Mortgage Insurance Tax Deduction Act of 2021 This bill makes permanent the tax deduction for mortgage insurance premiums.
This bill treats property transferred by gift or upon the death of a decedent as sold at its fair market value (thus requiring recognition of gain realized over the property's basis). Under current law there is a step up in basis of such property which allows for an exclusion of gain for gifts and estate property. The bill allows an exception to this fair market value rule for U.S. citizen spouses, charities, and certain tangible property. The bill allows a taxpayer an exclusion from income for up to $1 million (indexed for inflation) in gain resulting from transfers at death. The bill imposes certain information reporting requirements for gifts or bequests subject to this bill's fair market value rule. It also allows taxpayers to pay any tax due in two or more, but not more than seven, equal installments.
Physician Assistant Higher Education Modernization Act of 2021 This bill assists qualified individuals in receiving the education and training needed to become a physician assistant. Graduate students enrolled in physician assistant education programs are eligible for (1) Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans, and (2) loan forgiveness programs for those who serve in areas of national need upon graduation. The bill also requires the Department of Education to provide historically Black colleges and universities and predominantly Black institutions with grants to fund physician assistant studies at the masters level, prioritize the awarding of grants for physician assistant education programs at the postbaccalaureate level that will benefit Hispanic and low-income students, and allow certain grants to be used to support student matriculation and establish physician assistant education programs at rural-serving institutions of higher education.
Investing in Our Communities Act This bill reinstates the exclusion from gross income for interest on certain bonds issued to advance the refunding of a prior bond issue. The exclusion was repealed for bonds issued after 2017.
Freight Rail Assistance and Investment to Launch Coronavirus-era Activity and Recovery Act of 2021 or the Freight RAILCAR Act of 2021 This bill provides a new tax credit for 50% of freight railcar fleet modernization expenses. The bill defines freight railcar fleet modernization expenses to include amounts for railcar replacement and modernization, railcar scrap amounts, and for railcar facility and technology modernization. The Department of the Treasury must report to Congress on the credit to provide information on the number of times the credit was claimed and the number of railcars scrapped or built as a result of the credit.
Keep Your Home and Prevent Homelessness Act of 2021 This bill allows the Department of the Treasury to transfer Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Housing Trust Fund. This fund provides grants to states to (1) increase and preserve the supply of rental housing for extremely low-income and very low-income families, including homeless families; and (2) increase homeownership for extremely low-income and very low-income families.
Stop the Shutdowns Act This bill requires the Small Business Administration to submit a report analyzing the impact on small businesses of any prospective requirement relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) that would restrict or prevent those businesses from operating at normal capacity.
Financing Our Energy Future Act The bill extends the tax treatment of certain publicly traded partnerships as corporations to renewable and alternative energy sources and transportation fuels. Under current law the tax treatment of such partnerships is only available to investors in energy portfolios for oil, natural gas, coal extraction, and pipeline projects.
Metropolitan Planning Enhancement Act This bill requires that transportation projects included in an adopted metropolitan area transportation plan be selected through a publicly available transparent process using criteria that directly support specified factors, national transportation goals, and applicable state transportation goals.
Cyber Shield Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Commerce to establish the Cyber Shield Program, a voluntary program to identify and certify covered products. These products are consumer-facing physical objects that meet industry-leading cybersecurity and data security benchmarks and that can (1) connect to the internet; and (2) collect, send, or receive data or control the actions of a physical object or system. Commerce must also establish a Cyber Shield Advisory Committee to recommend (1) the format and content of Cyber Shield labels for covered products; and (2) the process to identify, establish, report on, adopt, maintain, and promote compliance with industry-leading cybersecurity and data security benchmarks to enhance cybersecurity and protect data. On its website, Commerce must make publicly available (1) program information, (2) a database of covered products certified under the program, and (3) contact information for each manufacturer of a covered product certified under the program.
Transportation Megaprojects Accountability and Oversight Act of 20 21 This bill sets forth additional requirements for a recipient of assistance under National Highway System provisions for a megaproject. (A megaproject is a project that has an estimated total cost of $2.5 billion or more.) Specifically, the bill requires a recipient to submit to the Department of Transportation (DOT) a comprehensive risk management plan that contains, among other things, a description of the process for identifying, quantifying, and monitoring the risks that might result in cost overruns, delays, reduced construction quality, or reduced benefits; establish a peer review group for such megaproject that consists of at least five individuals to give expert advice on the scientific, technical, and project management aspects of the megaproject; and publish specific information online, including the name, license number, and license type of each engineer supervising an aspect of the megaproject. DOT must make arrangements with the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies under which the board must convene a transportation megaprojects committee.
Equitable Transit Oriented Development Support Act This bill revises the transportation finance infrastructure and innovation (TIFIA) program to make community development financial institutions (CDFIs) eligible for federal transportation infrastructure loans. The loans must be used for CDFI transit-oriented development projects located within one-half mile in an urban area or three-fourths of a mile in a rural area of a fixed guideway transit facility, passenger rail station, intercity bus station or intermodal facility that supports (1) commercial facilities or businesses that are located in low-income communities, (2) community facilities that are located in low-income communities or principally serve low-income persons, or (3) housing that is principally affordable to low-income persons. The Department of Transportation (DOT) must require any CDFI participating in the TIFIA program to establish a CDFI transit-oriented development account into which the proceeds of a secured loan made to the CDFI and any loan repayments from public or private entities receiving loans made to fund CDFI transit-oriented development projects will be deposited. DOT must set-aside not more than 10% of funding available to carry out the TIFIA program for CDFI transit-oriented development accounts.
