Rep. Mike Bost

This bill imposes sole liability for overpayments of educational assistance under the Post-9/11 GI Bill on the individual who was eligible for such assistance in situations where the individual failed to complete a service agreement and transferred the entitlement to a dependent. Beginning on October 1, 2024, the dependent and the individual making the transfer shall be jointly and severally liable for such overpayments where an individual fails to complete a service agreement.

VA Hospitals Establishing Leadership Performance Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish qualifications and related performance metrics for each human resources position within the Veterans Health Administration. Additionally, the bill requires the Government Accountability Office to report on the implementation and quality of such metrics and qualifications.

Beginning Agriculturalist Lifetime Employment Act of 2021 or the BALE Act of 20 21 This bill revises the limits for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation loan guarantee program. The bill replaces the existing 80% limit on the portion of a loan that USDA may guarantee with limits that range from 80%-90%, depending on the principal amount of the loan. For socially disadvantaged or beginning farmers or ranchers, the bill replaces the existing 90% limit with limits that range from 85%-95%, depending on the principal amount of the loan. The bill also (1) prohibits USDA from guaranteeing a loan under the program that exceeds $4 million, and (2) requires USDA to adjust the limits annually for inflation.

Flexible Financing for Rural America Act This bill allows rural utility service providers to submit to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) a request to adjust the interest rate or modify the terms of certain loans. The request shall include a report summarizing how the adjustment or modification will assist the borrower in providing critical utility services to a rural community. Specifically, on receipt of a request, USDA or the Department of the Treasury (in the case of a loan owned by the Federal Financing Bank) must adjust the interest rate on the loan to match certain interest rates for obligations of comparable maturity to the term remaining on the loan (or a higher rate requested by the borrower), and make modifications to the loan terms as necessary to address changes in the financial position of the borrower due to the COVID-19 public health emergency and to promote the financial sustainability of the borrower. In carrying out the adjustments or modifications, USDA or Treasury shall not impose or collect any fee from, or impose any penalty on, a borrower. The bill also provides funding to implement the adjustments and modifications and for the liquidation of residual intragovernmental amounts owed by the Federal Financing Bank in connection with certain loans.

Cahokia Mounds Mississippian Culture National Historical Park Act This bill provides for the establishment of the Cahokia Mounds Mississippian Culture National Historical Park in Collinsville, Illinois; Monroe, Madison, and St. Clair Counties, Illinois; and St. Louis City County, Missouri, as a unit of the National Park System. The Department of the Interior may acquire lands and interests within the boundary of the park by donation, purchase, or exchange, except that land owned by such states or their political subdivisions may only be acquired by donation. Interior may enter into cooperative agreements with such states and their political subdivisions, colleges and universities, nonprofit organizations, Indian tribes, and individuals to (1) mark, interpret, and restore nationally significant historic or cultural and natural resources related to the life of the Mississippi culture within the park, if the agreement provides for reasonable public access; and (2) conduct research related to Mississippi culture.

Training in High-demand Roles to Improve Veteran Employment Act or the THRIVE Act This bill makes updates to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) training and education policies and programs, including by amending the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020. (Sec. 2) In implementing the VA's rapid retraining assistance program, the list of high-demand occupations must be prepared in conjunction with the Department of Labor. The VA may add and remove occupations as appropriate. The bill excludes programs pursued solely through distance learning on a half-time basis or less from the housing stipend available to those participating in the retraining program. The VA must contact program participants to notify them about employment placement services after they begin the program and upon either completion of the program or termination of participation in the program. The VA must seek to enter a memorandum of understanding with one or more qualified nonprofit organizations for the purpose of facilitating the employment of veterans who participate in the program. The Government Accountability Office must report on the outcomes and effectiveness of the retraining program. (Sec. 3) The VA must provide veterans and members of the Armed Forces with information about whether (1) a postsecondary education institution is listed on the College Navigator website as being affiliated with a certain religion, (2) an institution is minority serving, and (3) an institution is gender-specific. The VA must provide information about postsecondary education and training opportunities in a searchable format. (Sec. 5) The bill includes for-profit educational institutions that are converted to public educational institutions in the annual risk-based survey the state approving agency must conduct. (Sec. 6) The VA must take certain disciplinary action when any person with whom an educational institution has an agreement for marketing, advertising, educational programs, recruiting, or admissions services engages in specified behaviors, such as providing a type of incentive payment to persons engaged in student recruiting. Under the bill, such disciplinary actions may include suspending the approval of courses and programs offered by the institution or revoking the approval of courses and programs.

This bill directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish a grant program to modify, upgrade, and construct fire and emergency medical services (EMS) department facilities. Grant recipients may use funds received to build, rebuild, or renovate fire and EMS department facilities; upgrade existing facilities to install exhaust emission control systems, install backup power systems, upgrade or replace environmental control systems (such as HVAC systems), remove or remediate mold, and construct or modify living quarters for use by male and female personnel; and upgrade fire and EMS stations or build new stations. The bill sets forth provisions regarding (1) grant fund allocations between career and volunteer fire and EMS departments, and (2) prevailing rate of wage and a requirement for using materials produced domestically for public contracts.

Emergency Resupply for IRON DOME Act of 2021 This bill requires the President to make all unexpended funding for assistance to Gaza available instead for grants to Israel for its Iron Dome short-range rocket defense system.

Hamas International Financing Prevention Act This bill imposes sanctions targeting Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and any affiliate or successor groups. The President shall periodically report to Congress a list of each foreign person or instrumentality that knowingly assists, provides significant support or services to, or is involved in a significant transaction with a senior member or supporter of any of the targeted groups. The President shall impose two or more sanctions on the named persons. Specifically, the person may be (1) denied credit and services from the Export-Import Bank, (2) barred from purchasing certain controlled defense articles, (3) denied exports of items on the U.S. Munitions List, (4) prevented from receiving exports of certain goods or technology controlled for national security reasons, (5) prohibited from receiving financing of more than $10 million from any U.S. financial institution, or (6) subject to property-blocking restrictions. The President shall periodically report to Congress a list of foreign governments that have repeatedly provided material support for the targeted groups' terrorist activities. The President shall bar these governments from receiving for one year (1) U.S. assistance, or (2) exports of controlled munitions. The Department of Treasury shall instruct U.S. leadership of international financial institutions to oppose the provision of assistance to an identified government for one year. The bill provides for certain exceptions and waivers, such as for transactions that would serve U.S. national interests. The President shall report to Congress and periodically provide briefings on other specified topics related to the targeted groups, such as where these groups secure financing and surveillance equipment.

Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2021 This bill deems an individual receiving outpatient observation services in a hospital as an inpatient for purposes of satisfying the three-day inpatient hospital-stay requirement with respect to Medicare coverage of skilled nursing facility services.