Battleship Iowa National Museum of the Surface Navy Act of 2021 This bill designates the Battleship USS Iowa Museum located in Los Angeles, California, as the National Museum of the Surface Navy.
Hire Veteran Health Heroes Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to consult with the Department of Defense to identify members of the Armed Forces in health care occupations who are separating from the Armed Forces. The VA must refer interested members to a recruiter for consideration of open positions in the member's specialty and geography of interest.
Improving Child Care for Working Families Act of 2021 This bill increases the limitation on the exclusion from employee gross income for employer-paid dependent care assistance from $5,000 to $10,500.
Holistic Economic Aid for Low-Income Neighborhood Growth Act of 2021 or the HEALING Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make grants to states, local governments, Indian tribes, insular areas, and other institutions serving or owned by minorities to carry out Community Development Block Grant activities and other assistance in low- and moderate-income areas. Additionally, HUD must carry out a Civil Unrest Business Recovery Program to provide compensation to certain for-profit entities for damages from social and civil unrest during 2020 and to support business-led economic development.
Success for Rural Students and Communities Act of 2021 This bill establishes a grant program through which the Department of Education may award funds to eligible partnerships to support rural postsecondary education and economic growth and development in rural communities. A grant recipient must be a partnership whose members represent at least three designated types of organizations, specifically (1) a local educational agency or educational service agency serving a rural area, (2) an institution of higher education (IHE), (3) a regional economic development entity, or (4) a rural community-serving organization with demonstrated success supporting rural students in accessing higher education and attaining degrees. A grant recipient must use awarded funds to carry out no fewer than two specified activities, namely (1) improving postsecondary enrollment rates for rural secondary school students, (2) increasing enrollment and completion rates of rural nontraditional students in degree programs at IHEs, (3) creating or strengthening academic programs at rural-serving IHEs to prepare graduates to enter into high-need occupations in the regional and local economies, or (4) generating local and regional economic development that creates employment opportunities for rural students with postsecondary degrees.
This bill adjusts the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area in California to include the area identified as the Rio Vista/Expansion Area on the map entitled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area Proposed Boundary Expansion and dated February 2021.
This bill reauthorizes through FY2036 the authority of the Department of the Interior to make any grants or provide any financial assistance for the Ohio & Erie National Heritage Canalway in Ohio. The bill increases the total amount that may be appropriated for the canalway.
Pennsylvania National Heritage Areas Reauthorization Act This bill reauthorizes in Pennsylvania through FY2036 the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, the Lackawanna Valley National Heritage Area, the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Area, and the Oil Region National Heritage Area. The bill eliminates the limitation on the total amount that may be appropriated for the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, the Lackawanna Valley National Heritage Area, the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Area, and the Oil Region National Heritage Area.
Albert Pike Statue Removal Act This bill directs the National Park Service to remove the statue of Albert Pike near Judiciary Square in the District of Columbia. The Department of the Interior may donate the statue to a museum or other similar entity, as determined appropriate by Interior to ensure its preservation and interpretation in an indoor setting. The recipient of the statue may not store, display, or exhibit the statue outdoors.
Emancipation Statue Removal Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to ensure that the Emancipation Memorial is removed from Lincoln Park in the District of Columbia. Interior shall donate the Emancipation Memorial to a museum or other similar entity. The recipient of the Emancipation Memorial may not store, display, or exhibit the memorial outside, but if the memorial is stored, displayed, or exhibited outside, ownership of the memorial will revert back to the federal government.
Working On Rewarding and Keeping Employees Resilient Act or the WORKER Act This bill addresses workforce development by advancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, revising and implementing certain worker training, retention, and advancement programs, establishing the Distressed Community Investment Agency, and renaming the Department of Commerce as the Department of Innovation and Investment. The bill requires (1) the Department of Education (ED) to award grants to eligible entities to implement certain formal and informal engineering education programs in elementary and secondary schools, and (2) the use of certain career and technical education program funds for supporting a hands-on learning approach. The bill establishes in the Department of Labor an Office of Apprenticeship, including a National Advisory Committee on Apprenticeships, to promote apprenticeship programs. Labor and ED must establish a voluntary Registered Apprenticeship-College Collaborative consisting of the sponsors carrying out registered apprenticeship programs, two- or four-year post secondary educational institutions, and organizations that represent such programs or institutions. The bill requires states to provide a Labor-approved reemployment bonus program for individuals currently receiving unemployment benefits. It also allows states to use workforce development funds for a wage insurance program for individuals age 50 and over (age 45 and over for individuals in economically distressed communities) and establishes a training voucher program to assist workers in obtaining job skills training.
Building United States Infrastructure and Leveraging Development Act or the BUILD Act This bill increases from $15 billion to $30 billion the national limitation on the amount of tax-exempt highway or surface freight transfer facility bonds.
