Putting First Responders First Act This bill modifies the requirements for calculating taxable income to allow first responders to exclude from gross income certain service-connected disability payments received as part of a pension or annuity after reaching the age of retirement. The bill applies to law enforcement officers, employees in fire protection activities, and individuals who provide out-of-hospital emergency medical care.
Hizballah in Latin America Accountability Act of 2021 This bill establishes requirements related to activities of Hizballah in Latin America and the Caribbean. Specifically, the President must impose property- and visa-blocking sanctions on foreign persons determined to have knowingly engaged in significant transactions with, or provided material support to, Hizballah in a Latin American or Caribbean country. The Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the Department of State, must report on illicit activities of Hizballah in Latin America and the Caribbean. This report must include (1) an estimate of how much of Hizbollah's budget derives from such activities, (2) an assessment of interagency efforts and progress in countering such activities, and (3) an identification of financial institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean known to be operating on behalf of or with ties to Hizballah. The Department of Homeland Security must seek to improve (1) data sharing among trade transparency units with respect to operations against malign actors among Latin American and Caribbean countries, and (2) cooperation with federal agencies with respect to trade transparency units.
Estate Tax Rate Reduction Act This bill reduces the rate for the tax on estates, gifts, and generation-skipping transfers to 20%. (Under current law, the highest rate is 40%.) The bill also exempts the budgetary effects of the tax reduction from the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rules established by the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 and the FY2018 congressional budget resolution.
Connecting Opportunities through Mobility Metrics and Unlocking Transportation Efficiencies Act or the COMMUTE Act This bill directs the Department of Transportation to establish an accessibility data pilot program. The purpose of the pilot program is to develop or procure an accessibility data set and make such data available for states and metropolitan or rural planning organizations to improve their transportation planning by measuring the level of access to important destinations such as jobs, health care facilities, child care services, educational and workforce training facilities, affordable housing, and food sources; disaggregating the level of access by multiple transportation modes by a variety of population categories, including minority populations; assessing the change in accessibility that would result from new transportation investments; and providing data necessary to prioritize transportation investments that will improve access by all modes of travel.
Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2021 This bill modifies and expands the schedule for graduated merger filing fees and requires that such fees be adjusted each year based on the Consumer Price Index.
Save Local Business Act This bill provides that a person may be considered a joint employer in relation to an employee under federal labor law only if such person directly, actually, and immediately (and not in a limited and routine manner) exercises significant control over the essential terms and conditions of employment. Such control may by demonstrated by hiring and discharging employees, determining individual employee rates of pay and benefits, day-to-day supervision of employees, assigning individual work schedules, positions, and tasks, and administering employee discipline.
Providing Resources for Emergency Preparedness And Resilient Enterprises Act or the PREPARE Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 a pre-disaster mitigation program, administered by the Small Business Administration, for disbursing economic injury disaster loans to small businesses for protection of real estate, equipment, inventory, supplies, and materials. The bill also increases the amount for loans to take mitigating actions to protect damaged or destroyed property from possible future disasters.
Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act This bill expedites payment of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and eligibility for Medicare coverage for those with metastatic breast cancer (i.e., breast cancer that has spread to other sites in the body). Specifically, the bill eliminates the 5-month waiting period for SSDI benefits and the subsequent 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage for individuals with metastatic breast cancer. Under current law, individuals generally must wait five months after the onset of disability to begin receiving SSDI benefits and an additional 24 months to become eligible for Medicare.
I am Vanessa Guillén Act of 2021 This bill addresses the policies and procedures of the Department of Defense (DOD) for cases or allegations of sex-related offenses.
Student Loan Marriage Penalty Elimination Act of 2021 This bill allows married couples filing a joint tax return to apply the $2,500 limitation on the tax deduction for student loan interest separately to each spouse.
Homes for Every Local Protector, Educator, and Responder Act of 2021 or the HELPER Act of 2021 This bill establishes a program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide mortgage assistance to law enforcement officers, elementary and secondary school teachers, firefighters, or other first responders. Specifically, these individuals may be eligible for a one-time mortgage on a primary family residence with no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance premium.
Yes In My Backyard Act This bill requires certain Community Development Block Grant program recipients to submit to the Department of Housing and Urban Development information regarding their implementation of certain land-use policies, such as policies for expanding high-density single-family and multifamily zoning.
