Rep. Ron Kind

America's Red Rock Wilderness Act This bill designates specified lands in the following areas of Utah as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Great Basin, (2) Grand Staircase-Escalante, (3) Moab-La Sal Canyons, (4) Henry Mountains, (5) Glen Canyon, (6) San Juan-Anasazi, (7) Canyonlands Basin, (8) San Rafael Swell, and (9) Book Cliffs and Uinta Basin. The bill sets forth administrative requirements for (1) the exchange of state-owned lands within such areas, (2) federal reservation of water rights, (3) measurement of setbacks for roads with adjacent wilderness, (4) authorized livestock grazing, and (5) withdrawal of such lands from disposition under certain public land laws.

Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans Mental Health Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), during FY2022, to establish and maintain three new centers of the Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement (RANGE) Program in areas with interest from personnel and a need for additional mental health care for rural veterans. The RANGE Program serves veterans in rural areas who are experiencing mental illness. The bill requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study and report on whether the VA has sufficient resources to serve rural veterans who need mental health care that is more intensive than traditional outpatient therapy.

Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 20 21 This bill prohibits commercial conversion therapy, which is a practice or treatment designed to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity or otherwise change behaviors, thoughts, or expressions related to gender or sexual attraction. This prohibition does not apply to treatment that assists an individual undergoing a gender transition or facilitates identity exploration and development.

Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2021 This bill expands tax incentives and federal assistance for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) that are sponsored by S corporations. The bill provides additional tax incentives for ESOPs by (1) extending to all domestic corporations, including S corporations, provisions allowing deferral of tax on gain from the sale of employer securities to an ESOP; and (2) allowing a tax deduction for 50% of the interest received by a bank on loans to S corporation-sponsored ESOPs for the purchase of employer securities. The Department of the Treasury must establish the S Corporation Employee Ownership Assistance Office to foster increased employee ownership of S corporations. The bill defines an ESOP business concern for purposes of the Small Business Act as a business concern that was eligible for a loan, preference, or other program under such Act before more than 49% of the business concern was acquired by an ESOP.

Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act of 2021 This bill revises the evidentiary standard for age discrimination by establishing an unlawful employment practice when the complaining party demonstrates that age or participation in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation related to an age discrimination claim was a motivating factor for an adverse practice, even though other factors also motivated the practice (thereby allowing what are commonly known as mixed motive claims). The bill (1) permits the complaining party to rely on any type or form of admissible evidence, which need only be sufficient for a reasonable trier of fact to find that an unlawful practice occurred; and (2) declares that the complaining party shall not be required to demonstrate that age or retaliation was the sole cause of the employment practice (thereby rejecting the Supreme Court's decision in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. , which requires the complainant to prove that age was the but-for cause for the employer's decision). The bill applies this evidentiary standard to other employment discrimination and retaliation claims, including claims under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In a claim in which age discrimination is shown, but where the employer demonstrates that it would have taken the same action absent the motivating factor of age, the bill authorizes courts to grant declaratory and injunctive relief, but prohibits the court from awarding damages or issuing an order requiring any admission, reinstatement, hiring, promotion, or payment. This limitation also applies to claims of discrimination based on disability. The bill also includes reporting requirements for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor.

Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2021 This bill establishes requirements and procedures for the Department of the Treasury to transfer ownership of certain matured, unredeemed savings bonds and related records to states.

Vanessa Guillén Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act This bill modifies the process and policy related to the disposition of charges and convening of courts-martial for certain sexual assault cases and other specified offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Among other elements, the bill provides that the determinations on the preferral, disposition, and referral of charges for specified offenses under the UCMJ must be made by a commissioned officer of the Armed Forces who is designated as a court-martial convening authority (in grade O-6 or higher) and who is available for detail as trial counsel, has significant trial experience, and is outside the chain of command of the member subject to the charges.

Tribal Tax and Investment Reform Act of 2021 This bill treats Indian tribal governments as states for purposes of the annual allocation of the tax-exempt bond volume cap. It also repeals provisions that limit an Indian tribal government's eligibility to issue tax-exempt bonds or to be exempt from specified excise taxes to transactions involving the exercise of an essential government function customarily performed by state and local governments. The bill (1) treats employee benefit or pension plans maintained by Indian tribes and domestic relations orders issued pursuant to tribal law in the same manner as plans maintained by states and domestic relations orders issued pursuant to state law; and (2) treats tribal charities and foundations in the same manner as charities and foundations funded and controlled by other governmental entities for purposes of the tax-exempt status of, and deduction for contributions to, such organizations. The bill gives Indian tribes or tribal organizations access to the Federal Parent Locator Service if they are eligible for a grant to operate a child support enforcement program. It makes those tribes and tribal organizations eligible to participate in the program that collects past-due support from individual tax refunds. An Indian tribal government may determine whether a child has special needs for the purpose of the tax credit for the adoption of a child with special needs.

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that, if it creates a presumption of service-connection between the occurrence of a disease and exposure to an herbicide agent while serving in the Armed Forces between January 9, 1962, and June 30, 1976, at a military base in Thailand, such presumption must also apply to exposure at any military base in Thailand, regardless of where on the base the veteran was located or what military job specialty the veteran performed.

Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic Standards Act This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to undertake rulemaking and other activities to implement certain recommendations of the National Organic Standards Board (a federal advisory board that considers and makes recommendations concerning the production, handling, and processing of organic products). Specifically, USDA must issue within a specified time line final rules for implementing recommendations approved (1) by the board between December 31, 2000, and the date of the bill's enactment; and (2) with at least two-thirds of the votes cast at a meeting where a quorum was present. If USDA determines issuing rules for such recommendations is not practicable, it must identify and report to Congress about the specific constraints that preclude rulemaking. In addition, the bill sets out a process and time line for USDA to implement through rulemaking future recommendations of the board that are approved by at least two-thirds of the votes cast at a meeting where a quorum was present. The bill also requires state officials or entities that certify organic farms or handling operations to report annually concerning the implementation of and compliance with any new rule or guidance.