PRINTER'S NO. 2118
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1358
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY MARTIN, STEFANO, AUMENT, KILLION, YUDICHAK,
ARNOLD, J. WARD, MENSCH, SCAVELLO, ARGALL, PITTMAN, BAKER AND
REGAN, OCTOBER 30, 2020
REFERRED TO APPROPRIATIONS, OCTOBER 30, 2020
AN ACT
Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), entitled
"An act relating to the finances of the State government;
providing for cancer control, prevention and research, for
ambulatory surgical center data collection, for the Joint
Underwriting Association, for entertainment business
financial management firms, for private dam financial
assurance and for reinstatement of item vetoes; providing for
the settlement, assessment, collection, and lien of taxes,
bonus, and all other accounts due the Commonwealth, the
collection and recovery of fees and other money or property
due or belonging to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
including escheated property and the proceeds of its sale,
the custody and disbursement or other disposition of funds
and securities belonging to or in the possession of the
Commonwealth, and the settlement of claims against the
Commonwealth, the resettlement of accounts and appeals to the
courts, refunds of moneys erroneously paid to the
Commonwealth, auditing the accounts of the Commonwealth and
all agencies thereof, of all public officers collecting
moneys payable to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
and all receipts of appropriations from the Commonwealth,
authorizing the Commonwealth to issue tax anticipation notes
to defray current expenses, implementing the provisions of
section 7(a) of Article VIII of the Constitution of
Pennsylvania authorizing and restricting the incurring of
certain debt and imposing penalties; affecting every
department, board, commission, and officer of the State
government, every political subdivision of the State, and
certain officers of such subdivisions, every person,
association, and corporation required to pay, assess, or
collect taxes, or to make returns or reports under the laws
imposing taxes for State purposes, or to pay license fees or
other moneys to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
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every State depository and every debtor or creditor of the
Commonwealth," in emergency COVID-19 response, providing for
Food Service, Hospitality and Tourism Economic Emergency
Grant Program and for appropriations from the account.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known
as The Fiscal Code, is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 134-C. Food Service, Hospitality and Tourism Economic
Emergency Grant Program.
(a) Establishment of program.--The county shall establish
the program as a countywide competitive grant program and may
contract with a third-party entity to administer the grant
program under this section.
(b) Use of funds.--The money appropriated to counties for
COVID Relief - Food Service, Hospitality and Tourism Economic
Emergency Block Grant Program shall be used to make grants under
this section.
(c) Purpose of program.--The program shall receive
applications and award grants to eligible businesses in
accordance with this section.
(d) Application.--The county shall develop an application
for eligible businesses to apply for grants under this section
within 30 days of the effective date of this section. The
application shall be made available and posted on the county's
publicly accessible Internet website and shall be in a form that
can be completed electronically or through the United States
mail or other means as determined by the county.
(e) Application deadline.--Each county shall receive
applications on a rolling basis until all grant money received
by the county under section 190.3-C is exhausted, or until
December 30, 2020, whichever occurs first.
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(f) Guidelines.--The county shall establish guidelines that
are consistent with the provisions of this section within 30
days of the effective date of this section. The guidelines shall
be posted on the county's publicly accessible Internet website.
(g) Eligibility.--To be considered for a grant the applicant
must certify in good faith all of the following as of the date
of the application, that the business:
(1) Is open or has a plan to reopen in the next 60 days,
and does not intend to permanently cease operations within
one year of the date of the application.
(2) Operates no more than three locations under an
identical name within this Commonwealth.
(3) Employs no more than 150 full-time equivalent
employees per business location.
(4) Suffered an adverse economic impact due to COVID-19,
which makes this grant request necessary to support the
ongoing operations of the business.
(5) Will use the grant in accordance with subsection
(i).
(6) Is one of the following entities:
(i) A restaurant.
(ii) A bar.
(iii) A hotel.
(iv) A tourism-focused business.
(h) Award of grants.--The award of grants shall be in
accordance with the following:
(1) The county may award a grant to an eligible business
not to exceed $10,000 but no less than $5,000.
(2) The county shall award grants and make grant
payments under this section no later than December 30, 2020.
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(3) Priority in the awarding of grants shall be given to
eligible applicants that:
(i) have not received a loan or grant issued under
the authority of the Commonwealth or the Commonwealth's
political subdivisions or by the Federal Government under
the CARES Act;
(ii) were subject to closure by the proclamation of
disaster emergency issued by the Governor on March 6,
2020, published at 50 Pa.B. 1644 (March 21, 2020), and
any renewal of the state of disaster emergency; or
(iii) can demonstrate one of the following:
(A) A loss of revenue of 50% or more for the
period beginning after March 31, 2020, and ending
before September 1, 2020, in comparison to the period
beginning after March 31, 2019, and ending before
September 1, 2019.
(B) If the business was not in operation in
calendar year 2019, a loss of revenue of 50% or more
for the period beginning after March 31, 2020, and
ending before September 1, 2020, in comparison to the
period beginning after January 31, 2020, and ending
before April 1, 2020.
(i) Grant restrictions.--The following restrictions shall
apply:
(1) Grants awarded to an eligible business shall only be
used for:
(i) Payroll costs.
