This resolution (1) commits to advancing policies that will end roadway fatalities by 2050, and (2) calls on Congress and the Department of Transportation to commit to working together to achieve zero roadway fatalities by the year 2050.
Performing Artist Tax Parity Act of 2021 This bill modifies the tax deduction for the expenses of performing artists (including commissions paid to managers or agents) to provide for a phaseout of such deduction for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000 ($200,000 for joint return filers). The $100,000 phaseout threshold is adjusted for inflation annually for taxable years beginning after 2021.
Exposing Discrimination in Higher Education Act This bill requires the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights to publish prominently on its website the names of the institutions of higher education (IHEs) that request, and the names of the IHEs that receive, religious exemptions from the prohibition on sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities. It also requires an IHE that requests, receives, exercises, or intends to exercise such a religious exemption to publish prominently on its website certain information with respect to such exemption.
Saving America's Pollinators Act of 2021 This bill addresses the use of certain pesticides and the health and status of native bees and other pollinators. First, the bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a Pollinator Protection Board to develop an independent review process for pesticides that pose a threat to pollinators and their habitats. All active ingredients and pesticide products that contain one or more specified neonicotinoid pesticides must be deemed to generally cause unreasonable adverse effects to the environment. Under the bill, the registration of all uses of neonicotinoid pesticides must be immediately and permanently canceled. The EPA must revoke any tolerance or exemption that allows the presence of a neonicotinoid pesticide, or any pesticide chemical residue that results from neonicotinoid pesticide use, in or on food. The continued sale or use of existing stocks of neonicotinoid pesticides is prohibited, and the EPA may not register any such pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. The bill requires the Department of the Interior, the EPA, and the Department of Agriculture to coordinate monitoring activities and report on the health and population status of native bees and other pollinators. Finally, a state or federal agency may be granted an exemption to use neonicotinoid pesticides if the board votes that use of the pesticide is warranted (1) in an emergency situation to avert significant risk to threatened or endangered species, (2) to quarantine invasive species, or (3) to protect public health.
Closing the Meal Gap Act of 202 1 This bill revises the requirements for calculating Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The bill increases the minimum SNAP benefit and requires benefits to be calculated using the value of a low-cost food plan. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must determine the requirements for the low-cost food plan, which is the diet required to feed a family of four, consisting of a man and a woman 19-50 years of age, a child 6-8 years of age, and a child 9-11 years of age. USDA must (1) reevaluate and publish the market baskets of the plan by January 1, 2027, and every five years thereafter, based on current food prices, food composition data, consumption patterns, and dietary guidance; and (2) make adjustments to the plan to account for household size, changes in the cost of the diet, and the costs of food in specified areas. The bill modifies the requirements for calculating household income to determine SNAP eligibility by (1) authorizing a standard medical expense deduction for households containing an elderly or disabled member, and (2) eliminating the cap on the excess shelter expense deduction. The bill eliminates certain work requirements for SNAP. The requirements apply to able-bodied adults who are ages 18-49 and have no dependent children. The bill allows Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands to participate in SNAP. Currently, the three territories receive block grants instead of participating in SNAP.
Supermarket Tax Credit for Underserved Areas Act This bill expands the tax credits that are available for the establishment of supermarkets in underserved areas. The bill includes provisions that (1) increase the rate of the rehabilitation tax credit for a supermarket building placed in service after December 31, 2021, and before January 1, 2025, in an underserved area; (2) increase by $1,000 the limit on wages eligible for the work opportunity tax credit for employees of a new underserved area supermarket; and (3) allow a business-related tax credit for 15% of the gross receipts from the retail sale of fresh fruits and vegetables in a new underserved area supermarket.
United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2021 This bill establishes restrictions on businesses that relocate call centers or redirect customer service calls to locations outside the United States. Specifically, a business must notify the Department of Labor that it intends to move its customer service call center overseas and Labor must maintain a publicly available list of such businesses. Subject to narrow exceptions, a business appearing on such list is ineligible to receive federal grants or guaranteed loans for five years after the business is added to the list. Further, agencies must condition the awarding of government contracts on the requirement that any call center activity pursuant to the contract must be performed in the United States. Additionally, the bill requires call center employees to disclose their physical location at the beginning of each call initiated or received, unless all employees of the business participating in the communication are located in the United States, among other exceptions.
Averting Loss of Life and Injury by Expediting SIVs Act of 2021 or the Allies Act of 2021 This bill increases the number of special immigrant visas available to qualified Afghan nationals who worked for the U.S. government or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) missions in Afghanistan. The bill also relaxes certain qualifications for such visas. Specifically, this bill makes available an additional 8,000 visas for principal aliens under this special visa program, to be available until all such visas have been issued. (The numerical limitations in this program apply only to the principal alien who applies for the visa, not to any accompanying spouse or child.) Under this bill, an alien may qualify based on a credible basis for concern about the possibility of an ongoing serious threat in Afghanistan due to their work with the U.S. government or a NATO mission, where currently the alien must have experienced such a threat. The bill also eliminates a requirement for each applicant to submit a credible sworn statement describing that threat. Furthermore, for an applicant qualifying for a visa by performing duties for U.S. military personnel stationed with a NATO mission, this bill eliminates a requirement that the duties performed qualify as sensitive and trusted duties. If an alien submits a visa application that included an accompanying spouse or child but the alien passes away before the application is granted, the surviving spouse or child shall remain eligible to receive a visa under that application. Currently, a surviving spouse or child retains eligibility only if the application was approved before the alien passed away.
Universal School Meals Program Act of 2021 This bill revises requirements under the food and nutrition programs of the Department of Agriculture, such as the school lunch and breakfast programs. For example, the bill permanently provides free meals to all school children regardless of income. The bill increases the reimbursement rate for school food authorities participating in the food and nutrition programs. The bill also prohibits school food authorities from (1) physically segregating or otherwise discriminating against any child participating in the free breakfast program, or (2) overtly identifying a child participating in the program with a special token or announcement. Additionally, the bill expands the summer food service program by making all children eligible for participation in the program. Further, the bill revises eligibility determinations for measuring poverty to include runaway or homeless youth, foster children, migratory children, and children participating in specified programs (e.g., Head Start).
PFAS Action Act of 2021 This bill establishes requirements and incentives to limit the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS, and remediate PFAS in the environment. PFAS are man-made and may have adverse human health effects. A variety of products contain PFAS, such as nonstick cookware or weatherproof clothing. The bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate the PFAS perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as a hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, thereby requiring remediation of releases of those PFAS into the environment. Within five years, the EPA must determine whether the remaining PFAS should be designated as hazardous substances. The EPA must publish human health water quality criteria under the Clean Water Act for each measurable PFAS and class of such substances and establish standards to limit discharges of PFAS from industrial sources into waters of the United States. In addition, the EPA must issue a national primary drinking water regulation for PFAS that, at a minimum, includes standards for PFOA and PFOS. Among other requirements, the EPA must also issue a final rule adding PFOA and PFOS to the list of hazardous air pollutants, test all PFAS for toxicity to human health, and regulate the disposal of materials containing PFAS. The EPA must also require PFAS manufacturers to submit analytical reference standards for PFAS. The EPA and states may use those standards for (1) the development of information, protocols, and methodologies, and (2) activities relating to the implementation of enforcement of requirements. Finally, the bill provides incentives to address PFAS, such as grants to help community water systems treat water contaminated by PFAS and grants to schools for testing and filtrating PFAS from drinking water.
