Sen. Sherrod Brown

Airline Information and Entertainment Access Act This bill requires air carriers (including foreign carriers) to ensure equal access to airline information and entertainment programming for all airline passengers regardless of their disabilities. Specifically, the bill requires open captioning and an American Sign Language option for persons with disabilities when the information and programming are available to passengers through shared video displays, such as a monitor located in a passenger access aisle; closed captioning and an American Sign Language option when the information and programming are available to passengers through individual video displays; audio descriptions when the information and programming are available to passengers through individual video displays or shared video displays; an aural public address announcement in textual format through individual video displays or shared video displays; and control systems for video displays, apps for personal devices, and web portals and websites to have a nonvisual operating option. A civil action may be brought in a U.S. District Court against an air carrier for violations of these requirements. The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board must set forth the minimum technical criteria for individual video displays, apps for personal devices, and web portals and websites to ensure that they include a mechanism that allows persons with disabilities to operate them nonvisually.

Opioid Quota Openness, Transparency, and Awareness Act of 2021 or the Opioid QuOTA Act of 2021 This bill requires the Drug Enforcement Administration to make publicly available on its website certain information regarding opioid procurement quotas. The term opioid procurement quota means the maximum quantity of opioid analgesics that a registered manufacturer may procure.

Building Equitable Access to Contribute to Our National Security Act of 2021 or the BEACON Act of 2021 This bill implements plans and requirements related to minority institutions of higher education and their contributions to national security efforts. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to submit a plan for the establishment of the Minority Institute for Defense Research. The plan must be made available on a publicly accessible DOD website. DOD is authorized to establish a program to award grants to leading minority institutions to, among other purposes, advance research capabilities relating to national security. Under the bill, certain contracts awarded to educational institutions must include a requirement to subcontract with one or more minority institutions for a total amount of at least 5% of the amount awarded in the contract.

Strategies To Address Antibiotic Resistance Act or the STAAR Act This bill expands various initiatives to address antibiotic resistance. The bill reestablishes the interagency Antimicrobial Resistance Task Force to coordinate and develop efforts addressing antibiotic resistance. The Department of Health and Human Services must encourage health care facilities to implement antimicrobial stewardship programs to evaluate and improve the use of antimicrobial drugs. The bill also requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to use the National Healthcare Safety Network to collect and report data about the usage of antibiotic drugs, changes in resistance to such drugs, and other trends impacting patient outcomes. Additionally, the bill increases nationwide efforts to monitor, research, and prevent the spread of infection from resistant organisms by establishing the Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance and Laboratory Network in at least seven geographic regions, establishing the Clinical Trials Network on Antibacterial Resistance to conduct clinical research, and requiring the CDC to collaborate with state and local agencies to support health care facilities that focus on preventing the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

PrEP Access and Coverage Act This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover prescription drugs that prevent HIV, including related screenings, diagnostic procedures, administrative fees, and clinical follow-ups, without any cost-sharing obligation for the plan holder. Further, insurance plans must not impose any preauthorization requirement for this coverage. These coverage requirements also apply to public health insurance programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Additionally, the bill prohibits denying, limiting, or qualifying coverage or increasing premiums for disability insurance, long-term care insurance, or life insurance policies based on an individual taking medication for HIV prevention. The bill further requires the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to states, or directly to eligible local organizations, to provide uninsured individuals and underinsured individuals access to prescription drugs and related services that prevent HIV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also must develop a public awareness campaign that focuses efforts in communities with a high need for HIV prevention treatment.

This resolution supports (1) the goals and ideals of World AIDS Day, including the goal to achieve zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths; (2) efforts to end the HIV epidemic in the United States and around the world by 2030; (3) continued funding for prevention, care and treatment services, and research programs for communities impacted by HIV and people living with HIV in the United States and globally; and (4) continued leadership by the United States in domestic, bilateral, multilateral, and private sector efforts to fight HIV. Finally, the resolution urges other members of the international community to sustain and scale up their support for, and financial contributions to, efforts around the world to combat HIV.

Maddy summaryThis Senate resolution (SRES 464) expresses symbolic support for National Adoption Month (November) and National Adoption Day (November 20), encouraging public awareness of children awaiting adoption. It does not create new laws or allocate funding but urges U.S. citizens to consider adoption and support efforts to provide safety and permanency for children in foster care. The resolution highlights challenges like the pandemic's impact on foster care systems while affirming that every child deserves a permanent family. It directly affects no specific group through policy changes - it is a non-binding statement of support endorsed by 30+ senators.

Food Donation Improvement Act of 2021 This bill expands liability protections for the donation of food and grocery products. Specifically, the bill expands the liability protections to include donations of an apparently fit grocery product or apparently wholesome food for which the recipient is charged a good Samaritan reduced price that is no greater than the cost of handling, administering, and distributing the food or product; or that is donated directly to a needy individual by a retail grocer, wholesaler, agricultural producer, restaurant, caterer, school food authority, or institution of higher education. The Department of Agriculture must issue regulations that clarify the quality and labeling standards that food products donated under the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act must meet to be eligible for liability protection.

Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine Act or the Healthy MOM Act This bill expands health insurance coverage availability for pregnant individuals. It requires health insurers, health insurance exchanges, and group health plans to offer a special enrollment period to pregnant individuals. The special enrollment period offered by an insurer or exchange must begin when the pregnancy is reported to the insurer or exchange. The special enrollment period offered by a group health plan must begin when the pregnancy is reported to the plan or is confirmed by a health care provider. The bill also makes pregnancy a qualifying life event for the purpose of enrolling in a federal employee health benefit plan. Additionally, a group health plan or health insurer that covers dependents must provide coverage for maternity care to all covered individuals. Any individual who is eligible for Medicaid and is, or becomes, pregnant maintains such eligibility for one year after the end of the pregnancy. The bill revises the range in which a state must establish a maximum level of family income for pregnant women and infants to be eligible for Medicaid. The upper limit of the range is eliminated and the lower limit is set to the level in place on January 1, 2014.

Court Legal Access and Student Support Act of 2021 or the CLASS Act of 2021 This bill prohibits institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in federal student-aid programs from restricting students' ability to pursue claims against IHEs in court. In addition, the bill makes mandatory arbitration agreements inapplicable to enrollment agreements between students and IHEs.