Rep. Ron Estes

Entrepreneurs Need Timely Replenishment (for) Eating Establishments Act or the ENTRÉE Act This bill provides FY2021 supplemental appropriations for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and modifies requirements related to administration of the fund. The fund was established in response to COVID-19 to make grants to eligible food and beverage purveyors for covering specified costs such as payroll, operational expenses, and paid sick leave. The bill correspondingly rescinds unobligated amounts previously made available for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program and coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds. Further, the bill requires the Small Business Administration (SBA) to (1) review and process grant applications in the order in which they are received; (2) impose requirements on applicants that reduce waste, fraud, and abuse; and (3) submit and report monthly on an oversight and audit plan outlining the SBA's policies, procedures, and activities with respect to these grants.

Jobs and Opportunity with Benefits and Services for Success Act This bill renames the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program as the Jobs and Opportunity with Benefits and Services (JOBS) program, reauthorizes the program through FY2027, and makes changes relating to work requirements for beneficiaries. States providing aid under the program shall create an individual opportunity plan for each beneficiary. States shall impose work requirements on all work-eligible beneficiaries and shall reduce benefits for noncompliance. (Currently, individual plans are optional under TANF, and states have discretion as to whether to reduce benefits for noncompliant individuals.) States providing aid shall meet annual performance targets related to the number of beneficiaries who exit the program and find unsubsidized employment. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall reduce grants to states that fail to meet such targets. States shall provide data related to beneficiary employment and wages to HHS, which shall be publicly available. The bill modifies certain limitations that restrict the use of funds for case management and other purposes and requires states to spend at least 25% of funds from various grants on core activities. Certain existing laws relating to monitoring and recovering improper benefits payments shall apply to the JOBS program. The bill eliminates programs providing (1) supplemental grants for population increases, (2) bonuses for high performance states, (3) welfare-to-work grants, and (4) contingency funds for state welfare programs.

Accelerating Individuals into the Workforce Act This bill requires the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to make grants to states for demonstration projects that provide wage subsidies to enable low-income individuals to enter and retain employment. States may use grant funds to subsidize an individual's wages for up to 12 months. The subsidy may be up to 50% of an individual's wages. Individuals are eligible for subsidized wages if they (1) are recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or similar state assistance or a noncustodial parent of a child receiving such assistance, and (2) are unemployed when the subsidy begins or have an income below 200% of the poverty line. States must ensure that participants in subsidized job programs do not displace current workers. The ACF must reserve funding to carry out this bill from amounts in the Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs.

Tax Fairness for Tribal Youth Act of 2021 This bill treats certain payments made by Indian tribal governments to children as earned income of the child for the purposes of the kiddie tax (the tax on the unearned income of children). This has the effect of exempting the payments from the tax. The bill applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2021.

Year-Round Fuel Choice Act of 2021 This bill amends the Clean Air Act to address the limitations on Reid vapor pressure (a measure of gasoline's volatility) that are placed on gasoline during the summer ozone season. The bill applies the Reid vapor pressure requirements that are applicable to gasoline blended with 10% ethanol (E10) to gasoline blended with more than 10% ethanol. Thus, the waiver given to E10 gasoline, which allows an increase in the Reid Vapor Pressure volatility, is extended to gasoline blended with more than 10% ethanol.

Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Act of 2021 This bill increases the number of states that may participate in two-year Medicaid demonstration programs that improve access to community mental health services. It also provides for additional grants to certified community behavioral health clinics.

Strengthening Social Security for Survivors Act This bill allows eligible widows, widowers, surviving former spouses, parents, and children of a deceased worker to claim Social Security survivor benefits retroactive to the date of the worker's death. Current law limits retroactive claims for survivors benefits to six months.

Vaccine Passport Prevention Act of 2021 This bill generally prohibits governments from issuing vaccine passports (i.e., standard documentation other than health records to certify an individual's COVID-19 vaccination status to a third party) and discrimination based on an individual's COVID-19 vaccination status or post-transmission recovery. Specifically, the federal government may not issue any vaccine passport or discriminate based on an individual's COVID-19 vaccination or recovery status by requiring documentation of the status as a condition of receiving a benefit or service. In addition, the federal government (except for the Department of Defense) may not mandate COVID-19 vaccines as a condition of federal employment. Furthermore, the bill prohibits, as a condition of receiving certain COVID-19 relief funds, states, tribal nations, and localities from issuing vaccine passports or engaging in discrimination by requiring documentation of an individual's COVID-19 vaccination or recovery status. Additionally, the bill prohibits private entities that offer products or services affecting interstate commerce from requiring documentation of an individual's COVID-19 vaccination or recovery status in order to obtain a product or service. It also establishes a private right of action for individuals who experience such discrimination by private entities. The bill also provides an exception to allow kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education to mandate COVID-19 vaccines as a condition of enrollment. However, the Department of Education may not award financial assistance to any school that requires COVID-19 vaccines without also providing for exemptions based on (1) religious or conscientious beliefs, (2) medical reasons, and (3) natural immunity from COVID-19.

Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2021 This bill expands tax incentives and federal assistance for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) that are sponsored by S corporations. The bill provides additional tax incentives for ESOPs by (1) extending to all domestic corporations, including S corporations, provisions allowing deferral of tax on gain from the sale of employer securities to an ESOP; and (2) allowing a tax deduction for 50% of the interest received by a bank on loans to S corporation-sponsored ESOPs for the purchase of employer securities. The Department of the Treasury must establish the S Corporation Employee Ownership Assistance Office to foster increased employee ownership of S corporations. The bill defines an ESOP business concern for purposes of the Small Business Act as a business concern that was eligible for a loan, preference, or other program under such Act before more than 49% of the business concern was acquired by an ESOP.

Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2021 This bill establishes requirements and procedures for the Department of the Treasury to transfer ownership of certain matured, unredeemed savings bonds and related records to states.