College Transparency Act This bill requires the National Center for Education Statistics to establish a secure and privacy-protected data system that contains information about postsecondary students. Specifically, the data system must evaluate student enrollment patterns, progression, completion, and postcollegiate outcomes, and higher education costs and financial aid; provide complete and customizable information for students and families making decisions about postsecondary education; reduce the requirements for reporting by institutions of higher education; and periodically match with other federal systems of data. The bill also establishes a postsecondary student data system advisory committee.
Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2021 This bill increases the number of residency positions eligible for graduate medical education payments under Medicare for qualifying hospitals, including hospitals in rural areas and health professional shortage areas. Current law provides for an increase of up to 200 positions per fiscal year beginning in FY2023, with a total increase of 1,000 positions; each hospital may receive up to 25 additional positions. The bill provides for an additional increase of 2,000 positions per fiscal year from FY2023-FY2029; during this period, each hospital may receive up to 75 additional positions in total under the bill and current law. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to report on strategies to increase the diversity of the health professional workforce, including with respect to representation from rural, low-income, and minority communities.
Repairing Existing Public Land by Adding Necessary Trees Act or the REPLANT Act This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) annually for each of the 10 years after enactment of this bill to transmit to Congress an estimate of the sums necessary to be appropriated, in addition to the funds available from other sources, to replant and otherwise treat an acreage equal to the acreage to be cut over that year, plus a sufficient portion of the backlog of lands found to be in need of treatment to eliminate the backlog within the 10-year period. After such 10-year period, USDA shall transmit annually to Congress an estimate of the sums necessary to replant and otherwise treat all lands being cut over and maintain planned timber production on all other forested lands in the National Forest System to prevent the development of a backlog of needed work larger than the needed work at the beginning of the fiscal year. Each reforestation activity included in a renewable resource assessment shall be carried out in accordance with applicable Forest Service management practices and definitions, including definitions relating to silvicultural practices and forest management. The Forest Service shall, based on recommendations from regional foresters, create a priority list of reforestation projects that primarily take place on priority land, promote effective reforestation following unplanned events, and may include activities to ensure adequate and appropriate seed availability. USDA shall give priority to projects on the priority list.
Jumpstart Our Businesses by Supporting Students Act of 2021 or the JOBS Act of 2021 This bill expands student eligibility for Pell Grants by establishing the Job Training Federal Pell Grant program. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Education to award a job training Pell Grant to a student who does not have a degree; attends an institution of higher education (IHE); is enrolled in a career and technical education program at an IHE that provides 150 to 600 clock hours of instructional time over a period of 8 to 15 weeks and provides training aligned with high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors (i.e., job training programs); and meets all other eligibility requirements for a Pell Grant. It also specifies that any period during which a student receives a job training Pell Grant counts toward that student's Pell Grant eligibility period.
Protect DREAMer Confidentiality Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prevent disclosing information from applications to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), except to implement the program. Application information may be shared only to identify or prevent fraudulent claims, for particularized national security purposes relating to the applicant, or to investigate or prosecute a felony not related to immigration status. The bill also prohibits DHS from referring any individual with deferred action status to ICE, CBP, the Department of Justice, or any law enforcement agency.
Empowering Medicare Seniors to Negotiate Drug Prices Act of 2021 This bill allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to negotiate drug prices under the Medicare prescription drug benefit and to institute a price structure for the reimbursement of drugs covered under the benefit.
Huntington's Disease Disability Insurance Access Act of 2021 This bill expedites payment of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and eligibility for Medicare coverage for those with Huntington's disease. This is an inherited disorder that causes brain cells to die, including in areas of the brain that help to control voluntary movement. Specifically, the bill eliminates the 5-month waiting period for SSDI benefits and the subsequent 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage for individuals with Huntington's disease. Under current law, individuals generally must wait five months after the onset of disability to begin receiving SSDI benefits and an additional 24 months to become eligible for Medicare.
Let States Cut Taxes Act This bill removes a prohibition on states and territories using COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) relief funding under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to offset a reduction in revenue resulting from a reduction in taxes or a delay in the imposition of a tax or tax increase.
Unauthorized Spending Accountability Act of 2021 This bill establishes a three-year budgetary level reduction schedule for unauthorized programs funded through the annual appropriations process. Under the bill, a budgetary level is an allocation provided to the congressional appropriations committees under Section 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 by a congressional budget resolution or a deeming resolution. The schedule applies to programs included in the Congressional Budget Office's annual report listing programs that are funded through the appropriations process and have an authorization of appropriations that has either expired or will expire during the year. For the first year after a program's authorization has expired, the bill requires the budgetary level to be reduced by 10% of the funds appropriated for the program in the expiring fiscal year. The bill then requires reductions of 15% in the second and third years before terminating the program at the end of the third unauthorized year. Programs that are reauthorized during the three-year period are exempt from the budgetary level reductions if the reauthorization contains a sunset provision limiting the authorization of appropriations period to no more than three years. The bill establishes the Spending and Accountability Commission to review all mandatory spending programs and submit to Congress a legislative proposal to establish an authorization cycle for discretionary spending programs. The commission may recommend legislation to replace the budgetary level reductions required by this bill with reductions in mandatory spending. The commission's reauthorization schedule must limit reauthorizations to three years, include the budgetary level reductions established by this bill, and establish a mechanism for replacing the budgetary level reductions with reductions to mandatory spending programs. The House of Representatives must consider the commission's proposal using specified expedited legislative procedures.
Increasing Access to Quality Cardiac Rehabilitation Care Act of 2021 This bill accelerates and expands certain changes that are scheduled to take effect relating to the coverage of cardiac, intensive cardiac, and pulmonary rehabilitation programs under Medicare. Currently, such programs require physician supervision. Effective January 1, 2024, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists may also supervise these programs. The bill expedites the effective date of these changes to January 1, 2022, and also allows these practitioners to administer programs in their offices, prepare and sign treatment plans, and prescribe exercise.
Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat Act of 2021 or the MONARCH Act of 2021 This bill provides support for the conservation of western monarch butterflies (the monarch butterfly population that overwinters along the coast of California and breeds across California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah). Specifically, the bill establishes the Western Monarch Butterfly Rescue Fund. The Department of the Interior must use amounts in the fund to provide grants for the conservation of such butterflies. In addition, Interior must enter into an agreement with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to facilitate the implementation of the Western Monarch Butterfly Conservation Plan, which was prepared by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.
Platform Accountability and Consumer Transparency Act or the PACT Act This bill requires providers of interactive computer services (e.g., social media companies) to publish their policy explaining the types of content permissible on the service and provide a system for users to submit complaints about content that may violate the policy or involve illegal content. Further, social media companies must establish a process for removing certain content that violates their policies and notifying the information content provider about the removal, including a mechanism to appeal the removal. Social media companies also must publish a report every six months that details the instances in which the company took action with respect to content, including removing content, deprioritizing content, and suspending content provider accounts. The bill removes certain liability protections for companies if the company has actual knowledge of illegal content on its service and does not remove it within specified time frames. The bill provides for enforcement of these requirements by the Federal Trade Commission.
