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Law360 (May 12, 2020, 5:27 PM EDT) -- New federal stimulus legislation proposed Tuesday by House Democrats includes funding for the nation's federal courts to provide front-line employees increased pandemic duty pay, while offering up emergency grants to struggling state and local courts to allow them to continue operating.
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and the District of Columbia courts are included on a list of governmental entities that would together be allocated $10 billion under the proposed Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or Heroes Act, to increase pay for work performed by federal employees on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a subheading of the bill titled, "pandemic duty differential," the legislation allows federal employers such as the courts to develop their own criteria for what types of work will qualify employees for the pay increases, which are meant to compensate for work that is related to or on the front lines of the pandemic.
Under the bill, an employee would be paid for such "covered duties" at their normal rate of pay, plus $13 an hour.
The maximum premium that can be paid to any given employee cannot exceed their usual annual salary plus $10,000, if their annual income is less than $200,000, and cannot exceed their usual salary plus $5,000 if their annual income is more than $200,000.
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts declined to comment on the legislation Tuesday.
The legislation also authorizes the U.S. Attorney General to make grants to state and local courts between 2020 and 2022 "to ensure that such recipients are able to continue operations."
Any court accepting such a grant would be required to cease collecting fines and fees for a period beginning 30 days before the implementation of an "emergency period" and continuing for 90 days after the period ends, according to the bill.
The legislation directs the attorney general to give preference to applicants that refrain from imposing and collecting fees related to juvenile delinquency proceedings and directs the office to make grants in proportion to the population of each jurisdiction.
In a recent interview with Law360, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, who serves as chair of the National Center for State Courts' board of directors, said that as state courts look for ways to adapt to the pandemic, a lack of funding has been a major challenge.
As of yet, the state courts have not received federal coronavirus funding and Hecht said at the time that he was not aware of any state funding of the courts, either.
When reached Tuesday, a spokesperson for the NCSC said it was not immediately available to comment on the proposed legislation.
The 1,800-page Heroes Act is set for a House vote Friday.
--Editing by Alyssa Miller.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
