Sen. Christopher A. Coons

Small Business Access to Capital Act of 2021 This bill reauthorizes for an additional eight years the State Small Business Credit Initiative. The initative assists participating states in providing collateral financial support to, and other innovative credit access and guarantee initiatives for, small businesses and manufacturers. The bill prescribes allocations of federal funds to participating states, and it authorizes the Department of the Treasury to award up to $5 billion in two tranches (portions), according to specified criteria, for participating states to (1) make federal contributions to an approved state program, or (2) use as collateral for a qualifying loan or swap funding facility.

American Opportunity Accounts Act This bill establishes tax-exempt American Opportunity Accounts to provide children at birth with a $1,000 savings account with annual contributions up to $2,000 depending on family income. The accounts are available to children at age 18 for specified purposes, including educational expenses, home ownership, and investment that provides long-term returns.

This bill provides funds for assistance to homeowners to prevent mortgage defaults, foreclosures, and displacements of individuals and families experiencing financial hardship after January 21, 2020. The Department of the Treasury must disburse the funds to state housing finance agencies, territories, and Indian tribes for the provision of such assistance.

States Achieve Medicaid Expansion Act of 2021 or the SAME Act of 2021 This bill provides an enhanced federal matching rate to every state that expands Medicaid coverage for individuals who are newly eligible under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, regardless of when such expansion takes place. Under current law, the enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) is equivalent to 100% in 2014 through 2016, 95% in 2017, 94% in 2018, 93% in 2019, and 90% thereafter. The bill retains this enhanced FMAP, but bases it on a term of years rather than on specific dates. The bill applies retroactively.

Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed To Survive Act of 2021 or the RESTAURANTS Act of 2021 This bill temporarily establishes and provides funding for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, from which the Department of the Treasury shall make grants to eligible food and beverage purveyors to cover specified costs such as payroll, operational expenses, and paid sick leave. For the grant program's initial period, Treasury must (1) prioritize awarding grants to marginalized and underrepresented communities, and (2) only award grants to eligible food and beverage purveyors with annual revenues of less than $1.5 million in 2019. For tax purposes, grant amounts are excluded from the recipient's gross income. An entity that received a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program established to support small businesses in response to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) may not apply for or use a restaurant revitalization grant for the same expenses for which the entity received the paycheck protection loan. Further, a grant applicant may request an additional amount to cover the cost of providing 10 days of paid sick leave to its employees. Treasury must report a list of grant recipients with the amount each recipient received, as well as demographics and other specified information.

Protecting Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence Act This bill allows an abused spouse or child whose immigrant status is derived from another alien (the principal alien) to obtain immigrant status independent of the principal alien. Current law provides a path to immigrant status to abused individuals who derive their status from a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, but not to those who derive their status from another alien. Such an abused spouse or child must be accompanying or following to join the principal alien and have been subject to battery or extreme cruelty by the principal alien. An abused individual with immigrant status shall receive employment authorization, be eligible for renewal or extension of status, and become an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under certain conditions.

This resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that the activities of Yevgeniy Prigozhin, his affiliated entities, and the Wagner Group pose a threat to U.S. national security. The resolution calls on the President to work with Congress to develop a strategy to counter these threats. (Prigozhin is a Russian businessman accused of interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, and the Wagner Group is a private, Russian paramilitary organization.)

Paycheck Fairness Act This bill addresses wage discrimination on the basis of sex. Specifically, it (1) limits an employer's defense that a pay differential is based on a factor other than sex to only bona fide job-related factors in wage discrimination claims, (2) enhances nonretaliation prohibitions, (3) makes it unlawful to require an employee to sign a contract or waiver prohibiting the employee from disclosing information about the employee's wages, and (4) increases civil penalties for violations of equal pay provisions. Additionally, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs must train EEOC employees and other affected parties on wage discrimination. The bill directs the Department of Labor to (1) establish and carry out a grant program for negotiation skills training for girls and women, (2) conduct studies to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, and (3) make available information on wage discrimination to assist the public in understanding and addressing such discrimination. The bill also establishes the Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace for an employer who has made a substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. Finally, the bill requires the EEOC to issue regulations for collecting from employers compensation and other employment data according to the sex, race, and national origin of employees for use in enforcing laws prohibiting pay discrimination.

Ethan's Law This bill establishes a framework to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises at the federal, state, and tribal levels. At the federal level, the bill establishes statutory requirements for firearms on residential premises to be safely stored if a minor is likely to gain access without permission or if a resident is ineligible to possess a firearm. An individual who violates the requirements is subject to criminal penalties. A firearm stored in violation of the requirements is subject to seizure and forfeiture. At the state and tribal levels, the bill requires the Department of Justice to award grants to implement functionally identical requirements for the safe storage of firearms.

Holding Russia Accountable for Malign Activities Act of 2021 This bill directs the President to impose visa- and asset-blocking sanctions on any current or former official of Russia's government involved in the August 20, 2020, poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny or the subsequent cover-up of the poisoning. An individual or entity that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of such sanctions shall be subject to civil and criminal penalties. In addition, the President shall report to Congress on the personal wealth of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his family members. The Department of State shall report to Congress on the circumstances of the February 27, 2015, assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.