Geographical Dispersion of Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Act of 2022 This bill requires the Department of Defense to review and update the 2017 report from the RAND Corporation titled Geographic and Demographic Representativeness of Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (Library of Congress Control Number: 2017950423), relating to the representation in, and access to, units of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) for students in the United States.
First Responder Fair Return for Employees on Their Initial Retirement Earned Act or the First Responder Fair RETIRE Act This act allows disabled federal first responders (e.g., law enforcement officers, customs and border protection officers, and firefighters) to continue receiving federal retirement benefits in the same manner as though they had not been disabled. Under current law, federal first responders are subject to a mandatory retirement age of 57. To facilitate this earlier retirement, federal first responders are required to pay a greater percentage of their salary towards retirement. Additionally, their annuity amount is calculated at a higher rate than other federal employees. This act allows a federal first responder to remain in the accelerated retirement system if they are placed in another civil service position outside of that system after returning to work from a work-related injury or illness. Further, if such an employee is separated from service before they are entitled to receive an annuity, they may receive a refund of their accelerated contributions.
Retirement Savings for Americans Act of 2022 This bill provides retirement savings accounts to eligible workers without employer-sponsored retirement plans. Participants' contributions are matched (up to certain thresholds) by the government through a federal income tax credit.
Connecting Small Businesses with Capital Act This bill requires the Small Business Administration to publish resources about the assistance available to small businesses for raising capital from investors through crowdfunding and other limited offerings of securities.
Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act This bill amends the Clean Air Act to address the limitations on Reid Vapor Pressure (a measure of gasoline's volatility) that are placed on gasoline during the summer ozone season, including by applying the Reid Vapor Pressure requirements that are applicable to gasoline blended with 10% ethanol (E10) to gasoline blended with more than 10% ethanol.
STEP Improvement Act of 202 2 This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 the Small Business Administration's (SBA) State Trade Expansion Program, which provides foreign trade assistance to small businesses, and it revises provisions related to the administration of the program. Specifically, the SBA must establish a time frame for, and provide certain information related to, the application process, and it must conduct an annual survey to solicit feedback on the program. The SBA must collect data on certain performance metrics such as the (1) total number of small businesses assisted by the program, (2) total dollar amount of export sales by participating small businesses, and (3) number of small businesses that have created new jobs through their participation in the program. The bill also requires applicants for participation to include a budget plan that outlines their intended use of funds awarded under the program.
HR 7075 designates a specific triangular area in Washington, D.C. (bounded by 22nd Street NW, P Street NW, and Florida Avenue NW) as "Ukrainian Independence Park," including National Park Service reservations 57D and 360 (which contains the Taras Shevchenko Memorial). The bill updates all federal references to this area to use the new name and authorizes signage highlighting Ukraine's independence and U.S.-Ukraine solidarity. This is a procedural designation bill with no substantive policy changes, solely renaming a park area.
SRES 858 is a symbolic Senate resolution expressing support for National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month. It does not create new laws or allocate funds but publicly endorses efforts to promote adoption awareness, celebrate adoptive families, and encourage Americans to consider adoption. The resolution specifically recognizes that every child deserves a permanent family and urges people to support adoption opportunities during November and year-round. It highlights existing statistics about children in foster care (e.g., 114,000 waiting for adoption) but focuses solely on raising awareness, not changing policies. This resolution was introduced by 35 Senators and adopted without legislative effect.
The Jackie Walorski Maternal and Child Home Visiting Reauthorization Act of 2022 This bill reauthorizes through FY2027, increases funding for, and modifies the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. This program supports home visits for expectant and new parents who live in communities that are at-risk for poor maternal and child health outcomes. Changes to the program include setting out requirements for allocating program funds; increasing the percentage of funds reserved for tribal entities; establishing a publicly available dashboard that reports program outcomes; requiring activities to reduce unnecessary data collection, reporting, and other administrative requirements of the program; and allowing for virtual home visits (provided certain conditions are met). The bill also reduces funding for the Medicare Improvement Fund.
Homeland Security Capabilities Preservation Act This bill directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to submit to Congress a plan to make federal assistance available to certain urban areas that previously received Urban Area Security Initiative funding to preserve homeland security capabilities related to acts of terrorism. In developing the plan, FEMA must survey urban areas that did not receive grant funding related to preventing, preparing for, protecting against, and responding to acts of terrorism in the current fiscal year that (1) are at risk of being reduced or eliminated without such assistance, or (2) received funding in the current fiscal year but not in at least one of the six preceding fiscal years. The plan must (1) establish eligibility criteria for urban areas to receive federal assistance, (2) identify annual funding levels for such assistance in accordance with the survey, and (3) consider a range of approaches to make such assistance available to such urban areas.
Uyghur Policy Act of 2021 This bill addresses human rights issues concerning the Uyghurs and other minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. The bill authorizes the establishment of a Special Coordinator for Uyghur Issues position within the Department of State. The State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs may, subject to appropriations, make certain funds available to human rights advocates working on behalf of Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups persecuted in China. The funds, if made available, shall be used to facilitate the presence of such human rights advocates at public diplomacy forums to speak on issues related to the human rights and religious freedoms of minority groups persecuted in China. The State Department must ensure that Uyghur language training is available to Foreign Service officers. It must also ensure that a Uyghur-speaking member of the Foreign Service is assigned to U.S. diplomatic and consular missions in China.
This resolution directs the Department of the Treasury to transmit to the House of Representatives any documents that refer or relate to the projected inflationary impact of the implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Build Back Better Act.
