Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2022 This bill generally prohibits pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from engaging in certain practices when managing the prescription drug benefits under a health insurance plan, including charging the plan a different amount than the PBM reimburses the pharmacy. The bill also prohibits PBMs from arbitrarily, unfairly, or deceptively (1) clawing back reimbursement payments, or (2) increasing fees or lowering reimbursements to pharmacies to offset changes to federally funded health plans. PBMs are not subject to these prohibitions if they (1) pass along 100% of any price concession or discount to the health plan, and (2) disclose specified costs, prices, reimbursements, fees, markups, discounts, and aggregate payments received with respect to their PBM services. Further, PBMs must report annually to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) certain information about payments received from health plans and fees charged to pharmacies. The FTC and state attorneys general are authorized to enforce the provisions of the bill.
Advanced Aviation Infrastructure Modernization Act or the AAIM Act This bill establishes a pilot grant program to support advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure. AAM infrastructure refers to an air transportation system that transports individuals and property between points in the United States in both controlled and uncontrolled airspace using certain aircraft, including remotely piloted, autonomous, or vertical take-off and landing aircraft. The Department of Transportation (DOT) must award planning grants for AAM infrastructure to (1) state, local, or tribal governments; (2) airport sponsors; (3) transit agencies; (4) port authorities; (5) metropolitan planning organizations; or (6) consortia of such entities. Entities that receive these grants must develop a comprehensive plan for AAM infrastructure, including vertiports (sites that support the landing, takeoff, loading, and other operations of vertical take-off and landing aircraft). Topics covered in the plan must address matters such as identifying locations for AAM infrastructure and available sources of funding. DOT must brief Congress about the plans it receives. The briefing must include an evaluation of the planned or proposed locations for vertiports and a description of best practices or lessons learned through the review of comprehensive plans. Grants may not be awarded after September 30, 2023. The Government Accountability Office must conduct a study on the interests, roles, and responsibilities of federal, state, local, and tribal government affected by AAM aircraft and operations.
Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment Act of 2022 or the EAGLE Act of 2022 This bill modifies requirements related to employment-based visas and addresses related issues. The bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15% and eliminates the per-country cap for employment-based immigrant visas. The bill establishes transition rules for employment-based visas such as (1) reserving a percentage of EB-2 (workers with advanced degrees or exceptional ability) and EB-3 (skilled and other workers) visas for individuals not from the two countries with the largest number of recipients of such visas, and (2) allotting a number of visas for professional nurses and physical therapists. The bill imposes additional requirements on an employer seeking an H-1B visa, such as prohibiting (1) an employer from advertising that a position is only open to H-1B applicants or that H-1B applicants are preferred, and (2) certain employers from having more than half of their employees as nonimmigrant visa workers. The Department of Labor shall create a publicly available website where an employer seeking an H-1B visa must post certain information about the open position. The bill also expands Labor's authority to review and investigate H-1B applications for fraud or misrepresentations. The bill also allows certain aliens to obtain lawful permanent resident status if the alien (1) is in the United States as a nonimmigrant, (2) has an approved immigrant visa petition, and (3) has waited at least two years for a visa.
This joint resolution nullifies the interim final rule issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) titled Reproductive Health Services and published on September 9, 2022. The rule authorizes the VA to provide certain abortion-related care to veterans. The rule also applies to such care provided to beneficiaries covered under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA).
This joint resolution nullifies the interim final rule issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) titled Reproductive Health Services and published on September 9, 2022. The rule authorizes the VA to provide certain abortion-related care to veterans. The rule also applies to such care provided to beneficiaries covered under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA).
This resolution expresses that the House of Representatives is committed to building upon the 20 years of success of the George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, complementing humanitarian assistance efforts and development programs through the continued implementation of the McGovern-Dole Program to address global food insecurity and create conditions for peace and stability, and supporting U.S. farmers, millers, shippers, and commodity groups that provide agricultural commodities for use in the McGovern-Dole Program to help combat global malnutrition and food insecurity and advance global education.
