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.
Presidential Inaugural Committee Oversight Act This bill requires disbursements by presidential inaugural committees to be reasonable, related to the inaugural ceremony, and reported to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Currently, these committees are required to report only donations to the FEC. Upon termination, a committee's remaining funds must be donated to a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Banning Operations and Leases with the Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian Regime Act or the BOLIVAR Act This bill prohibits an executive agency from entering into a contract for the procurement of goods or services with any person that has business operations with the Maduro regime in Venezuela. The bill lists exceptions, including where vital to U.S. national security or as necessary for purposes of providing humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and other urgent lifesaving measures, or to carry out noncombatant evacuations.
Put School Counselors Where They're Needed Act This bill directs the Department of Education to implement a demonstration project providing competitive, four-year grants to at least 10 secondary schools that have a four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate of 60% or lower, for the provision of additional school counselors and counselor resources. The additional school counselors must primarily serve students identified as being at risk of not graduating in four years. Grantees that demonstrate progress in improving their graduation rates shall be eligible for subsequent grants.
Save Education Jobs Act This bill establishes through FY2030 the Education Jobs Fund, from which the Department of Education (ED) must award grants to state educational agencies and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to retain and create education jobs. ED must also provide grants to outlying areas and the Bureau of Indian Education. Specifically, LEAs must use subgrants for compensation and benefits to retain existing employees, rehire former employees, and hire new employees. Further, subgrants may be used for certain activities such as training and professional development, providing salary increases to cover extended days or school years to make up for lost instructional time due to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019), and developing teacher leadership roles in high-need schools. The bill prohibits the use of subgrants for certain activities, such as funding voucher programs, tax-credit scholarships, or education savings accounts.
Fast Track Advanced Apprenticeships Now Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to make a determination on whether to approve an application for certain occupations as apprenticeable occupations within 45 days after its receipt or else provide the applicant with a written explanation for the delay and offer an estimated timeline for a determination within 90 days after the explanation. Furthermore, Labor must convene—on an ongoing basis and take into consideration recommendations of the National Advisory Committee on Apprenticeships—certain industry sector leaders and experts to establish or update specific frameworks of industry-recognized occupational standards for current and potential apprenticeable occupations that (1) meet federal regulations governing safety and health standards and equal employment opportunity in apprenticeships; and (2) describe program scope and length, related instructions, on-the-job training, recognized postsecondary credentials, and competencies, and relevant timelines for review of such frameworks.
Preserve American History Act This bill provides statutory authority for a November 2, 2020, executive order establishing the President's Advisory 1776 Commission to promote the history and principles of the founding of the United States.
