I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 313 

To provide increased funding for States and communities in need, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2021 

Mr. RICHMOND introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To provide increased funding for States and communities 

in need, 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 ‘‘Targeted Federal 

5 Funding to Invest in Communities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to support State and local 

8 governments in providing resources so all residents, espe9 cially those in historically underserved communities, live 

10 healthy, equitable, and fulfilling lives by— 


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1 (1) providing funding for programs that im2 prove the quality of life for all residents; 

3 (2) investing in communities to provide pros4 perity and economic security for all people; and 

5 (3) ensuring that funding is directed at coun6 teracting systemic injustices and historic disinvest7 ment. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The term ‘‘eligible 

11 State’’ means any State in the bottom 10 of all 50 

12 States, excluding the District of Columbia, the Com13 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 

14 Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

15 Mariana Islands, and American Samoa, in a com16 bined ranking of average life expectancy, infant mor17 tality rate, poverty rate, and percentage of State 

18 population with a college degree. The average life ex19 pectancy shall be determined based on the most re20 cent year for which data are available from the Cen21 ters for Disease Control and Prevention National 

22 Center for Health Statistics. The infant mortality 

23 rate shall be determined based on data from the 

24 Centers for Disease Control National Center for 

25 Health Statistics for the most recent year for which 


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1 the data are available. The poverty rate shall be de2 termined based on the most recent year for which 

3 data are available from the Bureau of the Census. 

4 The percentage of State population with a college 

5 degree shall be determined based on the most recent 

6 year for which data are available from the Bureau 

7 of the Census. 

8 (2) PERSISTENT POVERTY COUNTY.—The term 

9 ‘‘persistent poverty county’’ means any county with 

10 a poverty rate of not less than 20 percent, as deter11 mined in each of the 1990 and 2000 decennial cen12 suses, and in the Small Area Income and Poverty 

13 Estimates of the Bureau of the Census for the most 

14 recent year for which the estimates are available. 

15 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

17 SEC. 4. NEW RACE TO THE TOP FUND. 

18 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

20 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appro21 priated, there are authorized to be appropriated for 

22 making payments to eligible States, Tribal govern23 ments, and units of local government under this sec24 tion, $20,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

25 through 2026. 


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1 (2) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Of the amount 

2 appropriated under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

3 shall reserve— 

4 (A) $2,000,000,000 of such amount for 

5 making payments to the District of Columbia, 

6 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 

7 States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Common8 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 

9 American Samoa; 

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

11 making payments to Tribal governments; and 

12 (C) $5,000,000,000 of such amount for 

13 making payment to persistent poverty counties 

14 within eligible States. 

15 (b) AUTHORITY TO MAKE PAYMENTS.— 

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

17 not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

18 of this section, and annually thereafter, the Sec19 retary shall pay each eligible State, tribal and terri20 torial government, and each unit of local government 

21 that meets the condition described in paragraph (2), 

22 the amount determined for the State, Tribal govern23 ment, or unit of local government, for fiscal year 

24 2021 through 2026 under subsection (c). 


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1 (2) DIRECT PAYMENTS TO UNITS OF LOCAL

2 GOVERNMENT.—If a unit of local government of a 

3 State submits the certification required by sub4 section (e) for purposes of receiving a direct pay5 ment from the Secretary under the authority of this 

6 paragraph, the Secretary shall reduce the amount al7 located in (a)(2)(C) by the relative unit of local gov8 ernment population proportion amount described in 

9 subsection (c)(5) and pay such amount directly to 

10 such unit of local government. 

11 (c) PAYMENT AMOUNTS.— 

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

13 the amount paid under this section for each of fiscal 

14 years 2021 through 2026 to a State that is 1 of the 

15 10 eligible States shall be the amount equal to the 

16 relative population proportion amount determined 

17 for the State under paragraph (3) for such fiscal 

18 year. 

19 (2) MINIMUM PAYMENT.— 

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

21 the States receiving payment shall receive a 

22 payment under this section for any fiscal year 

23 that is less than $1,000,000,000. 

24 (B) PRO RATA ADJUSTMENTS.—The Sec25 retary shall adjust on a pro rata basis the 


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1 amount of the payments for each of the eligible 

2 States determined under this subsection without 

3 regard to this subparagraph to the extent nec4 essary to comply with the requirements of sub5 paragraph (A). 

