Improving Embassy Design and Security Act This bill amends procedures related to Department of State overseas construction. For any new embassy or consulate compound construction projects, the State Department may use a non-standard design only after consulting Congress. The State Department shall justify the choice to use such a design and provide documentation of the full lifecycle costs and the project's completion date, compared to the project if it used a standard design. The State Department shall report to Congress biannually on overseas capital construction projects; currently it is required to report annually on embassy construction costs. The bill also expands the required information for such reports, including the value of all requests to adjust the contract amount (such as a request for equitable adjustment or a certified claim). The bill also directs the State Department to complete all contractor performance evaluations by April 1, 2022. The State Department shall use the design-build project delivery method (where a single firm is responsible for both designing and construction) for all diplomatic posts and shall notify Congress if it seeks to use a different method for a project. The bill directs the State Department to report to Congress on various topics, including a six-year Long-Range Overseas Building Plan, a Long-Range Overseas Maintenance Plan, and a report detailing steps to expand the embassy construction contractor base to increase competition.
Social Security and Medicare Lock-Box Act This bill establishes (1) in the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, a Social Security Surplus Protection Account; and (2) in the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, a Medicare Surplus Protection Account. The Managing Trustee of each trust fund (in both cases, the Secretary of the Treasury) (1) must transfer the annual surplus of the trust fund to its respective account; and (2) may not invest the balance in the account until a law takes effect that authorizes, for amounts in the trust fund, an investment vehicle other than U.S. obligations. The bill establishes in the executive branch a commission to study the most effective vehicles for investment of the trust funds, other than investments in the form of U.S. obligations.
Constraining Human Rights Offenders in the Middle East Act or the CHROME Act This bill prohibits the President from taking any action relating to the reentry of the United States into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) unless the President makes specified certifications. The JCPOA is an agreement, signed by Iran and several other world powers (including the United States), that places restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for certain sanctions relief. The United States withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018. The bill prohibits the President from taking action to rejoin the JCPOA unless the President certifies to Congress that no sanctions waived or suspended pursuant to that reentry will operate to the benefit of (1) a designated foreign terrorist organization or its members, or (2) any individual or entity of the Iranian government that has engaged in gross violations of human rights.
Diplomatic Personnel Modernization Act This bill requires the Department of State to submit to Congress a comprehensive five-year strategic staffing plan. This plan must include (1) a data set displaying comprehensive workforce data for all current and planned State Department employees, disaggregated by certain metrics; (2) recommendations on the number of Foreign Service officers that should be posted at each U.S. diplomatic post and in the District of Columbia; and (3) recommendations on the number of civil service officers that the State Department should employ.
Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the Department of Education (ED) from providing funding to any educational agency or institution that allows its school personnel to inflict corporal punishment upon a student as a form of punishment or to modify undesirable behavior. First, the bill requires each state educational agency (SEA), in order to receive education funds, to submit to ED a state plan for eliminating the use of corporal punishment in schools. Additionally, the bill authorizes ED to award three-year grants to SEAs and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to assist them with improving school climate and culture. Grants must be used to implement school-wide positive behavioral intervention and support programs. Further, LEAs that receive subgrants must ensure that private school personnel are able to participate in grant activities. ED may also allocate funds to the Department of the Interior for schools operated or funded by Interior. Next, the bill directs ED to carry out a national assessment to determine compliance with the requirements of the bill and identify best practices for professional development and training programs. Finally, the bill gives protection and advocacy systems the authority to investigate, monitor, and enforce protections for students that are provided by the bill.
Paycheck Protection Clarification for Producers Act This bill expands eligibility for agricultural producers under the Paycheck Protection Program, established to support small businesses in response to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019), to include certain agricultural producers such as partnerships or limited liability companies. Currently, only certain agricultural producers that are sole proprietorships, independent contractors, or self-employed individuals may receive support under the program.
Congressional Oversight to Secure Transparency of Relocations Act or the COST of Relocations Act This bill requires a federal agency seeking to relocate more than 5% of its employees or more than 100 employees to conduct and make public a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the proposed change. Specifically, the agency must conduct such analysis and submit it to the agency's office of inspector general for review and submission to Congress. The report must include the anticipated outcomes and improvements that will result from the proposed relocation, the metrics for measuring whether the proposed relocation results in the anticipated outcomes and improvements, a timeline of past and future engagements with stakeholders regarding the proposed relocation, a comprehensive strategy for accomplishing the proposed relocation, and an assessment of the short- and long-term effects of the proposed relocation on the agency's mission.
Skills Renewal Act This bill allows a refundable tax credit for qualified training services received by certain individuals who are unemployed in 2020 due to the coronavius (i.e., the virus that causes COVID-19) pandemic.The bill defines qualified training service as a course or program of study identified by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act for a state, or as a course or program of study relating to computer science, technology, or another high need area, such as a coding boot camp, that has been precertified by the Department of Labor.
Skills Investment Act of 2021 This bill expands tax-favored Coverdell education savings accounts to allow the accounts to be used for educational or skill development expenses such as training services, career and technical education activities, career services, youth workforce investment activities, and adult education and literacy activities. The bill also renames the accounts Coverdell lifelong learning accounts , increases contribution limits, modifies the age-based contribution restrictions, allows a tax credit for a portion of an employer's contributions to an employee's account, and allows beneficiaries to deduct contributions made by or on behalf of the beneficiary.
ABLE Age Adjustment Act This bill increases from 26 to 46 the age threshold for tax-favored ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts. (ABLE accounts are designed to enable individuals with disabilities to save for and pay for disability-related expenses. To establish an account, an individual must have a qualifying impairment that began before the individual attained the age threshold.)
Safe Home Act of 2021 This bill makes unregulated custody transfers a form of child abuse and neglect under federal child-welfare law. Specifically, an unregulated custody transfer occurs when a child is placed with a non-relative or otherwise unfamiliar adult, with the intention of severing the parental or guardian relationship with the child, without reasonably ensuring the child's safety, and without legally transferring parental or guardian rights. The bill also requires the Department of Health and Human Services to (1) report on the causes, effects, and prevalence of unregulated custody transfers; (2) develop policy recommendations for preventing such transfers; and (3) issue guidance to the states.
Next Generation Entrepreneurship Corps Act This bill establishes the Next Generation Entrepreneurship Corps Program to promote entrepreneurship in the most distressed regions of the United States, including those regions affected by COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019), by awarding participating fellows a two-year stipend to start and grow a new small business. Fellows will receive (1) a $120,000, two-year stipend for living and basic startup expenses; (2) health care; and (3) interest-free federal student loan deferral for two years. Further, fellows shall receive mentorship from the Service Corps of Retired Executives and be matched with a full range of lenders, investors, and insurers. The bill also establishes a fund in the Department of the Treasury from which the SBA may provide loans for qualified investors to support a small business owned and operated under the program by a fellow.
