United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2021
Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act This bill removes limitations on the civil liability of gun manufacturers and the disclosure of gun trace data in civil actions. Specifically, the bill repeals the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which prohibits civil actions against a firearm or ammunition manufacturer, seller, importer, dealer, or trade association for damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm. Additionally, the bill states that firearms trace data maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is not immune from legal process. Such data is subject to discovery; is admissible as evidence; and may be used, relied on, or disclosed in a civil action or administrative proceeding.
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 · 22 April 2021
Clean Energy for America Act This bill provides tax incentives for investment in clean electricity, clean transportation, clean fuel production, energy efficiency, and sets forth workforce development requirements for the energy sector. The bill also terminates certain fossil fuel provisions and requires contractors on federal energy projects to ensure that not less than 15% of total labor hours be performed by qualified apprentices.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Built To Last Act of 2021 This bill directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to identify and support research that enables a consistent, federal set of forward-looking long-term meteorological information that (1) models future extreme weather events, other environmental trends, projections, and up-to-date observations; and (2) is suitable for specified uses, including federal and nonfederal efforts to develop and adopt standards, building codes, and voluntary certifications. NOAA must provide the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with mesoscale meteorological information when appropriate or upon request by NIST. NIST must publish the information and advise and provide technical assistance to organizations that develop standards, model building codes, or voluntary certifications in order for such organizations to appropriately use the information. The Office of Science and Technology Policy, in coordination with the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group, shall designate a working group to identify and support research that enables such forward-looking long-term meteorological information.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Debt-Free College Act of 2021 This bill establishes measures to cover the unmet financial need of students who are enrolled at certain institutions of higher education (IHEs). Unmet financial need refers to the difference between a student's cost of attendance and the student's expected family contribution, plus any federal, state, and local sources of grant aid. In addition, the bill makes certain Dreamer students (i.e., students who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status) eligible for federal financial aid. First, the bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to award grants for state-federal partnerships with a goal of providing debt-free college for all eligible students at in-state public IHEs. Eligible student refers to an individual who (1) is enrolled or is eligible to enroll in an in-state public IHE, (2) completes a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or demonstrates eligibility for a Federal Pell Grant through institutional financial-aid eligibility forms, and (3) demonstrates satisfactory academic progress. Next, the bill requires ED to award grants to historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions to cover the unmet financial need of enrolled students. ED must establish an office to administer grants and provide oversight. In addition, the bill makes Dreamer students who entered the United States before the age of 16 and who meet certain educational criteria eligible for federal student aid.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Future Logging Careers Act This bill allows individuals who are 16 or 17 years old to work at certain logging operations that are owned or operated by at least one parent or a person standing in place of a parent. Thus, the bill exempts such employees from child labor laws.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act This bill generally prohibits law enforcement and intelligence agencies from obtaining U.S. customer or subscriber records or any illegitimately obtained information from a third party in exchange for anything of value (e.g., purchasing such information). Records or information obtained in violation of this bill are inadmissible as evidence in any trial, hearing, or other legal proceeding.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Medicare at 50 Act This bill establishes a Medicare buy-in option for certain qualifying individuals and also repeals restrictions relating to prescription drug prices under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Specifically, the bill allows individuals aged 50 to 64 to enroll in Medicare if such individuals would otherwise qualify for Medicare at the age of 65. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must determine enrollment periods and set premiums for the buy-in option established under the bill, in accordance with specified requirements. The CMS must also award grants to states and nonprofit organizations for outreach and enrollment activities relating to the buy-in option. The bill also repeals provisions that prohibit the CMS from negotiating the prices of prescription drugs or from establishing a formulary under the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
