Essential Worker Pandemic Compensation Act of 2021 This bill compensates specified essential workers who die or are hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) or related complications. Specifically, the bill provides death benefits to survivors of essential workers equal to the amount available under the public safety officer benefits program. Essential workers include those identified in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency guidance or by a Special Master appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services. Such death benefits include additional payments to a surviving spouse or child enrolled in qualified postsecondary education. Further, essential workers who are hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 receive one half of the base death benefit amount.
This bill requires the Surgeon General to report annually to Congress on the public health effects of gun violence and the status of actions taken to address those effects.
Firearm Safety Act of 2021 This bill allows the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue safety standards for firearms and firearm components.
Pre-existing Conditions Protection Act of 2021 This bill reestablishes requirements for private health insurance plans with respect to preexisting conditions, guaranteed enrollment, and discrimination based on health-related factors if they are repealed by another law. In such event, the bill prohibits private health insurance plans from (1) limiting or excluding benefits covering preexisting conditions; (2) denying enrollment to employers or individual applicants, subject to specified limits; (3) establishing rules for eligibility based on an individual's health status; or (4) requiring an individual to a pay higher premium than similarly situated individuals enrolled in the plan based the individual's health status. The bill also prohibits plans from collecting genetic information in connection with issuing health insurance and provides requirements for workplace wellness programs connected to health insurance.
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Postal Service should continue door delivery for all customers.
Gym Mitigation and Survival Act of 2021 or the GYMS Act of 2021 This bill establishes a grant program to provide economic support to eligible fitness facilities in response to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. Specifically, the bill authorizes the Small Business Administration to make initial and supplemental grants to privately owned fitness facilities that primarily provide health or fitness services and that do not offer golf, hunting, sailing, or riding facilities. The total amount of grant funds for a recipient may not exceed $25 million, and the recipient must use these funds for payroll costs, rent or mortgage obligations, and other ordinary and necessary business expenses.
Future Advancement of Academic Nursing Act or the FAAN Act This bill authorizes the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to award grants to nursing schools to increase capacity to respond to public health emergencies and pandemics and otherwise enhance nursing education programs. In awarding these grants, HRSA shall prioritize historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions, schools that are located in medically underserved communities, and schools in areas with shortages of health professionals.
Gun Violence Prevention Research Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention.
National Climate Emergency Act of 2021 or the Climate Emergency Act of 2021 This bill directs the President to declare a national emergency with respect to climate change. The President, in responding to the emergency, must ensure that the government invests in large scale mitigation and resiliency projects; makes investments that enable a racially and socially just transition to a clean energy economy by ensuring that at least 40% of investments flow to historically disadvantaged communities; avoids solutions that increase inequality or violate human rights; creates jobs that conform to labor standards that provide family sustaining wages and benefits and ensure safe workplaces; prioritizes local and equitable hiring and contracting that creates opportunities for marginalized communities; combats environmental injustice; and reinvests in existing public sector institutions and creates new public sector institutions to strategically mobilize and channel investments at the scale and pace required by the national emergency. The President shall report annually on actions taken in response to the national emergency.
Hemp and Hemp-Derived CBD Consumer Protection and Market Stabilization Act of 2021 This bill allows the use of hemp, cannabidiol (i.e., CBD) derived from hemp, or any other ingredient derived from hemp in a dietary supplement, provided that the supplement meets other applicable requirements. (Currently, the Food and Drug Administration's position is that CBD products may not be sold as dietary supplements.)
This resolution calls on the President to take executive action to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers. Further, it encourages the President to (1) ensure that borrowers have no tax liability from the debt cancellation, (2) ensure that the debt cancellation helps close racial wealth gaps, and (3) pause student loan payments and interest accumulation on federal student loans for the duration of the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.
This resolution supports the designation of Career and Technical Education Month to celebrate career and technical education across the United States.
