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![Official portrait of Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000597_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
5,060 records where Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2021
Green Climate Fund Authorization Act of 2021 This bill authorizes $4 billion in both FY2022 and FY2023 for U.S. contributions to the Green Climate Fund (a fund established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to finance projects that address climate change).
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2021
Healthy Flights Act of 202 1 This bill provides authority for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to impose requirements on passenger and cargo air travel to protect the health and safety of air carrier crewmembers and passengers and to reduce the spread of infectious diseases through the aviation system during public health emergencies. For example, the bill (1) sets forth requirements relating to the use of masks and other protective equipment for airline passengers and certain airline employees; (2) requires the FAA to provide certain employees, including any air traffic controller and airway transportation systems specialists, with masks and other protective equipment; and (3) mandates the development of a national aviation preparedness plan to ensure the aviation system is prepared to respond to epidemics and pandemics of infectious diseases. Additionally, the bill directs each air carrier operating an aircraft with a seating capacity of 20 or more to implement appropriate measures on a flight to reduce the likelihood of any passenger or crewmember contracting an infectious disease. The FAA must enter into an agreement with the National Academies to conduct a study on the transmission of infectious diseases, such as respiratory diseases, in the cabins of passenger airplanes. Further, the bill (1) establishes a Center of Excellence for Infectious Disease Response and Prevention in Aviation within the FAA; and (2) directs the FAA to revise airline passenger briefing requirements, including briefings during a national emergency pertaining to a respiratory disease.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2021
Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act This bill provides for Medicare coverage and payment with respect to certain pharmacist services that (1) are furnished by a pharmacist in a health-professional shortage area, and (2) would otherwise be covered under Medicare if furnished by a physician.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2021
Child Care for Working Families Act This bill provides funds and otherwise revises certain child care and early learning programs for low- to moderate-income families. Specifically, the bill provides funds for the Child Care and Development Block Grant program and reestablishes it as a child care and development assistance program. The bill also allocates program funds for states to provide services and supports to infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities. Further, the bill revises the program to require each state to create a tiered and transparent system for measuring the quality of child care providers, which must include evidence-based standards and payment rates that are based on a certain cost estimation model; ensure that copayments are based on a sliding scale and that no family receiving assistance pays more than 7% of its household income on child care; and use quality child care amounts for certain activities, such as increasing the supply of child care providers. The bill also provides funds and establishes grants for states to create preschool programs for low- to moderate-income children between the ages of three and five years. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must make grants to Head Start agencies to provide children with access to full-school-year and full-school-day services, provide access to additional service hours for migrant and seasonal agencies, or enhance the quality of existing services. Finally, the bill requires, and provides funds for, HHS to assist Head Start agencies with ensuring their teachers and staff are paid a living wage.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
VA Peer Support Enhancement for MST Survivors Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that each individual who files a claim relating to military sexual trauma is assigned a peer support specialist during the claims process, unless the individual elects to not have such support. Under the bill, a peer support specialist must be trained as a victim advocate and may not be responsible for any part of adjudicating the individual's claim.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
This concurrent resolution calls for renewed U.S. leadership in addressing the climate crisis that is disproportionately affecting the health, economic opportunity, and fundamental rights of children. It also recognizes the need for the departments and agencies of the executive branch with delegated authority over energy and climate policy to prepare a climate recovery plan that puts the United States on a trajectory consistent with reducing global atmospheric carbon dioxide to below 350 parts per million by the year 2100.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act This bill imposes an excise tax on the transfer of ownership in certain securities (covered transaction), including any share of stock in a corporation; any partnership or beneficial interest in a partnership or trust; any note, bond, debenture, or other evidence of indebtedness (excluding tax-exempt municipal bonds); and derivative financial instruments. The bill includes exceptions for initial issues, certain traded short-term indebtedness, and securities lending arrangements. The bill also (1) imposes a penalty on taxpayers who fail to include a covered transaction on their tax return or information statement, and (2) allows an individual taxpayer whose modified adjusted gross income does not exceed $50,000 ($75,000 for married taxpayers filing joint returns) a tax credit for the amount of tax paid on covered transactions.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Future in Logging Careers Act This bill allows individuals who are 16 or 17 years old to work at certain timber harvesting operations that are owned or operated by at least one parent or a person standing in place of a parent. The bill, therefore, exempts such employees from child labor laws.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