This resolution extends condolences to the family and friends of former Vice President Walter Mondale. The resolution acknowledges Mondale's lifetime service to the United States, including as a U.S. Senator and as the first presidential candidate from a major party to select a woman, Geraldine Ferraro, as his running mate.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Access to Healthy Food for Young Children Act of 2021 This bill revises several provisions related to the Child and Adult Care Food Program. These revisions include increasing reimbursement rates; requiring reimbursements to be adjusted annually to reflect the Consumer Price Index for food away from home, rather than the Consumer Price Index for food at home used under current law; providing for an additional meal service to be served in child care settings with eight or more hours between the first meal service and the beginning of the fourth meal service; expanding geographical eligibility for tier I family or group day care homes; and requiring the Department of Agriculture to establish an advisory committee to examine the feasibility of reducing unnecessary or duplicative paperwork for those participating or seeking to participate in the program. The bill also provides funding to (1) provide nutrition training and technical assistance under the program, and (2) increase the participation of children from underserved communities.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2021
Endless Frontier Act This bill establishes a Directorate for Technology and Innovation in the National Science Foundation (NSF) and establishes various programs and activities. The goals of the directorate shall be, among other things, the strengthening of U.S. leadership in critical technologies through basic research in key technology focus areas, such as artificial intelligence, high performance computing, and advanced manufacturing, and the commercialization of those technologies to businesses in the United States. The bill gives the NSF the authority to provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information within the United States concerning the NSF’s activities and the results of those activities. The Office of Science and Technology Policy shall annually develop a strategy for the federal government to improve national competitiveness in science, research, and innovation to support the national security strategy. The Department of Commerce shall (1) establish a supply chain resiliency and crisis response program to address supply chain gaps and vulnerabilities in critical industries, (2) designate regional technology hubs to facilitate activities that support regional economic development that diffuses innovation around the United States, and (3) award grants to facilitate development and implementation of comprehensive regional technology strategies. The bill extends through FY2026 the Manufacturing USA Program and expands such program to support innovation and growth in domestic manufacturing.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2021
Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a voluntary Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Certification Program to help reduce entry barriers into voluntary environmental credit markets for farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners. A voluntary environmental credit market is a market through which agriculture and forestry credits may be bought or sold. Entities eligible to participate in the program are (1) providers of technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, or private forest landowners in carrying out sustainable land use management practices that prevent, reduce, or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, or sequester carbon; or (2) third-party verifiers that conduct the verification of the processes described in the protocols for voluntary environmental credit markets. Among other requirements, USDA must publish (1) a list of protocols and qualifications for eligible entities; (2) information describing how entities may self-certify under the program; (3) information describing how entities may obtain the expertise to meet the protocols and qualifications; and (4) instructions and suggestions to assist farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners in facilitating the development of agriculture or forestry credits and accessing voluntary environmental credit markets. USDA must also establish an advisory council to make recommendations regarding the list of protocols and qualifications, best practices, and voluntary environmental credit markets. The bill also rescinds certain funds provided in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and makes the funds available for the certification program.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2021
This bill modifies the calculation of loan amounts for partnerships with no employees (e.g., self-employed farmers) under the Paycheck Protection Program, which was established to support small businesses in response to COVID-19. Specifically, the bill allows such individuals to apply for a loan in the amount of the difference between their gross and net income loan amounts, even if they have already received a loan based on their net income and received forgiveness for that loan.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2021
