Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act of 2018

Bill: 115-hr-4782
Sponsor: Del. Plaskett, Stacey E. [D-VI-At Large]
Introduced: 2018-01-11 in the House
Policy area: Emergency Management
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Agricultural education
Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
Alternative and renewable resources
American Samoa
Aviation and airports
Child care and development
Child health
Child safety and welfare
Community life and organization
Congressional oversight
Credit and credit markets
Digital media
Disaster relief and insurance
Economic development
Education programs funding
Electric power generation and transmission
Elementary and secondary education
Emergency planning and evacuation
Employment and training programs
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Energy assistance for the poor and aged
Energy efficiency and conservation
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Floods and storm protection
Food assistance and relief
Forests, forestry, trees
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Government information and archives
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government studies and investigations
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health facilities and institutions
Health personnel
Higher education
Historic sites and heritage areas
Hospital care
Housing and community development funding
Hybrid, electric, and advanced technology vehicles
Income tax credits
Infrastructure development
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Livestock
Low- and moderate-income housing
Marine and inland water transportation
Medicaid
Medicare
Mental health
Military facilities and property
Natural disasters
Northern Mariana Islands
Parks, recreation areas, trails
Poverty and welfare assistance
Prescription drugs
Public housing
Public transit
Public utilities and utility rates
Puerto Rico
Railroads
Roads and highways
Rural conditions and development
School administration
Sex and reproductive health
Small business
Solid waste and recycling
Student aid and college costs
Student records
Tax treatment of families
Teaching, teachers, curricula
Telephone and wireless communication
Transportation programs funding
U.S. territories and protectorates
Unemployment
Veterans' medical care
Virgin Islands
Wages and earnings
Water Resources Development
Water quality
Watersheds
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: 

Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act of 2018

 
This bill provides for additional disaster-recovery assistance and other assistance to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with respect to infrastructure, health care, agriculture, education, economic development, and environmental remediation, among other sectors. Specifically, regarding both territories, the bill:
 
 
provides for the use of certain emergency assistance to rebuild electric grids; 
 
establishes grant programs to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy; 
 
subject to oversight requirements, increases funding for transportation infrastructure, telecommunications systems, housing, and community development; 
 
increases funding for Medicaid and Medicare; 
 
temporarily increases social-services block-grant allotments; 
 
increases funding for, and otherwise revises, rural and agricultural programs; 
 
increases funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs; 
 
provides for aid to the Head Start program, elementary and secondary education programs, and higher education programs; 
 
increases funding for training and employment services; 
 
modifies provisions concerning unemployment assistance, taxation, and federal permitting; 
 
increases funding for economic and community development programs; 
 
increases funding for environmental remediation; 
 
requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to submit to Congress a disaster-relief plan; and 
 
otherwise modifies provisions related to emergency funding and disaster-recovery assistance.

 
In addition, the bill:
 
 
extends Medicaid waiver authority to all territories, provides for Medicaid disproportionate share hospital allotments to the territories, and otherwise revises the Medicaid and Medicare programs with respect to the territories; 
 
provides for health-insurance coverage for individuals residing in territories without health exchanges; 
 
extends participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Supplemental Security Income Program to all territories; 
 
modifies provisions concerning the earned-income tax credit and the child tax credit with respect to the territories; and 
 
modifies provisions concerning the application of certain workers' protections in Puerto Rico.



Legislative actions:
action_date: 2018-05-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy.
action_date: 2018-01-16
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs.
action_date: 2018-01-16
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
action_date: 2018-01-12
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
action_date: 2018-01-12
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
action_date: 2018-01-12
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
action_date: 2018-01-12
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.
action_date: 2018-01-12
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation.
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Agriculture, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, and Science, Space, and Technology, 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.
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Agriculture, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, and Science, Space, and Technology, 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.
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Agriculture, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, and Science, Space, and Technology, 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.
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Agriculture, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, and Science, Space, and Technology, 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.
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Agriculture, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, and Science, Space, and Technology, 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.
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Agriculture, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, and Science, Space, and Technology, 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.
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Agriculture, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, and Science, Space, and Technology, 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.
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Agriculture, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, and Science, Space, and Technology, 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.
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Agriculture, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, and Science, Space, and Technology, 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.
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2018-01-11
text: Introduced in House