This resolution designates the week beginning on February 28, 2021, as National Tribal Colleges and Universities Week.
Pandemic Relief for Working Seniors Act of 2021 This bill increases the amount of income that individuals who are younger than full retirement age may earn in taxable years 2020 and 2021 without reductions to their Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits. Under current law, these individuals are subject to the retirement earnings test, which reduces their OASDI benefits if their earnings exceed an annual limit. This limit is set at $18,240 for 2020 and $18,960 for 2021 for most individuals. However, the limit for individuals who reach full retirement age in 2020 or 2021 is $48,600 or $50,520, respectively. This bill increases the applicable income limits to equal the amount of the contribution and benefit base. The contribution and benefit base serves as a cap on both the amount of earnings subject to the Social Security payroll tax and the amount of earnings used to calculate benefits. It is set at $137,700 for 2020 and $142,800 for 2021.
Build America's Libraries Act This bill establishes and provides funds through FY2024 for the Build America's Libraries Fund, from which the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) must allocate funding to states and, through them, need-based grants to libraries to make long-term improvements to library facilities. The IMLS must also award grants to Indian tribes and organizations that primarily serve and represent Native Hawaiians. Specifically, the bill requires each state that receives an allocation, and each library that receives a grant, to carry out certain activities to improve library facilities. These activities include constructing and renovating library facilities, investing in infrastructure projects to improve internet access and connectivity, improving indoor air quality, and making facilities accessible to individuals with disabilities. The bill also outlines administrative and oversight provisions, including by requiring library projects to use iron and steel products that are produced in the United States.
COVID-19 Eviction Consumer Report Fairness Act This bill prohibits from inclusion in a consumer credit report information related to an eviction occurring during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) national emergency or occurring in the 120 days after the termination of such emergency.
Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act This bill prohibits U.S. assistance to the police or military of Honduras. The Department of the Treasury shall instruct U.S. representatives of multilateral development banks to vote against providing loans to the Honduran police or military. The prohibition shall be lifted if the Department of State certifies to Congress that various conditions have been met, including that the Honduran government has (1) pursued all legal avenues to reach verdicts in specified crimes, such as the killings of indigenous land-rights activist Berta Caceres and of 100 small-farmer activists in the Aguan Valley; (2) investigated and prosecuted members of the military and police who have violated human rights; and (3) taken effective steps to establish the rule of law.
No Social Media Accounts for Terrorists or State Sponsors of Terrorism Act of 2021 This bill bars access to certain social media platforms by individuals designated as terrorists or senior officials of a government that is a state sponsor of terrorism. Specifically, the bill requires the President to prohibit providers of social media platforms (i.e., platforms that allow users to generate and share content and that have over 100,000 active users) from making such platforms available to barred individuals or officials. The bill does, however, allow officials to use these platforms solely for legitimate emergency alert purposes. Violations of this prohibition are subject to civil and criminal penalties. In addition, the President may waive the prohibition in the interests of U.S. national security. The Department of the Treasury must report to Congress on (1) the status and impact of the prohibitions of this bill, and (2) efforts to facilitate the free flow of information and access to communications technologies by civil society and democratic activists in Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and other countries controlled by authoritarian regimes.
Nuclear SLCM Ban Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the obligation or expenditure of Department of Defense or Department of Energy funds for FY2022, or any year thereafter, for the research and development, production, or deployment of the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile and its associated nuclear warhead.
Adoption Information Act This bill requires federally funded family planning programs to provide each person who inquires about their services with specified information about adoption centers in their state. The Department of Health and Human Services must provide the programs with pamphlets containing the required information.
Research Investment to Spark the Economy Act of 2021 or the RISE Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, the Interior, Health and Human Services, and Transportation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation, and Environmental Protection Agency to provide support for research regarding COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) or research disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Support may be used to provide supplemental funding to extend the duration of a grant to a research institution, national laboratory, or individual that was awarded prior to the enactment of this bill, or to expand the purposes of such a grant as specified; issue awards to research the effects of the current pandemic and potential future pandemics; and provide flexibility on awards to account for facility closures or other limitations during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Agencies must provide the support as rapidly as possible. Provided funds shall remain available through FY2021.
Protecting American Energy Jobs Act This bill limits the President's authority to prohibit or withdraw federal land or waters from energy production activities. Specifically, the bill requires the President and federal agencies to obtain the approval of Congress before prohibiting or substantially delaying certain new energy or mineral leases or permits on federal lands, including oil and gas leases, coal leases, hard rock leases, or critical minerals leases. In addition, the President and agencies must obtain the approval of Congress before withdrawing certain federal lands from mineral and geothermal leasing activities. Further, the bill repeals the President's authority to withdraw unleased lands on the outer Continental Shelf from oil and gas leasing. The bill nullifies Executive Order 13990 titled Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis; Executive Order 14008 titled Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad; and the Department of the Interior's Secretarial Order 3395 concerning a temporary suspension of delegated authority to all of Interior's Bureaus and Offices, including the authority to approve leases.
Healthy Workplaces Act This bill allows tax credits for employer expenses for protecting employees from COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). Specifically, the bill allows a credit against certain employment taxes equal to 50% of the sum of qualified employee protection expenses, workplace reconfiguration expenses, and education and training expenses paid by the employer during a calendar quarter. The bill also allows a 50% income tax credit for qualified workplace reconfiguration expenses incurred by an employer in 2020. The bill defines qualified workplace reconfiguration expenses to include amounts paid by an employer to evaluate, design, and reconfigure retail space and employee work areas for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The evaluation, design, and reconfiguration must be completed before January 1, 2022.
Railroad Employee Equity and Fairness Act or the REEF Act This bill permanently exempts payments made from the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Account from sequestration. Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals. Currently, this exemption ends 30 days after the termination of the COVID-19 national emergency period.