PPP Flexibility for Farmers, Ranchers, and the Self-Employed Act This bill makes various changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) with respect to certain loans, loan applicants, and loan recipients. First, the bill permits farming partnerships with gross farming income from self-employment to request a recalculation of the amount of their PPP loans based on the partners' distributive shares of gross income from the partnership. The recalculation is available retroactively for loans made on or before the date of enactment of this bill. Additionally, applicants for PPP loans may calculate their maximum loan amount based on the applicant's Internal Revenue Service Form 1040, Schedule C (i.e., profit or loss from a business). This applies retroactively to PPP loans made or approved on or before December 27, 2020. The bill also increases the maximum amount of a second draw PPP loan for individuals who received PPP loan forgiveness. The maximum second draw PPP loan amount for an eligible individual includes the increased PPP loan amount the individual would have received under the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act had the individual not already received loan forgiveness. This applies retroactively to second draw loans made on for before the date of enactment of this bill. The bill changes from a quarterly period to any contiguous 90-day period the calculation of revenue loss in determining eligibility for a second draw PPP loan. The bill also extends certain dates with respect to the administration of the PPP.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2021
Rebuilding Stronger Infrastructure Act This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to (1) revise the emergency relief manual of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), including by incorporating resilience into its emergency relief program; (2) develop best practices for improving the use of resilience in the program; (3) provide information on such best practices to the FHWA and states; and (4) develop and implement a process to track the consideration of resilience as part of emergency relief efforts and the costs of emergency relief products. (The emergency relief program provides funds for emergency and permanent repairs on federal-aid highways and roads that have suffered serious damage because of a natural disaster or catastrophic failure from an external cause.) The total cost of a project funded under the emergency relief program may not exceed the cost of repair or reconstruction of a comparable facility unless DOT determines that the project incorporates economically justified betterments, including protective features to increase the resilience of the facility.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2021
Minority Business Resiliency Act of 2021 This bill permanently authorizes the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and requires the MBDA to promote and administer programs that assist the development of minority business enterprises (MBEs). Specifically, the bill requires the MBDA to (1) provide assistance to MBEs in domestic and foreign markets by making available specified resources, (2) promote the position of MBEs in local economies, and (3) collect data on the causes of MBE success or failure and research how economic conditions affect the development of MBEs. The bill establishes formal processes for the MBDA Business Center Program and the MBDA Rural Business Center Program through which business centers provide programs and services to support MBEs. The bill also establishes new initiatives to promote economic resiliency for minority businesses, including (1) an annual forum to review problems and programs relating to capital formation by MBEs, (2) a study and report on alternative financing solutions for MBEs, and (3) entrepreneurship education grants for certain institutions of higher education to develop and implement entrepreneurship curricula. Further, the bill establishes grants for (1) certain nonprofit organizations that provide services to MBEs as one of their primary activities, and (2) MBEs for the purpose of supporting MBEs or helping MBEs remain in business. The Government Accountability Office must report on the programs carried out pursuant to the bill.
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 requirements with respect to TRICARE beneficiaries for specified prescription contraceptives. Additionally, the bill prohibits cost-sharing requirements 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 · 19 April 2021
Climate Risk Disclosure Act of 2021 This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to require an issuer of securities to annually disclose information regarding climate change-related risks posed to the issuer, including an issuer's strategies and actions to mitigate these risks. Specifically, issuers must report their direct and indirect greenhouse-gas emissions and disclose their fossil fuel-related assets.
United States · United States Congress · 19 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 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 · 19 April 2021
Big Cat Public Safety Act This bill revises requirements governing the trade of big cats (i.e., species of lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, or cougar or any hybrid of such species). Specifically, it revises restrictions on the possession and exhibition of big cats, including to restrict direct contact between the public and big cats.