Coronavirus Mental Health and Addiction Assistance Act of 2021 This bill requires the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to award grants to establish a network of entities that provide mental health and substance use disorder programs during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. Eligible entities include tribal nations, nonprofit organizations, service providers, and partnerships of two or more eligible entities.
Global Health, Empowerment and Rights Act This bill establishes that a foreign nongovernmental organization shall not be disqualified from receiving certain U.S. international development assistance solely because the organization provides medical services using non-U.S. government funds if the medical services are legal in both the United States and the country in which they are being provided. Such foreign organizations shall not be subject to requirements relating to their use of non-U.S. funds for advocacy or lobbying activities, other than those that apply to U.S. nongovernmental organizations. Current U.S. policy prohibits various foreign assistance from going to a foreign nongovernmental organization unless it agrees to not perform or actively promote abortions.
This bill authorizes the use of the Capitol rotunda on February 3, 2021, for a memorial service honoring Officer Brian Sicknick of the U.S. Capitol Police. The memorial service shall include Officer Sicknick's lying in honor in the rotunda, and the Architect of the Capitol shall place a plaque in honor of Officer Sicknick near the Capitol steps. The Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives and the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate must make arrangements for funeral services in the Capitol for Officer Sicknick, including payments for travel expenses of immediate family members and the attendance of Members of Congress. The bill also requires that any funds received by the Capitol Police Board in response to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, be deposited into the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund.
American Election Security Act This bill prohibits the use of voting systems in federal elections that (1) have hardware and software components that are not manufactured and maintained in the United States, or (2) are produced by a foreign entity.
Defund EcoHealth Alliance Act This bill prohibits the award of federal funds to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. This is a nonprofit research organization that studies coronaviruses in bat populations and other environmental health concerns. The Government Accountability Office must also audit federal funds provided to that organization over the past decade. The audit must include the amount of those funds provided by EcoHealth Alliance to China, the Chinese Communist Party, or the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Protections and Transparency in the Workplace Act This bill requires issuers of securities to disclose regularly information related to claims of discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), or national origin; discrimination because of age; discrimination on the basis of disability; discrimination because of genetic information; discrimination on the basis of status concerning service in a uniformed service; sexual harassment; and sexual assault or abuse. In investigating claims of discrimination or harassment, an issuer must hire an independent, third-party law firm agreed to by all parties involved. Issuers must implement discrimination and harassment training programs for employees, conduct an annual survey of employees to determine whether employees feel safe, and establish an anonymous whistleblower tip line.
Innovative Energy Manufacturing Act of 2021 This bill provides for additional annual allocations, in 2022 through 2026, of the qualifying advanced energy project tax credit. A qualifying advanced energy project is a project that reequips, expands, or establishes a manufacturing facility for the production of energy from alternative sources, including solar, wind, or other renewable resources. The Department of the Treasury must report to Congress by the end of 2027 on domestic job creation attributable to the credit allocations made by this bill.
Native American Education Opportunity Act This bill addresses education savings account programs and charter schools for tribal students. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Education and the Department of the Interior, at the request of federally recognized Indian tribes, to provide funds to tribes for tribal-based education savings account programs. Tribes must use these funds to award grants to education savings accounts for students who (1) attended or will be eligible to attend a school operated by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE); or (2) will not be attending a school operated by the BIE, receiving an education savings account from another tribe, or attending public elementary or secondary school while participating in the program. Funds may be used for items and activities such as costs of attendance at private schools, private tutoring and online learning programs, textbooks, educational software, or examination fees. The Government Accountability Office must review the implementation of these education savings account programs, including any factors impacting increased participation in such programs. Additionally, the bill authorizes the BIE to approve and fund charter schools at any school that it operates or funds.
Financial Stability Oversight Council Reform Act This bill subjects the budgets of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Office of Financial Research (OFR) to the annual appropriations process and establishes requirements for reports and a public notice and comment period. The budgets of the FSOC and the OFR are funded by assessments on financial institutions which are deposited into the Financial Research Fund and, under current law, are immediately available to be spent. This bill requires the funding from the Financial Research Fund to be made available by appropriations acts. The OFR must submit quarterly reports to Congress regarding its finances; workforce; and actions taken to achieve the goals, objectives, and performance measures of the office. The OFR must provide a public notice and comment period of at least 90 days before issuing any proposed report, rule, or regulation. The bill expands the duties of the OFR to include publishing an annual work plan; consulting with other federal departments and agencies with relevant expertise prior to preparing any public report with respect to a specified entity, class of entities, or financial product or service; and developing and implementing a cybersecurity plan. The Government Accountability Office must annually audit the cybersecurity plan and its implementation.
CFPB Dual Mandate and Economic Analysis Act This bill establishes the Office of Economic Analysis in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to review all proposed and existing guidance, orders, rules, and regulations. The CFPB must also identify in each proposed rulemaking the problem to be solved by the rule or regulation and the metrics the CFPB will use to measure the success of the rule or regulation. These metrics must include a measurement of changes regarding consumer access to, and the cost of, consumer financial products and services. Additionally, the purpose of the CFPB is revised to include strengthening private sector participation in markets, without government interference or subsidies, to increase competition and enhance consumer choice.
Employee Bonus Protection Act This bill excludes from an employee's regular pay rate, for purposes of calculating overtime compensation, payments made to reward an employee or group of employees for meeting or exceeding the productivity, quality, efficiency, or sales goals specified in writing in a gainsharing plan, incentive bonus plan, commission plan, or performance contingent bonus plan.
Reshoring American Manufacturing Act of 2021 or the RAM Act of 2021 This bill allows business taxpayers a tax credit, up to $25 million in a taxable year, for the cost of eligible reshoring expenses. The bill defines eligible reshoring expenses as amounts paid for the transportation (including any import duties, fees, or tariffs imposed with respect to such transportation) of manufacturing equipment from China to the United States. The credit expires after 2024.
