S 3489 · 116th Congress 2019–2021, ended

Supporting Students in Response to Coronavirus Act

Fact sheet

Latest action · Mar 12, 2020 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedMar 12, 2020
  2. Passed SenateNot reached
  3. Passed HouseNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Supporting Students in Response to Coronavirus Act

This bill establishes and provides funds for grant programs to respond to safety and health risks presented by qualifying emergencies, including COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019).

Specifically, the bill authorizes (1) the Department of Education (ED) to award grants to states and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), and (2) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to agencies that administer Child Care Development block grants and Head Start agencies.

ED grant recipients must award subgrants to BIE schools, local educational agencies, and institutions of higher education (IHEs). HHS grant recipients must award subgrants to early care and education programs.

Subgrants under each grant program must be used for certain activities, such as coordinating preparedness and response efforts with public health departments; purchasing supplies to sanitize and clean facilities to minimize the spread of infectious diseases; and providing mental health services and supports to children, students, and staff.

Additionally, ED must award grants to IHEs for creating and expanding emergency financial-aid grant programs that address the unexpected expenses related to basic needs (e.g., housing, food, and certain one-time costs) of enrolled students during a qualifying emergency. IHEs must use grant funds to make emergency financial-aid grants to eligible students.

HHS must also award supplemental grants for certain organizations to address emergency-related child traumatic stress.

ED may waive certain financial-aid requirements for students affected by qualifying emergencies. Such requirements include those related to subsidized usage limits, leaves of absence, and satisfactory progress.

The bill also authorizes ED to permit foreign IHEs to offer distance education during an emergency.

Cosponsors 18

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 12, 2020 to Jun 23, 2020, with 2 there on the day it was introduced.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
D-NYCharles E. SchumerOriginalMar 12, 2020
D-NYKirsten E. GillibrandOriginalMar 12, 2020
D-CTChristopher MurphyJun 23, 2020
D-NJCory A. BookerJun 23, 2020
D-ALDoug JonesJun 23, 2020
D-MAElizabeth WarrenJun 23, 2020
D-RIJack ReedJun 23, 2020
D-ORJeff MerkleyJun 23, 2020
D-CAKamala D. HarrisJun 23, 2020
D-NHMargaret Wood HassanJun 23, 2020
D-CTRichard BlumenthalJun 23, 2020
D-ILRichard J. DurbinJun 23, 2020
D-PARobert P. Casey Jr.Jun 23, 2020
D-ORRon WydenJun 23, 2020
D-OHSherrod BrownJun 23, 2020

Actions 2

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Mar 12, 2020Introduced in Senate
  2. Mar 12, 2020Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
HR 6275Supporting Students in Response to Coronavirus ActRelated billMar 13, 2020

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Mar 12, 2020Introduced in Senate

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.