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Roddie Edmonds in recognition of his achievements and heroic actions during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Summer Meals Act of 2021 This bill revises provisions related to the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), which provides meals to children and teens in low-income areas during the summer months when school is not in session. The bill redefines areas in which poor economic conditions exist , where the SFSP may operate, as areas in which at least 40% (currently, 50%) of the children have been determined to be eligible for free or reduced price school meals under the school lunch and breakfast programs. The bill reimburses service institutions (other than school food authorities) for up to one meal and one snack per child each day during after-school hours, weekends, and school holidays during the regular school calendar. Currently, such institutions are reimbursed for meals and snacks served to children over the summer months or to children who are on vacation under a continuous school calendar. USDA must award competitive grants to service institutions to increase participation in the summer food service program for children who lack the ability to access a congregate feeding site through (1) innovative approaches to limited transportation, (2) mobile meal trucks, and (3) any other method or approach that does not require children to access a congregate feeding site. Service institutions that are participating in the summer food service program for children may serve up to three meals, or two meals and one snack, during each day of operation. Currently, this option is reserved for camps and service institutions that serve meals primarily to migrant children.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2021 This bill generally prohibits a federal criminal defendant from asserting, as a defense, that the nonviolent sexual advance of an individual or a perception or belief of the gender, gender identify or expression, or sexual orientation of an individual excuses or justifies conduct or mitigates the severity of an offense.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Choose Medicare Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish public health insurance plans and addresses health insurance costs. Such public plans must be offered on health insurance exchanges and (1) meet the requirements of a qualified health plan; (2) cover benefits at the gold plan level; and (3) cover reproductive services, including abortions. Additionally, the bill makes a series of changes related to health insurance costs, including requiring employers to refer employees to health care navigators to assist with enrollment, establishing an annual limit on out-of-pocket costs for services under Medicare, providing HHS with the authority to negotiate prices under the Medicare prescription drug benefit program, expanding the premium-assistance credit by benchmarking the credit amount to the second-lowest cost gold plan and increasing the income threshold for eligibility, requiring qualified health plans to reduce cost sharing for low-income plan holders, providing funding for states to provide reinsurance to health insurance issuers and to assist individuals with out-of-pocket costs for plans offered through health insurance exchanges, applying the premium rate-setting requirements to large group health plans, and requiring HHS or states to take corrective actions to address unreasonable premium rates set by insurance issuers.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Rohingya Genocide Determination Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of State to report to Congress an assessment of the persecution of the Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim group in Burma (Myanmar), by Burma's military and security forces, and whether the situation constitutes genocide under U.S. law. The report shall also contain (1) a description of U.S. government actions to ensure that those responsible are held accountable, and (2) recommendations on further actions to take to ensure accountability and to prevent further mass atrocity crimes in Burma.
United States · United States Congress · 15 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 · 15 April 2021
Cultivating Opportunity and Recovery from the Pandemic through Service Act or the CORPS Act This bill expands and modifies the administration of national service programs, including the National Senior Corps, to address the COVID-19 pandemic and its recovery period (i.e., through FY2024). The bill also (1) revises certain living allowances of particular national service corps participants; (2) expands the Senior Service Corps; (3) establishes a COVID-19 educational award; (4) implements a pilot program under which state commissions may directly place individuals in approved national service positions; and (5) excludes from gross income, for income tax purposes, any living allowance provided to national public service participants and any national service educational award.
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
Retired Pay Restoration Act This bill authorizes the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability. Under current law, only veterans with service-connected disabilities rated at 50% or more receive both without offset. Individuals who were retired or separated from military service due to a service-connected disability shall be eligible for the full concurrent receipt of both veterans' disability compensation and either military retired pay or combat-related special pay.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
This resolution designates April 17, 2021, through April 25, 2021, as National Park Week. The resolution also encourages the people of the United States and the world to responsibly visit, experience, and support the treasured national parks of the United States while protecting public health during the coronavirus pandemic.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2021
Reserve Employers Comprehensive Relief and Uniform Incentives on Taxes Act of 2021 or the RECRUIT Act of 2021 This bill allows employers with less than 500 employees a new tax credit for 40% of the wages paid to a member of the National Guard or a reserve component of the Armed Forces. The employer may elect to claim a payroll tax credit for wages paid to such service members.
