Estate Tax Rate Reduction Act This bill reduces the rate for the tax on estates, gifts, and generation-skipping transfers to 20%. (Under current law, the highest rate is 40%.) The bill also exempts the budgetary effects of the tax reduction from the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rules established by the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 and the FY2018 congressional budget resolution.
Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act This bill requires the Federal Labor Relations Authority to determine whether a state substantially provides public safety officers or employees the right to form and join a labor organization; recognition by public safety employers of the employees' labor organization, agreement to bargain with the organization, and reduction of any agreements to writing in a contract or memorandum of understanding; the right to bargain over hours, wages, and terms and conditions of employment; and binding interest arbitration to resolve an impasse in collective bargaining negotiations. The bill makes the authority responsible for (1) determining the appropriateness of units for labor representation; (2) supervising elections; (3) conducting hearings and resolving complaints of unfair labor practices; and (4) protecting the right of employees to form, join, or assist any labor organization, or to refrain from doing so. An employer, public safety officer, or labor organization may not engage in a lockout, sickout, work slowdown, strike, or any other organized job action that will measurably disrupt the delivery of emergency services and is designed to compel an employer, public safety officer, or labor organization to agree to the terms of a proposed contract.
Stop CRT Act This bill grants Executive Order 13950 the force and effect of law. That order prohibits federal agencies and contractors from advancing specified policies or training related to race or sex.
Hot Cars Act of 2021 This bill requires safety measures in passenger cars to reduce injuries or deaths from heatstroke and other harms to occupants of unattended vehicles. Specifically, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) must issue a motor vehicle safety standard that requires certain new passenger motor vehicles to include a system that detects and warns of the presence of an unattended occupant in the passenger compartment. The NHTSA must issue the final rule prescribing the safety standard within two years after the enactment of this bill, with full compliance with the standard required not later than two years after the rule is issued. After the standard is issued, the Department of Transportation must periodically contract with an independent third party to study retrofitting passenger motor vehicles with technologies and products that detect and warn when there is an unattended occupant in the passenger compartment. The study must identify relevant technologies and products to retrofit vehicles and provide recommendations about testing such technologies and products. Information about the performance of the technologies and products must be published on the NHTSA's website.
Health Equity and Access under the Law for Immigrant Women and Families Act of 2021 or the HEAL Immigrant Women and Families Act of 20 21 This bill extends Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program coverage to individuals lawfully present in the United States who otherwise meet eligibility requirements. Individuals granted federally authorized presence also are required to maintain minimum essential health insurance coverage and are eligible for health insurance exchanges, reduced cost sharing, premium subsidies, and premium tax credits.
Nurse Staffing Standards for Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2021 This bill requires hospitals to implement and submit to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a staffing plan that complies with specified minimum nurse-to-patient ratios by unit. Hospitals must post a notice regarding nurse-to-patient ratios in each unit and maintain records of actual ratios for each shift in each unit. The bill also requires hospitals to follow certain procedures regarding how ratios are determined and other staff are prohibited from performing nurse functions unless specifically authorized within a state's scope of practice rules, among other requirements. HHS must adjust Medicare payments to hospitals to cover additional costs attributable to compliance with these ratios. Nurses may object to, or refuse to participate in, an assignment if it would violate minimum ratios or if they are not prepared by education or experience to fulfill the assignment without compromising the safety of a patient or jeopardizing their nurse's license. Hospitals may not (1) take adverse actions against a nurse based on the nurse's reasonable refusal to accept an assignment; or (2) discriminate against individuals for good faith complaints relating to the care, services, or conditions of the hospital or related facilities. HHS may impose civil monetary penalties on hospitals violating the ratio requirements and must publish the names of such hospitals. The bill provides stipends to the nurse workforce loan repayment and scholarship program and expands the nurse retention grant program to include nurse preceptorship and mentorship projects.
Future of Local News Act This bill establishes the Future of Local News Committee to examine, report on, and make recommendations related to the state of local news and the ability of local news to meet the information needs of the people of the United States. The duties of the committee include (1) examining the implications of the loss of local newspapers, digital news outlets, and broadcasting outlets; (2) assessing the impact of the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic and whether the Paycheck Protection Program has had beneficial effects on local news organizations; and (3) assessing and examining existing and potential means of supporting local news production. The committee must recommend mechanisms that the federal government can create and implement to support the production of local news, such as the possible creation of a new national endowment for local journalism or the reform and expansion of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Fauci's Incompetence Requires Early Dismissal Act or the FIRED Act This bill retroactively prohibits an individual from serving as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for more than 12 years.
Operation Stonegarden Authorization Act This bill provides statutory authorization for the Operation Stonegarden grant program within the Department of Homeland Security. Through the program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall provide grants for enhancing border security to law enforcement agencies that are (1) in a state with an international land or maritime border, and (2) involved in an active U.S. Customs and Border Protection operation coordinated through the Border Patrol.
Enhance Access To SNAP Act of 2021 or the EATS Act of 20 21 This bill expands eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to students attending institutions of higher education.
Improving Access to Nutrition Act of 20 21 This bill repeals certain work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program). The requirements apply to able-bodied adults who are ages 18-49 and have no dependent children. Individuals who do not meet certain work requirements are generally prohibited from receiving more than 3 months of SNAP benefits over a 36-month period. Under current law, some of the work requirements under SNAP are temporarily suspended due to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019).
This resolution designates the week beginning November 8, 2021, as National Pregnancy Center Week.
