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![Official portrait of Rep. Harder, Josh [D-CA-9]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h001090_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
2,067 records where Rep. Harder, Josh [D-CA-9] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2023
American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act of 2023 This bill eliminates the five-year amortization requirement for research and experimental expenditures, thus allowing continued expensing of such expenditures in the taxable years in which they are incurred.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2023
Supporting Safety Net Hospitals Act This bill delays reductions to Medicaid disproportionate-share hospital (DSH) allotments until FY2026. (DSHs are hospitals that receive additional payments under Medicaid for treating a large share of low-income patients.)
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2023
Stop PG&E Price Gouging During Emergencies Act This bill prohibits utility companies from selling, in any county where a declared major disaster applies, natural gas at a price that (1) is unconscionably excessive, and (2) indicates that the utility company is taking unfair advantage of the disaster to unreasonably increase prices. The bill provides for enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission, including a maximum civil penalty of $100 million for a violation. In addition, the Department of Justice may bring a criminal action with a maximum penalty of $500 million for a violation. State attorneys general also may bring a civil action to enforce the prohibitions of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2023
Safety From Violence for Healthcare Employees Act or the SAVE Act This bill establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly assaulting or intimidating hospital personnel during the performance of their official duties in a manner that interferes with their performance of the duties or limits their ability to perform the duties. Additionally, the bill authorizes grants to reduce the incidence of violence at hospitals, including violence or intimidation against hospital personnel in the performance of their duties.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2023
Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 20 2 3 This bill modifies, expands, and reauthorizes through FY2028 the Family Violence and Prevention Services program, which funds emergency shelters and supports related assistance for victims of domestic violence. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants and enter cooperative agreements with state and tribal domestic violence coalitions, and community-based organizations, to support prevention services. Depending on the type of organization, grant recipients must use funding to (1) provide technical assistance; (2) promote evidence-informed prevention strategies; (3) implement coordinated, community responses to reduce risk factors for family violence; and (4) develop prevention partnership strategies. Further, HHS must award specified grants to organizations that provide population-specific services in underserved communities and to community-based organizations that provide culturally specific domestic violence services to racial and ethnic minority groups. The bill also establishes a grants program for tribal domestic violence coalitions to support the provision of local, tribal, family domestic or dating violence services and requires HHS to award a grant for the administration of a hotline dedicated to serving Indians affected by domestic violence. In addition, the bill modifies certain program-wide definitions; changes the requirements for specified grant applications, eligibility criteria, and use of funds; and makes other technical revisions.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2023
Honoring Vocational Education Act This bill requires the Bureau of the Census to ensure that the Current Population Survey provides for a separate category of educational attainment for Postsecondary Nondegree Awardees. Postsecondary Nondegree Awardee is defined as an individual who has received a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent and a recognized postsecondary credential; and has not received an associate, bachelor's, master's, graduate, or professional degree.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2023
Tax Fairness for Disaster Victims Act This bill allows individual taxpayers living in a disaster area to use earned income from a preceding taxable year for purposes of calculating the earned income tax credit. The bill applies if current year income is disrupted by a disaster and is less than the income of the preceding taxable year.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2023
Optimizing Postpartum Outcomes Act of 2023 This bill requires (1) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to issue guidance to support coverage of prenatal and postpartum pelvic health services under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), (2) the Government Accountability Office to study gaps in Medicaid coverage of these and other services for postpartum women, and (3) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to educate health professionals and postpartum women on pelvic health services.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2023
New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 2023 This bill makes the new markets tax credit permanent. It also modifies the credit to (1) provide for an inflation adjustment to the limitation amount for the credit after 2023, and (2) allow an offset against the alternative minimum tax for the credit (determined with respect to qualified equity investments initially made after 2022).
