II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 252 

To amend title VI of the Social Security Act to provide additional funding 

for States, Tribal governments, and local communities due to the 

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) public health emergency, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2021 

Mr. REED introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title VI of the Social Security Act to provide 

additional funding for States, Tribal governments, and 

local communities due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 

(COVID–19) public health emergency, 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 ‘‘State & Local Emer5 gency Stabilization Fund Act of 2021’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 252 IS

1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR CORONAVIRUS RELIEF 

2 FOR STATES, TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS, AND 

3 LOCAL COMMUNITIES. 

4 Title VI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 801 

5 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 602. ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR CORONAVIRUS RE7 LIEF FOR STATES, TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS, 

8 AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES. 

9 ‘‘(a) APPROPRIATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Out of any money in the 

11 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appro12 priated, there are appropriated for making payments 

13 under this section to States, Tribal governments, 

14 and local communities described in subsection (c)(6), 

15 $600,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. The amount 

16 appropriated under this paragraph and paid in ac17 cordance with this section shall be in addition to the 

18 amount appropriated under subsection (a) of section 

19 601 and paid to States, Tribal governments, and 

20 units of local government under that section. 

21 ‘‘(2) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Of the amount 

22 appropriated under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

23 shall reserve— 

24 ‘‘(A) $3,000,000,000 of such amount for 

25 making payments to United States Virgin Is26 lands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the NorthVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S252.IS S252

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 252 IS

1 ern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa 

2 under subsection (c)(7); 

3 ‘‘(B) $10,000,000,000 of such amount for 

4 making payments to Tribal governments under 

5 subsection (c)(8); 

6 ‘‘(C) $59,000,000,000 of such amount for 

7 the portion of the payments made to the 50 

8 States, the District of Columbia, and the Com9 monwealth of Puerto Rico that is determined 

10 under subsection (c)(5); and 

11 ‘‘(D) $205,000,000,000 of such amount 

12 for making payments to local communities 

13 under subsection (c)(6). 

14 ‘‘(b) DEADLINE FOR PAYMENTS.—The Secretary 

15 shall make the payments determined under subsection (c) 

16 not later than 15 days after the date of enactment of this 

17 section. 

18 ‘‘(c) PAYMENT AMOUNTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

20 the amount paid under this section for fiscal year 

21 2021 to a State that is 1 of the 50 States, the Dis22 trict of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto 

23 Rico, shall be the sum of— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 252 IS

1 ‘‘(A) the relative population proportion 

2 amount determined for the State under para3 graph (3) for such fiscal year; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the relative coronavirus infection rate 

5 proportion amount determined for the State 

6 under paragraph (5) for such fiscal year. 

7 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM PAYMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No State that is 1 of 

9 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, or the 

10 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, shall receive a 

11 payment under this section for fiscal year 2021 

12 that is less than $5,000,000,000. 

13 ‘‘(B) PRO RATA ADJUSTMENTS.—The Sec14 retary shall adjust on a pro rata basis the 

15 amount of the payments for each of the 50 

16 States, the District of Columbia, and the Com17 monwealth of Puerto Rico, determined under 

18 this subsection without regard to this subpara19 graph to the extent necessary to comply with 

20 the requirements of subparagraph (A). 

21 ‘‘(3) RELATIVE POPULATION PROPORTION

22 AMOUNT.—For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), the 

23 relative population proportion amount determined 

24 under this paragraph for a State for fiscal year 

25 2021 is the product of— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 252 IS

1 ‘‘(A) the amount appropriated under sub2 section (a)(1) for fiscal year 2021 that remains 

3 after the application of the reservations made 

4 under subsection (a)(2); and 

5 ‘‘(B) the relative State population propor6 tion (as defined in paragraph (4)) determined 

7 for such fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(4) RELATIVE STATE POPULATION PROPOR9 TION DEFINED.—For purposes of paragraph (3)(B), 

10 the term ‘relative State population proportion’ 

11 means, with respect to each of the 50 States, the 

12 District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of 

13 Puerto Rico, the quotient of— 

14 ‘‘(A) the population of the State, District 

15 of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico 

16 (as applicable); and 

17 ‘‘(B) the sum of the populations of each of 

18 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 

19 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

20 ‘‘(5) RELATIVE CORONAVIRUS INFECTION RATE

21 PROPORTION AMOUNT.—For purposes of paragraph 

22 (1)(B), the relative coronavirus infection rate pro23 portion amount determined under this paragraph for 

24 each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 252 IS

1 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, for fiscal year 

2 2021 is the product of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the amount reserved under subsection 

