Accelerate Long-term Investment Growth Now Act or the ALIGN Act This bill makes permanent the expensing of certain new business equipment. Expensing allows the deduction of the full amount of an expense item in the same taxable year.
Kids In-Person Determines School Success Act or the KIDS Success Act This bill requires each local educational agency (LEA) that received federal COVID-19 relief funds to, within 60 days, submit a report to the Department of Education (ED). The bill also requires ED to assess the impact of school closures due to COVID-19. Specifically, the LEA must report on each elementary or secondary school that did not reopen for full-time, in-person learning as of April 5, 2021. The report must include the reasons why the school did not reopen in accordance with specified guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the expected date for return to full-time, in-person learning. In addition, the report must include the total amount of federal COVID-19 relief funds received by the LEA. Upon receiving the information from LEAs, ED must assess and report on the effects of school closures due to COVID-19. The assessment must include (1) the long-term effects of extended e-learning and hybrid learning on students, and (2) the effect of closures on student absenteeism and disciplinary changes.
Haulers of Agriculture and Livestock Safety Act of 2021 or the HAULS Act of 202 1 This bill modifies exemptions with respect to commercial motor vehicle safety regulations involving the transportation of agricultural commodities and farm supplies. The bill allows the federal hours-of-service rules exemption regarding maximum driving and on-duty time for drivers transporting agricultural commodities and farm supplies to apply year-round. Current law provides an exception from the federal hours-of-service rules for the transportation of agricultural commodities within a 150 air-mile radius of the normal work reporting location only during planting and harvest periods which are determined by each state. Additionally, the Department of Transportation must revise the definition of agricultural commodity to include specific commodities that are covered by the federal hours-of-service rules exception.
Wage Equity Act of 2021 This bill addresses workplace wage discrimination based on sex. Specifically, it limits the acceptable reasons for wage disparities based on sex to legitimate business-related factors unrelated to sex. Italso protects from liability for such discrimination those employers who conduct a job and wage analysis audit to identify wage disparities and take reasonable steps to remedy any such disparities. Further, the bill prohibits employers from relying on, or requesting, the wage history of a prospective employee for hiring and wage determination purposes unless it is voluntarily provided by the prospective employee. Employers generally may not prohibit employees from inquiring about, or discussing, wage information concerning another employee or from requesting information from an employer about wage differentials. Finally, the bill permits the Department of Labor to establish a grant program for negotiation skills education for women and girls. It also requires the Government Accountability Office to study and report on the causes and effects of sex-based wage disparities.
Advancing Uniform Transportation Opportunities for Veterans Act or the AUTO for Veterans Act This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide (or assist in providing) an eligible veteran or service member with an additional automobile or other conveyance under the VA automobile allowance and adaptive equipment program. Currently, a veteran or service member with a specified service-connected disability or impairment may not receive more than one automobile or other conveyance under the program. The bill authorizes the additional benefit for such veterans and service members if 10 years have passed since the person last received such benefit.
Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act This bill prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from transmitting certain information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) utilized by licensed importers or dealers of firearms. Specifically, the bill prohibits the VA from transmitting personally identifying information of a veteran or a beneficiary to the NICS solely on the basis that such veteran or beneficiary has an appointed fiduciary to manage their benefits, unless there is an order or finding of a judicial authority that such veteran or beneficiary is a danger to themselves or others.
This resolution condemns Iranian state-sponsored terrorist attacks against U.S. citizens and officials and Iranian dissidents and expresses support for the people of Iran who are engaged in legitimate and peaceful protests against the Iranian regime.
This bill terminates certain executive actions related to immigration. Specifically, this bill terminates an executive order that directs the Bureau of the Census to include in a state's population count each individual whose usual place of residence is in that state, regardless of an individual's immigration status; an executive order that revokes another executive order that prioritized immigration enforcement against certain classes of aliens, such as aliens who have been charged with any criminal offense; and a presidential proclamation that ends the declared emergency pertaining to the U.S.-Mexico border and terminates the authorities used to redirect funds to construct a wall along that border.
EMS Counts Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to revise the broad description under the occupational series 33-2011 Firefighters of the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification System of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to include the following detailed occupations Firefighters; Firefighter/EMTs; Firefighter/Paramedics; and Firefighters, All Other.
Dust Off Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the Dust Off crews (helicopter air ambulance crews) of the Vietnam War in recognition of their heroic military service.
