Rep. Jamaal Bowman

Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act This bill establishes a Civilian Climate Corps Program and generally revises benefits provided to national service program participants. The bill establishes a Civilian Climate Corps to operate (1) a national climate service program; and (2) a national climate service grant program to help communities respond to climate change and transition to a clean economy, including through reducing carbon emissions. The bill also provides for allowances for participants in certain national service programs, including the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program and the National Civilian Community Corps. The bill expands the exclusion from gross income, for income tax purposes, to exclude amounts received as educational awards or benefits and income attributable to discharges of student loan debt under the National and Community Service Act of 1990.

Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2021 or the SAFE Banking Act of 2021 This bill generally prohibits a federal banking regulator from penalizing a depository institution for providing banking services to a legitimate cannabis-related business. Prohibited penalties include terminating or limiting the deposit insurance or share insurance of a depository institution solely because the institution provides financial services to a legitimate cannabis-related business and prohibiting or otherwise discouraging a depository institution from offering financial services to such a business. Additionally, proceeds from a transaction involving activities of a legitimate cannabis-related business are not considered proceeds from unlawful activity. Proceeds from unlawful activity are subject to anti-money laundering laws. Furthermore, a depository institution is not, under federal law, liable or subject to asset forfeiture for providing a loan or other financial services to a legitimate cannabis-related business. The bill also provides that a federal banking agency may not request or order a depository institution to terminate a customer account unless (1) the agency has a valid reason for doing so, and (2) that reason is not based solely on reputation risk. Valid reasons for terminating an account include threats to national security and involvement in terrorist financing, including state sponsorship of terrorism. Finally, the bill decreases the cap on the surplus funds of the Federal Reserve banks. (Amounts exceeding this cap are deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.)

Green New Deal for Public Housing Act This bill addresses energy efficiency and workforce development in the context of public housing. Specifically, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must award grants to public housing agencies (PHAs) and other eligible entities under a variety of new programs, including programs for facilitating workforce development and high-income employment transition; conducting physical needs assessments and subsequent energy efficiency retrofits; and making upgrades, replacements, and improvements for energy efficiency, building electrification, and water quality upgrades. Recipients of these grants must provide relocation assistance for residents who are displaced during construction and must ensure that they can return to their homes once retrofitting is completed. A certain percentage of the employment positions generated by these grant programs and other specified federal grant programs must be filled by low-income individuals, and a specified percentage of certain contracts associated with these programs must be awarded to businesses owned by residents of public housing. The bill also repeals a provision that prohibits a PHA from using HUD funds to construct or operate new public housing units if doing so would result in the PHA owning or operating more units than it did on October 1, 1999.

Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to address workplace violence in health care, social service, and other sectors. Specifically, Labor must issue an interim occupational safety and health standard that requires certain employers to take actions to protect workers and other personnel from workplace violence. The standard applies to employers in the health care sector, in the social service sector, and in sectors that conduct activities similar to those in the health care and social service sectors. In addition, Labor must promulgate a final standard within a specified time line.

Public Housing Fire Safety Act This bill creates a grant program, to be administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, for public housing agencies to install automatic sprinkler systems in certain public housing projects.

FDA Modernization Act of 2021 This bill allows an applicant for market approval for a new drug to use methods other than animal testing to establish the drug's safety and effectiveness. Under this bill, these alternative methods may include cell-based assays, organ chips and microphysiological systems, sophisticated computer modeling, and other human biology-based test methods.

Tax Fairness for Workers Act This bill allows an above-the-line tax deduction for union dues and expenses. (An above-the-line deduction is subtracted from gross income and is available whether or not a taxpayer itemizes other deductions.) The bill also reinstates the miscellaneous itemized tax deduction for unreimbursed expenses attributable to the performance of services as an employee (Under current law, all miscellaneous itemized deductions are suspended through 2025).

Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act This bill limits U.S. assistance to Israel and establishes reporting requirements related to Israel's activities in the West Bank and its expenditures for offshore procurement. Specifically, the bill prohibits the use of any funds that are made available for assistance to Israel in support of (1) military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill treatment of Palestinian children; (2) seizure, appropriation, or destruction of Palestinian property and forcible transfer of civilians in the West Bank; or (3) unilateral annexation by Israel of West Bank territory. The Department of State must report on the nature and extent of such activities carried out by Israel. Further, the Government Accountability Office must submit a report identifying and analyzing Israel's expenditures for offshore procurement, including (1) specific programs and items to which funds for offshore procurement in Israel have been allocated, and (2) identifying all end-use monitoring to which Israel is subject with respect to U.S.-origin defense articles.

Lead Abatement for Families Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to identify federally assisted housing projects that use lead-based water pipes and allows HUD to award grants for the replacement of these pipes to public housing agencies and other owners.

Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act This bill establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. The commission shall examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. The commission shall identify (1) the role of the federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery, (2) forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their descendants, and (3) lingering negative effects of slavery on living African Americans and society.