4 (a)(2)(C); and 

5 ‘‘(B) the quotient of— 

6 ‘‘(i) the coronavirus infection rate de7 termined for the State, District of Colum8 bia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (as 

9 applicable); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the coronavirus infec11 tion rates determined for each of the 50 

12 States, the District of Columbia, and the 

13 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

14 ‘‘(6) PAYMENTS TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—From the amount re16 served under subsection (a)(2)(D), the Sec17 retary shall pay— 

18 ‘‘(i) 70 percent of the amount so re19 served directly to the metropolitan cities 

20 and urban counties (as those terms are de21 fined in section 102 of the Housing and 

22 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 

23 U.S.C. 5302)) in the State that received 

24 allocations under section 106(b) of the 

25 Housing and Community Development Act 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 252 IS

1 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5306(b)) for fiscal year 

2 2020, pursuant to the same formula used 

3 to make such allocations under that section 

4 for such fiscal year; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) subject to subparagraph (C), 30 

6 percent of the amount so reserved directly 

7 to each of the 50 States, to be distributed 

8 by such States upon receipt on a pass9 through basis, and without requiring any 

10 application, to units of general local gov11 ernment in nonentitlement areas (as such 

12 terms are defined in such section 102) in 

13 such States, in amounts equal to the rel14 ative sum of the populations of such units 

15 of general local government in each such 

16 State as a proportion of the total popu17 lation of all such units of general local gov18 ernment in all of the 50 States. 

19 ‘‘(B) UNITS OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERN20 MENT IN NONENTITLEMENT AREAS WITH OVER21 LAPPING POPULATIONS OR CONSOLIDATED GOV22 ERNMENTS.—If 2 or more units of general local 

23 government in nonentitlement areas have over24 lapping populations or have formed a consoli25 dated government— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 252 IS

1 ‘‘(i) the aggregate population of the 

2 overlapping units of general local govern3 ment or the aggregate population of such 

4 consolidated government (as applicable) 

5 shall be the population used for purposes 

6 of determining the amount to be paid di7 rectly to a State under clause (ii) of sub8 paragraph (A); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the chief executive officer of the 

10 State shall distribute the portion of such 

11 payment that is based on such population 

12 among the units of general local govern13 ment with such overlapping populations or 

14 that are part of such consolidated govern15 ment, in amounts equal to the relative pop16 ulations of such units of general local gov17 ernment as a proportion of such payment 

18 portion, unless— 

19 ‘‘(I) the units of general local 

20 government involved notify such chief 

21 executive officer of their agreement 

22 regarding how such payment portion 

23 is to be distributed among them, 

24 based on the aggregate population of 

25 such units of general local governVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S252.IS S252

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 252 IS

1 ment, in which case such chief execu2 tive officer shall make distributions in 

3 accordance with that agreement; or 

4 ‘‘(II) in the case of a consoli5 dated government, the consolidated 

6 government notifies such chief execu7 tive officer of a determination of the 

8 consolidated government regarding 

9 how such payment portion is to be 

10 distributed among the units of local 

11 government represented by the con12 solidated government, based on the 

13 aggregate population of such units of 

14 general local government, in which 

15 case such chief executive officer shall 

16 make distributions in accordance with 

17 that determination. 

18 ‘‘(C) TREATMENT OF STATES NOT ACTING

19 AS PASS-THROUGH AGENTS.—In the case of a 

20 State that is 1 of the 50 States and that has 

21 not elected to distribute amounts allocated 

22 under section 106(d)(1) of the Housing and 

23 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 

24 U.S.C. 5306(d)(1)), the Secretary shall act in 

25 place of the State for purposes of determining 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 252 IS

1 the amount of, and distributing on a pass2 through basis, and without requiring any appli3 cation, payments to units of general local gov4 ernment in nonentitlement areas in that State 

5 under subparagraph (A)(ii). 

6 ‘‘(7) PAYMENTS TO TERRITORIES.—The 

7 amount paid under this section to the United States 

8 Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the 

9 Northern Mariana Islands, or American Samoa, 

10 shall be the amount equal to the product of— 

11 ‘‘(A) the amount reserved under subsection 

12 (a)(2)(A); and 

13 ‘‘(B) each such territory’s share of the 

14 combined total population of all such territories, 

15 as determined by the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(8) PAYMENTS TO TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.— 

17 The amounts paid under this section to Tribal gov18 ernments from the amount reserved under sub19 section (a)(2)(B) shall be determined in the same 

20 manner as the amounts paid to Tribal governments 

21 under section 601(c)(7), except that in determining 

22 such amounts, the most recent number of enrolled 

23 Tribal members or other appropriate measure may 

24 be used. 

