This resolution designates July 30, 2021, as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day.
This resolution recognizes the 75th anniversary of the enactment of the Lanham Act and designates July 2021 as National Anti-Counterfeiting and Consumer Education and Awareness Month.
Finding Alternatives to Mass Incarceration: Lives Improved by Ending Separation Act of 2021 or the FAMILIES Act This bill establishes a federal statutory framework to divert certain defendants who are parents or caregivers away from prison and probation and into a comprehensive support services program. At the federal level, the bill establishes and provides funds for the comprehensive support services program, or FAMILIES Program. The bill authorizes federal courts to sentence a parent or caregiver to participation in the FAMILIES Program as a condition of supervised release or instead of probation or prison. At the state level, the bill funds grants for states to replicate successful state parenting sentencing alternatives programs that have the potential to keep parents out of prison. The bill also provides funds for a study on the effects of incarceration on children of incarcerated parents and for training district court judges to carry out the FAMILIES Program.
Fair Sugar Policy Act of 20 21 This bill makes several modifications to the Department of Agriculture's sugar program. Among other modifications, the bill decreases the rate for price support loans, repeals the marketing allotments, revises the administration of import quotas, and repeals the Feedstock Flexibility Program.
Resources to Prevent Youth Vaping Act This bill directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to collect user fees on products that it deems by regulation to be tobacco products, including electronic nicotine delivery systems, and addresses related issues. Currently, the FDA is authorized to collect user fees only on specified classes of tobacco products. The bill increases the total amount of such fees to be collected for FY2022. For each fiscal year after, the total amount of such fees shall be adjusted according to changes in a price index. Starting in FY2024, the FDA must assess user fees on classes of products that it has deemed by regulation to be tobacco products, unless the FDA fails to finalize a formula for assessing such fees on time. Once it is finalized, the FDA may only revise this formula by regulation. The bill also requires each tobacco manufacturer and importer to periodically submit certain information related to the tobacco products that it sells or distributes in the United States. The FDA must annually report to Congress about its use of such tobacco product fees.
Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act of 2021 This bill allows certain part-time faculty to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Specifically, the bill allows part-time faculty members or instructors to participate in the PSLF program if they (1) teach at least one course at an institution of higher education, a postsecondary vocational institution, or a tribal college or university; and (2) do not have another full-time job.
Encouraging Americans to Save Act This bill sets forth provisions to provide matching payments for retirement savings and Individual Retirement Account (IRA) contributions for individuals who have attained the age of 18 years, excluding taxpayer dependents. Specifically, it allows an enhanced 50% tax credit, up to $2,000, for deductible retirement savings contributions and for IRA contributions. The bill also directs the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to establish the R-Bond Program as a permanent program for the establishment and maintenance of individual retirement plans and directs the IRS to educate taxpayers on the benefits of the savings programs provided by this bill.
Securing Universal Communications Connectivity to Ensure Students Succeed Act or the SUCCESS Act This bill provides additional funding for the Emergency Connectivity Fund, which supports remote learning during the COVID-19 emergency period by covering reasonable costs of laptop and tablet computers, Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers, and broadband connectivity purchases for off-campus use by students, school staff, and library patrons.
Women's Retirement Protection Act This bill modifies the requirements for employer-sponsored pension plans to (1) extend spousal consent requirements that currently apply to defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution pension plans; and (2) allow certain long-term, part-time workers to participate in pension plans that include either a qualified cash or deferred arrangement or a salary reduction agreement. Financial product or service providers who sell retirement financial products or services must provide purchasers of their products or services an easily accessible link to the website of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to obtain information relating to retirement planning or later life economic security. The Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor shall award grants to certain community-based organizations to (1) improve the financial literacy of women who are working age or in retirement, and (2) assist low-income women and survivors of domestic violence in obtaining qualified domestic relations orders and the benefits they are entitled to through the orders.
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.
