vol16 untary basis, and no hotel will be required by the 

17 State to participate in the program under this sec18 tion; 

19 (2) individuals described in subsection (a) will 

20 not be charged for their lodging at a hotel pursuant 

21 to this section, except that such individuals may be 

22 required to reimburse the costs of receiving food and 

23 beverages; 

24 (3) individuals described in subsection (a) will 

25 retain the option of self-isolating at home (including 


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1 the option of checking out early and returning to 

2 their homes) rather than being required to stay at 

3 a hotel funded pursuant to this section; 

4 (4) before an individual is allowed to stay at a 

5 hotel pursuant to this section, the individual will be 

6 required to present, in such form and manner as 

7 may be required by the local department of health, 

8 documentation from a physician that the individual 

9 meets the criteria described in subsection (a); 

10 (5) any non-transient homeless population re11 siding at a hotel will not be displaced for purposes 

12 of entering into or carrying out a contract between 

13 the State and the hotel under this section; and 

14 (6) the State will pay (from funds provided to 

15 the State under this section or from other State 

16 funds)— 

17 (A) at least 40 percent of the costs of the 

18 personal protective equipment and sanitation 

19 supplies needed by individuals staying at a hotel 

20 pursuant to this section and the staff of such 

21 hotel; and 

22 (B) all of the costs of having one or more 

23 qualified health care professionals described in 

24 subsection (c)(3)(D)(iii) for the provision of 


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1 monitoring described in such subsection (wheth2 er by being onsite or on call). 

3 (f) REVIEW.—At the conclusion of the program under 

4 this section, the Inspector General of the Department of 

5 Health and Human Services shall— 

6 (1) review the program and activities of each 

7 State funded pursuant to this section; and 

8 (2) submit a report on the results of the review 

9 to— 

10 (A) the Committee on Energy and Com11 merce and the Committee on Ways and Means 

12 of the House of Representatives; and 

13 (B) the Committee on Finance and the 

14 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

15 Pensions of the Senate. 

16 (g) LIABILITY PROTECTION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 

18 paragraph (2), a hotel or member of the staff shall 

19 not be liable under Federal or State law for— 

20 (A) any harm caused by an act or omission 

21 in the provision of hotel services pursuant to 

22 this section; or 

23 (B) failing to keep an individual who is 

24 staying at a hotel pursuant to this section iso25 lated from people other than the staff of the 


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1 hotel and any qualified health care professional 

2 described in subsection (c)(3)(D)(iii). 

3 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not apply 

4 in the case that the harm was caused by an act or 

5 omission constituting willful or criminal misconduct, 

6 gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious 

7 flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the in8 dividual harmed. 

9 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) The term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an in11 dividual who is unable to self-isolate at home, does 

12 not require inpatient or outpatient health care treat13 ment, and— 

14 (A) has a laboratory-confirmed case of 

15 COVID–19; 

16 (B) has a presumptive positive case of 

17 COVID–19; or 

18 (C) is a person under investigation who is 

19 displaying symptoms of COVID–19. 

20 (2) The terms ‘‘Indian tribe’’ and ‘‘tribal orga21 nization’’ have the meanings given to those terms in 

22 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu23 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

24 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

25 of Health and Human Services. 


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1 (4) The term ‘‘State’’ includes each of 50 

2 States, the District of Columbia, each Indian Tribe 

3 and tribal organization, Guam, American Samoa, the 

4 United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of 

5 Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the North6 ern Mariana Islands. 

7 (i) FUNDING.—To carry out this section, there is au8 thorized to be appropriated $1,000,000,000, to remain 

9 available through the earlier of— 

10 (1) the end of calendar year 2021; or 

11 (2) the end of the emergency period (as defined 

12 in section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)). 

Æ 


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