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
Small Business Administration Franchise Loan Transparency Act of 2021 This bill requires a franchisor seeking guaranteed lending from the Small Business Administration to disclose historical revenue and store-closure information to any prospective franchisee before the loan will be approved.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2021
Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality Act of 2021 or the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act This bill creates grants for state and local governments to combat hate crimes. It also authorizes additional penalties for hate crime offenses. Specifically, it establishes grants for states to create state-run hate crimes reporting hotlines. It also authorizes grants for states and local governments to implement the National Incident-Based Reporting System and to conduct law enforcement activities or crime reduction programs to prevent, address, or respond to hate crimes. Finally, in the case of an individual convicted of a hate crime offense and placed on supervised release, the bill allows a court to order that the individual participate in educational classes or community service as a condition of supervised release.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2021
Made in America Act of 2021 This bill requires that materials used in carrying out federal infrastructure aid programs are produced in the United States, with exceptions. The term produced in the United States means, in the case of iron or steel products, that all manufacturing processes for the iron or steel product, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, occurred in the United States; manufactured products, that the product was manufactured in the United States and that the cost of the components of the manufactured product that are mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States is greater than 50% of the total cost of all components of the manufactured product; and construction materials, that all manufacturing processes for the construction material occurred in the United States. The Department of Commerce must (1) issue uniform standards that define the term all manufacturing processes for purposes of this bill, and (2) take into consideration and seek to maximize the jobs benefited or created in the production of the construction material. The bill requires that all steel, iron, manufactured products, nonferrous metals, plastic, concrete and aggregates, glass (including optical glass), lumber, and drywall used in these programs be produced in the United States. Infrastructure addressed by this bill includes federal-aid highways, railroads, public transportation infrastructure, civil aviation infrastructure, drinking water infrastructure, and stormwater infrastructure.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2021
This resolution honors the memory of U.S. Capitol Police Officer William Francis "Billy" Evans for the selfless acts of heroism he displayed on April 2, 2021.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2021
This resolution recognizes the opportunity for Black Maternal Health Week to raise national awareness of the state of Black maternal health in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2021
Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Labor to promulgate an occupational safety or health standard on prevention of exposure to excessive heat. Excessive heat includes outdoor or indoor exposure to heat at levels that exceed the capacities of the body to maintain normal body functions and may cause heat-related injury, illness, or fatality. In addition, the bill establishes requirements concerning (1) training and education to prevent and respond to heat illness, and (2) whistle-blower protections.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2021
First Step Implementation Act of 2021 This bill makes various changes related to federal sentencing law and requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish procedures to ensure the prompt release and accuracy of employment-related background check records. The bill allows certain reduced mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses to be applied retroactively to offenders who committed their offenses on or before December 21, 2018; permits a court, in certain circumstances, to grant safety valve relief (i.e., impose a sentence without regard to the statutory mandatory minimum penalty for certain drug offenses) for an otherwise eligible defendant who does not meet the requirement pertaining to criminal history; permits a court to reduce a sentence imposed on a defendant convicted as an adult for an offense committed as a juvenile if the defendant has served at least 20 years of the sentence; establishes a process to seal and expunge certain records of juvenile nonviolent offenses; and requires DOJ to establish and enforce procedures to ensure that records exchanged for employment-related background checks are promptly released and accurate.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2021
This joint resolution nullifies the Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources Review rule published by the Environmental Protection Agency on September 14, 2020. The rule finalized amendments to new source performance standards under the Clean Air Act for the oil and natural gas sector, such as an amendment that removed limitations on methane emissions from such sector.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2021
Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Technical Corrections Act This bill revises the requirements for third-party access to the central database for student aid (i.e., the National Student Loan Data System). First, the bill directs the Department of Education (ED) to issue, by July 1, 2021, its guidance on the use of access devices. Additionally, the bill provides ED with discretion to approve applications from authorized persons or entities for third-party data access to the system. The bill also expands the categories of persons or entities that are authorized to access the system to include certain for-profit organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2021
Flexible Financing for Rural America Act of 202 1 This bill allows rural utility service providers to submit to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) a request to adjust the interest rate or modify the terms of certain loans. The request shall include a report summarizing how the adjustment or modification will assist the borrower in providing critical utility services to a rural community. Specifically, on receipt of a request, USDA or the Department of the Treasury (in the case of a loan owned by the Federal Financing Bank) must adjust the interest rate on the loan to match certain interest rates for obligations of comparable maturity to the term remaining on the loan (or a higher rate requested by the borrower), and make modifications to the loan terms as necessary to address changes in the financial position of the borrower due to the COVID-19 public health emergency and to promote the financial sustainability of the borrower. In carrying out the adjustments or modifications, USDA or Treasury shall not impose or collect any fee from, or impose any penalty on, a borrower. The bill also provides funding to implement the adjustments and modifications and for the liquidation of residual intragovernmental amounts owed by the Federal Financing Bank in connection with certain loans.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2021
Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2021 This bill modifies the detention authority of the United States. Specifically, it prohibits detention or imprisonment based solely on an actual or perceived protected characteristic of an individual. A protected characteristic includes each of the following: race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and any additional characteristic that the Department of Justice determines to be a protected characteristic.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2021
Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 This bill reduces statutory mandatory minimum penalties for certain drug offenses, requires reporting on the impact of cost savings from the reductions, and establishes a public database of federal criminal offenses. First, the bill reduces statutory mandatory minimum penalties for two types of offenders: (1) individuals who manufacture, distribute, or possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance; and (2) couriers who import or export a controlled substance. Second, the bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to report on how the reduced expenditures on federal corrections and cost savings from the reductions in mandatory minimum sentences help to reduce overcrowding in federal prisons, increase investment in law enforcement and crime prevention, and reduce recidivism. Third, the bill requires DOJ and federal agencies to report on and create public databases of all criminal offenses—criminal statutory offenses and criminal regulatory offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2021
Junk Plan Accountability and Disclosure Act of 2021 This bill establishes requirements for certain noncomprehensive health insurance coverage and provides for additional outreach activities to increase enrollment in qualified health plans. Specifically, the bill prohibits online advertisements for health insurance coverage that reasonably mislead an individual (1) to believe that the advertisement is on behalf of a government entity such as a state or federal health insurance exchange, or (2) about the cost or benefits of noncomprehensive coverage (e.g., short-term, limited-duration insurance) compared to a qualified health plan under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The bill provides authority for the Federal Trade Commission to enforce these prohibitions. The bill also requires certain types of coverage (e.g., coverage for nontraditional benefits or student health insurance coverage) to provide consumers with a clear statement indicating the benefits the coverage provides and that the coverage is not a comprehensive health plan. These plans also must meet specified reporting requirements. In states with a federally administered exchange, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must conduct outreach and educational activities to individuals about the availability of qualified health plans through the exchange. The bill also provides grants for states to conduct open enrollment outreach with respect to qualified health plans and to explore solutions to promote greater enrollment. The bill provides funding for these outreach activities.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2021
Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act of 2021 or the EACH Act of 2021 This bill requires federal health care programs to provide coverage for abortion services and requires federal facilities to provide access to those services. The bill also permits qualified health plans to use funds attributable to premium tax credits and reduced cost sharing assistance to pay for abortion services.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2021
Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women's Health Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a series of programs to increase access to cancer screenings for women. These programs include demonstration projects to train certain health care providers to screen for breast and cervical cancer, and increase co-testing of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer among populations that have disproportionate rates of cervical cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2021
Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021 This bill provides for the automatic acquisition of citizenship for certain individuals adopted by a U.S. citizen. A child born outside the United States and adopted by a U.S. citizen shall automatically acquire citizenship upon meeting certain requirements, regardless of when the adoption was finalized. Currently, adoptees who were over the age of 18 on February 27, 2001, do not automatically acquire citizenship. An individual born outside the United States and residing in the United States shall automatically acquire citizenship if the individual (1) was adopted by a citizen before becoming 18 years old, (2) was physically present in the United States in the citizen parent's custody pursuant to lawful admission before becoming 18 years old, (3) never acquired citizenship before this bill's enactment, and (4) was lawfully residing in the United States on this bill's enactment date. An individual born outside the United States and residing outside the United States but who otherwise meets all of the requirements shall automatically acquire citizenship upon being physically present in the United States pursuant to lawful admission. Such an individual shall be subject to a background check. If the background check reveals the individual has committed a crime that was not properly resolved, the individual may not receive a visa unless the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State have coordinated with law enforcement to ensure that action was taken to resolve the issue.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2021
This bill makes changes to facilitate data sharing between the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and programs that subsidize communication services to verify eligibility for applicable programs. Specifically, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must award grants to states and tribes for establishing or modifying connections between databases with information regarding benefit programs (e.g., SNAP) and the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier to verify eligibility for the Lifeline program (which subsidizes telephone and internet services for low-income individuals) and the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (which subsidizes broadband services for those who suffered income loss during the COVID-19 pandemic and other eligible households). The bill also reauthorizes through FY2026 the fund that supports the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. In addition, the FCC must establish an automated connection to share data between the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier and the National Accuracy Clearinghouse for SNAP. The FCC must coordinate with the Department of Agriculture to establish the connection.
![Official portrait of Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b001230_200.jpg)