Infants Need Food And Nutrition Today Act or the INFANT Act This bill requires the Department of Agriculture to allow infant food combinations and dinners to be served under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Disability Voting Rights Act This bill requires each state to allow individuals with disabilities to use absentee registration procedures and to vote by absentee ballot in federal elections. The bill requires each state to accept and process any otherwise valid voter registration and absentee ballot applications from individuals with disabilities if the applications are received within the deadline for the federal election; establish procedures for individuals with disabilities to request, and for the state to send, voter registration and absentee ballot applications by mail and through electronic means; create procedures for securely transmitting blank absentee ballots by mail and through electronic means to individuals with disabilities; designate a single office to provide information on voter registration and absentee ballot procedures for individuals with disabilities; and specify a means of electronic communication for individuals with disabilities to request, and for the state to send, voter registration and absentee ballot applications. Further, each state must transmit a validly requested absentee ballot to an individual with a disability within 45 days of an election. However, the bill establishes a procedure for a state to apply to the Department of Justice for a waiver of this requirement. The bill also permanently reauthorizes and expands a program under which the Department of Health and Human Services makes payments to eligible states and units of local government to assure voting access for individuals with disabilities.
Marriage Access for People with Special Abilities Act or the MAPSA Act This bill excludes a spouse's income and resources when determining eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and disregards marital status when calculating the SSI benefit amount, for an adult who has a diagnosed intellectual or developmental disability. SSI is a federal income supplement program designed to help aged, blind, and disabled individuals with limited income and resources meet basic needs.
Right to Earn a Living Act of 2021 This bill requires a state or local government, to be eligible to receive future payments from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, to certify that it will not limit the operation, hours, or occupancy of small businesses without the state or local government taking legislative action.
Child and Animal Abuse Detection and Reporting Act This bill requires the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families to disseminate information through the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information about the incidence of cases of child abuse that involve abuse to animals.
Transformational Reforms and Updates to Ensure Educational Quality and Urgent Investments in Today's Youth Act of 2021 or the TRUE EQUITY Act This bill establishes various grant programs to address educational inequities in elementary and secondary schools. Specifically, the bill creates grant programs related to (1) early childhood education, (2) high-quality and diverse teachers and leaders, (3) college and career readiness pathways, and (4) additional resources for at-risk students. For each grant program, the Department of Education (ED) must award a single grant to an eligible state. To be eligible for a grant, a state must establish an independent state oversight board. The oversight board must, among other duties (1) determine whether the state and its local educational agencies (LEAs) have met state educational equity goals, and (2) hold them accountable for failing to meet those goals. ED may renew a grant if the oversight board determines the state has met its goals. In addition, for each grant program, the bill outlines the activities authorized under the program, maintenance-of-effort requirements, and matching fund requirements. Finally, the bill permits ED to enter into a local flexibility demonstration agreement, through which a state educational agency may use funds to develop and implement a school funding system based on weighted per-pupil allocations for low-income and disadvantaged students. (Currently, ED may enter into these agreements with LEAs.)
Homeownership for DREAMers Act This bill prohibits federal mortgage providers from limiting insurance eligibility on the basis of the mortgagor's participation in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program.
Remote Seafood Employee Meals Tax Parity Act This bill provides that the 50% limitation on the tax deduction for business meals shall not apply to meals provided on certain fishing vessels or at certain fish processing facilities.
This bill restricts eligibility for certain federal assistance benefits to U.S. citizens or nationals. This restriction applies to all means-tested benefits, other than tax benefits, and to benefits authorized under the Social Security Act. An individual must provide evidence of citizenship or nationality status and attest to that status when applying for these benefits.
Fair Access to Credit Scores Act of 2021 This bill requires certain consumer reporting agencies to disclose, upon request, as part of a consumer's free annual disclosure (1) the consumer's current credit score, (2) other information in the consumer's file regarding risk scores or predictors, and (3) any other consumer information the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau considers appropriate with respect to consumer financial education. Consumer reporting agencies must maintain these scores or predictors in a consumer's file for at least one year after the data is generated.
Medical Debt Relief Act of 2021 This bill modifies requirements related to the reporting of medical debt. Specifically, a consumer reporting agency is prohibited from adding medical debt information to a consumer credit report if the debt was fully paid or settled, or is less than a year old. Additionally, a debt collector must notify the consumer prior to reporting medical debt to a consumer reporting agency.
Spotlight Act This bill renders null and void final Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations published on May 28, 2020, relating to the reporting requirements of tax-exempt organizations. The bill requires tax-exempt organizations that fall under sections 501(c)(4), 501(c)(5), and 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code (e.g., social welfare organizations, labor organizations, business leagues) to disclose the names and addresses of all substantial contributors (persons who contribute more than $5,000 per year to such organizations) on their information returns. The bill also eliminates the authority of the IRS to provide exceptions to the disclosure requirements for tax-exempt organizations. This provision does not apply to determinations made by the IRS before July 16, 2018.
