PRINTER'S NO. 1798
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1622
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY SCHWEYER, SCHLOSSBERG, McNEILL, BRADFORD, DELLOSO,
DRISCOLL, FREEMAN, GUZMAN, HILL-EVANS, HOHENSTEIN, KENYATTA,
MADDEN, SAMUELSON AND SANCHEZ, JUNE 14, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, JUNE 14, 2021
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, establishing
the Community Health Outreach and Vaccination Support
Program; and making an appropriation.
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 135-C. Community Health Outreach and Vaccination
Support Program.
(a) Establishment.--The Community Health Outreach and
Vaccination Support Program is established within the department
to make grants under this section.
(b) Eligibility.--A nonprofit organization shall be eligible
to apply for a grant under the program if the nonprofit
organization:
(1) Has demonstrated experience and expertise in
implementing public health programs, particularly in
medically underserved areas and across broad geographic
areas.
(2) Has established relationships with the Department of
Health or State or local public health departments.
(3) Can demonstrate the ability to provide services to
areas and populations not being reached by current COVID-19
vaccination and response efforts.
(4) Can clearly describe the partnerships formed at the
regional and local level to directly assist individuals in
receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. The partnerships may
include organizations such as community-based organizations
and other health and social service organizations that can
directly hire community outreach workers from the vulnerable
and medically underserved communities that they will serve
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and can reach out to communities or populations with low
COVID-19 vaccination rates.
(c) Use of money.--A grant under this section may only be
used for the purpose of outreach efforts with the purpose of
educating persons in the community of the benefits of the COVID-
19 vaccination , including:
(1) Local media buys for advertising and public service
announcements involving television, radio, newspapers,
magazines, blogs and websites.
(2) Community events.
(3) Mobilization efforts to educate and assist
individuals in accessing and receiving COVID-19 vaccinations,
including making COVID-19 vaccination appointments, providing
resources to find convenient COVID-19 vaccination locations
and assisting individuals with transportation.
(4) Administrative costs related to the outreach
efforts.
(d) Application.--
(1) The department shall develop grant application
forms.
(2) At a minimum, the forms shall contain the following
information:
(i) The name, address and contact information of the
applicant.
(ii) A description of the applicant and eligibility,
including any documentation of proof as required by the
department.
(iii) The amount of grant money requested.
(iv) The proposed use for the grant money requested.
(v) Any other information that the department deems
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necessary and appropriate.
(3) The forms shall be posted on the publicly accessible
Internet website of the department.
(e) Limitation.--A nonprofit organization shall not receive
program grant money totaling more than $50,000 .
(f) Review and determination.--After review of the
information provided under each applicant's submitted
application form, the department shall determine whether to
award grant money to the applicant and, if so, the amount of the
grant money awarded. The award shall give special consideration
to a nonprofit organization that will serve communities or
populations with low COVID-19 vaccination rates.
(g) Appropriation .--In addition to any other money
appropriated to the department for grants under this section,
the sum of $5,000,000 is appropriated to the department from
money received by the Commonwealth under Title IX, Subtitle M,
section 9901 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law
117-2, 135 Stat. 4) and deposited into the COVID-19 Response
Restricted Account for the purpose of making grants under this
section.
(h) 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:
"COVID-19." The novel coronavirus as 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.
"Institution of higher education." As defined in section
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118(c) of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as
the Public School Code of 1949.
"Nonprofit organization." As follows:
(1) An entity that is:
(i) organized as a nonprofit corporation or
nonprofit unincorporated association under the laws of
the United States or this Commonwealth; or
(ii) authorized to do business in this Commonwealth
as a nonprofit corporation or nonprofit unincorporated
association under the laws of this Commonwealth.
(2) The term includes a religious institution, a faith-
based organization and an institution of higher education.
"Program." The Community Health Outreach and Vaccination
Support Program.
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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