College for All Act of 2021 This bill establishes measures to expand access to higher education, including by eliminating tuition and required fees for eligible students, revising the Federal Pell Grant program, and reauthorizing certain programs to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Specifically, the bill provides funding to eliminate tuition and required fees for (1) all students at community colleges and two-year tribal colleges and universities; (2) working- and middle-class students at four-year public institutions of higher education (IHEs) and tribal colleges and universities; and (3) eligible students at private, nonprofit historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority-serving institutions. The bill permanently reauthorizes and otherwise revises the Federal Pell Grant program by providing funding to increase the maximum award for each eligible student, increasing the duration limit for the use of Pell Grants, and allowing students to use their awards to cover living and non-tuition expenses. Next, the bill makes Dreamer students (i.e., students who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status) who entered the United States before the age of 16 and who meet certain educational criteria eligible for federal financial aid. Further, the bill requires the Department of Education to award grants to underfunded IHEs, HBCUs, and minority-serving institutions for investing in support programs to improve student outcomes (e.g., graduation rates). The bill also reauthorizes through FY2031 the Federal TRIO Programs and reauthorizes through FY2025 the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2021
Access to Contraception for Servicemembers and Dependents Act of 2021 This bill addresses Department of Defense (DOD) contraceptive care and family planning services. Specifically, the bill prohibits cost-sharing with respect to TRICARE beneficiaries for specified prescription contraceptives. Additionally, the bill prohibits cost-sharing for TRICARE Select and TRICARE Prime beneficiaries in relation to any in-network method of contraception or contraceptive care (including with respect to insertion, removal, and follow-up), any sterilization procedure, or any related patient education or counseling service. The bill requires DOD to provide information on all methods of emergency contraception and care to sexual assault survivors at its medical treatment facilities. Upon request by a sexual assault survivor, DOD must provide such emergency contraception or a prescription for emergency contraception. Finally, DOD must establish a uniform standard curriculum for education programs on family planning for all members of the Armed Forces. Such education programs must be provided to service members during their first year of service and at other appropriate times, as determined by each military department.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2021
This resolution calls for the creation of a Green New Deal with the goals of achieving greenhouse gas and toxic emissions reductions needed to stay under 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming; establishing millions of high-wage union jobs and ensuring economic security for all; investing in infrastructure and industry; securing clean air and water, climate and community resiliency, healthy food, access to nature, and a sustainable environment for all; and promoting justice and equality. The resolution calls for accomplishment of these goals through a 10-year national mobilization effort. The resolution also enumerates the goals and projects of the mobilization effort, including building smart power grids (i.e., power grids that enable customers to reduce their power use during peak demand periods); upgrading all existing buildings and constructing new buildings to achieve maximum energy and water efficiency; removing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation and agricultural sectors; cleaning up existing hazardous waste and abandoned sites; ensuring businesspersons are free from unfair competition; and providing higher education, high-quality health care, and affordable, safe, and adequate housing to all.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2021
Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act of 2021 This bill expands Medicare coverage of chiropractic services to include all services provided by chiropractors, rather than only subluxation corrections through manual manipulation of the spine.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2021
Green New Deal for Public Housing Act This bill addresses energy efficiency and workforce development in the context of public housing. Specifically, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must award grants to public housing agencies (PHAs) and other eligible entities under a variety of new programs, including programs for facilitating workforce development and high-income employment transition; conducting physical needs assessments and subsequent energy efficiency retrofits; and making upgrades, replacements, and improvements for energy efficiency, building electrification, and water quality upgrades. Recipients of these grants must provide relocation assistance for residents who are displaced during construction and must ensure that they can return to their homes once retrofitting is completed. A certain percentage of the employment positions generated by these grant programs and other specified federal grant programs must be filled by low-income individuals, and a specified percentage of certain contracts associated with these programs must be awarded to businesses owned by residents of public housing. The bill also repeals a provision that prohibits a PHA from using HUD funds to construct or operate new public housing units if doing so would result in the PHA owning or operating more units than it did on October 1, 1999.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2021
