Sen. Alex Padilla

Ensuring Medicaid Continuity for Children in Foster Care Act of 2021 This bill allows states to receive federal Medicaid payment for services provided to foster care children in qualified residential treatment programs (i.e., programs with trauma-informed treatment models that address the needs of children with serious emotional or behavioral disorders or disturbances).

Frank Harrison, Elizabeth Peratrovich, and Miguel Trujillo Native American Voting Rights Act of 2021 This bill addresses the voting rights of Native American and Alaska Native voters and voting access on tribal lands. The bill includes provisions expanding the types of facilities that can be used as voter registration agencies; increasing polling site accessibility, including by expanding early in-person voting and providing ballot drop boxes; providing enforcement power to citizens and attorneys general; requiring approval for actions like moving a polling place; validating certain tribal identification for voting or registering to vote; permitting voters to designate another individual to return a ballot on their behalf; and expanding requirements for bilingual voting accessibility. In addition, the bill establishes a Native American voting task force grant program for the purpose of increasing voter outreach, education, registration, turnout, and accessibility for Native American communities. The bill also directs the Government Accountability Office to study and report on (1) the prevalence of nontraditional or nonexistent mailing addresses among Indians, members of tribes, and individuals residing on Indian lands; and (2) the alternatives for removing barriers to voter registration, receipt of voter information and materials, and receipt of ballots.

Diversifying Investigations Via Equitable Research Studies for Everyone Trials Act or the DIVERSE Trials Act This bill requires activities to increase diversity in clinical trials. It also expands reporting by laboratories that test for and diagnose COVID-19 and requires a study on data collection and data sharing during public health emergencies. Specifically, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must issue guidance on decentralized clinical trials to promote meaningful demographic and geographic diversity in patient engagement, enrollment, and participation. Decentralized clinical trials include those executed through telemedicine or other digital technologies to allow for the remote collection and assessment of clinical trial data. The FDA may also work with foreign regulators to harmonize international regulations governing decentralized clinical trials and the use of digital health technology. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may support community education, outreach, and recruitment activities for clinical trials of treatments for conditions that disproportionately impact populations underrepresented in clinical trials. The bill also specifies that drug or device manufacturers may provide, subject to some limits, free digital health technologies and other remuneration to patients in approved clinical trials without violating laws that address fraud and abuse in federal programs. Furthermore, laboratories that test for and diagnose COVID-19 must report additional demographic data, including information about social determinants of health. HHS must also contract with the National Academy of Medicine to study and propose a design for an interoperable platform to facilitate data sharing during public health emergencies.

This resolution designates September 2021 as National Child Awareness Month to (1) promote awareness of youth-serving charities and organizations throughout the United States, (2) recognize the efforts made by those charities and organizations as critical contributions to the future of the United States, and (3) recognize the importance of meeting the needs of at-risk children and youth.

This resolution addresses issues related to individuals with disabilities. Specifically, the resolution recognizes the importance of independent living for individuals with disabilities made possible by the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and encourages all Americans to celebrate the advancement of inclusion and equality of opportunity made possible by its enactment; pledges to continue to work on a bipartisan basis to identify and address the remaining barriers that undermine the national goals of equality of opportunity, independent living, economic self-sufficiency, and full participation for individuals with disabilities; pledges to work with states to improve access to home- and community-based services for individuals with disabilities; calls on the Department of Labor to provide information, resources, and technical assistance to enable individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency; and calls on the Department of Health and Human Services to provide information, resources, and technical assistance regarding such services that enable individuals with disabilities to live independently.

This resolution expresses the condolences of the Senate regarding the death of the Honorable Maurice Robert Gravel, former Senator from Alaska.

This bill directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish grant programs to support living shoreline projects and research on nature-based infrastructure. NOAA must award grants to state or local governments, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes to (1) implement climate-resilient living shoreline projects; and (2) encourage innovation in the use of natural materials to protect coastal communities, habitats, and natural system functions. A grant to carry out a living shoreline project may be used only to carry out the project, including administration, design, permitting, entry into negotiated indirect cost rate agreements, and construction; monitor, collect, and report data on the performance of the project, in accordance with the standard NOAA develops; or incentivize landowners to engage in such projects. NOAA shall award competitive research grants to eligible entities, including U.S. territories, to carry out projects focused on developing and assessing the effectiveness of innovative approaches to nature-based infrastructure for specified climate-related purposes. NOAA shall award grants to such entities for projects that focus on, among other things assessing the effectiveness of installed nature-based infrastructure, or novel approaches to nature-based infrastructure and living shorelines.

Making Essentials Available and Lawful (MEAL) Act of 2021 This bill repeals a lifetime ban that prohibits individuals convicted of certain offenses related to the possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance from receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits or assistance under programs funded by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grants. Any state law that imposes conditions on eligibility for SNAP benefits or TANF assistance based on an individual's conviction of such an offense shall have no force or effect. In addition, individuals who are incarcerated and scheduled to be released within 30 days shall qualify as individual households for purposes of SNAP eligibility. Under current law, unless specifically excepted, individuals residing in institutions do not constitute a household.

Get Toxic Substances Out of Schools Act of 2021 This bill addresses the provision of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants to prevent and eliminate toxic substances, particularly in certain school environments. The EPA is authorized make grants to Indian tribes (in addition to the current authority to provide grants to states) to establish and operate programs to prevent or eliminate unreasonable risks associated with a chemical substance or mixture of which the EPA is unlikely to address during the 24-month period after the grant is made. The bill also authorizes the EPA to partner with the Department of Labor (with respect to enforcement of labor standards) to provide grants to states and Indian tribes to identify, prevent, or eliminate risks associated with the presence of a chemical substance or mixture in eligible facilities (i.e., public school facilities operated by a local educational agency, facilities operated by an early childhood education program, and center-based child care facilities operated by an eligible child care provider). The EPA has permanent authority to provide grants to Indian tribes (in addition to the current authority to provide such grants to states) to (1) provide technical assistance to local educational agencies, early childhood education programs, and eligible child care providers to address environmental concerns in eligible facilities; and (2) develop and implement state and tribal programs to support the remediation of toxic substances in eligible facilities. Under the bill, the EPA must also provide specified outreach and guidelines related to environmental hazards in eligible facilities.

Beyond the Box for Higher Education Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Education to issue guidance and recommendations for institutions of higher education to remove criminal and juvenile justice questions from their admission applications.