Thin Blue Line Act This bill expands the list of statutory aggravating factors in death penalty determinations to also include killing or targeting a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder.
Sex Trafficking Demand Reduction Act This bill expands requirements for fighting human trafficking that apply to foreign countries receiving U.S. foreign assistance. (The President is authorized to reduce assistance to, or take other actions against, countries that fail to meet such requirements and are not making significant efforts to do so.) The Department of State, when evaluating whether a country has met such requirements, shall assess whether the country has made serious efforts to prohibit the purchase of commercial sex acts if the government has authority to do so, whereas currently the State Department must assess whether a country has made serious efforts to reduce such activities. The State Department shall also assess whether a country has made serious efforts to (1) educate buyers of commercial sex acts on how traffickers exploit prostituted persons, and (2) ensure that anti-trafficking training and provisions are incorporated into codes of conduct for government staff.
Save America's Rural Hospitals Act This bill establishes and otherwise modifies payment requirements for rural health care providers under Medicare and Medicaid, including by (1) exempting Medicare payments to rural hospitals from sequestration, (2) making permanent certain payment increases for services in rural areas (e.g., Medicaid primary care services), and (3) permanently removing the 96-hour physician certification requirement for inpatient critical access hospital services under Medicare.
Climate Risk and Emergency Support In Livable Inclusive and Equitable Neighborhoods and Communities Everywhere Act or the Climate RESILIENCE Act This bill makes changes to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to take into account climate change. The bill includes extreme temperature events, such as heat waves or freezes, within the scope of the act and defines resilience for purposes of disaster assistance and mitigation efforts. Federal and state preparedness and mitigation assistance may be used for reducing the impacts of extreme temperatures and improving air quality and mitigating against wildfire smoke.. The bill authorizes implementing predisaster hazard mitigation measures that will be cost-effective and equitable long-term and provide enhanced protection to the community. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must (1) provide technical assistance to underserved and disadvantaged communities for such measures; and (2) provide guidance to implement the latest published editions of relevant consensus-based codes, specifications, and standards that incorporate the latest hazard-resistant designs. The bill includes within the hazard mitigation program requirements the abatement of lead, mold, mildew, radon, asthma, and allergen triggers, or other pollutants and hazardous materials directly caused by a major disaster or emergency. FEMA must report to Congress regarding challenges posed by FEMA requirements for determining the cost-effectiveness of mitigation activities and how such requirements may disproportionately burden underserved or disadvantaged communities.
This concurrent resolution calls for honoring the 236th anniversary of the enactment of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom on Religious Freedom Day, January 16, 2022. The resolution affirms that religious freedom includes the right of individuals of any faith and individuals of no faith to live, work, associate, and worship in accordance with their beliefs; all people of the United States can be unified in supporting religious freedom because it is a fundamental human right; and the American people will remain forever unshackled in matters of faith.
Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act This bill prohibits a member of Congress or spouse of a member of Congress from holding, purchasing, or selling certain investments. Any profit made in violation of the prohibition must be disgorged to the Treasury and may subject the member of Congress to a civil fine. The bill also requires each member of Congress to submit an annual certification of compliance and requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a compliance audit. The prohibition does not apply to assets held in a qualified blind trust or to a sale by a member of Congress or spouse within 180 days after the bill is enacted or within 180 days after the member commences service, for any member who commences service after the bill is enacted.
Creating Efficiency in Foreign Facility Inspections Act This bill prohibits, with some exceptions, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from providing notification in advance of a planned inspection of an establishment located outside of the United States that is engaged in drug manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding. Specifically, the FDA may not provide such an establishment advance notification of a planned inspection unless (1) advance notification is required by the laws of the country where the establishment is located; (2) providing advance notification is needed to protect the public health; or (3) the inspection in question is a preapproval, prelicensure, or for-cause inspection. If the FDA must provide advance notification, it must minimize the time between the notification and the inspection. If an establishment is located in a country that, on or after the date this bill is enacted, enacts a law requiring advance notification of inspections, the drug manufacturer must agree to waive the right to enforce the requirement, to the extent expressly permitted by the law.
Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2022 This bill requires states, as a condition of federal payment under Medicaid for family planning services, to report certain abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Currently, reporting is voluntary.) The CDC must develop standardized questions for states with respect to specified variables (e.g., maternal demographics and methods of abortion).
Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act or the FAIR Act This bill modifies pay rates for federal employees in 2023. Specifically, the bill increases rates under the statutory pay systems and for prevailing rate employees by 4.1% and increases locality pay by 1%.
Comprehensive Resources for Entrepreneurs in the Arts to Transform the Economy Act of 2022 or the CREATE Act of 2022 This bill expands financial assistance for, and establishes measures to support, the creative economy and art entrepreneurs. Specifically, the bill requires (1) the Small Business Administration to develop loan criteria, evaluation procedures, and technical assistance programs for small business concerns that are owned by artists and support the creative economy; and (2) the Department of Commerce to ensure that traditional economic development tools, such as business incubators and grant programs, support the arts industry and creative economy.
Masks for All Act of 2022 This bill directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to manufacture and distribute N-95 respirator masks to every individual in the United States and to provide N-95 masks to all individuals working in health care settings in the United States that are experiencing a shortage of such masks. FEMA must provide the masks at no cost to individuals and deliver them, to the greatest extent possible, using the U.S. Postal Service. Additionally, FEMA shall designate mask pickup sites in each community and shall provide masks to each site, allocated according to population; consider new designs for masks to improve comfort, fit, and size options; and submit to Congress a strategic plan that includes monthly, measurable targets to eliminate shortages and increase domestic production of N-95 masks and to fulfill all other requirements of this bill. The President shall make use of any and all available authorities (including emergency authorities) at the disposal of the federal government to procure and domestically manufacture N-95 masks and support the domestic manufacturing of N-95 masks.
Human Trafficking Survivor Tax Relief Act This bill excludes from gross income, for income tax purposes, any civil damages, restitution, or other monetary award (including compensatory or statutory damages and restitution imposed in a criminal matter) awarded pursuant to an order of mandatory restitution or in a criminal proceeding for peonage, slavery, or human trafficking.
