H.R. 6666: COVID-19 Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act

This bill would provide $100 billion in grants to faith-based organization, clinics, medical centers, and other organization which perform testing for COVID–19, tracing of exposure to COVID–19, or services for individuals who are isolating at home. The funding could be used to pay their staff or purchase personal protective equipment to protect their staff.

No provision in this bill would make testing or quarantining mandatory. The bill includes privacy protections for the medical information of individuals that would limit how grantee organizations could share information collected with the federal government. (A widely seen disinformation campaign has made absurd claims about this bill.)

Sponsor's statement: https://rush.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rush-introduces-bipartisan-legislation-to-fund-100-billion-coronavirus

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress, and was published on May 1, 2020.

COVID-19 Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act

This bill authorizes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to award grants for testing, contact tracing, monitoring, and other activities to address COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). Entities such as federally qualified health centers, nonprofit organizations, and certain hospitals and schools are eligible to receive such grants. In awarding the grants, the CDC shall prioritize applicants that (1) operate in hot spots and medically underserved communities, and (2) agree to hire individuals from the communities where grant activities occur.