II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 307 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to 

authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make grants for travel promotion, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2021 

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 amend the Public Works and Economic Development 

Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Commerce 

to make grants for travel promotion, 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. GRANTS FOR ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 209 of the Public Works 

5 and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3149) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘travel pro8 motion (including funding for tourism marketing, 


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•S 307 IS

1 marketing research, purchasing advertisements, and 

2 attracting business meetings or convention travel),’’ 

3 after ‘‘technical assistance, training,’’; and 

4 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by inserting ‘‘and trav5 el promotion’’ after ‘‘planning projects’’. 

6 (b) COST SHARING.—Section 204(c) of the Public 

7 Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

8 U.S.C. 3144(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE FOR TRAVEL PRO11 MOTION.—In the case of a grant for travel pro12 motion under section 209(a), the Secretary may in13 crease the Federal share above the percentage speci14 fied in subsection (a) up to 100 percent of the cost 

15 of the project.’’. 

16 (c) GRANT AMOUNT.—Notwithstanding any other 

17 provision of law, a grant made with amounts made avail18 able under subsection (e) may be in an amount that is 

19 not more than 75 percent of the difference in revenue of 

20 the eligible entity from 2019 to 2020. 

21 (d) WAIVER.—Section 209(b)(2) and section 302 of 

22 the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 

23 (42 U.S.C. 3149(b)(2), 3162) shall not apply to a grant 

24 made with amounts made available under subsection (e). 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated $2,250,000,000 to make 

3 grants under section 209(a) of the Public Works and Eco4 nomic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3149(a)) to 

5 eligible entities for costs associated with tourism mar6 keting and promotion activities necessary to promote safe 

7 and healthy travel practices and economic recovery in com8 munities impacted by a decline in travel and tourism as 

9 a result of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19), 

10 including— 

11 (1) to pay costs associated with tourism mar12 keting and promotion activities, including marketing 

13 research, necessary to assist with declines in visita14 tion and the economic recovery from lost revenue as 

15 a result of COVID–19, including to purchase media 

16 advertisements on print, broadcast, or digital media 

17 for the purpose of marketing, public awareness, or 

18 information campaigns relating to local tourism; 

19 (2) to pay costs associated with providing infor20 mation to visitors about the health and safety pro21 tections, guidance, or requirements of Federal, 

22 State, or local governments and businesses to reduce 

23 the spread of COVID–19; 

24 (3) to pay the increased costs of cleaning and 

25 sanitation, including physical modifications to a conVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:07 Feb 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S307.IS S307

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1 vention center, large event space, or community at2 traction associated with precautions to provide for 

3 safe worker, traveler, or event environments; or 

4 (4) to pay the costs of salaries and expenses as5 sociated with the operations of the eligible entity, 

6 other than salaries and expenses of the executives of 

7 the eligible entity. 

Æ 


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