Critical Infrastructure Employee Protection Act of 2020

Bill: 116-s-3728
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS]
Introduced: 2020-05-13
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Cardiovascular and respiratory health

Emergency medical services and trauma care

Health technology, devices, supplies

Infectious and parasitic diseases

Intergovernmental relations

Medical tests and diagnostic methods

State and local government operations

Transportation employees

Worker safety and health
Latest action: action_date: 2020-05-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-05-13
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Critical Infrastructure Employee Protection Act of 2020</b></p> <p>This bill requires the Department of Transportation to support state, local, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions in providing (1) priority COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) testing for essential critical infrastructure employees; and (2) priority access to personal protective equipment, sanitizers, face coverings, and health-related or protective supplies necessary to safely perform essential critical infrastructure work. (<i>Essential critical infrastructure employees</i> include, but are not limited to, medical and health care, telecommunications, information technology systems, defense, food and agriculture, transportation and logistics, energy, water and wastewater, law enforcement, and public works.)</p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3728 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 13, 2020 Mr. Wicker (for himself, Ms. Cantwell , Mr. Sullivan , and Mr. Young ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to support the efforts of State and local governments to provide for priority testing of essential critical infrastructure workers with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19), and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Critical Infrastructure Employee Protection Act of 2020 . 2. Identification of COVID–19 testing needs of critical infrastructure employees (a) In general The Secretary of Transportation shall— (1) adopt, for use by the Department of Transportation in carrying out response efforts relating to, and operations during, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic, the categorization of essential critical infrastructure workers identified in the Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce published by the Department of Homeland Security on March 28, 2020 (or a subsequent version of that guidance); and (2) coordinate with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support efforts of State and local governments to provide for— (A) priority testing of essential critical infrastructure workers (as that term is used in paragraph (1)) with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19); and (B) priority access to personal protective equipment, sanitizers, nonmedical-grade facial coverings, and other health-related or protective supplies necessary to safely perform essential critical infrastructure work. (b) Application Nothing in this section requires the provision of priority testing or priority access to personal protective equipment for essential critical infrastructure workers (as that term is used in subsection (a)(1)) to be prioritized over the provision of that testing or access to personal protective equipment for other individuals who are identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or any other relevant Federal, State, or local agency as having a higher priority for that testing or access to personal protective equipment, including— (1) patients; (2) healthcare workers; and (3) first responders.