Sen. Chris Van Hollen

Maddy summarySRES 462 designates November 2021 as National Lung Cancer Awareness Month and expresses support for early detection and treatment of lung cancer. The resolution encourages public awareness and educational activities to promote lung cancer screening among eligible individuals, particularly those with risk factors like family history or environmental exposures. It highlights the disease's high mortality rates (131,880 estimated deaths in 2021) and disparities in screening access, such as lower screening rates among eligible Americans (2.8-7.2% annually). The resolution does not create new laws but aims to foster broader recognition of lung cancer prevention and early intervention efforts.

Maddy summaryThis Senate resolution (SRES 464) expresses symbolic support for National Adoption Month (November) and National Adoption Day (November 20), encouraging public awareness of children awaiting adoption. It does not create new laws or allocate funding but urges U.S. citizens to consider adoption and support efforts to provide safety and permanency for children in foster care. The resolution highlights challenges like the pandemic's impact on foster care systems while affirming that every child deserves a permanent family. It directly affects no specific group through policy changes - it is a non-binding statement of support endorsed by 30+ senators.

Maddy summarySRES 437 is a Senate resolution designating November 8, 2021, as "National First-Generation College Celebration Day." It symbolically recognizes first-generation college students - those whose parents did not earn bachelor’s degrees - and honors the 1965 Higher Education Act, which established key programs like Federal TRIO and Pell Grants supporting these students. The resolution does not create new laws or funding but urges nationwide acknowledgment of first-gen students’ contributions to education and workforce development. It directly affects awareness and recognition for this student group, linking their experiences to the historical context of the Higher Education Act.

Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine Act or the Healthy MOM Act This bill expands health insurance coverage availability for pregnant individuals. It requires health insurers, health insurance exchanges, and group health plans to offer a special enrollment period to pregnant individuals. The special enrollment period offered by an insurer or exchange must begin when the pregnancy is reported to the insurer or exchange. The special enrollment period offered by a group health plan must begin when the pregnancy is reported to the plan or is confirmed by a health care provider. The bill also makes pregnancy a qualifying life event for the purpose of enrolling in a federal employee health benefit plan. Additionally, a group health plan or health insurer that covers dependents must provide coverage for maternity care to all covered individuals. Any individual who is eligible for Medicaid and is, or becomes, pregnant maintains such eligibility for one year after the end of the pregnancy. The bill revises the range in which a state must establish a maximum level of family income for pregnant women and infants to be eligible for Medicaid. The upper limit of the range is eliminated and the lower limit is set to the level in place on January 1, 2014.

Flu Vaccine Act This bill requires the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, to conduct or support research regarding the development of a universal influenza vaccine.

Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act This bill addresses employment standards for people with disabilities. First, the Department of Labor must award grants to states and certain eligible entities to assist them in transforming their business and program models to support people with disabilities by providing competitive integrated employment, assisting them in finding and retaining work in such employment, providing them with integrated employment and integrated community participation and wraparound services, 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 people with disabilities and phases out existing certificates over a five-year period. Further, Labor's Office of Disability Employment must award grants for technical assistance and other strategic support to employers transitioning from special certificates to competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities. Labor must contract with a nonprofit entity to conduct an evaluation of the impact of these transitions.

Clean Cooking Support Act This bill provides for a way of increasing the number of clean cookstoves and fuels for household, institutional, or commercial use throughout the world. The Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) shall jointly establish the Clean Cooking Interagency Working Group to assist with overseeing the planning, management, and coordination of initiatives to increase the number of clean cookstoves and fuels worldwide. The State Department, USAID, the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Environmental Protection Agency shall work with the Clean Cooking Alliance to carry out clean cooking activities that relate to the missions of such departments or agencies.

Access to Birth Control Act This bill requires pharmacies to comply with certain rules related to ensuring access to contraceptives. Specifically, pharmacies must provide without delay a customer with any contraceptive or related medication that is in stock. If the contraceptive is not in stock, the pharmacy must immediately inform the customer and either order the contraceptive or refer the customer to a pharmacy that has it in stock. Laws in some states provide pharmacists with the right to refuse to dispense contraceptive-related drugs on religious or conscience grounds. Pharmacies may refuse to provide a contraceptive to a customer (1) if the customer lacks a valid prescription for a prescription contraceptive or is unable to pay for the contraceptive, or (2) based on a pharmacy employee's professional clinical judgment. The bill also establishes a private cause of action and civil monetary penalties for violations of the bill.

Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination in the Workplace Act or the BE HEARD in the Workplace Act This bill expands protections against discrimination and harassment in the workplace and raises the minimum wage for tipped employees. Specifically, the bill (1) makes it an unlawful employment practice to discriminate against an individual in the workplace based on sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth, a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, or a sex stereotype; and (2) provides a statutory definition for what constitutes workplace harassment. Further, these protections apply to all workplaces, regardless of size, and to all workers, including independent contractors, interns, volunteers, and trainees. The bill prohibits employers from entering into contracts or agreements with workers that contain certain nondisparagement or nondisclosure clauses and prohibits certain predispute arbitration agreements and postdispute agreements. It also establishes grant programs to (1) prevent and respond to workplace discrimination and harassment, (2) provide legal assistance for low-income workers, and (3) establish a system of legal advocacy in states to protect the rights of workers. The bill further provides employees the right to retain their tips and it increases, in specified annual increments, the minimum wage for tipped employees to match the federal minimum wage for nontipped employees. Additionally, the bill requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to provide specified training and resource materials, establish and convene a harassment prevention task force, and establish an Office of Education and Outreach with regard to prohibited discrimination and harassment in employment. The bill also requires specified studies, reports, and research on prohibited workplace harassment.

Veterans Pro Bono Corps Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement a five-year pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of providing assistance to eligible recipients to establish or maintain programs that assist veterans applying for compensation for a service-connected disability. Eligible recipients are accredited entities that are administering a medical residency or medical fellowship program in the United States or a territory of the United States. Grants disbursed under the pilot program must be used to establish or maintain programs in which medical residents or fellows provide pro bono medical examinations and opinions to assist veterans in applying for service-connected disability benefits. The VA must partner with veterans service organizations to provide outreach regarding the availability of services under the pilot program.