25 ‘‘(9) DATA.—For purposes of determining— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 252 IS

1 ‘‘(A) the population of each of the 50 

2 States, the District of Columbia, the Common3 wealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 

4 Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the 

5 Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, 

6 and units of general local government, the Sec7 retary shall use the most recent year for which 

8 data are available from the Bureau of the Cen9 sus; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the relative coronavirus infection rate 

11 proportion amounts under paragraph (5), the 

12 Secretary shall use the most recent daily up13 dated data on the number of COVID–19 cases 

14 published on the Internet by the Centers for 

15 Disease Control and Prevention. 

16 ‘‘(d) OTHER PROVISIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts paid under 

18 this section shall be subject to— 

19 ‘‘(A) the use of funds and oversight re20 quirements of subsections (d) and (f) of section 

21 601 in the same manner as such requirements 

22 apply to the amounts paid under that section; 

23 and 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 252 IS

1 ‘‘(B) the definitions of each paragraph of 

2 section 601(g) other than paragraph (2) of that 

3 section. 

4 ‘‘(2) IG FUNDING AUTHORITY.—Notwith5 standing section 601(f)(3), the Inspector General of 

6 the Department of the Treasury may use the 

7 amount appropriated under that section to carry out 

8 oversight and recoupment activities under this sec9 tion in addition to the oversight and recoupment ac10 tivities carried out under section 601(f). 

11 ‘‘(3) NONAPPLICATION.—Except as otherwise 

12 provided in this section, the requirements applicable 

13 to the amount appropriated for fiscal year 2020 

14 under section 601(a)(1) (as added by section 5001 

15 of Public Law 116–136) shall not apply to the 

16 amount appropriated under subsection (a) of this 

17 section for such fiscal year.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY TO USE PAYMENTS TO 

19 MAKE UP REVENUE SHORTFALLS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (d) of section 601 of 

21 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 801) is amended to 

22 read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State, Tribal govern25 ment, and unit of local government may use the 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 252 IS

1 funds provided under a payment made under this 

2 section for any expenditures during the period that 

3 begins on January 1, 2020, and ends on June 30, 

4 2022— 

5 ‘‘(A) to prevent, prepare for, or respond to 

6 the public health emergency with respect to the 

7 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) or the 

8 declaration by the President under section 401 

9 or 501, respectively, of the Robert T. Stafford 

10 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

11 (42 U.S.C. 5170, 5191) of a major disaster or 

12 emergency with respect to COVID–19; or 

13 ‘‘(B) to provide services, benefits, or assist14 ance, or support programs, projects, and oper15 ations, accounted for in the budget for the 

16 State, Tribal government, or unit of local gov17 ernment approved for any fiscal year occurring 

18 during the period that begins on January 1, 

19 2020, and ends on June 30, 2022 (without re20 gard to any relation to the Coronavirus Disease 

21 2019 (COVID–19)). 

22 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL FUNDING.—For the pur23 pose of meeting the non-Federal share requirement 

24 of any Federal grant-in-aid program or other form 

25 of Federal assistance, including assistance provided 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
14 

•S 252 IS

1 under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

2 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) 

3 and the Medicaid program established under title 

4 XIX, funds provided under a payment made under 

5 this section to a State, Tribal government, or unit 

6 of local government are deemed to be non-Federal 

7 funds. 

8 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—A State, Tribal government, 

9 or unit of local government may not use funds pro10 vided under a payment made under this section to 

11 provide any kind of tax cut, rebate, deduction, cred12 it, or any other tax benefit, or to reduce or eliminate 

13 any fee imposed by the State, Tribal government, or 

14 unit of local government, during the period described 

15 in paragraph (1).’’. 

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made to 

17 subsection (d) of section 601 of the Social Security Act 

18 (42 U.S.C. 801) by subsection (a) shall take effect imme19 diately upon the enactment of this Act and shall not be 

20 subject to any interpretation, guidance, rulemaking, or 

21 any other administrative action that limits, interferes 

22 with, delays, or impedes, or has the effect of limiting, 

23 interfering with, delaying, or impeding, the flexible spend24 ing authorities set forth in subsections (d)(1)(A) and 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
15 

•S 252 IS

1 (d)(1)(B) of section 601 of the Social Security Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 801), as so amended. 

3 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY DESIGNATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided under this 

5 Act and the amendments made by this Act are designated 

6 as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of 

7 the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 

8 933(g)). 

9 (b) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the Senate, this 

10 Act is designated as an emergency requirement pursuant 

11 to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), 

12 the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 

13 2018. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS