Wind Safety Standard Act of 2022 This bill requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue a standard for preventing workplace injuries caused by high winds (i.e., winds of such velocity that the winds could blow an employee from an elevated location, cause an employee to lose control of equipment or material, or expose an employee to other hazards).
Improving Care and Access to Nurses Act or the I CAN Act This bill allows other health care providers besides physicians (e.g., nurses) to provide certain services under Medicare and Medicaid. Among other changes, the bill (1) allows a nurse practitioner or physician assistant to fulfill documentation requirements for Medicare coverage of special shoes for diabetic individuals; (2) expedites the ability of physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists to supervise Medicare cardiac, intensive cardiac, and pulmonary rehabilitation programs; and (3) allows nurse practitioners to certify the need for inpatient hospital services under Medicare and Medicaid.
Great Bend of the Gila Conservation Act This bill establishes the Great Bend of the Gila National Conservation Area and the Palo Verde National Conservation Area in Arizona. The bill designates in Maricopa County in Arizona approximately 9,809 acres as the Gila Bend Wilderness, approximately 23,464 acres as the Red Rock Canyon Wilderness, and approximately 23,712 acres as the Ringtail Wilderness.
Tribal Cultural Areas Protection Act This bill provides for the preservation of tribal cultural sites on public land, including by establishing the Tribal Cultural Areas System, setting forth requirements related to land management, and authorizing certain actions by tribes.
Wildfire Recovery Act This bill makes changes with respect to the federal cost share for Fire Management Assistance Grants and provides that the federal share shall be not less than 75% of the eligible cost. Specifically, the bill directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to conduct and complete a rulemaking to provide criteria for the circumstances under which FEMA may recommend that the President increase the federal cost share. Such criteria shall include a threshold metric that assesses the financial impact to a state or local government from responding to a fire for which fire management assistance is being provided.
This resolution remembers Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her more than 70 years of service in support of the British people and the Commonwealth of Nations. The resolution also expresses gratitude to Queen Elizabeth II for her efforts to maintain strong bilateral relations between the United Kingdom and the United States. Finally, the resolution extends condolences to the family of Queen Elizabeth II, to the people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and to the peoples of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act This bill applies certain military consumer credit protections to all consumers. Specifically, the bill caps the interest rate on extensions of consumer credit at 36%.
Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2022 This bill provides federal workers' compensation to firefighters who contract certain illnesses as a result of their service. Specifically, the bill provides that heart disease, lung disease, and specified cancers of federal employees employed in fire protection activities for at least 5 years are presumed to be proximately caused by such employment if the employee is diagnosed with the disease within 10 years of employment. The Department of Labor must periodically review the bill's listed diseases and conditions and make appropriate additions. An employee in fire protection activities is a firefighter, paramedic, emergency medical technician, rescue worker, ambulance personnel, or hazardous material worker, who (1) is trained in fire suppression; (2) has the legal authority and responsibility to engage in fire suppression; (3) is engaged in the prevention, control, and extinguishment of fires or response to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk; and (4) performs such activities as a primary responsibility. Additionally, the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture must jointly study the long-term health effects experienced by federal wildland firefighters who are eligible for workers' compensation. The bill also requires Labor to revise regulations so as to allow at least 60 days (rather than at least 30 days) for a claimant to submit any additional evidence that is requested by the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs to support a federal workers' compensation claim.
Medicare Enrollment Protection Act of 2022 This bill provides for a special enrollment period for Medicare medical benefits for individuals who are enrolled in COBRA continuation coverage at the time they qualify for Medicare. The special enrollment period applies during each month of COBRA coverage and the three-month period after coverage ends; individuals may enroll during the special enrollment period once during their lifetime.
Enhancing American Retirement Now Act or the EARN Act This bill revises or establishes new tax provisions relating to retirement plans for individuals, retirees, public safety officers and military personnel, disaster relief, and employer plans. The bill revises various provisions relating to individual retirement plans, including provisions to (1) establish a safe harbor for automatic enrollment plans; (2) allow a refundable income tax credit, up to $1,000, for retirement savings contributions; (3) allow penalty-free withdrawals from plans for emergency expenses; (4) modify age requirements for catch-up provisions; (5) allow penalty free withdrawals from plans in domestic abuse cases; (6) allow transfers of plans (portability); and (7) modify the age requirement for ABLE programs for disabled individuals. The bill makes changes to plans for retirees, including by (1) increasing the age for the start of mandatory plan distributions, (2) reducing the excise tax on certain accumulations in qualified retirement plans, (3) recovering retirement plan overpayments, (4) modifying certain Roth IRA distribution requirements, and (5) allowing plan distributions for individuals with a terminal illness. The bill modifies provisions relating to retirement plans of public safety offices and military personnel. It allows (1) small employers a tax credit for establishing military spouse retirement plans, (2) penalty-free distributions to firefighters, (3) a tax exclusion for certain disability-related payment for first responders, and (4) an exemption from the early withdrawal penalty for distributions to certain state and local corrections employees. The bill establishes special tax rules for the use of retirement funds for federally declared disasters. The bill also modifies or establishes requirements relating to employer plans, including (1) allowing a tax credit for small employers with respect to safe harbor requirements for retirement plans, (2) increasing the credit limitation for small employer pension plan startup costs, (3) reforming family attribution rules, (4) providing for starter 401(k) plans for employers with no retirement plan, (5) allowing a tax credit for small employers that adopt an automatic portability arrangement, (6) modifying Internal Revenue Service mortality tables, (7) extending the period for transferring excess pension assets to retiree heath accounts, and (8) deferring the tax on certain sales of employer stock to employee stock ownership plans sponsored by S corporations. The bill modifies provisions relating to the retirement of U.S. Tax Court judges, including participation in the Thrift Savings Plan.
Nationwide Right To Unionize Act This bill provides authorization for labor agreements to require membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment regardless of state law (thus preempting state laws that prohibit such agreements).
Stop Wall Street Looting Act This bill generally revises provisions related to the regulation of private equity funds. Among other things, the bill increases financial and legal liability for these funds in the event of certain violations of law, gives employee compensation higher priority in bankruptcies, and generally prohibits the payment of dividends for two years from an acquired asset firm to a private equity fund. The bill modifies the tax treatment of carried interest—compensation that is typically received by a partner of a private equity fund and is based on a share of the fund's profits. (Under current law, carried interest is taxed as investment income rather than at ordinary income tax rates.) Among other things, the bill treats as ordinary income the net capital gain with respect to a private equity fund.