(ii) Payment of interest on mortgage obligation,
which may not include any prepayment of or payment of
principal on a covered mortgage obligation.
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(iii) Payment on a rent obligation.
(iv) Payment for utilities.
(v) Costs incurred for training and retrofitting the
business facilities to operate safely during the COVID-19
pandemic.
(2) An eligible business that receives a grant and fails
to comply with paragraph (1) shall repay the amount of the
grant to the county.
(3) An eligible business who is awarded a grant under
this section is not eligible for any additional grants under
the Food Service, Hospitality and Tourism Economic Emergency
Block Grant Program.
(4) A grant may not be awarded to a business that
received funding through the COVID Relief - Statewide Small
Business Assistance Program.
(j) Expiration.--This section shall expire after the money
transferred to the county under subsection (a) has been
exhausted or December 31, 2020, whichever occurs first.
(k) Reporting.--The following shall apply:
(1) A county providing grants under this section shall
compile a report which shall include the following:
(i) A list of all grants awarded under the program.
(ii) The name and address of each grant recipient.
(iii) The amount of the grant awarded.
(iv) The name of the third-party contractor, if any,
that processed the grant.
(2) The report required under paragraph (1) shall be
submitted to the chairperson and minority chairperson of the
Appropriations Committee of the Senate and the chairperson
and minority chairperson of the Appropriations Committee of
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the House of Representatives by January 31, 2021. The report
shall also be posted and maintained on the county's publicly
accessible Internet website.
(3) A third-party contractor processing grants on behalf
of a county under this section shall provide documentation to
the Department of the Auditor General, upon request, for
purposes of an audit review.
(l) Review.--This section may not be subject to the
following:
(1) Article II of the act of July 31, 1968 (P.L.769,
No.240), known as the Commonwealth Documents Law.
(2) Sections 204(b) and 301(10) of the act of October
15, 1980 (P.L.950, No.164), known as the Commonwealth
Attorneys Act.
(3) The act of June 25, 1982 (P.L.633, No.181), known as
the Regulatory Review Act.
(m) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Bar." An establishment that primarily serves alcohol for
on-site consumption. The term includes a tavern or night club.
"COVID-19." The novel coronavirus identified in the
proclamation of Disaster Emergency issued by the Governor on
March 6, 2020, published at 50 Pa.B. 1644 (March 21, 2020), and
any renewal of the state of disaster emergency.
"Department." The Department of Community and Economic
Development of the Commonwealth.
"Eligible business." An entity meeting the requirements of
subsections (g) and (i)(3) and (4).
"Full-time equivalent employee." The quotient obtained by
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dividing the total number of hours for which employees were
compensated for employment over the preceding 12-month period by
2,080.
"Grant." Money awarded under the Food Service, Hospitality
and Tourism Economic Emergency Block Grant Program established
under this act.
"Hotel." A place of business within this Commonwealth having
a NAICS designation from the United States Census Bureau within
the Accommodation subsector (721) and where accommodation is
provided for the public, with or without charge.
"NAICS." A classification within the North American Industry
Classification System developed for use by Federal statistical
agencies for the collection, analysis and publication of
statistical data related to the United States economy.
"Program." The Food Service, Hospitality and Tourism
Economic Emergency Block Grant Program established under this
section.
"Restaurant." A place within this Commonwealth that receives
a NAICS designation from the United States Census Bureau within
the Food Services and Drinking Places subsector (722) and where
food or drink is served to or provided for the public, with or
without charge. The term does not include dining cars operated
by a railroad company in interstate commerce.
"Tourism-focused business." A for-profit or non-profit
business, government or private organization, including a
convention center or amusements, as determined by the county.
Section 2. Article 1-C of the act is amended by adding a
subarticle to read:
SUBARTICLE L
APPROPRIATIONS FROM THE ACCOUNT
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Section 190.2-C. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this subarticle
shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Current fiscal year." The fiscal year beginning July 1,
2020, and ending June 30, 2021.
"Department." The Department of Community and Economic
Development of the Commonwealth.
Section 190.3-C. Construction with the General Appropriation
Act of 2020.
All appropriations contained in this subarticle from the
General Fund shall be in addition to any appropriation under the
act of May 29, 2020 (P.L. , No.1A), known as the General
Appropriation Act of 2020, and the act of May 29, 2020 (P.L. ,
No.2A), known as the COVID-19 Emergency Supplement to the
General Appropriation Act of 2019.
Section 190.4-C. Appropriations from the account.
(a) Federal appropriation.--To the department for the
current fiscal year, $500,000,000 of Federal amounts is
appropriated from the COVID-19 Response Restricted Account for
COVID Relief - Food Service, Hospitality and Tourism Economic
Emergency Block Grant Program. Each county shall receive an
amount equal to the population proportion as determined under
paragraph (2). The following shall apply:
(1) The department shall distribute the funding to
counties under this subsection within 10 days of the
effective day of this section.
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, the population
proportion shall be determined as follows:
(i) the population estimate of the county; divided
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by
(ii) the sum of the population estimates of all
counties.
(3) For the purposes of this subsection, the population
of the county shall be equal to the published estimate by the
United States Census Bureau population estimates for calendar
year 2019.
(b) (Reserved).
Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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