Compact of Free Association Host Communities Support Act

Compact of Free Association Host Communities Support Act

This bill authorizes various financial waivers for certain U.S. jurisdictions (i.e., states, territories, or possessions) that host citizens of the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, or Palau as residents. (Under current law, citizens of these countries, known as the Freely Associated States, have the right to reside and work in the United States as nonimmigrants or habitual residents.)

Specifically, this bill authorizes a federal agency to, for the purposes of a federal grant, waive any matching funds requirements for a jurisdiction that hosts citizens of the Freely Associated States as residents.

Furthermore, the President may reduce, release, or waive amounts that such a hosting jurisdiction owes to a federal agency, at the request of the hosting jurisdiction. As a condition of receiving such a reduction, release, or waiver, a hosting jurisdiction must report to the Department of the Interior an accounting of the jurisdiction's unreimbursed economic impacts associated with receiving citizens of the Freely Associated States from 2004 through 2021.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6819 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6819

     To address the growing unreimbursed economic impact costs on 
  communities that receive and host Compact migrants from the Freely 
               Associated States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 22, 2022

Mr. San Nicolas (for himself, Mr. Case, and Mr. Kahele) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
                                 Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To address the growing unreimbursed economic impact costs on 
  communities that receive and host Compact migrants from the Freely 
               Associated States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Compact of Free Association Host 
Communities Support Act''.

SEC. 2. WAIVER OF MATCHING FUNDS REQUIREMENT.

    A Federal department, agency, independent agency, office, or 
instrumentality may waive any requirement for local matching funds 
(including in-kind contributions) otherwise required to be provided by 
an affected jurisdiction for any Federal grant requiring matching 
funds.

SEC. 3. RECONCILIATION OF UNREIMBURSED IMPACT EXPENSES.

    (a) In General.--To address previously accrued and unreimbursed 
impact expenses, at the request of the Governor of an affected 
jurisdiction, the President may reduce, release, or waive all or part 
of amounts owed by the Government of an affected jurisdiction (or the 
government's autonomous agencies or instrumentalities) to any 
department, agency, independent agency, office, or instrumentality of 
the United States.
    (b) Terms and Conditions.--
            (1) Substantiation of impact costs.--Not later than 120 
        days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Governor 
        of each affected jurisdiction shall submit to the Secretary a 
        report, prepared in consultation with an independent accounting 
        firm, substantiating unreimbursed economic impacts to the 
        affected jurisdiction of receiving compact migrants from 2004 
        through 2021. Upon request of the Secretary, the Governor of 
        the affected jurisdiction shall submit to the Secretary copies 
        of all documents upon which the report submitted by that 
        Governor was based.
            (2) Congressional review and comment.--Any reduction, 
        release, or waiver under this Act shall not take effect until 
        60 days after the President notifies Congress of the 
        President's intent to approve a request of the Governor of each 
        affected jurisdiction. In exercising his authority under this 
        section and in determining whether to give final approval to a 
        request, the President shall take into consideration comments 
        the President may receive after Congressional review.
    (c) Annual Limit.--The President may reduce, release, or waive, 
under subsection (a), amounts totaling, in the aggregate, not more than 
$100,000,000 annually.

SEC. 4. SUNSET.

    This authority of the Secretary under sections 2 and 3 shall 
terminate on that date that the Secretary certifies that all the 
unreimbursed economic impact costs to affected jurisdictions have been 
reconciled and repaid to those affected jurisdictions.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Affected jurisdiction.--The term ``affected 
        jurisdiction'' means any State, territory, or possession of the 
        United States that receives and hosts a Compact migrant.
            (2) Compact migrant.--The term ``compact migrant'' means a 
        person, or their children under the age of 18, admitted or 
        resident pursuant to section 141 of the U.S.-RMI or U.S.-FSM 
        Compact, or section 141 of the Palau Compact who, as of a date 
        referenced in the most recently published enumeration is a 
        resident of an affected jurisdiction. As used in this 
        subsection, the term ``resident'' shall be a person who has a 
        `residence,' as that term is defined in section 101(a)(33) of 
        the Immigration and Nationality Act.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
                                 <all>