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2023
This bill makes the tax credit for the adoption of children with special needs refundable.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2023
Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act This bill modifies certain adjustments to payment amounts under the Medicare physician fee schedule. Payment amounts under the Medicare physician fee schedule are based on a service's relative value, a conversion factor, and a geographic adjustment factor. Current law provides for separate conversion factors for physicians that are qualifying participants in advanced alternative payment models (also known as qualifying APM participants) and for other physicians beginning in 2026, with an annual update of 0.75% and 0.25%, respectively. The bill replaces the separate conversion factors for qualifying APM participants and other physicians with a single conversion factor and provides for an update that is equal to the annual percentage increase in the Medicare Economic Index, beginning in 2024. (The Medicare Economic Index is a specialized index that is generally used to determine allowed charges for physician services based on annual price changes.)
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2023
Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act This bill allows for Medicare coverage and payment for multi-cancer early detection screening tests that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration and that are used to screen for cancer across many cancer types, if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services determines such coverage is appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2023
Canal Conveyance Capacity Restoration Act This bill authorizes the Bureau of Reclamation to provide financial assistance for various projects in California to mitigate the sinking or settling of the ground (i.e., subsidence mitigation), specifically for projects related to the Friant-Kern Canal, the Delta-Mendota Canal, and certain parts of the San Luis Canal/California Aqueduct.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2023
Dental Care for Veterans Act This bill expands eligibility for veterans for dental care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Specifically, the bill makes all veterans who are enrolled in the VA health care system eligible for VA-provided dental services. Currently, only veterans who have a service-connected dental issue or meet other narrow criteria are eligible for certain dental services. The bill phases in eligibility over four years based upon existing eligibility, degree of service-connected disability or other disability, prisoner of war status, award of a Purple Heart, financial need, or VA health care eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2023
Panama Canal Zone Veterans Act of 2023 This bill establishes a presumption of service-connection for specified conditions associated with active duty service in or near the Panama Canal Zone (zone) from January 1, 1958, through the latter of December 31, 1999, or the date on which the last service member departed from duty in the zone. Under a presumption of service-connection, specific conditions diagnosed in certain veterans are presumed to have been caused by the circumstances of their military service. Health care benefits and disability compensation may then be awarded. The presumption of service-connection applies to illnesses listed in the bill (e.g., Hodgkin's disease) or those that (1) have a positive association with exposure to an herbicide agent that is known or presumed to be associated with service in the zone during the specified time period, and (2) become manifest in a veteran who served in the zone during the specified time period and was exposed to an herbicide agent during such service. The Department of Veterans Affairs must prescribe regulations providing for a presumption of service-connection whenever there is a determination that a positive association exists between the exposure to an herbicide agent known or presumed to be associated with service in or near the zone and the occurrence of an illness in humans.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2023
Reentry Act of 2023 This bill allows for Medicaid payment of medical services furnished to an incarcerated individual during the 30-day period preceding the individual's release. The Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Payment and Access Commission must report on specified information relating to the accessibility and quality of health care for incarcerated individuals, including the impact of the bill's changes.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2023
Ally's Act This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover certain hearing devices and systems (e.g., bone-anchored auditory implants) and related items and services. The financial requirements and treatment limitations applicable to such coverage may be no more restrictive than the requirements and limitations for other medical and surgical benefits covered under the plan. Further, a plan may not deny or limit coverage based on the plan's review of the medical necessity of such items or services.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2023
Helping Kids Cope Act This bill establishes programs within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support pediatric behavioral health care. Specifically, HRSA must award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible health care providers for (1) integrating and coordinating pediatric behavioral health care within communities, and (2) pediatric mental health and substance use disorder workforce training. Additionally, HRSA must award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to hospitals or rural health clinics that predominately treat individuals under age 21 for expanding their capacity to provide pediatric behavioral health services. Recipients may use awards for constructing or modernizing sites of care and enhancing digital infrastructure, telehealth capabilities, or other improvements to patient care infrastructure.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2023
