Health Care Fairness for Military Families Act of 2021 This bill modifies the extension of dependent coverage under TRICARE by allowing a dependent under the age of 26 to be covered without an additional premium. Additionally, the bill authorizes such coverage of dependents without a premium regardless of whether they are eligible to enroll in an employer sponsored plan.
Health Force, Resilience Force, and Jobs to Fight COVID-19 Act of 2021 This bill establishes and expands programs to bring on individuals to perform public health functions, such as contact tracing and vaccine administration, to respond to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency and meet future public health needs. The bill provides funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a Health Force. The funds are designated as an emergency requirement, which exempts the funds from discretionary spending limits and other budget enforcement rules. To establish the force, the CDC must award grants within 30 days to state, tribal, territorial, and local governments and community health centers to recruit and train individuals for roles in public health and health care. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must hire and train additional individuals for its Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees. These employees may be detailed to certain federal agencies or to state, local, or tribal governments to support response efforts related to COVID-19 or other disasters or emergencies.
This bill establishes in the legislative branch the National Commission on the Insurrectionist Attack Upon the United States Capitol. The commission shall (1) conduct an investigation that investigates relevant facts and circumstances relating to the insurrectionist attack on January 6, 2021, that ascertains, evaluates, and reports on the evidence developed by all relevant sources and that builds upon the investigations of other entities; (2) identify, review, and evaluate the lessons learned from the attacks regarding the structure, coordination, management, policies, and procedures of the federal government, and, if appropriate, state and local governments and nongovernmental entities, relative to detecting, preventing, and responding to such attacks; and (3) report to Congress and the President. The investigation may include relevant facts and circumstances relating to intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies, the flow of assets to insurrectionist and domestic terrorist organizations, the role of congressional oversight and resource allocation, and other areas of the public and private sectors deemed relevant.
This resolution expresses support for sustained dialogue between the United States, Russia, and China to reduce the threats posed by nuclear weapons. The resolution calls on the President to extend the New START Treaty for five years and urges the current administration to consider continued participation in the Treaty on Open Skies.
Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 This bill modifies the funding rules and provides financial assistance for certain pension plans that are underfunded or insolvent. First, the bill expands the authority of, and provides funding for, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to provide special partition assistance to a multiemployer pension plan that is insolvent or at risk of insolvency. The bill expands eligibility for partition assistance, provides funding for a plan to reach a projected funded ratio of 80% over a 30-year period, and does not require a plan to repay such assistance. The bill further permits a multiemployer pension plan to elect to retain its funding zone status from the previous year for either (1) the first plan year beginning during the period from March 1, 2020, through February 28, 2021; or (2) the next succeeding plan year, as designated by the plan sponsor. A plan may also extend by five years the funding improvement or rehabilitation period if the plan is designated as in endangered or critical status for a plan year beginning in 2020 or 2021. A plan in critical and declining status may not suspend payment of plan benefits. Additionally, the bill adjusts the minimum funding standards for a multiemployer pension plan to account for investment losses and other losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic and modifies the PBGC guarantee formula to increase the maximum potential benefits under a multiemployer pension plan. Finally, the bill makes changes with respect to single employer pension plans, including revising the amortization rules and extending and modifying the pension funding stabilization percentages.
Access Technology Affordability Act of 2021 This bill allows a refundable tax credit equal to the amounts paid for qualified access technology for use by a blind individual who is the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or a dependent of the taxpayer. Qualified access technology is hardware, software, or other information technology with the primary function of converting or adapting information that is visually represented into forms or formats useable by blind individuals. The credit is limited to (1) costs that are not compensated by insurance or otherwise, and (2) an aggregate amount of $2,000 per blind individual in any period of three consecutive taxable years. The credit must be adjusted for inflation after 2021 and terminates after 2026.
Bicycle Commuter Act of 2021 This bill modifies provisions relating to the tax exclusion for employer-provided fringe benefits for bicycle commuting. Specifically, the bill (1) repeals the suspension (for the period between 2018 and the end of 2025) of the exclusion, (2) includes bikeshare (a bicycle rental operation providing for pick up and drop off) and low-speed electric bicycle within the definition of bicycle for purposes of the exclusion, and (3) modifies the limitation on the exclusion to provide for a specified monthly limitation amount (i.e., 30% of the parking fringe benefit amount).
Federal Firefighter Pay Equity Act This bill modifies certain pay calculations that are used to determine retirement and annuity benefits for federal firefighters. Specifically, the bill adjusts the method of determining the average pay of a federal firefighter by adding one-half of a firefighter's basic hourly rate multiplied by the number of overtime hours included as part of such firefighter's regular tour of duty.
Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act or the FAIR Act This bill modifies pay rates for federal employees in 2022. Specifically, the bill increases rates under the statutory pay systems and for prevailing rate employees by 2.2%, and increases locality pay by 1%.
Civics Learning Act of 2021 This bill expands the use of American History and Civics Education—National Activities grants to prioritize innovative civics learning and teaching. Specifically, the bill expands the allowable uses of these grants to include before-, during-, and after-school activities and extracurricular activities; activities that include service learning and community service projects that are linked to school curriculum; activities that encourage and support student participation in school governance; and online and video game-based learning. Further, the Department of Education must ensure that specified percentages of grant funds are awarded on a diverse basis to eligible entities (e.g., institutions of higher education) that serve students and teachers at elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.
This bill repeals the prohibition on the use of certain funds by the Securities and Exchange Commission to implement a rule, regulation, or order to require the disclosure of political contributions, contributions to tax exempt organizations, or dues paid to trade associations.
This resolution honors the memory of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick for sacrificing his life in the line of duty on January 6, 2021, and it calls for justice to be brought to those responsible for the attack on the Capitol and the death of Officer Sicknick.
