This resolution calls on all Americans to observe the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and honor those who lost their lives.
This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to report to Congress on projections of the estimated tax gap (i.e., the difference between tax liabilities owed to the IRS and those liabilities that the IRS actually collects). The IRS may use artificial intelligence and related data analysis tools to calculate a tax gap projection. The bill also requires the Joint Committee on Taxation to issue periodic reports to the congressional tax committees on the tax gap projection. The bill restricts IRS funding to FY2021 levels for audits and enforcement until it publishes an updated tax gap projection. Funding is also restricted for certain purposes, including (1) targeting U.S. citizens who exercise their First Amendment rights, (2) targeting a group for regulatory scrutiny based on its ideological beliefs, and (3) auditing individual taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of less than $400,000. The bill directs the IRS to establish a fellowship program to recruit private sector tax experts to join the IRS to create and participate in the audit task force. The purposes of the tax force include performing audit case selection, educating IRS employees on emerging issues, auditing selected taxpayers, addressing offshore tax evasion, and identifying, mentoring, and training IRS junior employees with respect to audits.
Promoting Sustainable Energy Projects for Tribal Communities Act of 2021 This bill allows Indian tribal governments to elect to receive payments, in lieu of tax credits, for energy property and electricity produced from certain renewable resources.
Working Dog Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue 50,000 $5 gold coins, 500,000 $1 silver coins, and 750,000 half-dollar clad coins in commemoration of the service that working dogs provide to society. The designs of the coins minted under this bill shall be emblematic of the contributions of working dogs to society, including in detection, military service, therapy and assistance. Treasury may issue coins only during the one-year period beginning on January 1, 2023. All sales of coins shall include a surcharge, which shall be paid to America's VetDogs for general expenses associated with the fulfillment of its mission.
Veterans' Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish in its National Surgery Office an interdisciplinary clinical pathway for all stages of prostate cancer. Clinical pathways are health care management tools designed around research and evidence-based practices that provide direction for the care and treatment of a specific condition. The clinical pathway must include specified elements, such as a diagnosis pathway and a treatment pathway. The VA must consult with and incorporate feedback from (1) veterans who have received prostate cancer care at its medical facilities, and (2) experts in multidisciplinary cancer care and clinical research. Additionally, the VA must publish the clinical pathway on a public VA website and annually update the pathway as needed based on medical literature and evidence-based guidelines. The bill also requires the VA to submit a plan to establish a prostate cancer program using the comprehensive prostate cancer clinical pathway.
Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act of 2021 This bill establishes several requirements relating to the prices of prescription drugs. Specifically, the bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies regarding prices for drugs covered under Medicare. (Current law prohibits the CMS from doing so.) If the CMS is unable to negotiate the price of a drug, such drug is subject to competitive licensing in order to further its sale under health insurance programs, notwithstanding existing government-granted exclusivities. The negotiated prices also apply to other federal health care programs, private health insurance, and the uninsured; pharmacies that charge more than the negotiated price for uninsured individuals are subject to civil penalties. Manufacturers must also comply with specified reporting requirements relating to prices and licensing, subject to civil penalties. The bill also institutes an excise tax on drugs for which the price spikes beyond a certain limit, subject to specified exemptions, as well as on drugs for which the price exceeds the negotiated price.
Advanced Safe Testing at Residence Telehealth Act of 2021 This bill temporarily establishes several programs to provide telehealth services for at-home testing, evaluations, and other health care. Specifically, the bill establishes a demonstration program to provide assistive telehealth consultations and home- and community-based care for certain Medicare beneficiaries through Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Covered services include certain at-home diagnostic tests, telehealth consultations, transportation services, and meal benefits. Beneficiaries must be (1) age 65 or older and eligible to enroll in a qualifying MA plan and to receive certain low-income subsidies under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, or (2) dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid benefits. The bill also establishes a grant program for state Medicaid programs to cover similar at-home tests and related telehealth consultations. Additionally, the Department of Veterans Affairs must establish a pilot program to provide tests and related telehealth consultations free of charge to veterans.
Supporting Expanded Review for Veterans In Combat Environments Act of 2021 or the SERVICE Act of 2021 This bill expands eligibility for Veterans Health Administration mammography screenings to veterans who served in certain locations during specified periods, including those who were exposed to toxic substances at such locations. The specified locations and corresponding time periods include Iraq between August 2, 1990, and February 28, 1991, and from March 19, 2003, until burn pits (areas used for burning solid waste in open air without equipment) are no longer used in Iraq; the Southwest Asia theater of operations, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar, from August 2, 1990, until burn pits are no longer used in such locations; and Afghanistan, Djibouti, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Yemen from September 11, 2001, until burn pits are no longer used in such locations; and other locations and time periods as determined by the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry. The bill specifies that the listed locations do not include bodies of water around or airspace above such locations.
Veterans' Agricultural Apprenticeship Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture to establish a program to make direct loans to farmers and ranchers who will provide mentorship and apprenticeship opportunities for veterans who have not previously operated a farm or ranch. The Government Accountability Office must report on the effectiveness of the program in assisting veterans in becoming farmers and ranchers.
Advancing America's Interests Act This bill limits the ability of certain persons (e.g., patent or trademark holders) to bring complaints before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and it requires the ITC to consider the public interest when determining whether to exclude articles that are under investigation. A complainant before the ITC must satisfy a domestic industry requirement obliging them to have made significant investment in the United States related to the articles that are the subject of the matter. One method to establish domestic industry is through reliance on licensing activities. The bill requires a complainant attempting to demonstrate domestic industry through licensing activities to show that those activities led to the adoption and development of articles that incorporate the patent, copyright, trademark, mask work, or design at issue. Further, the bill prohibits a complainant from relying upon activities by a licensee to demonstrate domestic industry unless the license leads to the adoption and development of articles that incorporate the claimed patent, copyright, trademark, mask work, or design for sale in the United States. In addition, the bill requires the ITC to determine that any exclusion of articles pursuant to an investigation is in the public interest. The ITC must also identify at the beginning of an investigation whether the matter involves a dispositive issue that is appropriate for expedited initial determination and direct the assigned judge to issue such determination not later than 100 days after the investigation is instituted.
Protecting Access to Lifesaving Screenings Act of 2021 or the PALS Act This bill makes a series of changes relating to health insurance coverage of screening mammography. Specifically, the bill requires that any provision of law referring to current recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) with respect to breast cancer screening mammography be administered as if (1) the provision referred to USPSTF recommendations last issued before 2009; and (2) those recommendations applied to any screening mammography modality, including any digital modality of such a procedure. This requirement shall also apply to the Veterans Health Administration's policy on mammography screening for veterans. In addition, the bill preserves Medicare coverage for screening mammography, without a requirement for coinsurance, and expands the definition of screening mammography to include any digital modality of such a procedure. Further, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may not decrease the frequency with which screening mammography may be paid by Medicare for a woman over 39 years of age. In 2009, the USPSTF updated its guidelines to recommend against routine screening mammography for women between 40 to 49 years of age and to recommend biennial, instead of annual, screening mammography for most women between 50 to 74 years of age. In 2015, through the appropriations process, a three-year moratorium was placed on implementing the guidelines; the moratorium was subsequently renewed until January 1, 2023.
Burn Pit Registry Expansion Act This bill expands the scope of the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry of the Department of Veterans Affairs by including burn pits located in Egypt and Syria under the definition of open burn pits . The registry allows certain veterans and service members to document their exposures and report health concerns related to exposure to toxic airborne chemicals and fumes caused by open burn pits (areas used for burning solid waste in open air without equipment) while serving in certain locations.
