RECOVERY Act

Bill: 116-s-4537
Sponsor: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
Introduced: 2020-09-08 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Advanced technology and technological innovations
American Samoa
Appropriations
Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Business investment and capital
Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Civil actions and liability
Competition and antitrust
Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
Computers and information technology
Congressional operations and organization
Congressional oversight
Corporate finance and management
Department of Energy
Disability assistance
Disaster relief and insurance
Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Economic performance and conditions
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Employment taxes
Energy storage, supplies, demand
Evidence and witnesses
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal district courts
Federal preemption
Federal-Indian relations
Government information and archives
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government trust funds
Guam
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health care quality
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Health technology, devices, supplies
Higher education
Home and outpatient care
Hospital care
Immunology and vaccination
Income tax credits
Income tax deductions
Income tax exclusion
Indian social and development programs
Industrial policy and productivity
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Inflation and prices
Interest, dividends, interest rates
Intergovernmental relations
International organizations and cooperation
Israel
Judicial procedure and administration
Judicial review and appeals
Jurisdiction and venue
Legal fees and court costs
Legislative rules and procedure
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Medicare
Middle East
Minority education
Northern Mariana Islands
Oil and gas
Product safety and quality
Religion
Self-employed
Small business
Social security and elderly assistance
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Special education
State and local finance
State and local government operations
State and local taxation
Strategic materials and reserves
Student aid and college costs
Teaching, teachers, curricula
U.S. territories and protectorates
Unemployment
Virgin Islands
Worker safety and health

Summary:
action_date: 2020-09-08
text: 

Reinvigorating the Economy, Creating Opportunity for every Vocation, Employer, Retiree & Youth Act or the RECOVERY Act

 
This bill revises provisions in the tax code; modifies the liability of employers, public officials, and other entities; makes various changes to help schools, employers, and industries respond to COVID-19 (i.e. coronavirus disease 2019); and otherwise addresses economic growth. It also modifies congressional oversight of regulations, including by requiring approval for certain rules.
 
Among other things, the bill establishes and expands various tax credits, deductions, and exclusions from income for individuals and businesses and temporarily suspends payroll taxes.
 
Additionally, the bill limits the liability, under some conditions, of employers, health care providers, and other entities for COVID-19 exposures. It also imposes liability on public officials with authority to direct law enforcement agencies for losses that occur in areas that a law enforcement agency has been instructed not to access during riots.
 
Furthermore, it revises multiple COVID-19 response activities, including by restricting eligibility for unemployment compensation, extending particular business loans and payroll support programs, and establishing sunset dates for spending COVID-19 funds. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Education to use a specified percentage of COVID-19 funds to support certain scholarship-granting organizations.
 
It also establishes an alternate approval process for coronavirus drugs and other medical products approved for sale in another country; expands interstate telehealth access; and makes other changes to health insurance plans, health savings accounts, and retirement accounts.
 
The bill also creates tax incentives and other programs to support mining, petroleum, pharmaceutical, aviation, and other industries.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-09-08
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2020-09-08
text: Introduced in Senate