H.R. 6853: UNITE Act of 2020
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H.R. 6853: UNITE Act of 2020
116th Congress · introduced 2020-05-13 · Labor and Employment · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2020-05-13 · official record
- Who proposed it: Rep. Phillips, Dean [D-MN-3] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
UNITE Act of 2020
Plain summary
Undertaking National Initiatives to Tackle Epidemic Act of 2020 or the UNITE Act of 2020 This bill responds to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency by increasing volunteer opportunities within AmeriCorps and employment opportunities at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and requiring the re-enrollment of Peace Corps volunteers whose service ended involuntarily on March 15, 2020, or earlier for volunteers who were serving in China and Mongolia. Among other things, the bill reauthorizes through FY2022 AmeriCorps programs; increases recruitment levels of its volunteers to 500,000 in FY2020-FY2022; sets the minimum compensation for AmeriCorps volunteers, beginning in FY2020, at 200% of the poverty line applicable to a family of one; increases the ceiling on grant amounts to such volunteers from $18,000 to $25,000 and the grant maximum amount limit to meet program needs; requires FEMA to appoint, administer, and expedite the training of an additional 62,000 Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees in FY2020-FY2022 above the level of such employees in FY2019 to address the COVID-19 health emergency; and authorizes the President to pay a state, tribal, or local government in which a major disaster has been declared stipends for temporary workers conducting nonpartisan official election poll worker services.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
What a vote does
A “Yea” vote
If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.
A “Nay” vote
If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.
PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).
What does this mean? (plain words)
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The strongest published arguments
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Alternatives
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Rep. Phillips, Dean [D-MN-3] · 10 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
Cosponsors on this site
Brian K. Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), John Garamendi (D-CA), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Jason Crow (D-CO), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Josh Harder (D-CA)
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (2)
- Ballot initiative
- A proposed law or constitutional amendment that citizens place on the ballot by gathering enough voter signatures, so voters decide it directly. About half the states allow some form of it.
- Bill
- A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116hr6853.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/hr>
Record fed-us-cong116-hr6853 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116