I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6841 
To provide an exclusion from gross income for certain workers, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 12, 2020 
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. EVANS) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To provide an exclusion from gross income for certain 
workers, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Assistance and Grati-
tude for Coronavirus Heroes in Agribusiness who are In-
valuable to the Nation Act’’ or the ‘‘AG CHAIN Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act— 
(1) QUALIFIED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘quali-
fied employee’’ means any individual who is— 
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(A) an essential food and agriculture em-
ployee, and 
(B) working on his or her employer’s 
premises or on duty delivering to customers or 
performing tasks on the premises of a cus-
tomer, traveling to and from such locations, or 
otherwise at a prescribed work place that is not 
his or her home or a remote worksite. 
(2) ESSENTIAL FOOD AND AGRICULTURE EM-
PLOYEE.—The term ‘‘essential food and agriculture 
employee’’ means— 
(A) an employee who provides services at a 
business that— 
(i) is assigned a North American In-
dustry Classification System code begin-
ning with 4451, 4471, 4247, 7225, 72233, 
722330, 72331, or 722310, and 
(ii) is located in a county that has at 
least one confirmed case of COVID–19, or 
(B) an employee identified as a member of 
the food and agriculture workforce in the guid-
ance issued by the Cybersecurity and Infra-
structure Security Agency on April 17, 2020, 
entitled ‘‘Guidance on the Essential Critical In-
frastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community 
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and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response 
Version 3.0’’ (or any successor guidance). 
SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME FOR CERTAIN 
WORKERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986, gross income shall not include speci-
fied income of any qualified employee. 
(b) LIMITATION.—The aggregate amount not in-
cluded in the gross income of any individual by reason of 
subsection (a) shall not exceed $25,000. 
(c) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—The term ‘‘applicable pe-
riod’’ means the period beginning on February 15, 2020, 
and ending on June 15, 2020. 
(d) SPECIFIED INCOME.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘‘specified income’’ means— 
(1) if the services described in section 1(2) are 
provided as an employee, the wages (as defined in 
section 3121(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 determined without regard to paragraph (1) 
thereof) received by the qualified employee for the 
applicable period, and 
(2) in any other case, the income of the quali-
fied employee which is properly allocable to the serv-
ices described in section 1(2) which are provided by 
such qualified employee during the applicable period. 
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(e) EXTENSION.—The Secretary of the Treasury (or 
the Secretary’s delegate) may extend the applicable period 
for a period not to exceed 3 additional calendar months 
if the Secretary (or the Secretary’s delegate) determines 
that the emergency related to COVID-19 is likely to be 
ongoing during such period. If such period is so extended, 
the dollar amount in subsection (b) shall be increased by 
$6,250 for each month of such extension (and a like rate 
of increase with respect to any extension which is not a 
whole number of months). 
SEC. 4. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF PAYROLL TAXES UP 
TO A CAP. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, with respect to so much of the total wages 
(as defined in section 3121(a) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986) of the qualified employees of an employer 
as does not exceed $75,000— 
(1) with respect to any taxable year which be-
gins in the payroll tax suspension period, the rate of 
tax under section 1401(a) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 shall be 0 percent, 
(2) with respect to remuneration received for 
pay periods ending during the payroll tax suspension 
period, the rate of tax under 3101(a) of such Code 
shall be 0 percent (including for purposes of deter-
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mining the applicable percentage under sections 
3201(a) and 3211(a)(1) of such Code), and 
(3) with respect to remuneration paid for pay 
periods ending during the payroll tax suspension pe-
riod, the rate of tax under section 3111(a) of such 
Code shall be 0 percent (including for purposes of 
determining the applicable percentage under section 
3221(a) of such Code). 
(b) PAYROLL TAX SUSPENSION PERIOD.—The term 
‘‘payroll tax suspension period’’ means the period begin-
ning on February 15, 2020, and ending on June 15, 2020. 
(c) EMPLOYER NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary of the 
Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall notify employ-
ers of the payroll tax suspension period in any manner 
the Secretary (or the Secretary’s delegate) deems appro-
priate. 
(d) EXTENSION.—The Secretary of the Treasury (or 
the Secretary’s delegate) may extend the payroll tax sus-
pension period for a period not to exceed 3 additional cal-
endar months if the Secretary (or the Secretary’s dele-
gate) determines that the emergency related to COVID- 
19 is likely to be ongoing during such period. If such pe-
riod is so extended, the dollar amount in subsection (a) 
shall be increased by $18,750 for each month of such ex-
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tension (and a like rate of increase with respect to any 
extension which is not a whole number of months). 
(e) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.— 
(1) TRANSFERS
TO
FEDERAL
OLD-AGE
AND 
SURVIVORS
INSURANCE
TRUST
FUND.—There are 
hereby appropriated to the Federal Old-Age and 
Survivors Trust Fund and the Federal Disability In-
surance Trust Fund established under section 201 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) amounts 
equal to the reduction in revenues to the Treasury 
by reason of the application of subsection (a). 
Amounts appropriated by the preceding sentence 
shall be transferred from the general fund at such 
times and in such manner as to replicate to the ex-
tent possible the transfers which would have oc-
curred to such Trust Fund had such amendments 
not been enacted. 
(2) TRANSFERS TO SOCIAL SECURITY EQUIVA-
LENT BENEFIT ACCOUNT.—There are hereby appro-
priated to the Social Security Equivalent Benefit Ac-
count established under section 15A(a) of the Rail-
road Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231n–1(a)) 
amounts equal to the reduction in revenues to the 
Treasury by reason of the application of subsection 
(a). Amounts appropriated by the preceding sentence 
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shall be transferred from the general fund at such 
times and in such manner as to replicate to the ex-
tent possible the transfers which would have oc-
curred to such Account had such amendments not 
been enacted. 
(3) COORDINATION
WITH
OTHER
FEDERAL 
LAWS.—For purposes of applying any provision of 
Federal law other than the provisions of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986, the rate of tax in effect 
under section 3101(a) of such Code shall be deter-
mined without regard to the reduction in such rate 
under this section. 
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2019. 
Æ 
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