Small Community Transit Improvement Act of 20 21 This bill increases the amount of certain public transportation grants to be apportioned to urbanized areas with populations of less than 200,000 that meet or exceed one or more performance categories for small transit intensive cities.
Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2021 This bill imposes a fee on the carbon content of fuels, including crude oil, natural gas, coal, or any other product derived from those fuels that will be used so as to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The fee is imposed on the producers or importers of the fuels and is equal to the greenhouse gas content of the fuel multiplied by the carbon fee rate. The rate begins at $15 per metric ton of CO2-e in 2021, increases by $10 each year, and is subject to further adjustments based on the progress in meeting specified emissions reduction targets. The bill includes exemptions for fuels used for agricultural or nonemitting purposes, exemptions for fuels used by the Armed Forces, rebates for facilities that capture and sequester carbon dioxide, and border adjustment provisions that require certain fees or refunds for carbon-intensive products that are exported or imported. The fees must be deposited into a Carbon Dividend Trust Fund and used for administrative expenses and dividend payments to U.S. citizens or lawful residents. The fees must be decommissioned when emissions levels and monthly dividend payments fall below specified levels.
Chinese Government COVID-19 Accountability Act This bill directs the President to develop and carry out a strategy to get China's government to reimburse the U.S. government for funds made available to address COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019).
International Human Rights Defense Act of 2021 This bill establishes in the Department of State a permanent Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex) Peoples who shall serve as the principal State Department advisor regarding human rights for LGBTQI people and represent the United States in diplomatic matters relevant to the human rights of LGBTQI people. The special envoy shall periodically provide Congress with a U.S. global strategy to prevent and respond to criminalization, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI people. The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development may provide assistance to prevent and respond to such activities against LGBTQI people. The bill also requires that annual country reports on human rights practices include information on criminalization, discrimination, and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
This bill removes Pakistan's designation as a major non-NATO ally, a status that allows for various benefits such as access to excess U.S. defense supplies and participation in cooperative defense research and development projects. The President may not redesignate Pakistan a major non-NATO ally without certifying that the country has taken various actions against the Haqqani Network, including continuing to conduct military actions against the Taliban-affiliated group and prosecuting its leaders.
This resolution urges the Department of State to take action on unpaid Peruvian agrarian reform bonds by encouraging Peru to negotiate in good faith with U.S. bondholders regarding payment of these bonds.
This resolution recognizes the accomplishments and example of Cesar Estrada Chavez. The resolution also encourages the people of the United States to commemorate his legacy and to always remember his rallying cry, "Si, se puede!" (which means "Yes, we can!").
Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act of 2021 This bill establishes an alternative formula to calculate Social Security retirement benefits for those who receive pensions for certain non-covered employment. (The existing formula is known as the windfall elimination provision.) The alternative formula adjusts an individual's total lifetime earnings based on the proportion of covered earnings (i.e., earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes). It applies to individuals who (1) first become eligible for benefits after 2022, (2) have earnings from non-covered service performed after 1977, and (3) have less than 30 years of coverage (i.e., years in which a beneficiary is considered to have contributed a substantial amount into the Social Security trust funds). Beneficiaries receive the higher benefit amount as calculated under the alternative method or the existing formula. In addition, the bill provides rebates for certain beneficiaries currently impacted by the existing formula. The Social Security Administration must include non-covered earnings in Social Security account statements, and the Government Accountability Office must study the availability of certain information related to retirement plans maintained by state and local governments.
Protecting American Voters Act This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to provide certain information to a state election official, upon the official's request, to verify citizenship status for the purpose of voting in federal elections. Specifically, the agencies must provide the state election official with such information necessary to verify that an applicant for voter registration or a registrant on the official list of eligible voters is a U.S. citizen. DHS may respond to a request by using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, which is used to verify immigration status. DHS may not charge a fee for this information. DHS must comply with any safeguards that the SSA determines are necessary to protect the confidentiality of an individual's Social Security number. Finally, the bill requires states to remove the names of noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters.
Higher Education Transparency Act of 2021 This bill requires an institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in federal student-aid programs to make available on its website the full content of any agreement between the IHE and a foreign source that provides language and cultural teaching resources and services to its students.
Automatic Voter Registration Act This bill provides for automatic voter registration of individuals through state motor vehicle authorities. Specifically, the bill requires each state motor vehicle authority, upon receiving specified identifying information regarding an individual who requests services from the authority, to transmit the identifying information to the appropriate state election official. The state election official must then notify the individual that the individual shall be automatically registered to vote in federal elections unless the individual declines to be registered to vote, does not meet voter registration eligibility requirements, or is already registered to vote. The bill provides an individual with a 21-calendar day period to opt out of automatic voter registration. A state may only use identifying information regarding an individual's citizenship status for determining whether the individual is eligible to vote in federal elections.
Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act of 2021 This bill increases the rehabilitation tax credit and modifies certain requirements for the credit. The bill increases the rate of the credit for qualified rehabilitation expenditures in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019, and before January 1, 2027, after which the rate reverts to 20%. The bill increases the rate of the credit to 30% for certain small projects whose qualified rehabilitation expenditures do not exceed $2.5 million. The bill also expands the types of buildings eligible for rehabilitation by decreasing the rehabilitation threshold from 100% to 50% of project expenses. It also eliminates the basis adjustment requirement for the credit and modifies rules relating to tax-exempt use property eligible for the credit.
