Title: SACRED Act
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues

Summary:
Safeguarding Americans from Coronavirus and Religious Exercise Discrimination Act or the SACRED Act
This bill makes a state or local jurisdiction that discriminates against religious individuals or religious institutions ineligible to receive or use funds allocated, appropriated, or authorized to address COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019).
Specifically, a state or local jurisdiction violates this bill's prohibition if it (1) enforces, or announces the intent to enforce, any law, regulation, policy, order, proclamation, or decree related to COVID-19 that discriminates against religious individuals or religious institutions; or (2) provides, or shows an intention to provide, funds to a separate jurisdiction that is ineligible to receive or use those funds because the jurisdiction has committed a violation.
The Department of Justice shall determine whether a state or local jurisdiction is ineligible to receive or use such funds.


[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4340 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4340

 To ensure that a State or local jurisdiction is ineligible to receive 
or use funds allocated, appropriated, or authorized to address COVID-19 
     if that State or jurisdiction discriminates against religious 
     individuals or religious institutions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 28, 2020

   Mr. Cruz introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To ensure that a State or local jurisdiction is ineligible to receive 
or use funds allocated, appropriated, or authorized to address COVID-19 
     if that State or jurisdiction discriminates against religious 
     individuals or religious institutions, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Safeguarding Americans from 
Coronavirus and Religious Exercise Discrimination Act'' or the ``SACRED 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PREVENTING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST RELIGIOUS INDIVIDUALS AND 
              INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) Ineligibility for Funds.--A State or local jurisdiction shall 
be ineligible to receive or use funds allocated, appropriated, or 
authorized to address COVID-19 (referred to as ``covered funds'') if 
that State or local jurisdiction is committing a violation described in 
subsection (b).
    (b) Violations.--A State or local jurisdiction commits a violation 
under this subsection if that State or local jurisdiction--
            (1) enforces, or announces the intent to enforce, any law, 
        regulation, policy, order, proclamation, or decree related to 
        COVID-19 that discriminates against religious individuals or 
        religious institutions; or
            (2) provides, or shows an intention to provide, covered 
        funds to a separate State or local jurisdiction that is 
        ineligible to receive or use those funds because the State or 
        local jurisdiction has committed a violation described in 
        paragraph (1).
    (c) Determination of Ineligibility.--The Attorney General shall 
make a determination of whether a State or local jurisdiction is 
ineligible to receive or use covered funds in accordance with 
subsection (a).
    (d) Enforcement.--
            (1) Funds not yet disbursed.--If, before the covered funds 
        are disbursed, the Attorney General determines that a State or 
        local jurisdiction is ineligible to receive such funds, the 
        covered funds shall not be disbursed until the Attorney General 
        certifies that the State or local jurisdiction is no longer in 
        violation of subsection (b) and is eligible to receive covered 
        funds.
            (2) Funds already disbursed.--If, after covered funds have 
        been disbursed, the Attorney General determines that a State or 
        local jurisdiction was not, or is no longer, eligible to 
        receive those covered funds, the applicable Federal agency that 
        would otherwise disburse such covered funds shall identify and 
        withhold from the State or local jurisdiction funds otherwise 
        authorized to be allocated to that State or local jurisdiction 
        from that Federal agency in an amount not to exceed the amount 
        the State or local jurisdiction received in covered funds from 
        that Federal agency, until the Attorney General certifies that 
        the State or local jurisdiction is no longer in violation of 
        subsection (b) and is eligible to receive such covered funds.
            (3) Funds transferred.--If a State or local jurisdiction 
        transferred covered funds to another State or local 
        jurisdiction that is in violation of subsection (b)(1), the 
        applicable Federal agency shall identify and withhold from the 
        State or local jurisdiction funds otherwise authorized to be 
        allocated to that State or local jurisdiction from that Federal 
        agency in an amount not to exceed the amount of covered funds 
        the State or local jurisdiction transferred in violation of 
        subsection (b)(2) that were disbursed from that Federal agency, 
        until the Attorney General certifies that the State or local 
        jurisdiction that received transferred covered funds is 
        eligible to receive and use those funds, or the covered funds 
        are returned from the recipient to the transferring State or 
        local jurisdiction.
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