Conservation and Innovative Climate Partnership Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture to award competitive grants to land-grant colleges or universities for raising public awareness, conducting workshops, and providing technical assistance to increase agricultural producers' voluntary adoption of conservation practices (e.g., alley cropping) and innovative climate practices (e.g., carbon sequestration). Grantees must carry out activities in partnership with at least one other entity, such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a land-grant college or university, a state entity, or a nonprofit organization.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
United States Cadet Nurse Corps Service Recognition Act of 2021 This bill recognizes service as a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps between July 1, 1943, and December 31, 1948, as active duty service. The active duty designation entitles qualifying individuals to certain benefits afforded to veterans, such as burial benefits (not including interment or inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery) and honorary veteran status. Under the bill, the Department of Defense (DOD) must issue individuals who served in the corps during the specified period a discharge from their service under honorable conditions if such a discharge is warranted based on the duration and nature of the service. Such individuals are not entitled to Department of Veterans Affairs benefits aside from those related to burials and memorials. The bill also authorizes DOD to produce a service medal or other commendation, memorial plaque, or grave marker to honor the individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Judiciary Act of 2021 This bill increases from 9 to 13 the number of Justices on the Supreme Court.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
FDA Modernization Act of 2021 This bill allows an applicant for market approval for a new drug to use methods other than animal testing to establish the drug's safety and effectiveness. Under this bill, these alternative methods may include cell-based assays, organ chips and microphysiological systems, sophisticated computer modeling, and other human biology-based test methods.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Family Medical Leave Modernization Act This bill expands who is permitted to take qualifying family and medical leave and provides additional leave for parents and family caregivers. The bill grants leave to private sector and federal employees to care for a domestic partner and any individual whose close association with such employees is like a family relationship, regardless of biological or legal relationship, if (1) such individual has a serious health condition, or (2) there is a qualifying exigency due to such employees' active duty in the Armed Forces. The bill entitles an employee who is a domestic partner, next of kin of a member of the Armed Forces, or any individual whose close association is like a family relationship, regardless of biological or legal relationship, to take leave to care for the service member. The bill entitles private sector and federal employees to take additional leave to participate in or attend their children's and grandchildren's school or community organization activities, meet routine family medical care needs, or care for their elderly relatives.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Fire Fighters and EMS Employer-Employee Cooperation Act This bill requires the Federal Labor Relations Authority to determine whether a state substantially provides fire and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel the right to form and join a labor organization; recognition by fire and EMS employers of the employees' labor organization, agreement to bargain with the organization, and reduction of any agreements to writing in a contract or memorandum of understanding; the right to bargain over hours, wages, and terms and conditions of employment; and arbitration or other mechanisms to resolve an impasse in collective bargaining negotiations. The bill makes the authority responsible for (1) determining the appropriateness of units for labor representation; (2) supervising elections; (3) conducting hearings and resolving complaints of unfair labor practices; and (4) protecting the right of employees to form, join, or assist any labor organization, or to refrain from doing so. An employer, fire and EMS personnel, or labor organization may not engage in a lockout, sickout, work slowdown, strike, or any other organized job action that will measurably disrupt the delivery of emergency services and is designed to compel an employer, fire and EMS personnel, or labor organization to agree to the terms of a proposed contract.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Tax Fairness for Workers Act This bill allows an above-the-line tax deduction for union dues and expenses. (An above-the-line deduction is subtracted from gross income and is available whether or not a taxpayer itemizes other deductions.) The bill also reinstates the miscellaneous itemized tax deduction for unreimbursed expenses attributable to the performance of services as an employee (Under current law, all miscellaneous itemized deductions are suspended through 2025).
