Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act This bill establishes temporary programs to provide federal and private student loan forgiveness to certain frontline health care workers. Frontline health care workers are those individuals who have made significant contributions to the medical response (e.g., patient care, medical research, or testing) to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) national emergency. Specifically, the Department of Education (ED) must carry out a program to forgive the outstanding balance of principal and interest due on federal student loans for borrowers who are frontline health care workers. Additionally, the Department of the Treasury must carry out a program to repay in full the outstanding balance of principal and interest due on certain private student loans for borrowers who are frontline health care workers. ED and Treasury must coordinate to ensure that eligibility determinations are consistent across both programs and that frontline health care workers who are eligible for both programs may apply for loan forgiveness with a single application. Further, such programs must be available to frontline health care workers who were borrowers of eligible loans and who died as a result of COVID-19. The bill specifies the notification requirements related to the availability of these programs. ED, Treasury, and the Department of Health and Human Services must jointly establish an intergovernmental working group to assist with the administration of these programs, including the development of the application process. The bill also excludes discharged student loan debt under these programs from an individual's gross income.
No Vaccine Passports Act This bill prohibits certain actions related to vaccine passports and proof of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) vaccination. Specifically, a federal agency may not issue a vaccine passport, vaccine pass, or other standardized documentation for the purpose of certifying the COVID-19 vaccination status of a U.S. citizen to a third party, or otherwise publish or share any COVID-19 vaccination record of a U.S. citizen or similar health information. Additionally, proof of COVID-19 vaccination shall not be required to access federal or congressional property or services.
Expanding SNAP Options Act of 2021 This bill revises the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) to make the online redemption of benefits, including the acceptance of Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards, more widely available by requiring the implementation of online SNAP purchasing in every state and providing funding for an online redemption portal and a technical assistance center. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must award on a competitive basis one or more contracts to develop an EBT Online Redemption Portal to (1) allow program participants to use online or mobile electronic benefits transactions to purchase program foods from, and make online payments to, authorized program retailers under SNAP; and (2) facilitate food purchase delivery for program participants using such electronic benefits transactions. The Food and Nutrition Service of USDA must award competitive grants or enter into cooperative agreements with nonprofit entities to establish a SNAP Online Purchasing Technical Assistance Center to provide state agencies, authorized program retailers, and program participants information on and technical assistance with accepting SNAP benefits through online transactions and use of the portal. In providing technical assistance, the center must give priority to entities that are small and limited-resource retailers. The bill provides funding for both the online redemption portal and the technical assistance center. USDA must maintain on its website a publicly available listing, organized and searchable by region, locality, and state, of all approved retail food stores accepting benefits from recipients of SNAP, including through online transactions.
Providing Responsible Emergency Plans for Animals at Risk of E merging Disasters Act or the PREPARED Act This bill establishes requirements governing the care of animals by entities, such as zoos, in emergencies or disasters. Specifically, the bill requires each research facility, dealer, exhibitor, intermediate handler, and carrier to develop and follow a contingency plan to provide for the humane handling, treatment, transportation, housing, and care of their animals in the event of an emergency or disaster.
Flood Level Observation, Operations, and Decision Support Act or the FLOODS Act This bill addresses forecasting and the communication of flood, tornado, and hurricane events by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Among other provisions, the bill directs NOAA to establish a National Integrated Flood Information System to better inform and provide for more timely decision-making to reduce flood-related effects and costs; establishes partnerships with institutions of higher education and federal agencies to improve total water predictions; designates a service coordination hydrologist at each National Weather Service River Forecast Center to increase impact-based decision support services at the state and local level; requires NOAA to evaluate and improve flood watches and warnings and communication of information to support preparation and responses to floods; ensures that the tornado warning improvement and extension program periodically examines the value of incorporating innovative observations, such as acoustic or infrasonic measurements, observations from phased array radars, and observations from mesonets; requires NOAA to estimate and communicate the frequency of precipitation; establishes an Interagency Coordinating Committee on Water Management to ensure that federal agencies that engage in water-related matters, including water storage and supplies, water quality and restoration activities, water infrastructure, transportation on rivers and inland waterways, and water forecasting, work together where such agencies have joint or overlapping responsibilities; and directs NOAA to conduct an analysis of gaps in the availability of snow-related data to assess and predict floods and flood impacts.
Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act This bill addresses employment standards for individuals with disabilities. The bill directs the Department of Labor to award grants to states and certain eligible entities to assist them in transforming their business and program models to support individuals with disabilities by providing competitive integrated employment, assisting disabled individuals in finding and retaining work in such employment, providing integrated employment and integrated community participation and wraparound services for such individuals, and ensuring that such services comply with federal regulations for individuals receiving home and community-based services. The bill also prohibits the issuance of new special certificates that allow payment of subminimum wages to disabled individuals and phases out existing certificates over a four-year period. The bill directs Labor's Office of Disability Employment to award grants to provide technical assistance and other strategic support to employers transitioning from special certificates to competitive integrated employment for disabled individuals. Labor must contract with a nonprofit entity to conduct an evaluation of the impact of these transitions.
Voluntary Protection Program Act This bill provides statutory authority for the voluntary protection program within the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Under the program, workplaces that implement comprehensive safety and health management systems are exempt from certain paperwork and inspection requirements.
Teaching Asian Pacific American History Act This bill requires entities (e.g., institutions of higher education, libraries, and museums), in order to be eligible for certain grants administered by the Department of Education (ED), to include Asian Pacific American history in their teaching of American history. It also requires Asian Pacific American history to be included in tests administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Specifically, the bill mandates the inclusion of Asian Pacific American history as a required component of American history for such entities to be eligible for American History and Civics Academies' competitive grants. These grants support the establishment of (1) Presidential Academies for Teachers of American History and Civics, which offer workshops to teachers of American history and civics to strengthen their knowledge and prepare them to teach in these subjects; and (2) Congressional Academies for Students of American History and Civics, which support high school students in developing an understanding of these subjects. (Currently, Asian Pacific American history is not a required component of American history for either academy.) In addition, ED must give priority to grant applicants that align their activities with programs and resources of the Smithsonian Institution's Asian Pacific American Center. The bill also requires the inclusion of Asian Pacific American history in tests administered by the NAEP, which measures student academic achievement in various subjects.
Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2021 This bill increases funding for water infrastructure, including funding for several programs related to controlling water pollution or protecting drinking water. Specifically, it establishes a Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund. The fund may be used for specified grant programs. The bill increases the corporate income tax rate to 24.5% to provide revenues for the fund. In addition, the bill revises requirements concerning the clean water state revolving fund (SRF) and the drinking water SRF. It also creates or reauthorizes several grant programs for water infrastructure.
Sustainable Agriculture Research Act This bill revises the goals of the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority (AGARDA). Specifically, the bill expands the goals to require AGARDA to enhance the role of agriculture in innovative voluntary resilience solutions in the United States through the development of agricultural technologies that address (1) the impact of extreme weather on crop production, (2) the expansion of the potential for long-term carbon storage through agriculture, (3) increased economic and practical feasibility for renewable and sustainable energy on farms and in the agriculture industry, and (4) increased adoption of voluntary conservation practices that sequester carbon and build on-farm climate resilience.
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that blood donation policies should be grounded in science, minimize deferral periods, and allow donations by all those who can safely make them.
This resolution declares that respect for human rights is foundational to U.S. bilateral and international engagement with Nigeria, and it condemns the violence by Nigerian security forces against peaceful protestors. Further, the resolution supports the demands of the movement for justice, accountability, and meaningful police and security-sector reform in Nigeria, and it calls on the Nigerian government to release everyone who has been wrongfully arrested for participating in or supporting this movement.
