I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1556 

To require State and local governments to establish reopening plans as a 

condition of receiving funding under title VI of the Social Security 

Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2021 

Mr. CRENSHAW introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on 

Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require State and local governments to establish reopening plans as a condition of receiving funding under title 

VI of the Social Security Act, 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 ‘‘End Lockdowns Now 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) During the course of the COVID-19 pan2 demic, many State and localities have acted in a ca3 pricious and haphazard manner to restrict economic 

4 activity and stifle civil liberties. 

5 (2) The specific restrictions are commonly re6 ferred to as ‘‘lockdown,’’ ‘‘stay-at-home,’’ or ‘‘shel7 ter-in-place’’ orders. These restrictions have forced 

8 ‘‘non-essential’’ businesses to close their doors and 

9 prohibited their workers from earning a living. 

10 (3) Many of these State and local authorities 

11 have not followed a careful risk-based model in12 formed by science to guide decision making and 

13 these officials have claimed the authority to act in 

14 a manner unlimited in scope and indefinite in dura15 tion. 

16 (4) The effect of these lockdowns has been the 

17 collapse of millions of business and resulted in the 

18 highest jobless rate in decades. 

19 (5) While the direct health effects of the pan20 demic have been devastating to many Americans, 

21 these authorities have often ignored the secondary 

22 effects of the crisis, including the death, illness, and 

23 suffering caused by the despair and hardship result24 ing from their lockdowns. 


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1 (6) One of the most troublesome examples of 

2 severe overreach by State officials occurred when 

3 New York imposed restrictions on congregation size 

4 limits, discriminating on the basis of religion in vio5 lation of the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme 

6 Court determined the State of New York’s rules es7 sentially singled out houses of worship for unfair 

8 and unconstitutional restrictions (Roman Catholic 

9 Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo). 

10 (7) State governors do have the authority to 

11 implement targeted restrictions in the case of a pub12 lic health emergency, yet many of the unrestrained 

13 orders issued during the pandemic have effectively 

14 violated many civil liberties and personal freedoms. 

15 (8) In addition, many of the public orders are 

16 so economically burdensome that they essentially 

17 function as a taking of property, which requires suf18 ficient compensation under the takings clause of the 

19 Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. 

20 (9) Congress urges State and local leaders to 

21 carefully consider the broad consequences of their 

22 restrictions and to expeditiously take steps to allow 

23 businesses, schools, and other elements of society to 

24 reopen. 


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1 (10) Congress hereby acts to condition relief 

2 funds based on the submission of a plan by State 

3 and localities detailing any current restrictions and 

4 their plans to lift these restrictions. 

5 (11) Congress further acts to prevent any un6 necessary overreach by the Executive Branch by 

7 firmly outlawing restrictions that have the effect of 

8 halting interstate travel or imposing a nationwide 

9 quarantine or lockdown. 

10 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT FOR REOPENING PLAN. 

11 (a) REQUIREMENT.—As a condition of receiving any 

12 payment under title VI of the Social Security Act on or 

13 after March 1, 2021, each recipient shall provide a reopen14 ing plan to the Secretary of the Treasury. 

15 (b) REOPENING PLAN DEFINED.—The reopening 

16 plan required under subsection (a) shall include a detailed 

17 description of how the recipient plans— 

18 (1) to reopen schools for in-person learning; 

19 (2) remove restrictions on business activity; 

20 (3) lift restrictions on religious services and 

21 other social gatherings; and 

22 (4) assist families and small businesses in eco23 nomic recovery. 

24 Such plan shall also include a description on how the re25 opening plan was developed and the steps that were taken 


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1 to include input from local small businesses and the pub2 lic. 

3 (c) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—Such plan shall be made 

4 publicly available and shall include details of the restric5 tions or lockdown orders currently in place and a specific 

6 plan and timeline to lift those restrictions. 

7 SEC. 4. RECOVERY OF FUNDS. 

8 If the Inspector General of the Department of the 

9 Treasury determines that a recipient of a payment de10 scribed in section 3(a) has failed to comply with any provi11 sion of section 3, the amount equal to the amount of funds 

12 used in violation of such section shall be booked as a debt 

13 of such entity owed to the Federal Government. Amounts 

14 recovered under this subsection shall be deposited into the 

15 general fund of the Treasury. 

16 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL LOCKDOWNS. 

17 (a) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL AUTHORITY.—The 

18 President, nor any executive branch official, shall not take 

19 any action to issue a blanket ban on interstate travel or 

20 impose a national lockdown order or nationwide quar21 antine pursuant to the Public Health Service Act (42 

22 U.S.C. 201 et seq.). 

23 (b) NO LIMITATION ON MASS TRANSIT SAFETY.— 

24 Nothing in the prohibition specified in subsection (a) shall 

25 be construed as limiting existing presidential authority to 


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1 impose restrictions on air travel or other forms of public 

2 transportation when necessary to promote public safety. 

3 (c) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.—Nothing in this 

4 section shall be construed to restrict the declaration of a 

5 public health emergency under section 319 of the Public 

6 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) or the taking of 

7 other specific steps to preserve public health under section 

8 361 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264). 

Æ 


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