S. 2467 · 117th Congress
Public Health Emergency Response and Accountability Act
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 117th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
CassidySponsor2 cosponsors · 2 D
0 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill modifies funding mechanisms and establishes reporting requirements relating to public health emergencies that are infectious disease outbreaks, bioterrorist attacks, or disasters.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Jul 26, 2021
Public Health Emergency Response and Accountability Act
This bill modifies funding mechanisms and establishes reporting requirements relating to public health emergencies that are infectious disease outbreaks, bioterrorist attacks, or disasters.
Specifically, the bill establishes a formula-based funding mechanism for the Public Health Emergency Fund to automatically provide funding in the event of these types of emergencies. The amounts provided by the bill are designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (PAYGO) and the Senate PAYGO rule. (This excludes the budget effects from being counted for the purposes of enforcing the PAYGO rules.)
The bill also puts in place additional reporting requirements concerning these types of public health emergencies. Upon determination of such an emergency, the Department of Health and Human Services must convene a group of federal officials to prepare monthly reports for Congress on emergency response efforts. In addition, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) must issue a report on the governmental response to such an emergency within six months of the emergency's termination.
The GAO must also report on the capacity of the public health system to respond effectively to infectious disease outbreaks and how funds for public health emergencies have been expended within the last two years.
Finally, the bill exempts the Public Health Emergency Fund from sequestration. (Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.)
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Public Health Emergency Response and Accountability Act
Latest action (Jul 26, 2021): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Policy area: Health · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Jul 26, 2021
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.