Rep. Jimmy Panetta

Pathways to Health Careers Act This bill provides funding for, reauthorizes through FY2026, and makes a variety of changes to certain grants administered by the Department of Health and Human Services that provide education and training to low-income individuals for health care occupations, including by establishing a new competitive grant for projects designed to train low-income individuals in allied health professions.

Year-Round Fuel Choice Act of 2021 This bill amends the Clean Air Act to address the limitations on Reid vapor pressure (a measure of gasoline's volatility) that are placed on gasoline during the summer ozone season. The bill applies the Reid vapor pressure requirements that are applicable to gasoline blended with 10% ethanol (E10) to gasoline blended with more than 10% ethanol. Thus, the waiver given to E10 gasoline, which allows an increase in the Reid Vapor Pressure volatility, is extended to gasoline blended with more than 10% ethanol.

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Department of the Interior to jointly establish a pilot program to employ veterans in positions that relate to the conservation and resource management activities of USDA and Interior. The VA, USDA, Interior, and the Department of Defense (DOD) are authorized to enter into a partnership to include the pilot program as part of the Skillbridge program, which is a DOD program to provide training to members who are transitioning out of service in the Armed Forces. The bill also requires the VA to establish guidelines containing best practices for other federal agencies that carry out programs to employ veterans who are transitioning from service in the Armed Forces.

Veterans Earned Transportation Act or the Vets ETA This bill permanently reauthorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program that provides transportation to and from VA facilities or other places in connection with vocational rehabilitation, for counseling, or for the purpose of examination, treatment, or care.

Repairing Existing Public Land by Adding Necessary Trees Act or the REPLANT Act This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) annually for each of the 10 years after enactment of this bill to transmit to Congress an estimate of the sums necessary to be appropriated, in addition to the funds available from other sources, to replant and otherwise treat an acreage equal to the acreage to be cut over that year, plus a sufficient portion of the backlog of lands found to be in need of treatment to eliminate the backlog within the 10-year period. After such 10-year period, USDA shall transmit annually to Congress an estimate of the sums necessary to replant and otherwise treat all lands being cut over and maintain planned timber production on all other forested lands in the National Forest System to prevent the development of a backlog of needed work larger than the needed work at the beginning of the fiscal year. Each reforestation activity included in a renewable resource assessment shall be carried out in accordance with applicable Forest Service management practices and definitions, including definitions relating to silvicultural practices and forest management. The Forest Service shall, based on recommendations from regional foresters, create a priority list of reforestation projects that primarily take place on priority land, promote effective reforestation following unplanned events, and may include activities to ensure adequate and appropriate seed availability. USDA shall give priority to projects on the priority list.

This resolution expresses support for the designation of Journeyman Lineworkers Recognition Day. (A journeyman lineworker is a person who builds and maintains electrical power systems.)

Cancer Drug Parity Act of 20 21 This bill requires group health plans that cover anticancer medications administered by a health care provider to provide no less favorable cost sharing for patient-administered anticancer medications. This requirement applies to medications that are (1) approved by the Food and Drug Administration; (2) medically necessary for the cancer treatment; and (3) clinically appropriate in terms of type, frequency, extent site, and duration. To comply with this requirement, plans may not, with respect to anticancer medications (1) change or replace benefits to increase out-of-pocket costs, (2) reclassify benefits to increase costs, or (3) apply more restrictive limitations to orally administered medications than to intravenously administered or injected medications.

Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2021 This bill requires states to direct their local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish policies that prevent and prohibit bullying and harassment of elementary and secondary school students. In particular, these policies must prohibit bullying and harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or religion. Further, LEAs must provide (1) students, parents, and educational professionals with annual notice of the conduct prohibited in their disciplinary policies; (2) students and parents with grievance procedures that target such conduct; and (3) the public with annual data on the incidence and frequency of that conduct at the school and LEA level. The Department of Education must conduct and report on an independent biennial evaluation of programs and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elementary and secondary schools. The National Center for Education Statistics must collect state data to determine the incidence and frequency of the conduct prohibited by LEA disciplinary policies.

This bill directs the Forest Service to, no less than once every 5 years, complete a wildfire assessment that includes analysis of, among other things, with respect to the previous five years the direct costs of wildfire response, preparation, and recovery, including wildfire mitigation and wildlife suppression activities and human health; the indirect costs of wildfire response, preparation, and recovery, including diminished tax revenue and lost business revenue, including supply chain impacts; and whether the direct and indirect costs have been or will be paid by the federal government, state or territory governments, or county or local governments.

Wildfire Emergency Act of 2021 This bill provides for programs and activities in support of forest restoration, wildfire mitigation, and energy resilience. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) shall select landscape-scale forest restoration projects to implement on National Forest System land and on land adjoining National Forest System land. USDA shall establish a pilot program under which USDA may enter into conservation finance agreements with public or private persons to implement and monitor such projects. The Department of Energy shall establish a program to support critical infrastructure and microgrids, including by improving the energy resilience and power needs of critical facilities (e.g., hospitals) through the use of microgrids, renewable energy, energy efficiency, reduced electricity demand, and on-site storage. USDA and the Department of the Interior shall establish one or more centers in western states to train individuals in methods relevant to the mitigation of wildfire risk. USDA shall establish a competitive grant program to support workforce development in forestry and fire management.