PRINTER'S NO. 1881
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1254
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY J. WARD, PHILLIPS-HILL, BROOKS, PITTMAN,
HUTCHINSON, YAW, L. WILLIAMS, STEFANO, COLLETT, IOVINO AND
BREWSTER, AUGUST 18, 2020
REFERRED TO COMMUNITY, ECONOMIC AND RECREATIONAL DEVELOPMENT,
AUGUST 18, 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
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
other moneys to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
every State depository and every debtor or creditor of the
Commonwealth," in emergency COVID-19 response, providing for
Nonprofit Economic Emergency Delivery System Grants Program.
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. Nonprofit Economic Emergency Delivery System
Grants Program.
(a) Use of funds.--From money appropriated for the program,
$200,000,000 shall be transferred to the authority and shall be
used to make grants under this subarticle.
(b) Establishment of program.--The authority shall establish
the program as a Statewide competitive grant program.
(c) Purpose of program.--The program shall receive
applications and award grants to eligible community-based
nonprofit organizations in accordance with this section.
(d) Application.--The authority shall develop an application
for eligible community-based nonprofit organizations 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 authority's publicly accessible Internet
website and shall be in a form that can be completed
electronically or through the United States mail.
(e) Deadline.--No application for a grant under this section
may be submitted after September 30, 2020.
(f) Guidelines.--The authority 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:
(1) Submitted to the Legislative Reference Bureau for
20200SB1254PN1881 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
publication as a notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
(2) Posted on the authority's publicly accessible
Internet website.
(g) Program requirements.--
(1) An eligible community-based nonprofit organization
must be one of the following categories:
(i) Child-care centers, early childhood learning
centers and after-out-of-school programs.
(ii) Community-based, federally qualified health
centers and rural health clinics.
(iii) Substance abuse treatment facilities.
(iv) Domestic violence centers.
(v) Organizations operating transportation and food
distribution systems.
(vi) Employment and workforce training and
educational centers.
(vii) Alternative learning and career training
institutions.
(viii) Organizations serving intellectual or
developmental disabilities.
(ix) Early intervention service providers.
(x) Mental health and substance abuse counseling.
(xi) Food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens.
(2) An eligible community-based nonprofit organization
must provide one or more of the following services:
(i) Child care.
(ii) Education and safety net services for
vulnerable youth, including child welfare, youth
development programs and crisis intervention.
(iii) Homelessness and housing insecurity assistance
20200SB1254PN1881 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
services, including mortgage and rent relief, emergency
quarantine housing, transitional housing, rapid rehousing
and warming shelters.
(iv) Mental health treatment programs and substance
abuse counseling services.
(v) Facility and home-based or community-based
services for individuals with intellectual or
developmental disabilities.
(vi) Early intervention services.
(vii) Medical treatment for chronic conditions.
(viii) Procurement and distribution of personal
protective equipment and testing.
(ix) Employment readiness, including career
readiness, placement and retraining programs.
(x) Procurement, distribution or transportation of
food.
(3) An eligible community-based nonprofit organization
that has already received public funding during the COVID-19
pandemic must explain in its application why additional
funding is necessary above and beyond the public funding
already received.
(h) Grant limits.--The authority may award a grant to an
eligible community-based nonprofit organization not to exceed
$500,000.
(i) Award of grants.--The authority shall award grants and
make grant payments under this section no later than November
30, 2020.
(j) Expiration.--This section shall expire after the money
transferred to the authority under subsection (a) has been
exhausted or December 1, 2020, whichever occurs first.
20200SB1254PN1881 - 4 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
(k) 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:
"Authority. " The Commonwealth Financing Authority.
"Eligible community-based nonprofit organization." A tax-
exempt 501(c)(3) institution that meets the criteria for grants
under subsection (g) and that was subject to financial strain
due to closure, increased service delivery or a loss of revenue
as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and 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.
"Program." The Nonprofit Economic Emergency Delivery System
(NEEDS) Grants Program established under this section.
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
20200SB1254PN1881 - 5 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15