Public Housing Emergency Response Act This bill authorizes additional assistance from the Public Housing Capital Fund to public housing agencies based upon capital need as determined by the agencies' most recent Physical Needs Assessment.
Combating Global Corruption Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of State to develop a program to combat corruption in foreign countries. The State Department must annually report to Congress a tiered list of all foreign countries. The first tier shall contain countries that meet minimum standards for combating public corruption, while the second tier shall contain countries that do not yet meet these standards but are making significant efforts to do so. Third-tier countries do not meet the minimum anti-corruption standards and are not making significant efforts to do so. Factors for assessing efforts to address corruption include a country's compliance with specified relevant international agreements. The State Department must report on whether, for purposes of potential sanctions, foreign persons are engaged in significant corruption in third-tier countries or in relation to the planning, construction, or operation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The State Department must also designate an anti-corruption point of contact in the U.S. diplomatic post in each second- or third-tier country and where the State Department determines that such a point of contact is necessary. The point of contact shall be responsible for enhancing coordination and promoting the implementation of a whole-of-government approach to enhancing the ability of foreign countries to combat public corruption.
Know Your Social Security Act This bill requires the Social Security Administration to provide Social Security account statements by mail to each individual who is 25 or older and who is eligible for, but not currently receiving, Social Security retirement benefits. Individuals may choose to receive their account statements electronically.
Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2021 This bill expands tax incentives and federal assistance for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) that are sponsored by S corporations. The bill provides additional tax incentives for ESOPs by (1) extending to all domestic corporations, including S corporations, provisions allowing deferral of tax on gain from the sale of employer securities to an ESOP; and (2) allowing a tax deduction for 50% of the interest received by a bank on loans to S corporation-sponsored ESOPs for the purchase of employer securities. The Department of the Treasury must establish the S Corporation Employee Ownership Assistance Office to foster increased employee ownership of S corporations. The bill defines an ESOP business concern for purposes of the Small Business Act as a business concern that was eligible for a loan, preference, or other program under such Act before more than 49% of the business concern was acquired by an ESOP.
Minor League Baseball Relief Act This bill establishes a program for the relief of certain minor league baseball clubs and independent professional baseball clubs that experienced large business losses. The bill provides funding for the Small Business Administration to make grants to such clubs that experienced decreases in gross revenue in 2020 of at least 75%, as measured against revenues in 2019 (or, if revenues were negatively affected by a natural disaster or weather disruption in 2019, by the average of revenues over the prior three-year period). The source of funding for the grants shall be funds appropriated under enacted COVID-19 relief legislation that have not been obligated and are no longer being used to carry out activities authorized under those laws. Grant amounts provided to any club may not exceed $10 million.
Green Neighborhoods Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish incentives that encourage participants in HUD programs to increase energy efficiency in new and existing housing.
Saving Hazardous And Declining Environments Act or the SHADE Act This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development to award grants for government entities and nonprofit organizations to plant trees in low-income communities and in communities meeting designated minority or limited English-proficiency thresholds.
Resident Education Deferred Interest Act or the REDI Act This bill allows borrowers in medical or dental internships or residency programs to defer student loan payments until the completion of their programs.
Reducing Hereditary Cancer Act of 2021 This bill provides for Medicare coverage of germline mutation testing for individuals with a personal or family history of a hereditary cancer gene mutation or suspected history of hereditary cancer, as well as for associated coverage of risk-reducing surgeries and screenings.
Humane and Existing Alternatives in Research and Testing Sciences Act of 2021 or the HEARTS Act of 2021 This bill expands the responsibilities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to promote research methods that do not use animals. Specifically, the NIH must (1) provide incentives for nonanimal research, and (2) require the evaluation of viable nonanimal alternatives before approving any research that involves animals. Additionally, NIH applications for research grants involving animals must include an assurance that nonanimal methods for such research are not available.
Ending Platform Monopolies Act This bill prohibits large online platforms, as designated by the Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission, from offering certain products or services from another line of business that is owned or controlled by the platform. Specifically, such platforms are prohibited from owning or controlling another line of business that (1) uses the platform to sell products or services, (2) offers a product or service that the platform requires a business user to purchase or use as a condition for access to the platform, or (3) gives rise to a conflict of interest. Under the bill, a conflict of interest occurs when a platform operator's ownership or control of another line of business creates an incentive and the ability for the platform to provide an advantage to the platform's own products or services over those of a competitor on the platform, or exclude or disadvantage the products or services of a competitor on the platform. For example, under the bill, Amazon.com, Inc. may be prohibited from offering for sale on Amazon.com privately labeled products or services (e.g., Amazon Essentials, AmazonBasics, etc.) if designated as a large online platform. Finally, the bill prohibits a director, officer, employee, or agent of a platform from simultaneously serving in the same or a similar role with a formerly affiliated entity.
Platform Competition and Opportunity Act of 2021 This bill generally prohibits operators of covered platforms from acquiring the stock or other share capital or the assets of another person engaged in commerce or in any activity affecting commerce. Covered platforms are online platforms that (1) have at least 50 million U.S.-based monthly active users or at least 100,000 U.S.-based monthly active business users, (2) are owned or controlled by a person with net annual sales or a market capitalization greater than $600 billion, and (3) are critical trading partners for the sale or provision of any product or service offered on or directly related to the platform. The Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice must designate whether an entity is a covered platform, and both must carry out enforcement activities. The bill provides for any person (other than a foreign state and any instrumentality thereof) who is injured by an activity forbidden under the bill to recover triple damages. (A foreign state may only recover actual damages.) Further, the bill specifies the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as the judicial venue for a covered platform's appeals related to (1) the designation as a covered platform, (2) other administrative and enforcement proceedings, or (3) a final order issued in any district court.
