Public Health Emergency Production Act of 2020
Latest action · Jun 23, 2020 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
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.
- IntroducedJun 23, 2020
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Public Health Emergency Production Act of 2020
This bill modifies the administration of the Defense Production Act of 1950 and requires reporting on the use of authorities under the act during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency. (That act confers upon the President a broad set of authorities to influence domestic industry in order to provide essential materials and goods needed for the national defense.)
Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must require companies to prioritize the fulfillment of federal contracts or orders necessary for pandemic preparedness and response upon finding that (1) a material is essential to the public health, and (2) public health needs cannot be met through normal distribution channels. HHS must also establish, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, an office responsible for Defense Production Act of 1950 activities.
Other changes include (1) eliminating a requirement to transfer any balance in excess of $750 million from the Defense Production Act Fund to the General Fund of the Department of the Treasury, and (2) enabling personnel to rotate between the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy and specified components of HHS.
With respect to reporting, the Defense Production Act Committee must report general information concerning the use of Defense Production Act of 1950 authorities, and the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Agriculture must report on the use of such authorities specifically with respect to the operations of meat processing facilities, during the COVID-19 emergency.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Jun 23, 2020.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-ME | Angus S. King Jr. | Original | Jun 23, 2020 |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Original | Jun 23, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jun 23, 2020Introduced in Senate
- Jun 23, 2020Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
- Cardiovascular and respiratory health
- Congressional oversight
- Department of Defense
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Food industry and services
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government information and archives
- Government trust funds
- Health
- Health technology, devices, supplies
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Manufacturing
- Meat
- Military procurement, research, weapons development
- Public contracts and procurement
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jun 23, 2020Introduced in Senate
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.