Essential Worker Pandemic Compensation Act of 2021
Latest action · Feb 8, 2021 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
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.
- IntroducedFeb 5, 2021
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Essential Worker Pandemic Compensation Act of 2021
This bill compensates specified essential workers who die or are hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) or related complications.
Specifically, the bill provides death benefits to survivors of essential workers equal to the amount available under the public safety officer benefits program. Essential workers include those identified in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency guidance or by a Special Master appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services. Such death benefits include additional payments to a surviving spouse or child enrolled in qualified postsecondary education.
Further, essential workers who are hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 receive one half of the base death benefit amount.
Cosponsors 19
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Feb 5, 2021.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-IN | André Carson | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-MA | Ayanna Pressley | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-NJ | Bonnie Watson Coleman | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-OR | Earl Blumenauer | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-TX | Filemon Vela | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-GA | Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-CT | Jahana Hayes | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-IL | Jesús G. "Chuy" García | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-CA | Jimmy Gomez | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-CO | Joe Neguse | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-IL | Marie Newman | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-PA | Mary Gay Scanlon | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-GU | Michael F. Q. San Nicolas | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-MI | Rashida Tlaib | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-CA | Ro Khanna | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Original | Feb 5, 2021 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Feb 5, 2021 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Feb 8, 2021 | |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Feb 5, 2021 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Feb 5, 2021 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 8, 2021Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Feb 5, 2021Introduced in House
- Feb 5, 2021Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- Feb 5, 2021Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 167, no. 22, February 5, 2021, page H470.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 6955 | Essential Worker Pandemic Compensation Act of 2020 | Reintroduction of | May 19, 2020 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a program of death and hospitalization benefits for essential workers who die as a result of COVID-19 or related complications, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Essential Worker Pandemic Compensation Act of 2021
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
- Administrative remedies
- Appropriations
- Cardiovascular and respiratory health
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Employee benefits and pensions
- Federal officials
- Health
- Health care costs and insurance
- Health care coverage and access
- Higher education
- Hospital care
- Income tax exclusion
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Student aid and college costs
- Worker safety and health
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 5, 2021Introduced in House
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; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
