Federal Retirement Fairness Act This bill modifies the federal civilian service that is creditable service under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Specifically, it expands the nondeduction service that may be creditable under FERS. Nondeduction service is federal service where an employee's pay is not subject to retirement deductions (e.g., service under a temporary appointment). Currently, nondeduction service performed before January 1, 1989, is creditable under FERS so long as a deposit is made into the retirement fund to cover the period of nondeduction service. This bill allows nondeduction service performed on or after January 1, 1989, to be creditable under FERS so long as a deposit is made into the retirement fund.
Food and Nutrition Education in Schools Act of 202 1 This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a Food and Nutrition Education in Schools Pilot Program to award grants to local educational agencies for (1) projects that hire qualified, full-time food and nutrition educators to carry out programs in schools that have the goal of improving student health and nutrition; and (2) projects that fund school gardens or other evidence-based interventions relating to student health and nutrition, aligned with the latest school nutrition standards, to create hands-on learning opportunities for students. In awarding grants under the program, USDA must prioritize projects that serve schools or districts (1) in which not less than 40% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, or (2) that include neighborhoods with high rates of childhood obesity or other diet-related diseases. Additionally, it must give priority to projects that provide programming in summer months and those that are joint partnership projects.
End Zuckerbucks Act This bill prohibits tax-exempt charitable organizations from providing direct funding to official election organizations.
Taskforce Recommending Improvements for Unaddressed Mental Perinatal & Postpartum Health for New Moms Act of 2021 or the TRIUMPH for New Moms Act of 2021 This bill temporarily establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services the Task Force on Maternal Mental Health. The task force must develop a national strategy for maternal mental health and report on best practices, policies, and programs to prevent, screen for, diagnose, treat, and reduce disparities in maternal mental health conditions. The report must identify opportunities for state- and local-level partnerships to address maternal mental health, and the task force must share those opportunities with state governors.
Stopping Titles that Overtly Perpetuate Stigma Act or the STOP Stigma Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue guidance for renaming the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and other agencies and programs with names that contain stigmatizing terms such as abuse, addict, or alcoholic. HHS must also provide Congress with an assessment of the cost of such name changes and recommendations to revise federal laws to rename agencies or programs that are designated in statute.
Improving Medicaid Programs' Response to Overdose Victims and Enhancing Addiction Care Act or the IMPROVE Addiction Care Act This bill establishes additional requirements for state Medicaid drug-use review programs with respect to individuals who experience opioid-related overdoses. Specifically, programs must include protocols that (1) connect individuals who have experienced an opioid-related overdose within the last five years to appropriate treatment; (2) notify providers who prescribe opioids about subsequent fatal overdoses; (3) ensure providers are notified about an individual's history of opioid-use disorder, overdoses, or poisonings; and (4) educate providers about proper prescribing practices for these individuals.
Merit Systems Protection Board Empowerment Act of 2021 This bill reauthorizes the Merit Systems Protection Board through FY2026 and modifies certain requirements relating to the administration of cases involving whistleblowers. Specifically, it requires cases involving alleged retaliation against whistleblowers to be heard by the board, an administrative law judge, or a designated board employee who has received training regarding the protections afforded whistleblowers under law.
This resolution supports the designations of National Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Awareness Month and National Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Awareness Day. The resolution supports (1) the education of members of the Armed Forces, veterans, their families, and the public about post-traumatic stress; and (2) efforts by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to foster cultural change around the issue of post-traumatic stress. The resolution also encourages the leadership of the Armed Forces to support treatment of members of the Armed Forces who suffer from post-traumatic stress.
Disaster Reforestation Act This bill sets forth a special rule for the tax deduction for casualty losses of uncut timber (including pre-merchantable timber). It provides that in losses of any uncut timber from fire, storm, insects, invasive species, drought, or other casualty, or from theft, the basis for determining the amount of the deduction for such loss shall not be less than the excess of the value of such timber determined immediately before such loss was sustained, over the salvage value of such timber. To be eligible for the casualty loss deduction, the uncut timber subject to the loss must be reforested not later than the close of the five-year period beginning on the date of the loss.
Mental Health in Schools Excellence Program Act of 2021 This bill establishes a program to expand the mental health services workforce in schools. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Education to contract with graduate institutions to pay a share of the cost of attendance for graduate students pursuing careers in the school-based mental health profession (e.g., school counseling).
Tax-Free Pell Grant Act This bill excludes from gross income, for income tax purposes, any amount received as a federal Pell Grant. It also expands the definition of qualified tuition and related expenses under the American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning tax credit to include computer or peripheral equipment (up to a maximum of $1,000), child and dependent care expenses, and course materials.
Patriotic Corporations of America Act of 2021 This bill establishes new requirements for federal contracts, including Department of Defense contracts, with respect to issues of labor, environmental sustainability, taxes, and private equity firms. Specifically, the bill prohibits an executive agency from awarding a contract unless the offeror, among other requirements pays employees wages that meet certain minimums; agrees to sign a neutrality agreement with respect to efforts to form a labor organization and an agreement not to hire replacement workers in any strike; submits to the agency an actionable plan to address natural disasters and health crises, including policies and plans for paid family and medical leave and for whistleblower protections; and submits to the agency an actionable plan to recruit and promote people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and veterans. The bill sets forth additional provisions to assure that the offeror meets specified requirements with respect to the payment of environmental penalties, federal income tax liability and financial performance, and a controlling private equity firm meeting certain labor and environmental requirements. The bill establishes specified contract preferences (e.g., in favor of an offeror that does not outsource jobs outside the United States and that has a collective bargaining agreement with employees).