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act This bill limits U.S. assistance to Israel and establishes reporting requirements related to Israel's activities in the West Bank and its expenditures for offshore procurement. Specifically, the bill prohibits the use of any funds that are made available for assistance to Israel in support of (1) military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill treatment of Palestinian children; (2) seizure, appropriation, or destruction of Palestinian property and forcible transfer of civilians in the West Bank; or (3) unilateral annexation by Israel of West Bank territory. The Department of State must report on the nature and extent of such activities carried out by Israel. Further, the Government Accountability Office must submit a report identifying and analyzing Israel's expenditures for offshore procurement, including (1) specific programs and items to which funds for offshore procurement in Israel have been allocated, and (2) identifying all end-use monitoring to which Israel is subject with respect to U.S.-origin defense articles.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2021 This bill revises provisions of the low-income housing tax credit and renames it as the affordable housing credit . The bill increases the per capita dollar amount of the credit and its minimum ceiling amount beginning in 2021 and extends the inflation adjustment for such amounts. The bill modifies tenant income eligibility requirements and the average income formula for determining such income. It also revises rules for student occupancy of rental units and tenant voucher payments, and prohibits any refusal to rent to victims of domestic abuse. The bill further modifies the credit to increase state allocations of the credit; repeal the qualified census tract population cap; prohibit local approval and contribution requirements; increase the credit for certain projects designated to serve extremely low-income households; increase the credit for certain bond-financed projects designated by state agencies; eliminate the basis reduction for properties that receive certain energy-related tax benefits; and increase the population cap for difficult development areas (i.e., areas with high construction, land, and utility costs relative to area median gross income). The bill also includes Indian and rural areas as difficult development areas and modifies other requirements relating to casualty losses, acquisition credits, and foreclosures.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2021
Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2021 This bill provides federal workers' compensation to firefighters who contract certain illnesses as a result of their service. Specifically, the bill provides that (1) heart disease, lung disease, and specified cancers of federal employees employed in fire protection activities for at least 5 years are presumed to be proximately caused by such employment if the employee is diagnosed with the disease within 10 years of employment; and (2) the disability or death of the employee due to such disease is presumed to result from personal injury sustained in the performance of duty. These presumptions also apply to fire protection employees (regardless of the length of employment) who contract any communicable disease at the center of a designated pandemic or any chronic infectious disease that the Department of Labor determines is related to job-related hazards. An employee in fire protection activities is a firefighter, paramedic, emergency medical technician, rescue worker, ambulance personnel, or hazardous material worker, who (1) is trained in fire suppression; (2) has the legal authority and responsibility to engage in fire suppression; (3) is engaged in the prevention, control, and extinguishment of fires or response to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk; and (4) performs such activities as a primary responsibility.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2021
Mobility Options, Resiliency, and Efficiency (MORE) through TDM Act This bill addresses supporting transportation demand management (TDM) expectations and goals that will serve the mobility needs of the people and freight, foster economic growth and development within and between states and urbanized areas. Transportation demand management is the use of strategies to inform and encourage travelers to maximize the efficiency of a transportation system leading to improved mobility, reduced congestion, and lower vehicle emissions. Each state and metropolitan planning organization must include TDM targets in the development of their long-range transportation plans. The bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish a program to encourage and assist the development and funding of TDM related projects. Additionally, DOT must provide grants to nonprofit institutions of higher education to establish and operate a university transportation center for research and development related to TDM and TDM strategies. TDM strategies means the use of planning, programs, policy, marketing, communications, incentives, pricing, data, and technology to shift travel mode, routes used, departure times, number of trips, and location and design of work spaces or public attractions. The bill establishes a National Advisory Committee under the Federal Highways Administration to strategically direct federal resources and policies toward implementation of TDM objectives. Additionally, each state must establish advisory committees focused on the development and furthering of the principles of TDM.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2021
