Stronger Medicaid Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Act This bill allows COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) vaccines, prevention, and treatment, as well as prevention and treatment for conditions that may complicate COVID-19 treatment, for uninsured individuals to be covered under Medicaid during the public health emergency. (Currently, state Medicaid programs have the option to cover COVID-19 testing for uninsured individuals.) The bill also (1) specifically allows COVID-19 testing, vaccines, prevention, and treatment, as well as prevention and treatment for complicating conditions, for certain unlawful aliens to be covered under Medicaid during the public health emergency; and (2) specifies how the value and provision of COVID-19 assistance should be considered with respect to certain governmental programs and requirements.
Timely ReAuthorization of Necessary Stem-cell Programs Lends Access to Needed Therapies Act of 2021 or the TRANSPLANT Act of 2021 This bill modifies and reauthorizes through FY2026 the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, which provides support to patients who need a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant or umbilical cord blood transplant. The bill also requires the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a periodic review of the science of using adult stem cells and birthing tissues in therapeutic treatments. In addition, the Government Accountability Office must report on the regenerative medicine workforce.
Pharmacy Benefit Manager Accountability Study Act of 2021 This bill requires the Government Accountability Office to report on the role of pharmacy benefit managers in the pharmaceutical supply chain and recommend legislative actions to lower the cost of prescription drugs. The report must address the use of rebates and fees, the average prior authorization approval time, and the use of step therapy within the 10 largest pharmacy benefit managers.
This bill establishes programs and requires research to diversify the perinatal workforce and advance respectful maternal care delivery models. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must award grants to education and training programs to grow and diversify the professions that make up the perinatal workforce. HHS must also disseminate guidance on respectful maternal care delivery. This guidance must cover, among other topics, recruiting and retaining maternity care providers from diverse backgrounds and incorporating trained midwives and other perinatal health workers into maternity care teams. In addition, the National Institutes of Health must study best practices for culturally congruent maternity care. This is care that is in agreement with the preferred cultural values, beliefs, languages, worldview, and practices of health care consumers and other stakeholders. The Government Accountability Office must also report on certain aspects of perinatal health care professions. The report must focus on barriers to entering those professions for low-income and minority women.
Arctic Refuge Protection Act of 2021 This bill designates approximately 1,559,538 acres of land within Alaska in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Gun Violence Prevention Research Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention.
Work Opportunity Tax Credit and Jobs Act This bill makes the work opportunity tax credit permanent.
Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act of 2021 This bill provides funds for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide assistance to address historical discrimination and disparities in the agriculture sector. For example, USDA must provide debt forgiveness to help socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers pay off outstanding farm loan debts and address issues relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). Additionally, USDA must provide a competitive grant to a school of law or legal research entity to establish the National Center for Minority Farmer Agricultural Law Research and Information. It must also provide grants and loans to resolve property issues relating to ownership and succession on farmland. The bill provides financial assistance to cooperative development centers, individual cooperatives, or groups of cooperatives that serve socially disadvantaged groups. It also provides financial assistance and technical assistance to certain nonprofit organizations that provide services to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. USDA must provide support for research, education, and extension at historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions. It must also provide grants to land-grant colleges and universities for student scholarships, including for students who are members of Indian tribes and pursuing an agricultural field of study. The bill also requires USDA to establish an equity commission to address and mitigate discrimination across its agency.
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act of 2021 This bill modifies the tax credit for employment-related expenses incurred for the care of a taxpayer's dependent to (1) increase to $400,000, the adjusted gross income threshold level above which the credit is incrementally reduced; (2) increase the dollar limits on the allowable amount of the credit; (3) specify rules for married couples filing separate returns; (4) allow an inflation adjustment to the adjusted gross income threshold and the maximum credit amounts, beginning after 2022; and (5) make the credit refundable.
Essential Transportation Employee Safety Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to support the efforts of state and local governments to prioritize COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) testing of transportation workers who are categorized as essential critical infrastructure workers. Essential critical infrastructure employees include those who work in industries such as medical and health care, telecommunications, information technology systems, defense, food and agriculture, transportation and logistics, energy, water and wastewater, law enforcement, and public works. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, DOT must require (1) the owners and operators of equipment or facilities used by passenger or freight transportation employers to implement personal protective equipment and disinfection and sanitization procedures; and (2) an air carrier to submit to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a proposal to permit pilots to wear masks or protective face coverings in the flight deck, including a safety risk assessment with respect to such proposal. The bill sets forth requirements for owners or operators who cannot acquire necessary personal protective equipment due to market unavailability. For the duration of the COVID-19 national emergency, the FAA must (1) provide certain employees, including air traffic controllers and airway transportation systems specialists, with personal protective and sanitizing equipment; (2) ensure that air traffic control facilities are cleaned, disinfected, and sanitized frequently; and (3) ensure its contractors provide their employees with personal protective equipment.
Public Water Supply Invasive Species Compliance Act of 2021 This bill addresses transfers between Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana of water that contains invasive species. The bill exempts certain water transfers between public water supplies in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana from prohibitions on illegal trade of plants and wildlife. Specifically, the prohibitions do not apply to covered water transfers containing prohibited species if the species are present in both public water supplies before the transfer, the water is subject to effective mitigation measures, and the water is transferred directly between the supplies; or the water is transferred in a closed conveyance system, such as a pipe system, and sent directly to treatment facilities where the species will be destroyed. The costs of the mitigation measures must be borne by the entity that sells the water for financial gain. Finally, the bill establishes notification requirements for water transfers.
Research Investment to Spark the Economy Act of 2021 or the RISE Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, the Interior, Health and Human Services, and Transportation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation, and Environmental Protection Agency to provide support for research regarding COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) or research disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Support may be used to provide supplemental funding to extend the duration of a grant to a research institution, national laboratory, or individual that was awarded prior to the enactment of this bill, or to expand the purposes of such a grant as specified; issue awards to research the effects of the current pandemic and potential future pandemics; and provide flexibility on awards to account for facility closures or other limitations during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Agencies must provide the support as rapidly as possible. Provided funds shall remain available through FY2021.
