Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act This bill authorizes the Internal Revenue Service to postpone federal tax filing deadlines upon the written request of a governor of a state in which an emergency or disaster has been declared. The bill also extends current mandatory extensions from 60 to 120 days. For purposes of this bill, a state includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Increasing Access to Mental Health in Schools Act This bill directs the Department of Education (ED) to establish a grant program and a student loan forgiveness program to increase the number of school-based mental health services providers in elementary and secondary schools. First, ED must award grants to partnerships between educational agencies and graduate institutions to increase the number of school-based mental health services providers employed by low-income local educational agencies (LEAs). Grant funds may be used for specified purposes, including to provide student loan forgiveness and tuition credits and to support recruitment, hiring, and training. In addition, ED must establish a program to provide student loan forgiveness for individuals who (1) are not, and have never been, participants in the grant program established by the bill; and (2) have been employed by low-income LEAs for five or more consecutive school years as mental health services providers.
Reducing Barriers for Military Voters Act This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to develop a plan for providing end-to-end electronic voting services (e.g., services for registering to vote and returning a ballot) in participating states for absent uniformed service members who are deployed or mobilized in locations with limited or no postal service. Specifically, DOD must develop the plan by consulting with state and local election officials. Further, the plan must include (1) methods to ensure that voters have the opportunity to verify that their ballots are received and tabulated, (2) methods to generate a verifiable and auditable vote trail, and (3) an assessment of whether commercially available technologies may be used to carry out the plan. DOD must implement the plan for a trial group of voters in participating states for the 2024 federal elections. The plan must be implemented for all voters in participating states for the 2026 federal elections and subsequent years.
Computer Science for All Act of 2021 This bill establishes a program through which the Department of Education must award grants to states, local educational agencies, and eligible tribal schools to serve as models for national replication of computer science education expansion efforts. Grant recipients must use these funds for certain activities, including training teachers to teach computer science and expanding access to high-quality learning materials and online options.
Veteran Education Empowerment Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2029 and otherwise revises a Department of Education (ED) grant program for student veteran centers. Specifically, ED must make grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) or consortia of IHEs to establish, maintain, improve, or operate a student veteran center. A student veteran center is a dedicated space on a campus that provides students who are veterans or members of the Armed Forces with (1) a lounge or meeting space for themselves, their spouses or partners, their children, and veterans in the community; and (2) a centralized office for student veteran services that serves as a single point of contact to coordinate comprehensive support services for student veterans.
Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of State to include in its annual reports on human rights in countries receiving U.S. development and security assistance a discussion of the status of reproductive rights in each country. This must include whether a country has adopted and enforced policies to (1) promote access to contraception and accurate, nondiscriminatory family planning and sexual health information; (2) provide services to ensure safe and healthy pregnancy and childbirth; (3) expand or restrict access to safe abortion services; and (4) prevent and treat sexually transmitted diseases. For each country, the reports shall also contain (1) data concerning pregnancy-related injuries and deaths; and (2) a description of the nature and extent of discrimination and violence against women, girls, and LGBTQI+ individuals in health care settings and the relevant government's response to such actions.
Global Pandemic Prevention and Biosecurity Act This bill establishes a task force and requires the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to take specified measures to respond to and prevent zoonotic (animal-to-human) disease outbreaks. Specifically, the bill establishes the Global Zoonotic Disease Task Force to ensure an integrated approach to preventing, detecting, preparing for, and responding to zoonotic spillover and zoonotic disease outbreaks that may pose a threat to global health security. The bill directs the State Department and the USAID to work with international stakeholders on measures that include (1) preventing zoonotic spillover events, (2) preventing degradation and fragmentation of forests and other ecosystems to minimize interactions between wildlife and human populations, and (3) strengthening global capacity for detection of zoonotic diseases with pandemic potential. Further, the USAID must develop and publish a strategy for food security, global health, and biodiversity protection, including information about zoonotic disease surveillance. To help implement and finance the strategy, the USAID must establish a Conservation Corps to provide Americans eligible for service abroad to deliver technical and strategic assistance. The bill also authorizes a program within the USAID to prevent spillover events, epidemics, and pandemics through specified activities.
Turkey and Ecumenical Patriarchate Religious Freedom Act of 2021 This bill requires reports on religious freedom in Turkey. The Department of State must report to Congress on the State Department's policy for promoting religious freedom in Turkey. If the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommends putting Turkey on the State Department's special watch list of countries that engage in or tolerate severe violations of religious freedom but the State Department does not do so, the President must report to Congress a justification for the decision. The President shall not have to make this report if Turkey is added to the special watch list or designated a country of particular concern for religious freedom.
This resolution recognizes the significance of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month as an important time to celebrate the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United States. The resolution also recognizes that the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities enhance the rich diversity of the United States.
Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency Act This bill establishes requirements for certain commercial online platforms (e.g., social media sites) that withhold or promote content through algorithms and related computational processes that use personal information. The platforms must make disclosures about their collection and use of personal information and their content moderation practices; retain specified records that describe how the algorithms use personal information and assess whether the algorithms produce disparate outcomes based on race and other demographic factors in terms of access to housing, employment, financial services, and related matters; employ algorithms safely and effectively; and allow users to access and transfer their personal information. If a platform uses algorithms to publish or sell advertising, it must maintain a library of the advertisements. The Federal Trade Commission must also adopt rules concerning deceptive advertising. A platform's chief executive officer or other senior officer must certify compliance with disclosure requirements. Additionally, platforms may not (1) employ algorithms or other design features that result in discrimination or similar harms based on demographic or biometric factors, or (2) process information such that it impairs voting rights. Further, users of a platform may not violate civil rights laws using the platform's algorithms. The bill prohibits waivers or other methods that limit rights under the bill; provides whistleblower protections for individuals who report violations; and authorizes enforcement by specified federal agencies, states, and private individuals. The bill also provides funding for an interagency task force to study the discriminatory use of personal information by platforms' algorithms.
Veteran Readiness and Employment National Emergency Extended Deadline Act of 2021 or the VR&E NEED Act of 2021 This bill extends a veteran's eligibility for the Veteran Readiness and Employment program when educational institutions are temporarily or permanently closed due to an emergency situation, or there is another reason that prevents a veteran from participating. Specifically, the period of eligibility must not run during the period the veteran is prevented from participating in the program. The period must resume on a date, determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs, that is not earlier than the first day after the veteran is able to resume participation and not later than 90 days after that day.
Increasing Access to Osteoporosis Testing for Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2021 This bill specifies that certain Medicare payment rules applicable to imaging services shall apply to dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry services used in bone mass scans beginning in 2022. The bill also establishes national minimum payment amounts for such services.
