Regular Session 2021-2022 House Bill 2325 P.N. 2719

PRINTER'S NO. 2719

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

2325

Session of

2022

INTRODUCED BY KOSIEROWSKI, SAPPEY, MADDEN, HANBIDGE, SANCHEZ,

SCHLOSSBERG, FREEMAN, LONGIETTI, T. DAVIS, ZABEL, DELLOSO,

SHUSTERMAN, O'MARA, GUZMAN, CEPHAS AND CIRESI,

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGING AND OLDER ADULT SERVICES,

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

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,

every State depository and every debtor or creditor of the

Commonwealth," in emergency COVID-19 response, providing for

Long-Term Care Facility Employee Retention Grant 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 161-C. Long-Term Care Facility Employee Retention Grant

Program.

(a) E stablishment.--The Long-Term Care Facility Employee

Retention Grant Program is established within the department to

address staffing shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

(b) Purposes.--Under the program, the department shall

provide grants to long-term care facilities for the following

purposes:

(1) To provide retention bonuses to their eligible

employees.

(2) To recruit and train at least 10,000 new certified

nursing assistants across this Commonwealth. The following

apply:

(i) All training programs shall be free of charge to

individuals pursuing the training.

(ii) Training programs shall be equally available

and engaging to individuals in geographically diverse

areas of this Commonwealth and in urban, suburban and

rural areas of this Commonwealth.

(3) To provide enhanced skills development and advanced

training for their current certified nursing assistants.

(1) T he department shall develop a form to be used by a

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long-term care facility to apply for grant money under the

program. The form shall be posted on the department's

publicly accessible Internet website.

(2) A long-term care facility applying for grant money

under the program shall provide the following information:

(i) The name, address, telephone number and other

contact information for the long-term care facility.

(ii) The purpose or purposes for which any approved

grant money will be used by the long-term care facility.

(iii) The amount of the grant money requested.

(iv) Any other information deemed necessary by the

department.

(d) Determination.--

(1) The department shall review completed applications

and determine whether to award grant money to a long-term

care facility and, if so, the amount of the grant award.

(2) The department shall notify each long-term care

facility that applied for grant money under the program of

the determination under this subsection. If grant money for a

long-term care facility is denied in whole or in part, the

department shall provide the long-term care facility with the

reason for the denial.

(3) Grant money shall be awarded on a first-come, first-

served basis, based on community need and in accordance with

the criteria specified in this section.

(e) Restrictions.--

(1) Grant awards under the program shall only be used

for the purposes specified in subsection (b).

(2) A long-term care facility that spends grant money

from the program for purposes other than those approved under

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the application or not in accordance with this section shall

be required to return to the department all grant money

received by the long-term care facility under the program.

(f) Appropriation and allocation.--The sum of $200,000,000

shall be transferred, 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 account, to the General Fund and shall be appropriated

to the department for the purpose of making grants under the

program as follows:

(1) $150,000,000 shall be allocated for providing

retention bonuses in accordance with subsection (b)(1).

(2) $40,000,000 shall be allocated for recruitment and

training in accordance with subsection (b)(2).

(3) $10,000,000 shall be allocated for enhanced skills

development and advanced training in accordance with

subsection (b)(3).

(g) Compliance.--To determine compliance with this section,

the department may require that each long-term care facility

that receives grant money under the program submit any relevant

records or other information regarding the purposes for which

the grant money was awarded.

(h) Reports.--

(1) By September 1 following the effective date of this

section, and each September 1 thereafter, and u ntil the sum

and each of the allocations under subsection (f) have been

totally expended, t he department shall prepare a report

regarding the operation of the program for the immediately

preceding fiscal year.

(2) Each annual report under paragraph (1) shall include

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all of the following information:

(i) The name of each long-term care facility that

applied for grant money under the program, along with the

intended purpose or purposes of any approved grant money

and the requested amount of the grant money.

(ii) The name of each long-term care facility that

received grant money under the program, along with the

intended purpose or purposes of the approved grant money

and the approved amount of the grant money.

(iii) The name of each long-term care facility for

which the department denied, in whole or in part, grant

money under the program, along with the amount of grant

money denied and the reason for the denial.

(iv) The amount of the sum and each of the

allocations under subsection (f) that have and have not

been expended.

(v) Situations of noncompliance with the

requirements of the program.

(vi) Any grant money returned to the department for

noncompliance with the requirements of the program.

(vii) Any recommendations regarding the

administration of the program.

(3) Each report under this section shall be posted on

the publicly accessible Internet website of the department

and submitted to the following:

(i) The chairperson and minority chairperson of the

Health and Human Services Committee of the Senate.

(ii) The chairperson and minority chairperson of the

Human Services Committee of the House of Representatives.

(i) Regulations.--The department may promulgate any

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regulation necessary to implement the program.

(j) 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:

"Certified nursing assistant." A certified employee in a

long-term care facility who helps patients with health care

needs, which may be done under the supervision of a nurse.

"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 Human Services of the

Commonwealth.

"Eligible employee." An employee in a long-term care

facility who has worked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Enhanced skills development and advanced training."

Includes any of the following:

(1) Memory care.

(2) Wound care.

(3) Enhanced infection control.

(4) Any other advanced skill training as deemed

necessary by the long-term care facility that provides the

training.

"Long-term care facility." As follows:

(1) A facility located within this Commonwealth that

provides medical and personal care to individuals who are

unable to live independently.

(2) The term includes any of the following:

(i) A long-term care nursing facility as defined in

section 802.1 of the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130,

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No.48), known as the Health Care Facilities Act .

(ii) An assisted living residence as defined in

section 1001 of the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21),

known as the Human Services Code.

(iii) A personal care home as defined in section

1001 of the Human Services Code.

"Program." The Long-Term Care Facility Employee Retention

Grant Program established under this section.

Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

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