I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8901 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish new requirements for 

State homes for veterans that receive per diem from the Secretary 

of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2020 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. NEAL) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish new 

requirements for State homes for veterans that receive 

per diem from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Holyoke Veterans 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATE HOMES FOR VETERANS: GOVERNING BOD2 IES; ADMINISTRATORS; INFECTION 

3 PREVENTIONISTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1741 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(g) A State home shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) have a governing body that— 

9 ‘‘(A) is legally responsible for establishing 

10 and implementing policies regarding the man11 agement and operation of the State home; 

12 ‘‘(B) consists of more than one person; and 

13 ‘‘(C) appoints an administrator or deputy 

14 superintendent described in paragraph (2); 

15 ‘‘(2) employ an administrator or deputy super16 intendent who— 

17 ‘‘(A) is licensed by the State, if required by 

18 State law; and 

19 ‘‘(B) meets standards established by the 

20 Secretary of Health and Human Services under 

21 subsection (f)(4) of sections 1819 and 1919 of 

22 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3, 

23 1396r); 

24 ‘‘(3) employ an infection preventionist (as that 

25 term is defined in section 1744a of this title); and 


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1 ‘‘(4) include in information submitted each year 

2 to the Secretary— 

3 ‘‘(A) the name of the infection 

4 preventionist under paragraph (3); and 

5 ‘‘(B) an emergency plan, updated annually, 

6 in case of public health emergency or other dis7 aster.’’. 

8 (b) FUNDING OF INFECTION PREVENTIONISTS.— 

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Chapter 17 of title 38, 

10 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

11 section 1744 the following new section: 

12 ‘‘§ 1744a. Hiring and retention of infection 

13 preventionists: payments to assist States 

14 ‘‘(a) PAYMENT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall make 

15 payments to States under this section for the purpose of 

16 assisting State homes in the hiring and retention of infec17 tion preventionists. 

18 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—Payments to a State 

19 for a fiscal year under this section shall, subject to submis20 sion of an application, be made to any State that during 

21 that fiscal year receives per diem payments under this sub22 chapter for that fiscal year. 

23 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—A 

24 payment under this section may not be used to provide 


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1 more than 50 percent of the salary or wages for an infec2 tion preventionist for a fiscal year. 

3 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—A payment under this section 

4 for any fiscal year with respect to any State home may 

5 only be made based upon an application submitted by the 

6 State seeking the payment with respect to that State 

7 home. Any such application shall describe the salary or 

8 wages of the infection preventionist. 

9 ‘‘(e) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—Payments under this sec10 tion shall be made from funds available for other pay11 ments under this subchapter. 

12 ‘‘(f) DISBURSEMENT.—Payments under this section 

13 to a State home shall be made as part of the disbursement 

14 of payments under section 1741 of this title with respect 

15 to that State home. 

16 ‘‘(g) USE OF CERTAIN RECEIPTS.—The Secretary 

17 shall require as a condition of any payment under this sec18 tion that, in any case in which the State home receives 

19 a refund payment made by an employee in breach of the 

20 terms of an agreement for employee assistance that used 

21 funds provided under this section, the payment shall be 

22 returned to the State home’s incentive program account 

23 and credited as a non-Federal funding source. 

24 ‘‘(h) ANNUAL REPORT FROM PAYMENT.—(1) Any 

25 State home receiving a payment under this section for any 


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1 fiscal year, shall, as a condition of the payment, be re2 quired to agree to provide to the Secretary a report setting 

3 forth in detail the use of funds received through the pay4 ment, including the emergency plan under subsection (g) 

5 of section 1741 of this title. 

6 ‘‘(2) The report for any fiscal year shall be provided 

7 to the Secretary within 60 days of the close of the fiscal 

8 year and shall be subject to audit by the Secretary. Eligi9 bility for a payment under this section for any later fiscal 

10 year is contingent upon the receipt by the Secretary of 

11 the annual report under this subsection for the previous 

12 fiscal year in accordance with this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(i) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

14 regulations to carry out this section. The regulations shall 

15 include the establishment of criteria for the award of pay16 ments under this section. 

17 ‘‘(j) INFECTION PREVENTIONIST DEFINED.—In this 

18 section, the term ‘infection preventionist’ means an indi19 vidual— 

20 ‘‘(1) who has primary professional training in 

21 nursing, medical technology, microbiology, epidemi22 ology, or a related field; 

23 ‘‘(2) whom the Secretary determines is qualified 

24 by education, training, experience, or certification; 


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1 ‘‘(3) who works at least part-time at the State 

2 home; and 

3 ‘‘(4) who has completed specialized training in 

4 infection prevention and control.’’. 

5 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec6 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

7 by inserting, after the item relating to section 1744, 

8 the following new item: 

‘‘1744a. Hiring and retention of infection preventionists: payments to assist 

States.’’. 

9 (c) GAO STUDY.—Not later than one year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

11 of the United States shall submit a report to Congress 

12 containing the results of a study regarding how to improve 

13 oversight of State homes by the Secretary. 

Æ 


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