Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act This bill establishes and expands programs to address racial and ethnic disparities in mental health. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must award grants to establish interprofessional behavioral health care teams in areas with a high proportion of racial and ethnic minority groups. In addition, HHS may award grants to incorporate best practices and competencies to address mental health disparities in curricula for training social workers, psychologists, and other behavioral health professionals. HHS must also promote behavioral and mental health and reduce stigma associated with mental health conditions and substance use disorder through outreach to racial and ethnic minority groups. HHS must consult with appropriate advocacy groups and behavioral health organizations to develop a strategy for this outreach. The bill also (1) reauthorizes the minority fellowship program to support the education of mental health professionals who provide services to racial and ethnic minorities, and (2) requires studies on mental health disparities and the effects of social media use on adolescents.
Protecting Moms Who Served Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement the maternity care coordination program. The VA must provide community maternity care providers (i.e., non-VA maternity care providers) with training and support with respect to the unique needs of pregnant and postpartum veterans, particularly regarding mental and behavioral health conditions in relation to the service of the veterans in the Armed Forces. Additionally, the Government Accountability Office must report on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity among pregnant and postpartum veterans, with a focus on racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health outcomes for veterans.
Mental Health Services for Students Act of 2021 This bill provides specific statutory authority for the Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) State Educational Agency Grant Program that is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The program supports school-based mental health services, including screening, treatment, and outreach programs.
This resolution designates the week beginning November 8, 2021, as National Pregnancy Center Week.
Back the Blue Act of 2021 This bill establishes new criminal offenses for killing, assaulting, and fleeing to avoid prosecution for killing a judge, law enforcement officer, or public safety officer. Additionally, the bill expands the list of statutory aggravating factors in death penalty determinations to also include the killing or attempted killing of a law enforcement officer, judge, prosecutor, or firefighter or other first responder; broadens the authority of federal law enforcement officers to carry firearms; and limits federal court review of challenges to state court convictions for killing a public safety officer or judge. Finally, it directs the Department of Justice to make grants to law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations to promote trust and improve relations between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.
Long-Term Care Pharmacy Definition Act of 2021 This bill establishes a statutory definition for long-term care pharmacy under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Currently, there is no statutory definition. Regulations from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) define a long-term care pharmacy as a pharmacy that is owned by or under contract with a long-term care facility to provide prescription drugs to the facility's residents. Additional requirements are set out in CMS guidance relating to the Medicare prescription drug benefit; pharmacies are also subject to regulations and guidance from other agencies (e.g., packaging requirements from the Food and Drug Administration). The bill defines a long-term care pharmacy as a state-licensed pharmacy that is able to provide enhanced pharmacy and clinical services to individuals who have certain comorbid and medically complex chronic conditions and who reside in skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, or any other applicable setting (as determined by the CMS). The term enhanced pharmacy and clinical services includes medication dispensed in special packaging, drug utilization review, and 24-7 availability of medication delivery and on-call pharmacists.
Empowering Law Enforcement Act of 2021 This bill addresses issues relating to immigration enforcement. The bill declares that state and local law enforcement have inherent authority to investigate and arrest individuals to assist federal immigration enforcement. (Currently, state and local law enforcement may take certain immigration enforcement actions upon entering into an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.) The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must reimburse state and local law enforcement for the costs of holding or transporting a detained alien. DHS may detain an alien beyond the removal period (generally the window in which DHS must remove an alien after a final order of removal) upon making certain certifications, such as a certification that the alien's release would threaten community safety. DHS may renew this certification every six months after giving the alien an opportunity to request reconsideration of the certification. An alien challenging such detention may only do so by filing an application for a writ of habeas corpus. Certain aliens subject to mandatory detention may be held without time limitation while removal proceedings are pending. DHS must detain an alien who is present in the United States without lawful status if the alien has been convicted for driving while intoxicated. DHS must establish a process to determine whether an alien not subject to mandatory detention and who has tried to comply with a removal order should be detained or released with conditions. The Department of Justice must include information about immigration law violations in the National Crime Information Center database.
Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention Act of 2021 or the TRAP Act of 2021 This bill establishes requirements related to U.S. cooperation with International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) communications. No U.S. agency or department may arrest an individual based solely on an INTERPOL notice without (1) prior verification of the individual's eligibility for extradition, (2) a valid request for arrest from the requesting country, and (3) an arrest warrant. A U.S. agency or department may not use an INTERPOL communication from an INTERPOL member country as the sole basis for certain actions, such as detaining an individual or denying an individual a visa, without independent credible evidence supporting the communication. The bill requires reports on countries that abuse INTERPOL communications for political motives and other unlawful purposes.
Lifesaving Gear for Police Act This bill invalidates any regulation, rule, guidance, recommendation, or policy issued on or after May 15, 2015, that limits the sale or donation of excess federal property to state and local law enforcement agencies unless it is enacted by Congress. Additionally, it prohibits the use of federal funds to implement such regulation, rule, guidance, recommendation, or policy. Property that was recalled or seized on or after May 15, 2015, must be returned, replaced, or reissued to the state or local law enforcement agency.
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.
Freedom to Work Act This bill requires federal agencies to review and reduce occupational licensing requirements. Specifically, each executive agency must review relevant laws, policies, and regulations that institute occupational licensing requirements for agency positions, or that cause a state, local, or tribal government to adopt licensing requirements for positions within their jurisdictions, and identify possible changes to eliminate such requirements or to provide alternatives that are the least restrictive while also maintaining consumer protection. Agencies must implement changes to the extent permissible under law. The bill also requires states to describe their plans to reduce occupational licensing barriers as part of their unified state plans for programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Several executive orders have required similar review of occupational licensing requirements. For example, the executive order titled Increasing Economic and Geographic Mobility, which was issued on December 14, 2020, outlined certain principles for occupational licensing requirements, including that such requirements should be the least restrictive to competition while also maintaining consumer protection; the order directed executive agencies to review and identify changes to their regulations, guidance, and policies in accordance with these principles. Additionally, the executive order titled Promoting Competition in the American Economy , which was issued on July 9, 2021, directs the Federal Trade Commission to consider addressing practices that inhibit competition, including unfair occupational licensing restrictions, through regulations.
Fight Radicalization of Elementary Education (FREE) Act This bill prohibits the federal government from conditioning or incentivizing financial support upon the adoption of specific instructional content, academic standards and assessments, curricula, or programs of instruction related to the priorities in the Department of Education's proposed rule titled Proposed Priorities-American History and Civics Education , published on April 19, 2021, or related to critical race theory.