Report and Educate About Campus Hazing Act or the REACH Act This bill requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in federal student-aid programs to report hazing incidents and implement hazing education programs. Specifically, the bill requires each IHE to disclose hazing incidents that were reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies in its annual security report. The bill defines the term hazing to mean any intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a student, or a former student, of an IHE against another student (regardless of that student's willingness to participate), that (1) is connected with an initiation into, an affiliation with, or the maintenance of membership in an organization that is affiliated with the IHE (e.g., an athletic team); and (2) contributes to a substantial risk of physical injury, mental harm, or degradation or causes physical injury, mental harm, or personal degradation. In addition, each IHE must implement a comprehensive program to prevent hazing, which must include information on hazing awareness, hazing prevention, and the IHE's policies on hazing.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2021
PFAS Action Act of 2021 This bill establishes requirements and incentives to limit the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS, and remediate PFAS in the environment. PFAS are man-made and may have adverse human health effects. A variety of products contain PFAS, such as nonstick cookware or weatherproof clothing. The bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate the PFAS perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as a hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, thereby requiring remediation of releases of those PFAS into the environment. Within five years, the EPA must determine whether the remaining PFAS should be designated as hazardous substances. The EPA must also determine whether PFAS should be designated as toxic pollutants under the Clean Water Act. If PFAS are designated as toxic, then the EPA must establish standards to limit discharges of PFAS from industrial sources into waters of the United States. In addition, the EPA must issue a national primary drinking water regulation for PFAS that, at a minimum, includes standards for PFOA and PFOS. Among other requirements, the EPA must also issue a final rule adding PFOA and PFOS to the list of hazardous air pollutants, test all PFAS for toxicity to human health, and regulate the disposal of materials containing PFAS. Finally, the bill provides incentives to address PFAS, such as grants to help community water systems treat water contaminated by PFAS.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2021
Healthy Families Act This bill provides for paid and unpaid sick leave for employees to meet their own medical needs and those of their families. It requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide their employees with at least one hour of earned paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 56 hours of paid sick leave in a year. An employer with fewer than 15 employees may also provide the same amount of paid sick leave, but may opt out of such requirement, in which case such employer must provide its employees at least 56 hours of unpaid leave in a year. An employee may use sick leave for absences (1) resulting from a physical or mental illness, injury or medical condition; (2) resulting from obtaining professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventive medical care; (3) to care for a child, parent, spouse, a domestic partner, or other blood or close relative; and (4) resulting from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. The bill makes it unlawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of an employee's right to accrue sick leave as provided by this bill. An employee may take legal action to enforce the right to sick leave granted by this bill and the Department of Labor must investigate complaints of violations of the requirements of this bill. Labor is authorized to conduct a public awareness campaign to educate and inform the public of the requirements for paid sick leave provided by this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2021
Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act This bill allows two borrowers, who had previously received a joint consolidation loan for their federal student loan debt, to submit a joint application to the Department of Education to sever their consolidated loan into two separate loans. One borrower may submit a separate application in the event that the individual is experiencing domestic or economic abuse from the other individual borrower or is unable to reasonably reach or access the loan information of the other borrower.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2021
Resetting the Impact Act of 2021 or the TRIA Act of 2021 This bill requires certain data collection and recommendations relating to a Medicare post-acute care prospective payment system to incorporate the effects of COVID-19 on providers and patients. Current law requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to develop a prototype for a unified Medicare payment system for post-acute care that is based primarily on patient characteristics (e.g., cognitive ability, functional status, or impairments) rather than the provider setting (e.g., skilled nursing facility, home health agency, inpatient rehabilitation facility, or long-term care hospital). The bill requires the prototype to account for the role of post-acute care providers during public health emergencies, particularly in light of the COVID-19 emergency and the related effects on such providers and their patients. The bill also delays the development of the prototype until two years after the later of January 1, 2022, and the date by which the CMS has collected eight calendar quarters of data after the emergency ends and other changes have been implemented.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2021
Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act This bill modifies the requirements for calculating taxable income to exclude from gross income payments under the federal veterinary medicine loan repayment program or any state loan repayment or forgiveness program that is intended to provide for increased access to veterinary services in such state.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2021
Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2021 This bill authorizes and establishes procedures for federal courts to issue extreme risk protection orders. An extreme risk protection order is a federal court order that prohibits a person from purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm or ammunition. A family or household member, or a law enforcement officer, may petition for an extreme risk protection order with respect to an individual who poses a risk to themselves or others. The bill also expands the categories of persons who are prohibited from purchasing, shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm or ammunition. Specifically, it adds, as a new category, persons who are subject to an extreme risk protection order.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2021
Agricultural Fairs Rescue Act This bill directs the Agricultural Marketing Service of the Department of Agriculture to establish a program to award grants to states or state departments of agriculture to provide support to agricultural fairs for losses sustained by such fairs due to COVID-19. As a condition of receiving a grant, recipients shall agree to (1) prioritize supporting agricultural fairs in the state facing the greatest financial hardship, and (2) use not more than 5% of grant funds for administrative costs incurred in providing support to agricultural fairs.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2021
Community Broadband Mapping Act This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service to award telecommunications grants to local governments, electric and telephone cooperatives, economic development and community groups, and small internet providers for collecting local broadband service information.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2021
Gluten in Medicine Disclosure Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the sale of any drug intended for human use that contains an ingredient derived from a gluten-containing grain unless the drug's label (1) states that the drug contains such an ingredient, and (2) identifies the type of grain from which the ingredient is derived.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2021
Stay in Line To Vote Act This bill prohibits states from restricting the provision of food or drink to individuals who are at a polling place to cast their ballots in a federal election.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2021
Rebuild Rural America Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish the Rural Innovation and Partnership Administration and the Rural Future Partnership Fund to provide five-year renewable rural partnership block grants to certified rural regions to implement locally-developed regional revitalization plans. For purposes of these grants, the following areas may constitute a rural region: a micropolitan statistical area (i.e., at least 10,000 but fewer than 50,000 people); a collection of rural census tracts or counties that fall outside of a micropolitan or metropolitan statistical area (i.e., 50,000 people or more) and that demonstrate evidence of economic, social, and cultural cooperation; or an Indian reservation. To be eligible to receive a grant, a rural region must be certified by its state (or in the case of an Indian reservation, approved by USDA) after having formed a rural partnership council made up of representatives from across different sectors. USDA must provide each rural partnership council with training, education, support, and advice to enhance the technical assistance, research, organizational, and other capacities of the council. The bill also establishes a Rural Future Corps to (1) help rural communities expand critical services such as child care, health, nutrition assistance, education, and job training; and (2) strengthen the capacity of local governments and economic and community development organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2021
Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act This bill addresses employment standards for individuals with disabilities. The bill directs the Department of Labor to award grants to states and certain eligible entities to assist them in transforming their business and program models to support individuals with disabilities by providing competitive integrated employment, assisting disabled individuals in finding and retaining work in such employment, providing integrated employment and integrated community participation and wraparound services for such individuals, and ensuring that such services comply with federal regulations for individuals receiving home and community-based services. The bill also prohibits the issuance of new special certificates that allow payment of subminimum wages to disabled individuals and phases out existing certificates over a four-year period. The bill directs Labor's Office of Disability Employment to award grants to provide technical assistance and other strategic support to employers transitioning from special certificates to competitive integrated employment for disabled individuals. Labor must contract with a nonprofit entity to conduct an evaluation of the impact of these transitions.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2021
