Reps. Crow, Panetta, Underwood, and Phillips Introduce Legislation to Create ‘Health Force,’ ‘Resilience Force,’ and Expand Public Health Response to COVID-19

WASHINGTON - Today, Representatives Jason Crow (CO-06), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), and Dean Phillips (MN-03) introduced legislation to create the Health Force. The Health Force, Resilience Force, and Jobs to Fight COVID-19 Act (Health Force Act) would recruit, train, and employ Americans to expand our public health workforce to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, aid the country's lagging vaccine distribution campaign, and strengthen America's longer-term public health response. In addition to helping solve our public health worker shortage, the bill would help provide jobs for thousands of recently unemployed Americans and support the country's recovery efforts. The bicameral legislation was also introduced in the Senate by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Michael Bennet, Ed Markey, and Chris Van Hollen. Congressman Crow previously introduced the Health Force Act last Congress. President Joe Biden's National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness, announced last week, includes a similar proposal to drastically expand the U.S. public health workforce.

"Now is the time for bold action. Any hope of defeating this pandemic and getting our country back on track rests on our ability to invest in our public health workforce. This bill does exactly that by employing Americans who may have lost their job from the crisis and investing their energy and talent into combating this disease. In our interconnected world, we need a national response that mobilizes an army of public health workers. The future men and women of the Health Force represent the next generation of service, one that directly addresses the enemy here at home," said Congressman Crow.

"Congress must do its part to adequately equip state and local governments to combat COVID-19 and other future public health emergencies," said Congressman Panetta. "Necessities such as accessible testing, isolation for patients, and contact tracing come at a cost and require infrastructure that many state and local governments do not have. The Health Force will provide the federally funded and locally managed response necessary to cover the cost, coordination, and workforce needed to tackle this pandemic and future public health emergencies."

"The coronavirus pandemic has left us with a two-pronged crisis from which we must recover; we must create jobs to bring back our economy, and we must protect the health of our communities and stop the spread of the coronavirus. This requires investments to hire Americans to help increase testing capacity, conduct contact tracing, and accelerate the COVID-19 vaccination effort. I'm proud to join my House and Senate colleagues to introduce the Health Force, Resilience Force, and Jobs to Fight COVID-19 Act, which will deliver urgently needed funding to save lives and rebuild our economy. We are facing a historic crisis and this legislation is a solution that meets the moment and lays the foundation for a healthier, more equitable future," said Rep. Lauren Underwood.

"These are unprecedented times that demand thoughtful but expedient action to save lives. Americans deserve a coordinated, fully-funded government response," said Rep. Dean Phillips. "National service is a time-honored American tradition that is needed as we respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The Health Force, Resilience Force, and Jobs to Fight COVID-19 Act will allow us to provide a whole-of-government response to the COVID-19 pandemic that employs those who have lost their jobs or who've become underemployed, delivers relief to understaffed frontline workers, and gets the vaccine to people across the country expediently."

Community-based public health jobs and resources, like those created by the Health Force, are known to improve local health outcomes, including vaccination rates. The Health Force proposal would ensure the federal government has a proactive and coordinated approach to facilitate vaccine distribution and administration — it would deliver $40 billion a year, for the first two years, to meet the COVID-19 vaccine distribution needs and address the various public health challenges caused by the pandemic.

The creation of a Health Force is inspired by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration, which similarly tapped thousands of job seekers to help the nation recover from a sharp economic downturn. The Health Force will train Americans, equip them with basic public health skills, and employ them in their home communities to expand the public health workforce and meet local needs. By providing federal funding to State, local, territorial, and Tribal public health departments, and their partners across the country, the Health Force will ensure that every community is positioned to meet its most pressing needs. The Health Force could be responsible for

• Supporting the administration of diagnostic, serologic, or other COVID–19 tests;
• Supporting COVID-19 vaccination campaigns;
• Addressing social, economic, behavioral and preventive health needs for individuals affected by COVID-19, including those who are asked to voluntarily isolate or quarantine in their homes.
• Sharing public health information with community members and organizations;
• Helping community members address social, economic, behavioral health, and preventive health needs beyond those created by the pandemic, using evidence-informed models and in accordance with recognized standards;
• Sharing community-based information with local and Tribal health departments to inform and improve health programming, especially for hard-to-reach communities. Promoting linkages with other health and social programs.

After the current public health crisis concludes, the Health Force would be retained to continue to serve as local, trusted public health workers in their home communities, especially in historically underserved areas.

In addition to the Health Force, the legislation also includes the Resilience Force which would complement the Health Force goals by training 62,000 additional FEMA Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery (CORE) members to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and to combat other natural disasters. In taking advantage of an existing hiring mechanism, Resilience Force members would provide a surge workforce for FEMA, broadening opportunities for unemployed Americans while supporting the nation's COVID-19 response plans, including stand up vaccination centers in the hardest hit communities. Resilience Force members could assist with supply chain logistics, rebuild COVID-safe infrastructure for schools and beyond, and aid the emergency procurement of medical, personal protective equipment, and testing supplies.

Health Force, Resilience Force, and Jobs to Fight COVID-19 Act has been endorsed by leading public health organizations, health care organizations, and world-renowned experts, including Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Center for Popular Democracy Action, Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), Greater New York Hospital Association, HealthBegins, Families USA, National Coalition of STD Directors, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Peace Corps Association, Partners In Health, Resilience Force, Right to Health Action (R2H Action), Service Employees International Union, and more.