6 (3) RELATIVE POPULATION PROPORTION

7 AMOUNT.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the rel8 ative population proportion amount determined 

9 under this paragraph for a State for fiscal years 

10 2021 through 2026 is the product of— 

11 (A) the amount appropriated under para12 graph (1) of subsection (a) that remains after 

13 the application of paragraph (2) of that sub14 section; and 

15 (B) the relative State population propor16 tion (as defined in paragraph (4)). 

17 (4) RELATIVE STATE POPULATION PROPORTION

18 DEFINED.—For purposes of paragraph (3)(B), the 

19 term ‘‘relative State population proportion’’ means, 

20 with respect to a State, the quotient of— 

21 (A) the population of the State; and 

22 (B) the total population of all eligible 

23 States (excluding the District of Columbia and 

24 territories specified in subsection (a)(2)(A)). 


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1 (5) RELATIVE UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

2 POPULATION PROPORTION AMOUNT.—For purposes 

3 of subsection (b)(2), the term ‘‘relative unit of local 

4 government population proportion amount’’ means, 

5 with respect to a unit of local government of a per6 sistent poverty county, the amount equal to the 

7 quotient of— 

8 (A) the population of the unit of local gov9 ernment; and 

10 (B) the total population of all persistent 

11 poverty counties in the eligible States. 

12 (6) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND TERRI13 TORIES.—The amount paid under this section for 

14 fiscal year 2020 to a State that is the District of Co15 lumbia or a territory specified in subsection 

16 (a)(2)(A) shall be the amount equal to the product 

17 of— 

18 (A) the amount set aside under subsection 

19 (a)(2)(A) for such fiscal year; and 

20 (B) each such District’s and territory’s 

21 share of the combined total population of the 

22 District of Columbia and all such territories, as 

23 determined by the Secretary. 

24 (7) TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.—From the amount 

25 set aside under subsection (a)(2)(B) for fiscal years 


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1 2021 through 2026, the amount paid under this sec2 tion for each fiscal year to a Tribal government shall 

3 be the amount the Secretary shall determine, in con4 sultation with the Secretary of the Interior and In5 dian Tribes, that is based on increased expenditures 

6 of each such Tribal government (or a tribally owned 

7 entity of such Tribal government) relative to aggre8 gate expenditures in fiscal year 2019 by the Tribal 

9 government (or tribally owned entity) and deter10 mined in such manner as the Secretary determines 

11 appropriate to ensure that all amounts available 

12 under subsection (a)(2)(B) for fiscal years 2021 

13 through 2026 are distributed to Tribal governments. 

14 (8) DATA.—For purposes of this subsection, the 

15 population of States and units of local governments 

16 shall be determined based on the most recent year 

17 for which data are available from the Bureau of the 

18 Census. 

19 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A State, Tribal government, 

20 and unit of local government shall use the funds provided 

21 under a payment made under this section to cover only 

22 those costs of the State, Tribal government, or unit of 

23 local government that— 

24 (1) are necessary expenditures to create or ex25 pand activity or programs consistent with the purVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H313.IH H313

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1 poses of this Act that will improve measurable out2 comes for health, education, and quality of life for 

3 residents; 

4 (2) were not accounted for in the budget most 

5 recently approved as of the date of enactment of this 

6 section for the State or government; and 

7 (3) were incurred during the period that begins 

8 on the date of enactment of this section, and ends 

9 five years from the date of enactment of this section. 

10 (e) CERTIFICATION.—In order to receive a payment 

11 under this section, a unit of local government shall provide 

12 the Secretary with a certification signed by the Chief Ex13 ecutive for the unit of local government that the local gov14 ernment’s proposed uses of the funds are consistent with 

15 subsection (d) and the unit of government is located in 

16 a persistent poverty county. 

17 (f) INSPECTOR GENERAL OVERSIGHT; 

18 RECOUPMENT.— 

19 (1) OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY.—The Inspector 

20 General of the Department of the Treasury shall 

21 conduct monitoring and oversight of the receipt, dis22 bursement, and use of funds made available under 

23 this section. 

Æ 


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