This bill prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from taking specified actions against a member of the National Guard based on whether the member has received a COVID-19 vaccine. Specifically, DOD may not (1) involuntarily discharge or discipline the member, (2) withhold pay or benefits from the member, or (3) prohibit the member from participating in training or using equipment.
Sponsored bills
Community Bank Relief Act of 2021 This bill requires banking agencies to set the community bank leverage ratio between 8% and 8.5% for calendar years 2022, 2023, and 2024 for community banks seeking to satisfy simplified capital adequacy requirements. Currently, banking agencies are statutorily required to set the rate between 8% and 10% through rulemaking. Under current regulations, the rate will increase from 8.5% to 9% on January 1, 2022.
No Tax Dollars for the United Nation's Immigration Invasion Act This bill prohibits the federal government from making contributions to the United Nations (U.N.) International Organization for Migration, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
This bill requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make publicly available all records of information submitted to the FDA in conjunction with the emergency use authorization or licensing of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act This bill requires federal judicial officers to file periodic transaction reports disclosing certain securities transactions. The bill also requires online publication of judicial financial disclosure reports. Specifically, the bill requires federal judicial officers to file reports within 45 days after a purchase, sale, or exchange that exceeds $1,000 in stocks, bonds, commodities futures, and other forms of securities. Additionally, the bill directs the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to establish a searchable internet database of judicial financial disclosure reports. The office must, within 90 days of the date by which a report must be filed, make the report available on the database in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable format. The bill does not require the immediate and unconditional availability of reports filed by a judicial officer or employee if the Judicial Conference finds that revealing personal and sensitive formation could endanger that individual or a family member of that individual.
Conscience Protection Act of 2021 This bill provides statutory authority for certain protections for health care providers that refuse to participate in abortions based on religious beliefs or other convictions. Health care providers include individual professionals, medical facilities, health insurance organizations, and social services providers that refer clients to health care services. The federal government and entities that receive federal funding for health-related activities, including state and local governments, may not discriminate against a health care provider that refuses to be involved in, or provide coverage for, abortions. Currently, similar requirements apply to various related activities, including certain employment or personnel decisions (the Church Amendments), abortion services training (the Coats-Snowe Amendment), qualified health plans offered through health insurance exchanges, and annual appropriations bills for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other federal agencies (the Weldon Amendment). The HHS Office for Civil Rights must investigate complaints of this kind of discrimination. Furthermore, HHS may terminate or reduce HHS funding for health-related activities if a person or entity fails to comply with nondiscrimination requirements. Additionally, the Department of Justice or any entity adversely affected by such discrimination may bring a civil action to obtain appropriate relief. A plaintiff does not need to seek or exhaust administrative remedies before bringing the action. A plaintiff may also bring an action, including one for money damages, against a governmental entity. In many cases, principles of sovereign immunity shield states and some localities from these kinds of actions.
Natural Immunity Transparency Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to report within 30 days of the bill's enactment to Congress concerning natural immunity to COVID-19. In particular, the report must compare certain outcomes for individuals who recovered from a COVID-19 infection without having received the vaccination and individuals who received the vaccination.
Housing Promotes Livelihood and Ultimate Success Act of 2021 or the Housing PLUS Act of 2021 This bill modifies the requirements under which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must award grants under the Continuum of Care Program, which provides funding for nonprofit providers and state and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families. Specifically, the bill bars HUD from prohibiting, limiting, or restricting Continuum of Care grants to recipients that (1) require program participants to receive supportive services, (2) require program participants to be sober or drug-free, or (3) are faith-based organizations. The bill also requires that 30% of Continuum of Care grant funds be set aside for eligible grant recipients that provide or offer access to wraparound services.
Fairness for Federal Contractors Act of 2021 This bill prohibits executive agencies from requiring contractors to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to study the degree to which Executive Order 14042 (Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors) caused disruptions to federal contracts, supply chains, and transportation systems.
This joint resolution nullifies a Department of Labor emergency temporary standard for preventing the transmission of COVID-19 in employment settings. Under the standard issued on November 5, 2021, employers with 100 or more employees must require their onsite employees to either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.