Rep. Julia Brownley

Amend the Code for Marriage Equality Act of 2021 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, the Social Security Act (SSAct), and other federal laws to replace (1) references to wife or husband with references to spouse , and (2) references to husband and wife or husband or wife with references to married couple or married person. For purposes of federal laws or regulations, marriage is defined as a legal union between two people as spouses. The bill eliminates a definition of spouse that refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. Requirements concerning compensation to a surviving wife after the disability or death of a person employed at a military, air, or naval base outside the United States are revised to make surviving spouses eligible for such compensation. The bill makes similar revisions to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. The bill revises title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the SSAct to consolidate separate provisions for a wife's insurance benefits and a husband's insurance benefits into a single standard for a spouse's insurance benefits. Criminal penalties that currently apply to persons who threaten to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a former President's wife or widow are revised to apply to threats made to a former President's spouse or surviving spouse.

Disarm Hate Act The bill expands the categories of persons who are prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm. Specifically, it prohibits firearm sale or transfer to and receipt, possession, shipment, or transport by a person (1) who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime, or (2) who has received an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence.

Multiple Substance Impaired Driving Prevention Act of 2021 This bill includes substances other than alcohol within the scope of federal programs for preventing impaired driving. It also addresses reporting of impaired driving arrests, citations, convictions, and related matters to federal and other databases. Under current law, if a state does not have (or enforce) certain laws to address repeat intoxicated drivers, a portion of that state's Federal-aid highway funding must be reserved for alcohol-related countermeasures for impaired driving. This bill provides that reserved funds may also be used for countermeasures for single or multiple substance impaired driving. Additionally, states may use grants for impaired driving countermeasures to improve (1) reporting of information about crashes and impaired driving to federal, state, and local databases; and (2) research using such information. The Government Accountability Office must also study the extent to which states and localities report information about impaired driving to relevant federal databases and use the databases to identify repeat impaired driving offenders.

Greater Leadership Overseas for the Benefit of Equality Act of 2021 or the GLOBE Act of 2021 This bill contains provisions related to (1) the protection of LGBTQI individuals globally; and (2) immigration protections for vulnerable individuals. The bill establishes (1) an interagency group to respond to urgent threats to LGBTQI people in foreign countries, and (2) a permanent Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI Peoples in the Department of State. The President shall impose visa-blocking sanctions on foreign persons responsible for violating the human rights of individuals based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics. The State Department shall establish the Global Equality Fund to provide assistance to nongovernmental organizations working to advance and protect human rights. The U.S. Agency for International Development shall establish the LGBTQI Global Development Partnership to work with the private sector and nongovernmental organizations to support LGBTQI rights. The bill removes prohibitions against providing foreign assistance to nongovernmental organizations that offer certain medical services (e.g., abortion-related services) using non-U.S. government funds. The bill contains several immigration-related provisions, such as those  establishing that persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity may form the basis of an asylum request, allowing certain applicants to file asylum claims more than a year after their arrival in the United States, including a permanent partnership between two partners as a marriage for immigration law purposes, providing for free counsel in certain immigration proceedings, and granting U.S. citizenship to a child born abroad through assistive reproductive technology from a U.S. citizen who is the child's nonbiological parent.

Requirements, Expectations, and Standard Procedures for Effective Consultation with Tribes Act or the RESPECT Act This bill establishes tribal consultation procedures for federal agencies. Specifically, the bill requires federal agencies to consult with tribal governments (1) before undertaking any proposed federal activity or finalizing any federal regulatory action that may have a tribal impact, and (2) for all activities that would affect any part of federal land sharing a border with Indian land. Tribal impact refers to any federal action that may have an impact on tribal governments, including tribal cultural practices and tribal treaty-protected rights. Agencies must prepare tribal impact statements to identify potential tribal impacts of a proposed activity or action. Agencies must also make a good faith effort to identify areas that contain sacred sites important to tribal governments. The bill further outlines consultation requirements, including outreach and meeting arrangements. In general, the consultation shall conclude only upon the execution of a memorandum of agreement between the agency and the tribal government or the members of a designated tribal leader task force. Next, the bill requires agencies to take certain actions during the decision stage for a proposed activity (e.g., public comment) and for a regulatory action. Agencies must recognize and respect tribal self-government and sovereignty and grant tribal governments maximum discretion in the administration of federal statutes and regulations. Tribal governments may seek judicial review of a determination of an agency under this bill if the tribal government has exhausted all other administrative remedies.

Menstrual Equity For All Act of 2021 This bill expands access to free sanitary napkins and tampons (i.e., menstrual products) in certain locations and for particular groups. It also requires Medicaid to cover menstrual products, as well as liners, cups, and similar items used by individuals with respect to menstruation. Specifically, the bill imposes requirements to make free menstrual products available in federal and state correctional facilities (including facilities that house aliens detained by the Department of Homeland Security) and restrooms in federal buildings that are open to the public. It also establishes a demonstration grant program to support the provision of free menstrual products on campuses of institutions of higher education and permits elementary and secondary schools to use certain grants to provide menstrual products to students. Furthermore, the bill requires employers with at least 100 employees to provide free menstrual products for employees. It also permits the use of certain grants for emergency food and shelter to provide menstrual products to homeless individuals.

Keeping Our Promise Act This bill authorizes issuing visas to certain individuals who were previously refused a diversity immigrant visa or admission into the United States because of certain executive orders or the COVID-19 public health emergency. (Diversity immigrant visas are available to eligible immigrants from countries with relatively low rates of immigration to the United States.) Specifically, this bill applies to individuals who were refused such a visa solely due to certain executive orders from 2017 to 2020, including orders which suspended the entry of individuals from certain countries. The bill also applies to diversity visa applicants who, because of the COVID-19 emergency, were (1) unable to receive a visa interview despite requesting one, or (2) unable to be admitted into the United States despite being approved for a visa. The Department of State must notify each individual covered under this bill of the individual's visa eligibility. To retain eligibility, an individual must respond to the State Department's notice within one year of the notice. An individual may also lose eligibility if the State Department determines that the applicant fails to meet certain requirements. The bill also relaxes certain annual numerical limits for individuals obtaining a visa under this bill. An individual who was a child when initially selected for a visa shall be treated as a child for the purposes of a visa application under this bill.

Humane Correctional Health Care Act This bill allows states to cover inmates of public institutions under Medicaid. The Government Accountability Office must report on specified information relating to the health of inmates and the effects of Medicaid coverage.

Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2021 This bill establishes grants to support the implementation of extreme risk protection order laws at the state and local levels, extends federal firearms restrictions to individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders, and expands related data collection. Extreme risk protection order laws, or red flag laws, generally allow certain individuals (e.g., law enforcement officers or family members) to petition a court for a temporary order that prohibits an at-risk individual from purchasing and possessing firearms. Among its provisions, the bill directs the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice to establish a grant program to help states, local governments, Indian tribes, and other entities implement extreme risk protection order laws; extends federal restrictions on the receipt, possession, shipment, and transportation of firearms and ammunition to individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders; and requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to compile (and later destroy) records from federal, tribal, and state courts and other agencies that identify individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders.

Abortion Care Awareness Act of 2022 This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to carry out a campaign to educate the public about how to access abortion and related health services. The campaign must address, among other matters, the legality of interstate travel to obtain abortions and related services and accurate information about medication abortions.