Health, Opportunity, and Personal Empowerment Act of 2021 or the HOPE Act of 2021 This bill establishes two Health, Opportunity, and Personal Empowerment (HOPE) pilot projects to improve economic security for individuals who meet income or other requirements. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development must collaborate on the projects. The first project provides awards to certain government entities to assist eligible individuals in establishing HOPE accounts through banks, credit unions, or governmental agencies. HOPE accounts must (1) provide access to specified financial services and information on public benefits, health insurance, and other topics; and (2) facilitate activities such as applying for government benefits and filing taxes. HHS must hold a competition to award contracts to private businesses and nonprofits to develop technology applications and other tools for HOPE accounts. The second pilot project provides grants that allow government and nonprofit organizations to enter voluntary agreements with eligible individuals to carry out long-term plans related to improving economic security and upward mobility.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2021
Prohibition of Medicaid Funding for Conversion Therapy Act This bill prohibits state Medicaid programs from covering conversion therapy. The bill defines conversion therapy as any practice or treatment that seeks to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity in exchange for monetary compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2021
Strengthening the Vaccines for Children Program Act of 2021 This bill modifies vaccination programs and coverage for children under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Specifically, the bill expands and otherwise modifies the Vaccines for Children Program, which provides free vaccinations to individuals 18 years of age or younger who are uninsured or underinsured (i.e., with limited or no insurance for vaccines), are eligible for Medicaid, or are American Indians or Alaskan Natives. The bill expands the program to include children enrolled in CHIP and temporarily provides for additional payments to incentivize provider participation. The Government Accountability Office must report on the related effects of the bill's changes. The bill also expands coverage under Medicaid and CHIP to include vaccine counseling and educational services for children and temporarily requires payments to be made at a rate that is no less than the rate under Medicare for equivalent services. It also temporarily increases the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (i.e., federal matching rate) for states that conduct culturally appropriate outreach regarding the benefits of vaccinations for children.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2021
Climate Change Education Act This bill declares that the evidence for human-induced climate change is overwhelming and undeniable. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) must establish a Climate Change Education Program to increase the climate literacy of the United States by broadening the understanding of human-induced climate change, including possible consequences, disproportionate impacts of such consequences, and potential solutions; apply the latest scientific and technological discoveries to provide learning opportunities to people of all ages; and help people understand and promote implementation of new technologies, programs, and incentives related to climate change, climate adaptation and mitigation, climate resilience, climate justice, and environmental justice. NOAA must also establish a grant program for climate change education.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2021
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that blood donation policies should be grounded in science, minimize deferral periods, and allow donations by all those who can safely make them.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2021
Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2021 This bill imposes a fee on the carbon content of fuels, including crude oil, natural gas, coal, or any other product derived from those fuels that will be used so as to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The fee is imposed on the producers or importers of the fuels and is equal to the greenhouse gas content of the fuel multiplied by the carbon fee rate. The rate begins at $15 per metric ton of CO2-e in 2021, increases by $10 each year, and is subject to further adjustments based on the progress in meeting specified emissions reduction targets. The bill includes exemptions for fuels used for agricultural or nonemitting purposes, exemptions for fuels used by the Armed Forces, rebates for facilities that capture and sequester carbon dioxide, and border adjustment provisions that require certain fees or refunds for carbon-intensive products that are exported or imported. The fees must be deposited into a Carbon Dividend Trust Fund and used for administrative expenses and dividend payments to U.S. citizens or lawful residents. The fees must be decommissioned when emissions levels and monthly dividend payments fall below specified levels.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2021
Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act of 2021 This bill establishes an alternative formula to calculate Social Security retirement benefits for those who receive pensions for certain non-covered employment. (The existing formula is known as the windfall elimination provision.) The alternative formula adjusts an individual's total lifetime earnings based on the proportion of covered earnings (i.e., earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes). It applies to individuals who (1) first become eligible for benefits after 2022, (2) have earnings from non-covered service performed after 1977, and (3) have less than 30 years of coverage (i.e., years in which a beneficiary is considered to have contributed a substantial amount into the Social Security trust funds). Beneficiaries receive the higher benefit amount as calculated under the alternative method or the existing formula. In addition, the bill provides rebates for certain beneficiaries currently impacted by the existing formula. The Social Security Administration must include non-covered earnings in Social Security account statements, and the Government Accountability Office must study the availability of certain information related to retirement plans maintained by state and local governments.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2021
Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act of 2021 This bill increases the rehabilitation tax credit and modifies certain requirements for the credit. The bill increases the rate of the credit for qualified rehabilitation expenditures in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019, and before January 1, 2027, after which the rate reverts to 20%. The bill increases the rate of the credit to 30% for certain small projects whose qualified rehabilitation expenditures do not exceed $2.5 million. The bill also expands the types of buildings eligible for rehabilitation by decreasing the rehabilitation threshold from 100% to 50% of project expenses. It also eliminates the basis adjustment requirement for the credit and modifies rules relating to tax-exempt use property eligible for the credit.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2021
Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act of 2021 or the 911 SAVES Act This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget, by 30 days after the bill's enactment, to categorize public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the Standard Occupational Classification System.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2021
Military Hunger Prevention Act This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to pay a basic needs allowance to certain low-income members of the Armed Forces. Specifically, those eligible for the basic needs allowance are members who (1) have completed initial entry training, (2) have a gross household income that did not exceed an amount equal to 130% of the federal poverty guidelines of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and (3) do not elect to decline the allowance. In situations where a household contains two or more eligible members, the bill specifies that only one allowance may be paid per year to one member they jointly elect. The amount of the allowance must be the aggregate amount equal to 130% of the HHS federal poverty guidelines minus the gross household income of the covered member during the preceding year divided by 12. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) of DOD must notify, in writing, individuals determined to be eligible for the allowance. The notice must include information regarding financial management and assistance programs administered by DOD for which the individuals are also eligible. Individuals who seek to receive the allowance must submit specified information to DFAS.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2021
Gun Records Restoration and Preservation Act This bill amends several appropriations laws to remove limitations on the authority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to conduct activities related to the administration of federal firearms laws. Specifically, the bill removes provisions that limit the use of firearms tracing data, limit the disclosure of data under the Freedom of Information Act, prohibit imposing a requirement that gun dealers conduct a physical inventory, prohibit consolidating or centralizing records maintained by federal firearm licensees (e.g., gun dealers), and require national instant criminal background check records to be destroyed within 24 hours.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2021
This concurrent resolution supports the goals and ideals of the International Transgender Day of Visibility. It celebrates the accomplishments and leadership of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2021
Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021 This bill sets forth requirements and incentives to reduce the production of a variety of products and materials, including plastics, and increase efforts to collect, recycle, or compost products and materials. The bill makes certain producers of products (e.g., packaging, paper, single-use products, beverage containers, or food service products) fiscally responsible for collecting, managing, and recycling or composting the products after consumer use. In addition, the bill establishes (1) minimum percentages of products that must be reused, recycled, or composted; and (2) an increasing percentage of recycled content that must be contained in beverage containers. Beginning on January 1, 2023, the bill phases out a variety of single-use products, such as plastic utensils. The bill also sets forth provisions to encourage the reduction of single-use products, including by establishing programs to refund consumers for returning beverage containers and by establishing a tax on carryout bags. The bill creates a temporary moratorium on new or expanded permits for certain facilities that manufacture plastics until regulations are updated to address pollution from the facilities. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must publish guidelines for a national standardized labeling system for recycling and composting receptacles. Producers must include labels on their products that are easy to read and indicate whether the products are recyclable, compostable, or reusable. The EPA must also ensure that certain clothes washers have filtration units as required by this bill. Finally, the bill establishes limitations on the export of plastic waste to other countries.