Senator HARPOOTLIAN proposed the following amendment (3210R011.SP.RAH):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part III, by adding an appropriately numbered new SECTION to read:

/ SECTION __. (A) Of the funds appropriated to the Department of Health and Environmental Control in SECTION 3(A), the department must use up to $500,000 to facilitate the Health and Equity Corps partnership between the City of Columbia and the University of South Carolina to carry out the following purposes:

(1) to train community health workers and facilitate the development of a community health worker program in under-resourced, vulnerable communities to address immediate health needs and social determinants of health, thereby advancing health equity and reducing health disparities;

(2) to develop a culturally competent contact tracing program with community health workers representing diverse backgrounds and engaging community involvement; and

(3) to include community health workers and other change agents in communities of color and underserved communities. /