Women's Health Protection Act of 2023 This bill prohibits governmental restrictions on the provision of, and access to, abortion services. Before fetal viability, governments may not restrict providers from using particular abortion procedures or drugs, offering abortion services via telemedicine, or immediately providing abortion services if delaying risks the patient's health. Furthermore, governments may not require providers to perform unnecessary medical procedures, provide medically inaccurate information, or comply with credentialing or other conditions that do not apply to providers who offer medically comparable services to abortions. Additionally, governments may not require patients to make medically unnecessary in-person visits before receiving abortion services or disclose their reasons for obtaining services. After fetal viability, governments may not restrict providers from performing abortions when necessary to protect a patient's life and health. The same provisions that apply to abortions before viability also apply to necessary abortions after viability. Additionally, states may authorize post-viability abortions in circumstances beyond those that the bill considers necessary. Further, the bill recognizes an individual's right to interstate travel, including for abortion services. The bill also prohibits governments from implementing measures that are similar to those restricted by the bill or that otherwise single out and impede access to abortion services, unless the measure significantly advances the safety of abortion services or health of patients and cannot be achieved through less restrictive means. The Department of Justice, individuals, or providers may sue states or government officials to enforce this bill, regardless of certain immunity that would otherwise apply.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2023
Access to AEDs Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to local educational agencies (LEAs), including public charter schools operating as LEAs under state law, to promote student access to defibrillation in elementary and secondary schools.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2023
Advancing Cutting Edge Agriculture Act or the ACE Agriculture Act This bill reauthorizes the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority (AGARDA) and expands the program's environmental sustainability goals. (The program supports innovative research and development of technology, research tools, and products to address long-term and high-risk challenges related to food and agriculture.) The bill expands the program's goals to include water conservation and responding to greenhouse gas emissions, as well as resilience to (1) drought, (2) infectious diseases, and (3) plant and animal pathogens and pests. The bill also removes the current pilot program designation and requires the Department of Agriculture to establish and maintain an AGARDA staff.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2023
Protection from Abusive Passengers Act This bill addresses the banning of abusive passengers from commercial aircraft flights. Abusive passenger is defined as any individual who engages in behavior that results in a civil penalty or conviction for assaulting, threatening, or intimidating a crew member or passenger on an aircraft flight, or for taking any action to interfere with security screening personnel or any security system related to civil aviation security. The bill requires the Federal Aviation Administration or the Department of Justice to provide the identity (including the full name, date of birth, and gender) of all abusive passengers to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA must maintain a list of abusive passengers and develop and make publicly available policies and procedures for handling individuals included on the list. Any individual on the list is prohibited from boarding any commercial aircraft flight until the individual is removed from such list. Additionally, all abusive passengers are permanently ineligible to participate in the TSA PreCheck or the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Global Entry programs, with specified exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2023
Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2023 This bill increases the number of residency positions eligible for graduate medical education payments under Medicare for qualifying hospitals, including hospitals in rural areas and health professional shortage areas. Current law provides for an increase of up to 200 positions per fiscal year beginning in FY2023, with a total increase of 1,000 positions; each hospital may receive up to 25 additional positions. Current law also provides for an additional increase of up to 200 positions for FY2026, with at least 100 of these positions for psychiatry or related specialties; each hospital may receive up to 10 additional positions. The bill provides for an additional increase of 2,000 positions per fiscal year from FY2025-FY2031; during this period, each hospital may receive up to 75 additional positions in total under the bill and current law. Additionally, one-third of the positions that are made available under the bill must be allocated to hospitals that are already operating above applicable resident limits. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to report on strategies to increase the diversity of the health professional workforce, including with respect to representation from rural, low-income, and minority communities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2023
Combating Illicit Xylazine Act This bill criminalizes the illicit use of xylazine. (Xylazine, also known as Tranq , is a sedative that is approved for use in animals. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reported an increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine.) Specifically, the bill establishes criminal penalties for manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing, or possessing with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, xylazine for illicit use (i.e., for use in humans) in accordance with the penalties for schedule III substances (up to 10 years imprisonment or, if death or serious bodily injury occurs, up to 15 years imprisonment, as well as criminal fines). In addition, the DEA must coordinate with the Food and Drug Administration to report on the prevalence of the illicit use of xylazine, including associated supply chains. The bill also declares the illicit use of xylazine as an emerging drug threat.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2023
Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act of 2023 This bill authorizes special immigrant visas for qualifying citizens or nationals of Afghanistan who were selected for certain educational and cultural exchange programs. Specifically, a citizen or national of Afghanistan (and any accompanying spouse or child of such an individual) may be eligible for a special immigrant visa if the individual was selected between October 7, 2001, and August 31, 2023, to participate in a qualifying educational or cultural exchange program administered by the Department of State, including the J. William Fulbright Educational Exchange Program. Generally, such visas shall be subject to protections and requirements similar to those for special immigrant visas for citizens or nationals of Afghanistan who were employed by the United States in Afghanistan.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2023
Aviation Workforce Development Act This bill expands the qualified tuition program (commonly referred to as 529 plans) to allow distributions to pay education-related expenses required for participation in certain aviation maintenance and commercial pilot courses.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2023
This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Billie Jean King in recognition of her courageous and groundbreaking leadership in advancing equal rights for women in athletics, education, and society.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2023
Facilitating Investments Required for Emergency Services to All Towns in Our Nation Act or the FIRE STATION Act This bill directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish a grant program to modify, upgrade, and construct fire and emergency medical services (EMS) department facilities. Grant recipients may use funds to build, rebuild, or renovate fire and EMS department facilities; upgrade existing facilities to install exhaust emission control systems, install backup power systems, upgrade or replace environmental control systems (such as HVAC systems), remove or remediate mold, and construct or modify living quarters for use by male and female personnel; and upgrade fire and EMS stations or build new stations. Grant recipients must meet one of the two most recently published editions of relevant codes and standards, especially codes and standards that (1) require up-to-date hazard resistant and safety provisions, and (2) are relevant for protecting firefighter health and safety. The bill sets forth provisions regarding (1) grant fund allocations between career and volunteer fire and EMS departments, (2) overtime, and (3) prevailing rate of wage and a requirement for using materials produced domestically for public contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2023
Goldie's Act This bill expands enforcement provisions under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to document and record detailed descriptions of violations of the act observed during inspections and investigations. USDA must provide a copy of all records documenting violations to state, local, and municipal animal control or law enforcement officials within 24 hours of such inspections or investigations. Inspections must be held at least once a year of each research facility, the premises of each animal dealer, and each exhibitor of animals. If violations are found during inspections, then USDA must conduct any necessary follow-up inspections until all the violations are corrected. Inspectors must confiscate or destroy in a humane manner animals found to be suffering physical or psychological harm as a result of failure to comply with the AWA. Violators are subject to civil penalties as outlined in the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2023
LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, California. All surcharges received by Treasury from the sale of the coins shall be promptly paid by Treasury to the United States Olympic and Paralympic Properties for the objects and purposes related to the hosting of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and to aid in the execution of its legacy programs, including the promotion of youth sports in the United States. Treasury is encouraged to develop and execute a marketing and educational program to promote and sell the coins.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2023
Military Family Nutrition Act of 2023 This bill excludes military housing allowances from income when determining eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2023
Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act of 2023 This bill extends death and disability benefits under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program (PSOB) to certain public safety officers who suffer from exposure-related cancer while on duty and their survivors. The PSOB program provides death, disability, and education benefits to public safety officers who are killed or injured in the line of duty and their survivors. The bill specifies that exposure-related cancer shall be presumed to constitute a personal injury in the line of duty if the public safety officer was exposed to or in contact with heat, radiation, or a carcinogen that is linked to an exposure-related cancer; the officer began serving as an officer not later than 5 years before the date of the diagnosis of an exposure-related cancer and the diagnosis occurred not later than 15 years after the last date of active service; and the exposure-related cancer directly and proximately resulted in the death or permanent and total disability of the officer. The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) must periodically review the definition of exposure-related cance r. It directs the BJA to add additional cancers to the definition under certain circumstances (e.g., a petition process).
