Sec. 31001. Funding to support core public health infrastructure for State, territorial, local, and Tribal health departments at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
757 words·~3 min read·
/bill/117/hr/5376/rh/section-31001·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this subtitle referred to as the Secretary ) for fiscal year 2022, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $7,000,000,000, to remain available until expended, to carry out, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (in this section referred to as the Director ), activities described in subsection (b). Amounts made available pursuant to subsection
(a)shall be used to support core public health infrastructure activities to strengthen the public health system of the United States, including by awarding grants under this section and expanding and improving activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under subsections
(c)and (d). For the purpose of addressing core public health infrastructure needs, the Secretary shall award— a grant to each State or territorial health department, and to local health departments that serve counties with a population of at least 2,000,000 or cities with a population of at least 400,000 people; and grants on a competitive basis to State, territorial, local, or Tribal health departments. Of the total amount of funds awarded as grants under this subsection for a fiscal year— not less than 50 percent shall be for grants to health departments under paragraph (1)(A); and not less than 25 percent shall be for grants to State, local, territorial, or Tribal health departments under paragraph (1)(B). A State health department receiving funds under subparagraph
(A)or
(B)of paragraph
(1)shall allocate at least 25 percent of the such funds to local health departments, as applicable, within the State to support contributions of the local health departments to core public health infrastructure. A health department receiving funds under this section that is not accredited shall report to the Secretary on an annual basis how the department is working to meet accreditation standards. In awarding grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall award funds to each health department in accordance with a formula which considers population size, the Social Vulnerability Index of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other factors as determined by the Secretary. In making grants under paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary shall give priority to applicants demonstrating core public health infrastructure needs for all public health agencies in the applicant’s jurisdiction. The Secretary may make available a subset of the funds available for grants under paragraph
(1)for purposes of awarding grants to State, territorial, local, and Tribal health departments for planning or to support public health accreditation. Recipients of such grants may use the grant funds to assess core public health infrastructure needs and report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on efforts to achieve accreditation, as applicable. To be eligible for a grant under this section, an entity shall— submit an application in such form and containing such information as the Secretary shall require; demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Secretary that— funds received through the grant will be expended only to supplement, and not supplant, non-Federal and Federal funds otherwise available to the entity for the purpose of addressing core public health infrastructure needs; and with respect to activities for which the grant is awarded, the entity will maintain expenditures of non-Federal amounts for such activities at a level not less than the level of such expenditures maintained by the entity for fiscal year 2019; and agree to report annually to the Director regarding the use of the grant funds. The Secretary, acting through the Director, shall expand and improve the core public health infrastructure and activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support activities necessary to address unmet, ongoing, and emerging public health needs, including prevention, preparation for, and response to public health emergencies. Out of amounts appropriated under subsection
(a)to carry out this section for a fiscal year, not more than 25 percent of the funds awarded per fiscal year may be used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to carry out this subsection. In this section, the term core public health infrastructure includes— workforce capacity and competency; laboratory systems; all hazards public health and preparedness; testing capacity, including test platforms, mobile testing units, and personnel; health information, health information systems, and health information analysis; disease surveillance; contact tracing; communications; financing; other relevant components of organizational capacity; and other related activities. Amounts made available by this section shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, amounts otherwise made available for the purposes described in this Act.