Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto

Affordable Loans for Any Student Act This bill addresses repayment options, loan disclosures, and loan counseling for student loans. The bill revises requirements concerning repayment options for student loan borrowers. For instance, the bill terminates interest capitalization and origination fees for Federal Direct Loans, provides assistance to low-income borrowers or borrowers who are delinquent on loan payments, and replaces the existing income-based repayment plans with two new plans. Under the new plans, borrowers may choose (1) a fixed repayment plan with equal monthly payments paid over a period of 10 years, or (2) an income-based repayment plan with monthly payments equal to 10% percent of their income above the poverty level. The income-based plan is capped at 20 years of payments. The bill also revises requirements concerning student loan disclosures and student loan counseling for borrowers. For instance, the bill requires the Department of Education to maintain online counseling tools that provide borrowers with entrance and exit student loan counseling.

Continuing Emergency Support for Restaurants Act This bill provides an additional $48 billion in FY2021 for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and designates specified amounts for fund administrative expenses and audits of grants made from the fund. The fund was established in response to COVID-19 to make grants to eligible food and beverage purveyors for covering specified costs such as payroll, operational expenses, and paid sick leave. The bill designates the funding as emergency spending, which is exempt from discretionary spending limits.

This resolution designates March 24, 2022, as National Women in Agriculture Day. It also recognizes the important role of women in agriculture as producers, educators, leaders, mentors, and more

Baltic Defense and Deterrence Act This bill requires the Department of State to establish and implement an initiative to increase security and economic ties with the Baltic countries (i.e., Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). The bill also requires the Department of Defense to establish and implement an initiative to deepen security cooperation with the Baltic countries.

Safe Connections Act of 2022 This bill establishes requirements concerning access to communication services for survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and related harms. At a survivor's request, a mobile service provider must separate from a shared mobile service contract the survivor's line (and the line of any individual in the survivor's care) from the abuser's line unless separation is operationally or technologically infeasible. A survivor requesting this must (1) verify through appropriate documentation that an individual under the contract committed or allegedly committed an act of domestic violence, trafficking, or a related criminal act against the survivor; and (2) assume financial responsibility for services after a line separation. A provider may not charge fees or impose other requirements on such requests. Additionally, a provider must separate the line within two business days of receiving a request; allow requests to be made remotely (if feasible); meet conditions related to confidentiality of, disposal of, and other matters concerning communications about requests; and make information about the process for requests available through consumer-facing communications (e.g., websites). The bill (1) provides liability protection for providers' acts or omissions undertaken to comply with such requests, and (2) requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt rules for these requests. Additionally, the FCC must (1) expand access to federally subsidized communication services for survivors facing financial hardship, and (2) evaluate this expanded access. The FCC must also consider rules requiring communication service providers to omit from consumer-facing logs calls and texts to hotlines for domestic violence and similar issues while retaining internal records.

Military Spouse Hiring Act This bill expands the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to include the hiring of a qualified military spouse. (The WOTC permits employers who hire individuals who are members of a targeted group such as qualified veterans, ex-felons, or long-term unemployment recipients to claim a tax credit equal to a portion of the wages paid to those individuals.) A qualified military spouse is any individual who is certified by the designated local agency as being (as of the hiring date) a spouse of a member of the Armed Forces.

Tribal Health Data Improvement Act of 2021 This bill expands tribal access to public health care data and public health surveillance programs. It also reauthorizes through FY2025 the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and requires the CDC to take certain actions to address the collection and availability of health data for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services must (1) establish a strategy for providing data access to Indian tribes and tribal epidemiology centers; and (2) make available all requested data related to health care and public health surveillance programs and activities to the Indian Health Service, tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal epidemiology centers. Next, the CDC must make grants to and enter into contracts with tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal epidemiology centers for data collection and related activities. Among other activities, the CDC must (1) develop guidance for state and local health agencies to improve birth and death record data for American Indians and Alaska Natives; (2) enter into cooperative agreements with tribes, tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, and tribal epidemiology centers to analyze and address certain inaccuracies related to records for American Indians and Alaska Natives; (3) adopt uniform standards for the collection of health data on race and ethnicity; and (4) encourage states to enter into data sharing agreements with tribes and tribal epidemiology centers to improve the quality and accuracy of health data.

This resolution celebrates the successes of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women and the contributions they have made in the United States. The resolution also recognizes the importance of supporting equity, providing safety, and upholding the interests of these women.

Human Trafficking Online Research Act This bill directs the National Science Foundation to support merit-reviewed and competitively awarded research on the impact of online social media platforms on the maintenance or expansion of human trafficking.

Reduce Human Trafficking through Transportation Act This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to set aside $10 million each fiscal year to provide grants to certain airports and transit operators for human trafficking awareness, education, and prevention efforts. DOT must give priority in grant amounts to entities that serve regions with a higher prevalence of human trafficking and take into consideration the effect such grants would have on surrounding areas. Additionally, DOT must consult with its Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking in determining the grant amount each recipient receives.