Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2027 and revises the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 to expand services for preventing and treating child abuse. Specifically, the bill establishes requirements concerning collecting and exchanging data about child abuse and neglect. For instance, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to (1) establish uniform national standards for tracking and reporting child fatalities and near fatalities resulting from maltreatment, and (2) develop an electronic interstate data exchange system that allows states to share information from their child abuse and neglect registries with other states. The bill also addresses child abuse and neglect related to families impacted by substance use disorders, racial bias in the child protective services system, and child sexual abuse. Further, the bill revises the community-based grants program to emphasize access to effective services for diverse populations and to promote the development of statewide strategies to scale up family strengthening services. Finally, the bill requires HHS to examine unregulated custody transfers and make recommendations for preventing, identifying, and responding to such transfers.
Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover diagnosis and treatment of congenital anomalies and birth defects, such as reconstructive services and items. Coverage must include services and items that functionally improve, repair, or restore any body part that is medically necessary for normal bodily functions or appearance, as determined by the treating physician. Coverage limits and cost-sharing requirements for such services and items may not be more restrictive than those applicable to all medical and surgical benefits under the plan.
End Double Taxation of Successful Consumer Claims Act This bill allows a deduction from gross income (above-the-line deduction) for attorney fees and court costs in connection with a claim of a consumer protection violation.
Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets Act or the CAHOOTS Act This bill allows state Medicaid programs to cover certain community-based mobile crisis intervention services for individuals experiencing a mental health or substance-use disorder crisis outside of a facility setting. Among other requirements, such services must be (1) provided by multidisciplinary teams composed of behavioral health professionals who are trained in trauma care and de-escalation techniques, (2) available 24-7, and (3) voluntary for the individual experiencing the mental health or substance-use disorder crisis. The bill provides an enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (i.e., federal matching rate) for such services, as well as specified funds for state planning and evaluation grants.
Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act This bill establishes a process for the admission of Puerto Rico into the union as a state, on an equal footing with all other states, based on a majority vote of the people of Puerto Rico.
Keeping Women and Girls Safe from the Start Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of State to carry out activities under the Safe from the Start program to prevent, mitigate, and respond to gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies around the world. (The Safe from the Start program addresses childhood exposure to violence.) These activities shall include (1) training and capacity building for humanitarian personnel; (2) deployment of, and support for, gender advisors and female humanitarian aid workers; (3) use of standards, guidelines, and best practices to address gender-based violence; (4) expanding and improving empowerment activities; and (5) establishing accountability mechanisms and monitoring and reporting tools to prevent and respond to incidents of sexual or other gender-based exploitation or abuse. The State Department must submit an annual report that includes an analysis of data and research regarding the key drivers of gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies, as well as a detailed description of the programs, diplomatic efforts, and other activities taken to implement Safe from the Start.
Lori Jackson Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act This bill makes changes to the federal statutory framework that prohibits the shipment, transport, receipt, or possession of firearms or ammunition by an individual who is subject to a qualifying domestic violence court order. Under current law, a qualifying domestic violence court order must meet certain criteria, including to (1) be issued after a hearing of which the individual had notice and an opportunity to participate; and (2) restrain the individual from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner (i.e., a current or former spouse, a co-parent of a child, or a current or former cohabitant) or the child of an intimate partner. This bill expands the scope of qualifying domestic violence court orders to include an order that is issued after an ex parte hearing (i.e., a hearing with only one party present); restrains the individual from harassing, stalking, or threatening a dating partner or former dating partner; or restrains the individual from intimidating a witness. Current law also prohibits an individual who is convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from shipping, transporting, receiving, or possessing firearms or ammunition. These restrictions generally only apply to spouses, co-parents, and cohabitants, and to offenses that involve physical force or deadly weapons. This bill expands the scope of these restrictions to include dating partners and offenses that involve stalking.
Protecting Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions Act of 2021 This bill nullifies specified guidance and final rule provisions pertaining to Section 1332 waivers (also known as State Innovation Waivers or State Relief and Empowerment Waivers) issued by the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Health and Human Services. The provisions allow states to forego certain requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in order to implement experimental plans for health care coverage, as long as the resulting coverage meets certain statutory criteria. The provisions, which supersede earlier guidance from 2015, alter agency interpretation of how states may satisfy the statutory criteria for waiver approval. For example, the provisions (1) redefine acceptable coverage under such waivers to include short-term, limited-duration insurance and association health plans; (2) allow the comprehensiveness and affordability of coverage under such waivers to be assessed based on projected availability, rather than enrollment; and (3) allow the level of coverage to be assessed based on the effects over the entire course of the waiver, rather than per year.
Broadband Justice Act of 2021 This bill includes broadband high-speed internet service as a utility subsidized by federally assisted housing programs through utility allowances. The bill also establishes grants and loans for housing providers, public housing agencies, and other public entities to provide access to broadband high-speed internet service to residents of federally assisted housing through the installation of such service and other infrastructure improvements.
Ensuring Survivor Benefits during COVID-19 Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to get a medical opinion to determine if a service-connected disability was the principal or contributory cause of death in situations where a veteran's death certificate identifies COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) as the principal or contributory cause of death, the certificate does not clearly identify any of the veteran's service-connected disabilities as the principal or contributory cause of death, and a claim for dependency and indemnity compensation is filed with respect to the veteran.
Veterans Economic Recovery Act of 2021 This bill addresses the employment and retraining of veterans, specifically during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency. The bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement a program under which the VA must provide up to 12 months of nontransferable retraining assistance (including a housing stipend) to up to 35,000 eligible veterans for the pursuit of a specified program of education. Under the bill, an eligible veteran is an individual who, among other requirements, is unemployed due to COVID-19. Veterans who receive retraining assistance may only use such assistance to pursue specified programs, including those designed to provide training for high-demand occupations. The bill requires the Department of Labor to conduct outreach to veterans participating in the program to notify them of employment placement services and facilitate employment placement. Additionally, the VA must enter into a memorandum of understanding with one or more qualified nonprofit organizations to facilitate the employment of veterans participating in the program. The Government Accountability Office must report on the outcomes and effectiveness of the retraining assistance program. The program will terminate 21 months after the date of the enactment of this bill.
Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2026, revises, and establishes grants and activities to promote access to telecommunications services, including broadband internet. The bill addresses digital equity and inclusion through grants and by requiring studies on barriers to adopting broadband services and related matters. The bill addresses broadband affordability and access. It (1) reauthorizes and expands programs that subsidize or support broadband services for, among others, eligible households, schools, and minority communities; and (2) establishes a program for expanding broadband service for underserved areas and community support organizations (e.g., religious organizations). Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must expand programs that verify an individual's eligibility for subsidized telecommunications services. The bill addresses matters concerning broadband data. The FCC must (1) issue rules for collecting pricing data and labels for disclosing information about broadband plans to consumers, and (2) collaborate and share data with federal agencies and stakeholders. The bill makes financing (e.g., low-interest loans) available to communities and public-private partnerships for broadband infrastructure investments and creates grants to establish or expand certain internet exchange facilities and submarine cable landing stations. Additionally, the Department of Transportation must require states to install conduits for broadband cables as part of certain highway projects. The bill also sets up a task force on nationwide dig once requirements (i.e., policies or practices to minimize excavations of highway rights-of-way when installing telecommunications infrastructure). Further, the bill preempts state laws that prohibit certain telecommunications service providers (e.g., public providers) from providing high-speed broadband services.
