Retirement Parity for Student Loans Act This bill allows certain employer-sponsored retirement plans to make matching contributions for an employee's student loan payments as if the loan payments were salary reduction contributions to the retirement plan.
Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act of 2021 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.
Respect for Workers Act This bill requires at least one member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to have experience supporting or protecting the rights of workers. This member is in charge of developing policy recommendations regarding the board's goal of maximum employment. (The board is made up of seven members that are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Members serve 14-year terms, with one term beginning every two years.) The bill also requires the board to discuss in their semiannual report the distributional effect of monetary policy.
Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the President to provide assistance to implement a comprehensive five-year strategy to contribute toward the global goal of ending preventable child and maternal deaths by 2030.
Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More Act of 2021 or the RECLAIM Act of 2021 This bill revises requirements concerning the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, including by expanding the eligible uses of the fund. Specifically, the bill allows the fund to be used to provide support for economic revitalization, diversification, and development in economically distressed mining communities through the reclamation and restoration of land and water resources adversely affected by abandoned coal mines. In addition, it requires specified amounts to be annually distributed from the fund through FY2026 to states and Indian tribes for reclaiming and restoring lands and waters so affected.
USTR Inspector General Act of 2021 This bill requires the President to appoint an Inspector General of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Among other responsibilities, the Inspector General shall (1) conduct and supervise audits and investigations relating to the programs and operations of the USTR, (2) recommend policies for preventing and detecting fraud and abuse in those programs, and (3) provide a means for keeping the USTR and Congress informed about problems and deficiencies in those programs and operations.
Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2021 This bill revises rules for the taxation of inverted corporations (i.e., U.S. corporations that acquire foreign companies to reincorporate in a foreign jurisdiction with income tax rates lower than the United States). The bill provides that a foreign corporation that acquires the properties of a U.S. corporation or partnership after May 8, 2014, shall be treated as an inverted corporation and thus subject to U.S. taxation if, after such acquisition (1) it holds more than 50% of the stock of the new entity (expanded affiliated group), or (2) the management or control of the new entity occurs primarily within the United States and the new entity has significant domestic business activities.
Child Abuse Death Disclosure Act This bill requires states receiving child welfare grants to report specified information about child deaths from maltreatment. Specifically, multidisciplinary teams from within the child welfare system in each state must make a finding concerning the causes of each child fatality during the annual review period; submit such findings to the Child Death Review Case Reporting System; develop recommendations to prevent future child deaths from maltreatment; submit annual reports with this information to the state’s governor and legislature; and if the number of child deaths in a state exceeds an established threshold, submit a report to the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families. Further, the Children’s Bureau must promulgate rules establishing standardized definitions for states to use in such reporting.
Accessible Voting Act of 2021 This bill addresses voting accessibility for individuals with disabilities and older individuals. First, the bill establishes the Office of Accessibility within the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The office must serve as the advocate on behalf of voters with access needs, ensure state and local election officials are maintaining voting systems that meet Department of Justice accessibility standards, and make payments to states to implement the accessibility requirements outlined by the bill. In addition, the office must establish and operate a National Resource Center on Accessible Voting to provide state and local election officials, poll workers, and volunteers with the information and technical assistance needed to provide accessible voting. The office must also work with state and local election officials to collect data and administer a public national voter accessibility website. The bill requires each state to (1) ensure election websites are accessible and meet specified requirements, (2) designate a single office to provide information on federal elections to individuals with disabilities and older individuals, (3) notify the public of changes to voting practices, (4) expand access to absentee registration procedures and no-excuse mail-in absentee voting in federal elections, and (5) ensure all polling places and voter drop boxes are accessible. The EAC must coordinate with specified agencies to make grants to eligible entities to study, test, and develop accessible voting options. The bill also permanently reauthorizes and expands a Department of Health and Human Services grant program for increasing accessibility to polling places.
Linear Generator Parity Act This bill modifies the tax credit for investments in energy property to make qualified fuel cell property (certain fuel cell power plants) that uses an electromechanical process eligible for the credit.
