This resolution authorizes the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry to make specified expenditures and employ personnel for the 117th Congress.
Arctic Refuge Protection Act of 2021 This bill designates approximately 1,559,538 acres of land within Alaska in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act of 2021 This bill provides funds for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide assistance to address historical discrimination and disparities in the agriculture sector. For example, USDA must provide debt forgiveness to help socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers pay off outstanding farm loan debts and address issues relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). Additionally, USDA must provide a competitive grant to a school of law or legal research entity to establish the National Center for Minority Farmer Agricultural Law Research and Information. It must also provide grants and loans to resolve property issues relating to ownership and succession on farmland. The bill provides financial assistance to cooperative development centers, individual cooperatives, or groups of cooperatives that serve socially disadvantaged groups. It also provides financial assistance and technical assistance to certain nonprofit organizations that provide services to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. USDA must provide support for research, education, and extension at historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions. It must also provide grants to land-grant colleges and universities for student scholarships, including for students who are members of Indian tribes and pursuing an agricultural field of study. The bill also requires USDA to establish an equity commission to address and mitigate discrimination across its agency.
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act of 2021 This bill modifies the tax credit for employment-related expenses incurred for the care of a taxpayer's dependent to (1) increase to $400,000, the adjusted gross income threshold level above which the credit is incrementally reduced; (2) increase the dollar limits on the allowable amount of the credit; (3) specify rules for married couples filing separate returns; (4) allow an inflation adjustment to the adjusted gross income threshold and the maximum credit amounts, beginning after 2022; and (5) make the credit refundable.
Research Investment to Spark the Economy Act of 2021 or the RISE Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, the Interior, Health and Human Services, and Transportation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation, and Environmental Protection Agency to provide support for research regarding COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) or research disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Support may be used to provide supplemental funding to extend the duration of a grant to a research institution, national laboratory, or individual that was awarded prior to the enactment of this bill, or to expand the purposes of such a grant as specified; issue awards to research the effects of the current pandemic and potential future pandemics; and provide flexibility on awards to account for facility closures or other limitations during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Agencies must provide the support as rapidly as possible. Provided funds shall remain available through FY2021.
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.
Tracking COVID-19 Variants Act This bill expands viral genomic sequencing, disease surveillance, and other public health research activities. Specifically, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must issue guidance on the sequencing of the virus that causes COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). Additionally, the CDC must establish a program to strengthen genomic sequencing, analytics, and disease surveillance activities. As part of this program, the CDC must provide grants and technical assistance to health departments to build their capacity to carry out such activities. Furthermore, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) must carry out a demonstration program to expand an existing program that links different federal data sets for statistical public health research, including research on food insecurity, housing instability, and other social determinants of health. In particular, the program must support linkages with the National Death Index, a database of death records maintained by the NCHS.
Worker Health Coverage Protection Act This bill provides health insurance premium assistance to individuals who become unemployed or are furloughed during the period beginning on March 1, 2020, and ending on September 30, 2021. Specifically, the bill treats premiums as paid for individuals who (1) are terminated from employment and elect to continue insurance coverage through the COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) program during such period, or (2) receive more than a 30% reduction in work hours during such period but remain eligible for coverage under a group health plan. The bill also specifies requirements for individuals changing, or enrolling in, health plans under the program. Additionally, the bill requires employers to provide eligible individuals specified written notice about this health insurance premium assistance, including, among other information, available health plan enrollment options and the date that such assistance expires. The Department of the Treasury must reimburse employers, group health plans, and insurance issuers through a payroll tax credit or refund for unpaid premiums that were treated as paid under the program. Premium assistance is not considered income for federal income tax purposes or for determining eligibility for federal or state benefits or assistance.
Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act or the FAMILY Act This bill entitles every employee to a family and medical leave insurance (FMLI) monthly benefit payment of two-thirds of the employee's regular pay, limited to a maximum of $4,000, for not more than 60 days of qualified caregiving. The bill establishes the Office of Paid Family and Medical Leave within the Social Security Administration to administer the FMLI program. An FMLI benefit payment must be coordinated with any periodic benefits received under a state or local temporary disability insurance or family leave program. The bill imposes a tax on employers, employees, and self-employed individuals to fund FMLI benefits. It also establishes the Federal Family and Medical Leave Insurance Trust Fund to hold tax revenues.
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.
