This resolution designates June 19, 2021, as Juneteenth Independence Day to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.
IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act of 2021 This bill modifies provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to whistleblower protections. Specifically, the bill revises the standard for review of whistleblower awards in the Tax Court to require a de novo review standard (currently, the standard is abuse of discretion); exempts whistleblower awards from reductions due to budget sequestration; establishes a rebuttable presumption that whistleblowers would suffer harm if their identities were disclosed in a Tax Court proceeding; modifies the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower report to require inclusion of a list and description of the top 10 tax avoidance schemes disclosed by whistleblowers; requires the IRS to pay interest on whistleblower awards if not paid within one year of receipt of proceeds collected from whistleblower disclosures, allows the IRS to retain 3% of whistleblower proceeds (up to $10 million) to pay administrative costs of the whistleblower program; and allows payment of the attorney fees of whistleblowers regardless of whether the whistleblower award was paid through the mandatory or the discretionary whistleblower award program.
Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2021 This bill deems an individual receiving outpatient observation services in a hospital as an inpatient for purposes of satisfying the three-day inpatient hospital-stay requirement with respect to Medicare coverage of skilled nursing facility services.
Metropolitan Statistical Area Preservation Act This bill prohibits the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from establishing, for purposes of designating areas as metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), a minimum population for the urban area of such MSA that is more than 50,000. The OMB may, for statistical purposes only, establish other statistical area designations with higher minimum population requirements for such urban areas.
This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment to authorize Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the U.S. flag.
This resolution condemns the recent rise in anti-Semitic violence and harassment targeting Jewish Americans. The resolution (1) recommits to combating anti-Semitism in all forms; and (2) calls on elected officials, faith leaders, and civil society leaders to denounce and combat all manifestations of anti-Semitism. The resolution urges the President to continue the leadership role of the United States in combating anti-Semitism internationally, advance accurate Holocaust education and counter Holocaust denial and distortion, ensure the physical security of Jewish institutions and organizations, and produce an analysis that accounts for the level and scope of the threat that anti-Semitism poses to the people of the United States. The resolution urges law enforcement agencies to fully participate in the data collection process of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to improve anti-Semitic hate crime data collection.
Tougher Enforcement Against Monopolists Act or the TEAM Act This bill makes various changes with respect to the enforcement of federal antitrust laws. Specifically, the bill consolidates antitrust enforcement authority in one agency by transferring all Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust functions, employees, assets, and funding to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The bill also transfers to DOJ the responsibility for reviewing specified communications transactions that is currently the duty of the Federal Communications Commission. Additionally, the bill modifies and expands the schedule for graduated merger filing fees and requires that such fees be adjusted each year based on the U.S. Gross National Product. The bill also establishes certain presumptions that a merger substantially lessens competition under specified circumstances, and it revises the premerger notification requirements. The bill further requires the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, in reviewing a significant regulatory action of an agency, to submit an impact statement to the agency identifying how the regulatory action may impact competition in the market to which the regulation applies. The bill grants antitrust immunity to state occupational licensing boards in states that satisfy specified occupational licensing law requirements. To meet these requirements a state must either (1) adopt certain licensing policies and actively supervise such boards, or (2) provide for judicial review of occupational licensing laws. Finally, the bill makes other modifications to antitrust enforcement such as (1) permitting DOJ to recover triple damages in actions brought on behalf of consumers, and (2) providing for civil fines for knowing violations of antitrust laws.
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.
