Sen. Jon Tester

Human Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Training Act of 2021 This bill establishes demonstration grants to train students, teachers, and school and youth development personnel how to better understand, recognize, prevent, and respond to human trafficking and the exploitation of children and youth. Eligible grantees include tribal nations and organizations, nonprofits, state agencies, and elementary and secondary schools. The Office on Trafficking in Persons within the Administration for Children and Families must award the grants.

Voices for Veterans Act 2021 This bill expands the membership of the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans to include veterans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender diverse, gender non-conforming, intersex, or queer. Among other responsibilities, the committee advises the Department of Veterans Affairs on the administration of benefits and provision of health care, benefits, and services to minority veterans.

Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Act of 2021 This bill increases the number of states that may participate in two-year Medicaid demonstration programs that improve access to community mental health services. It also provides for additional grants to certified community behavioral health clinics.

Metropolitan Statistical Area Stabilization Act This bill prohibits the Office of Management and Budget from raising the minimum urban area population to qualify a metropolitan statistical area from 50,000.

Refund Equality Act of  2021 This bill permits legally married same sex couples to amend their tax returns to file as married filing jointly for returns outside of the statute of limitations.

Medical Nutrition Equity Act of 2021 This bill expands coverage under Medicare, Medicaid, other specified federal health care programs, and private health insurance to include foods, vitamins, and individual amino acids that are medically necessary for the management of certain digestive and metabolic disorders and conditions.

COVID-19 Vaccine Developers Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to recognize all those whose efforts led to the development of COVID-19 vaccines that received emergency use authorizations.

Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act of 2021 This bill revises the Summer Food Service Program to direct the Department of Agriculture to permanently establish electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards and off-site consumption as two alternative delivery options for certain children through schools and service institutions in the program. These options shall be available to a child only if (1) the child lives or attends school in a rural area or outside of an area in which poor economic conditions exist, and (2) the child is eligible for a free or reduced price lunch and breakfast. In the case of off-site consumption, the option is also available if the summer program is available to the child at a congregate feeding site but (1) the site is closed due to extreme weather conditions, (2) violence or other public safety concerns in the area prevent the child from traveling safely to the site, (3) the site is open not more than four days a week, or (4) the site provides only one meal per day. A state may not operate the EBT card option and the off-site consumption option simultaneously in the same area. Each state desiring to participate in the summer food service program shall include in its annual management and administration plan the state's plans for using one or both of these alternative delivery options.

Meat Packing Special Investigator Act This bill establishes within the Department of Agriculture's Packers and Stockyards Division the Office of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters. Specifically, the office must use all available tools (e.g., subpoenas) to investigate and prosecute violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 by packers. Further, the bill grants the office the authority to bring any civil or administrative action authorized by that act against a packer. Additionally, the office must serve as a liaison to the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission with respect to competition and trade practices in the food and agricultural sector, consult with the Department of Homeland Security on national security and critical infrastructure security in the food and agricultural sector, and maintain a staff of attorneys and other professionals with appropriate expertise.

Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act This bill expands coverage of telehealth services under Medicare. Specifically, the bill permanently (1) removes geographic restrictions on originating sites (i.e., the location of the beneficiary), (2) allows the home of the beneficiary to serve as the originating site for all services, (3) allows federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to serve as the distant site (i.e., the location of the health care practitioner), and (4) expands coverage to include audio-only services for evaluation and management and behavioral health services.