Flood Level Observation, Operations, and Decision Support Act or the FLOODS Act This bill addresses forecasting and the communication of flood, tornado, and hurricane events by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Among other provisions, the bill directs NOAA to establish a National Integrated Flood Information System to better inform and provide for more timely decision-making to reduce flood-related effects and costs; establishes partnerships with institutions of higher education and federal agencies to improve total water predictions; designates a service coordination hydrologist at each National Weather Service River Forecast Center to increase impact-based decision support services at the state and local level; requires NOAA to evaluate and improve flood watches and warnings and communication of information to support preparation and responses to floods; ensures that the tornado warning improvement and extension program periodically examines the value of incorporating innovative observations, such as acoustic or infrasonic measurements, observations from phased array radars, and observations from mesonets; requires NOAA to estimate and communicate the frequency of precipitation; establishes an Interagency Coordinating Committee on Water Management to ensure that federal agencies that engage in water-related matters, including water storage and supplies, water quality and restoration activities, water infrastructure, transportation on rivers and inland waterways, and water forecasting, work together where such agencies have joint or overlapping responsibilities; and directs NOAA to conduct an analysis of gaps in the availability of snow-related data to assess and predict floods and flood impacts.
This resolution supports the designation of National Assistant Principals Week.
Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act This bill addresses employment standards for individuals with disabilities. The bill directs the Department of Labor to award grants to states and certain eligible entities to assist them in transforming their business and program models to support individuals with disabilities by providing competitive integrated employment, assisting disabled individuals in finding and retaining work in such employment, providing integrated employment and integrated community participation and wraparound services for such individuals, 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 disabled individuals and phases out existing certificates over a four-year period. The bill directs Labor's Office of Disability Employment to award grants to provide technical assistance and other strategic support to employers transitioning from special certificates to competitive integrated employment for disabled individuals. Labor must contract with a nonprofit entity to conduct an evaluation of the impact of these transitions.
Voluntary Protection Program Act This bill provides statutory authority for the voluntary protection program within the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Under the program, workplaces that implement comprehensive safety and health management systems are exempt from certain paperwork and inspection requirements.
This resolution condemns Iranian state-sponsored terrorist attacks against U.S. citizens and officials and Iranian dissidents and expresses support for the people of Iran who are engaged in legitimate and peaceful protests against the Iranian regime.
This resolution condemns the Chinese government's decision to hide the emergence and spread of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) within China. It also calls for an investigation by public health officials from the United States and other affected countries into how China's actions contributed to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Border Surge Response and Resilience Act This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a plan for responding to irregular increases in migration at the border that present risks to border security. The plan shall include various elements including (1) a list of each agency, component, and office involved; (2) a process for quickly expanding capacity to temporarily process and hold individuals; and (3) a strategy for coordinating with local governments and other entities when DHS releases detained individuals. DHS must also identify metric thresholds for determining when to activate the plan and must activate the plan when such thresholds are satisfied. Furthermore, DHS must notify Congress no later than 14 days after activating the plan.
Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act of 2021 This bill establishes an alternative formula to calculate Social Security retirement benefits for those who receive pensions for certain non-covered employment. (The existing formula is known as the windfall elimination provision.) The alternative formula adjusts an individual's total lifetime earnings based on the proportion of covered earnings (i.e., earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes). It applies to individuals who (1) first become eligible for benefits after 2022, (2) have earnings from non-covered service performed after 1977, and (3) have less than 30 years of coverage (i.e., years in which a beneficiary is considered to have contributed a substantial amount into the Social Security trust funds). Beneficiaries receive the higher benefit amount as calculated under the alternative method or the existing formula. In addition, the bill provides rebates for certain beneficiaries currently impacted by the existing formula. The Social Security Administration must include non-covered earnings in Social Security account statements, and the Government Accountability Office must study the availability of certain information related to retirement plans maintained by state and local governments.
Discriminatory Gaming Tax Repeal Act of 2021 This bill repeals the excise tax on wagering.
Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act of 2021 This bill increases the rehabilitation tax credit and modifies certain requirements for the credit. The bill increases the rate of the credit for qualified rehabilitation expenditures in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019, and before January 1, 2027, after which the rate reverts to 20%. The bill increases the rate of the credit to 30% for certain small projects whose qualified rehabilitation expenditures do not exceed $2.5 million. The bill also expands the types of buildings eligible for rehabilitation by decreasing the rehabilitation threshold from 100% to 50% of project expenses. It also eliminates the basis adjustment requirement for the credit and modifies rules relating to tax-exempt use property eligible for the credit.
EMS Counts Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to revise the broad description under the occupational series 33-2011 Firefighters of the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification System of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to include the following detailed occupations Firefighters; Firefighter/EMTs; Firefighter/Paramedics; and Firefighters, All Other.
Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act of 2021 or the 911 SAVES Act This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget, by 30 days after the bill's enactment, to categorize public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the Standard Occupational Classification System.
