# 116-hr-7741: MIDDLE Act of 2020

116-hr-7741, MIDDLE Act of 2020, is a 116th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] (D-RI); status Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation. (as of 2025-11-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-7741
- As of: 2025-11-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 116-hr-7741
- Congress: 116
- Title: MIDDLE Act of 2020
- Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation.
- Introduced: 2020-07-23
- Sponsor: Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] (D-RI)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2025-11-18

## Summary

Maintaining Important Distance During Lengthy Epidemics Act of 2020 or the MIDDLE Act of 2020 This bill prohibits air carriers, during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency, from (1) permitting adjacent seats to another occupied seat to be filled on a passenger aircraft, (2) passing along the cost of any seat switch undertaken by such air carriers in order to comply with the prohibitions, and (3) permitting a passenger or crewmember to board a passenger aircraft if the passenger or crewmember is not wearing a mask. The Federal Aviation Administration must issue guidance for appropriate exceptions to the prohibitions based on federal public health guidance.

## Cosponsors (3)

- Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3] (D-OH), 2020-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN), 2020-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2] (D-WI), 2020-08-14T00:00:00.000Z

## Related bills

- 116-hr-8664: PPE for Safe Schools Act
- 116-hr-8433: Preventing Future Pandemics Act of 2020
- 116-hr-8015: Delivering for America Act
- 116-hr-7836: Masks for All Act of 2020
- 116-hr-7673: Represent America Abroad Act of 2020
- 116-hr-7517: Protect Access to Birth Control Act

## Sources
- [116-hr-7741 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7741)

## Related
- [116-hr-8664: PPE for Safe Schools Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-8664)
- [116-hr-8433: Preventing Future Pandemics Act of 2020](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-8433)
- [116-hr-8015: Delivering for America Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-8015)
- [116-hr-7836: Masks for All Act of 2020](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-7836)
- [116-hr-7673: Represent America Abroad Act of 2020](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-7673)
- [116-hr-7517: Protect Access to Birth Control Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-7517)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-7741 (as of 2025-11-18).