Improving Crowdfunding Opportunities Act This bill reduces regulations applicable to crowdfunding securities and portals. Crowdfunding is used to raise capital through a large number of individuals investing potentially small amounts of money. The bill exempts certain securities issued under crowdfunding regulations from state regulation of secondary transactions. It also exempts crowdfunding portals from certain anti-money laundering reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Finally, crowdfunding portals are exempted from liability for material misstatements or omissions unless the portal knowingly makes certain untrue statements or engages in fraud or deceit.
Respect for Marriage Act This act provides statutory authority for same-sex and interracial marriages. Specifically, the act replaces provisions that define, for purposes of federal law, marriage as between a man and a woman and spouse as a person of the opposite sex with provisions that recognize any marriage between two individuals that is valid under state law. (The Supreme Court held that the current provisions were unconstitutional in United States v. Windsor in 2013.) The act also replaces provisions that do not require states to recognize same-sex marriages from other states with provisions that prohibit the denial of full faith and credit or any right or claim relating to out-of-state marriages on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin. (The Supreme Court held that state laws barring same-sex marriages were unconstitutional in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015; the Court held that state laws barring interracial marriages were unconstitutional in Loving v. Virginia in 1967.) The act allows the Department of Justice to bring a civil action and establishes a private right of action for violations. The act does not (1) affect religious liberties or conscience protections that are available under the Constitution or federal law, (2) require religious organizations to provide goods or services to formally recognize or celebrate a marriage, (3) affect any benefits or rights that do not arise from a marriage, or (4) recognize under federal law any marriage between more than two individuals.
Aviation Workforce Development Enhancement Act This bill expands aviation workforce development programs of the Federal Aviation Administration by providing additional grant funding for aircraft pilot development, the education and recruitment of aviation maintenance technical workers, and the development of the aviation manufacturing workforce.
Facilitating Relief for Efficient Intermodal Gateways to Handle Transportation Act or the FREIGHT Act This bill makes multiple changes to address the efficiency of ports and the intermodal shipping of cargo. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the Department of Transportation must publish data about the dwell time of marine shipping containers and chassis (i.e., the quantity of time such equipment is subject to maintenance versus in use). The bill also requires a study on best practices for operating a chassis pool to optimize supply chains. In addition, the bill modifies duties and authorities of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), including by providing statutory authority for an office that offers mediation and related services to resolve issues under the FMC's jurisdiction; and authorizing the FMC to expand data-sharing between port operators, shippers, and other stakeholders to facilitate efficient freight operations if the FMC determines port congestion constitutes an emergency.
Senator Johnny Isakson VA Regional Office Act of 2022 This act designates the Department of Veterans Affairs Atlanta Regional Office in Georgia as the Senator Johnny Isakson Department of Veterans Affairs Atlanta Regional Office or the Isakson VA Atlanta Regional Office.
Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act of 2022 This bill requires the President to continue to maintain a natural hazard assessment program that develops and maintains publicly available products to show the risk of natural hazards across the United States. Such products shall show the risk of natural hazards and include ratings and data for loss exposure, social vulnerability, community resilience, and any other element determined by the President. The President shall (1) review the underlying methodology of any product that is a natural disaster hazard risk assessment, and (2) consider including additional data in any product that is a natural hazard risk assessment. Additionally, the President must conduct such reviews to evaluate and update the assessments at least every five years. Using the reviewed assessments, the President must periodically identify and designate community disaster resilience zones (CDRZs), which shall be (1) the 50 census tracts assigned the highest individual hazard risk ratings; and (2) in each state, not less than 1% of census tracts that are assigned a high individual risk rating, taking into consideration specified geographic balance. The President may provide financial, technical, or other assistance to an eligible entity (a state, Indian tribal government, or local government) that plans to perform a resilience or mitigation project within, or that primarily benefits, a CDRZ. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must develop criteria (taking into consideration the economic effects) to assess damage caused by a harmful algal bloom and report to Congress describing such criteria.