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2023
Healthy Drinking Water Affordability Act or the Healthy H2O Act This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a program under which USDA awards grants for improving the quality of drinking water in certain rural areas. Grants may be given to individuals or entities, such as home owners, renters, and licensed child-care facilities, that have demonstrated the presence of one or more health contaminants in their drinking water. Grants may also be given to nonprofit organizations to help individuals and entities test their water, analyze the results of the tests, and reduce the contamination.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2023
Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2023 This bill generally applies federal antitrust laws to ocean common carriers. It also provides statutory authority for the current exemption from such laws for assessment agreements involving collectively bargained fringe benefit obligations. The bill also authorizes the Federal Maritime Commission to formally comment on mergers and acquisitions of common carriers and marine terminal operators that are under review by the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2023
Global Aircraft Maintenance Safety Improvement Act This bill addresses safety standards related to foreign aircraft repair stations. Specifically, the bill requires that all foreign aircraft repair stations be subject to at least one unannounced safety inspection each year. Further, mechanics and others working on U.S. registered aircraft at foreign repair stations are required to meet certain minimum certification or licensing standards. The bill also prohibits certain agreements, contracts, and application approvals related to maintenance in a country that the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) International Aviation Safety Assessment program has classified as Category 2 (i.e., the country does not provide safety oversight in accordance with certain international standards). Air carriers must submit annual reports to the FAA with respect to heavy maintenance work on aircraft (including on-wing aircraft engines) performed outside the United States. The bill also prohibits FAA officials from traveling internationally if a previously mandated final rule on drug and alcohol testing of employees at repair stations has not been published, with specified exceptions. In addition, the bill requires the FAA to initiate rulemaking to require certain employees of foreign repair stations to undergo security threat assessments. Finally, the bill directs the FAA to convene a foreign repair station working group with other civil aviation authorities to conduct a review of the certification and oversight of the stations and to identify any future enhancements to strengthen oversight of such stations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2023
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 6444 San Fernando Road in Glendale, California, as the "Paul Ignatius Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2023
Prevent Interruptions in Physical Therapy Act of 2023 This bill allows a physical therapist to receive payment under Medicare for services provided to the physical therapist's patients by another physical therapist through a qualifying temporary arrangement, regardless of the geographic area or population served. Currently, physical therapists may only receive payment with respect to such arrangements for services provided in medically underserved, rural, or health professional shortage areas.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2023
Helping Ensure Life- and Limb-Saving Access to Podiatric Physicians Act or the HELLPP Act This bill adds podiatrists as covered physicians under the Medicaid program. Additionally, the bill revises certain documentation requirements related to Medicare coverage of therapeutic shoes for individuals with diabetes. Finally, the bill subjects payments made to a Medicaid provider or supplier to a continuing levy for federal taxes owed by the provider or supplier.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2023
Puppy Protection Act of 2023 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture to expand standards that govern the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of animals to include new requirements for commercial dog dealers. Specifically, the standards must require dog dealers to provide to dogs adequate housing, exercise, and veterinary care; appropriate and nutritious food; continuous access to potable water; and meaningful socialization with humans and compatible dogs for at least 30 minutes each day. The standards must also include requirements for breeders to use safe breeding practices and make all reasonable efforts to find humane placement for retired breeding dogs.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2023
Comprehensive Care for Alzheimer's Act This bill allows the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test a Dementia Care Management Model that provides comprehensive care to Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. Under the model, participating health care providers receive payment under Medicare for comprehensive care management services that are provided to individuals with diagnosed dementia, excluding Medicare Advantage enrollees, hospice care recipients, and nursing home residents. Required services include medication management, care coordination, and health, financial, and environmental monitoring, as well as trainings and other support services for unpaid caregivers. Providers must furnish services through interdisciplinary teams and must ensure access to a team member or primary care provider 24-7. The CMMI must set payments and determine quality measures for the model in accordance with specified requirements. The bill also allows the CMMI to design a similar model under Medicaid.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2023
Establishing Accreditation Grants for Law Enforcement Act of 2023 or the EAGLE Act of 2023 This bill requires the Department of Justice to provide grants to eligible local law enforcement agencies for activities related to obtaining qualified accreditation or recertification. Such accreditation or recertification shall be provided by a professional law enforcement organization involved in developing standards for law enforcement at the national, state, regional, or tribal level, such as the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2023
Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2023 This bill provides for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the female telephone operators of the Army Signal Corps, commonly known as the Hello Girls , in recognition of their military service, devotion to duty, and 60-year struggle for veterans' benefits and recognition as soldiers.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2023
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2300 Sylvan Avenue in Modesto, California, as the "Corporal Michael D. Anderson Jr. Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2023
Leveraging and Energizing America's Apprenticeship Programs Act or the LEAP Act This bill allows employers a tax credit for each of their employees who participate in qualified apprenticeship programs. The credit is equal to $1,500 for each of the apprenticeship employees of the employer that exceeds a specified apprenticeship level determined by this bill. As an offset, the bill requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to coordinate with federal departments and independent agencies to devise a strategy to reduce government printing costs over the 10-year period beginning with FY2023.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2023
Paycheck Fairness Act This bill addresses wage discrimination on the basis of sex, which is defined to include pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics. Specifically, it limits an employer's defense that a pay differential is based on a factor other than sex to only bona fide job-related factors in wage discrimination claims, enhances nonretaliation prohibitions, and makes it unlawful to require an employee to sign a contract or waiver prohibiting the employee from disclosing information about the employee's wages. The bill also increases civil penalties for violations of equal pay provisions. Additionally, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs must train EEOC employees and other affected parties on wage discrimination. The bill directs the Department of Labor to (1) establish and carry out a grant program to provide training in negotiation skills related to compensation and equitable working conditions, (2) conduct studies to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, and (3) make available information on wage discrimination to assist the public in understanding and addressing such discrimination. The bill establishes the National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace for an employer who has made a substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. It also establishes the National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force to address compliance, public education, and enforcement of equal pay laws. Finally, the bill requires the EEOC to issue regulations for collecting from employers compensation and other employment data according to the sex, race, and national origin of employees for use in enforcing laws prohibiting pay discrimination.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2023
Reducing Hereditary Cancer Act This bill provides for Medicare coverage of germline mutation testing for individuals with a personal or family history of a hereditary cancer gene mutation or suspected history of hereditary cancer, as well as for associated coverage of risk-reducing surgeries and screenings.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2023
Producing Responsible Energy and Conservation Incentives and Solutions for the Environment Act or the PRECISE Act This bill incorporates support for precision agriculture into various programs of the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Precision agriculture refers to managing, tracking, or reducing crop or livestock production inputs, including seed, feed, fertilizer, chemicals, water, and time, at a heightened level of spatial and temporal granularity to improve efficiencies, reduce waste, and maintain environmental quality. Precision agriculture technology includes any technology and equipment that directly contributes to a reduction in, or improved efficiency of, inputs used in crop or livestock production. Specifically, the bill makes changes to eligibility criteria, administrative procedures, and other aspects of the Conservation Loan Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and the Conservation Stewardship Program. These changes include allowing the programs to support the adoption of precision agriculture practices and acquisition of precision agriculture technologies. In addition, the bill expands a program through which USDA makes and insures loans to for-profit and nonprofit organizations that invest in rural areas by allowing the loans to be used for precision agriculture practices. Also, USDA must emphasize the use of third-party providers when providing technical assistance on matters related to soil health for participants in certain USDA conservation programs.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2023
Freedom To Invest in Tomorrow's Workforce Act This bill allows the use of funds in a qualified tuition program (commonly known as a 529 account) to pay for expenses associated with obtaining or maintaining recognized postsecondary credentials.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2023
Dentist and Optometric Care Access Act of 2023 or the DOC Access Act of 20 23 This bill prohibits private health insurance plans from setting rates for items and services, except for dental cleanings, provided by a doctor of optometry, of dental surgery, or of dental medicine for which the plan does not pay a substantial amount. Additionally, an agreement between a plan and such a doctor for limited scope dental or vision benefits may last longer than two years only with the prior acceptance of the doctor for each term extension. Plans also may not restrict such a doctor's choice of laboratories or suppliers. Such doctors may elect to waive the application of the payment amount and choice of laboratories provisions of this bill. The bill does not supersede state laws regarding health insurers and dental or vision benefit plans.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2023
STEM Restoring Employment Skills through Targeted Assistance, Re-entry, and Training Act or the STEM RESTART Act This bill establishes a new national program to support mid-career workers, including workers from underrepresented or rural populations, in reentering or transitioning to the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce by awarding grants to certain small- and medium-sized businesses to assist such workers in reentering or transitioning to the workforce at positions above entry level.