Equal Pay for Equal Work Act This bill establishes the National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force to improve enforcement of equal pay laws.
Honoring Family-Friendly Workplaces Act This bill establishes the family-friendly certification program that requires the Department of Labor to award certifications and recognize employers that implement certain policies such as (1) assisting employees with paying for adoption services, (2) providing paid family and sick leave, and (3) providing subsidies for child care and other employee support.
Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act This bill provides rights and protections for domestic workers (e.g., housekeepers, nannies, caretakers, personal assistants, and chauffeurs), including pay and leave rights, and health and safety protections. Specifically, the bill repeals the exemption of domestic live-in employees from certain minimum wage and maximum hour requirements. Employers must provide written notice of termination and provide at least 30 days of lodging and two weeks of severance pay to terminated live-in employees. Live-in employees also must be provided with reasonable access to telephone and internet service during their employment. The bill requires employers to provide domestic workers with a written agreement covering wages, sick leave, benefits, and other matters. Further, domestic workers may request and be granted changes to work schedules due to personal events. The bill also provides domestic workers with certain privacy rights, extends to domestic workers protections against discrimination in employment, and increases the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for certain Medicaid-funded medical services provided by domestic workers. The Department of Labor must (1) award grants for a domestic worker national hotline for reporting emergencies, training on hazards facing domestic workers, and workforce investment activities for domestic workers; and (2) establish a Domestic Worker Wage and Standards Board to investigate standards in the domestic workers industry. Labor must publish online a document that describes the rights and protections for domestic workers under this bill.
Protecting Renters from Evictions Act of 2021 This bill extends through December 31, 2021, the order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention titled Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions To Prevent the Further Spread of COVID–19 and published on September 4, 2020.
This resolution condemns acts of violence against Afghan women and girls and any effort to limit the ability of women and girls to participate in the civic affairs of Afghanistan. It also urges the President to ensure that Afghan women, youth, and other marginalized groups are meaningfully participating and engaging in all peace talks.
Landowners' Right to Due Process in Rehearings at FERC Act of 2021 This bill revises the rehearing process for petitioners aggrieved by an order issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with respect to natural gas pipeline projects. Specifically, the bill sets forth a 60-day deadline for FERC to respond to a rehearing request from a petitioner. During this time, FERC is prohibited from authorizing construction-related activity that is related to the order, and the holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity that is the subject of the order may not exercise the right of eminent domain to acquire land or other property to carry out the pipeline project.
Voters on the Move Registration Act of 2021 This bill requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to develop, and specified agencies to distribute, a statement providing individuals with information on how to register to vote and their voting rights. This information must be provided to individuals upon their participation in certain rental assistance programs or application for certain residential mortgages.
Performing Artist Tax Parity Act of 2021 This bill modifies the tax deduction for the expenses of performing artists (including commissions paid to managers or agents) to provide for a phaseout of such deduction for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000 ($200,000 for joint return filers). The $100,000 phaseout threshold is adjusted for inflation annually for taxable years beginning after 2021.
Saving America's Pollinators Act of 2021 This bill addresses the use of certain pesticides and the health and status of native bees and other pollinators. First, the bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a Pollinator Protection Board to develop an independent review process for pesticides that pose a threat to pollinators and their habitats. All active ingredients and pesticide products that contain one or more specified neonicotinoid pesticides must be deemed to generally cause unreasonable adverse effects to the environment. Under the bill, the registration of all uses of neonicotinoid pesticides must be immediately and permanently canceled. The EPA must revoke any tolerance or exemption that allows the presence of a neonicotinoid pesticide, or any pesticide chemical residue that results from neonicotinoid pesticide use, in or on food. The continued sale or use of existing stocks of neonicotinoid pesticides is prohibited, and the EPA may not register any such pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. The bill requires the Department of the Interior, the EPA, and the Department of Agriculture to coordinate monitoring activities and report on the health and population status of native bees and other pollinators. Finally, a state or federal agency may be granted an exemption to use neonicotinoid pesticides if the board votes that use of the pesticide is warranted (1) in an emergency situation to avert significant risk to threatened or endangered species, (2) to quarantine invasive species, or (3) to protect public health.
Closing the Meal Gap Act of 202 1 This bill revises the requirements for calculating Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The bill increases the minimum SNAP benefit and requires benefits to be calculated using the value of a low-cost food plan. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must determine the requirements for the low-cost food plan, which is the diet required to feed a family of four, consisting of a man and a woman 19-50 years of age, a child 6-8 years of age, and a child 9-11 years of age. USDA must (1) reevaluate and publish the market baskets of the plan by January 1, 2027, and every five years thereafter, based on current food prices, food composition data, consumption patterns, and dietary guidance; and (2) make adjustments to the plan to account for household size, changes in the cost of the diet, and the costs of food in specified areas. The bill modifies the requirements for calculating household income to determine SNAP eligibility by (1) authorizing a standard medical expense deduction for households containing an elderly or disabled member, and (2) eliminating the cap on the excess shelter expense deduction. The bill eliminates certain work requirements for SNAP. The requirements apply to able-bodied adults who are ages 18-49 and have no dependent children. The bill allows Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands to participate in SNAP. Currently, the three territories receive block grants instead of participating in SNAP.
