Home for the Brave Act of 2021 This bill excludes from income veterans' service-connected disability or death benefits for purposes of determinations made in connection with the Department of Housing and Urban Development's housing assistance programs.
Travel Mask Mandate Repeal Act of 2021 This bill prohibits federal agencies from mandating the use of masks or face coverings on planes, trains, buses, and other public conveyances and at transportation hubs to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Specifically, the bill nullifies (1) the rule issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on January 29, 2021, that mandates such use of masks or face coverings; and (2) orders and directives of the Transportation Security Administration that relate to the CDC rule.
Sport Fish Restoration, Recreational Boating Safety, and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2021 This bill reauthorizes through FY2025 the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, which provides funding for, including fisheries conservation and management, water and boating infrastructure, and recreational boating safety, among other things. The bill modifies use of the Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Fund, which supports wildlife restoration, conservation, and hunter education and safety programs. Of the funds disbursed for the purposes of the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, a portion of such funds remaining unobligated prior to FY2020 shall be used to study (1) the impact of derelict recreational vessels on recreational boating safety and recreational fishing, and (2) the options and methods for recycling for recreational vessels. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) shall conduct a study on recreational boating access. In carrying out the study, the GAO shall consult with the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council and the National Boating Safety Advisory Council on the design, scope, and priorities of such study.
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act This bill imposes importation limits on goods produced using forced labor in China, especially the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and imposes sanctions related to such forced labor. The Department of Homeland Security shall report to Congress a strategy for preventing the importation of goods produced in China using forced labor. The strategy must contain certain information, including a list of entities working with the government in Xinjiang to move forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of Xinjiang. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall generally presume that goods produced by these entities and certain other entities, generally those sourcing material from Xinjiang or involved with Chinese government forced labor programs, are barred from importation into the United States. The bill also expands existing asset- and visa-blocking sanctions related to Xinjiang to cover foreign individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights abuses in connection with forced labor. The Department of State shall report to Congress a strategy to enhance international awareness of forced labor in Xinjiang and to address such forced labor.
End Double Taxation of Successful Consumer Claims Act This bill allows a deduction from gross income (above-the-line deduction) for attorney fees and court costs in connection with a claim of a consumer protection violation.
Military Sexual Trauma Retirement Equity Act This bill extends certain special compensation to specified retired survivors of military sexual trauma.
This bill provides supplemental FY2021 appropriations to the National Guard for its response to the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The bill designates the funding as emergency spending, which is exempt from discretionary spending limits.
Green New Deal for Public Schools Act of 2021 This bill provides environmental and educational resources to public elementary and secondary schools and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to provide climate capital facilities grants to eligible entities (e.g., public schools and BIE schools). Grant recipients must use these funds to construct new, or convert existing facilities into, healthy zero-carbon schools. Healthy zero-carbon school refers to a school with highly energy-efficient facilities that produce or procure sufficient carbon-free and pollution-free renewable energy to meet the school's needs. Next, the bill directs the Department of Education (ED) to award resource block grants to qualified local educational agencies (LEAs) to hire and retain educators and support staff in high-need schools. ED must award grants to eligible consortia of LEAs for educational equity planning and implementation. In addition, ED must establish the Climate Change Resiliency Program to increase the resiliency of public and BIE schools during climate change-related events, natural disasters, and public health crises. Further, ED must establish a related grant program for state educational agencies. Grant recipients must use these funds for certain activities (e.g., green infrastructure projects). The bill establishes the Office of Sustainable Schools within ED to (1) administer the resource block grant and educational equity grant programs, and (2) coordinate with DOE and the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy on climate capital facilities grants and the Climate Change Resiliency Program.
Pathways to Health Careers Act This bill provides funding for, reauthorizes through FY2026, and makes a variety of changes to certain grants administered by the Department of Health and Human Services that provide education and training to low-income individuals for health care occupations, including by establishing a new competitive grant for projects designed to train low-income individuals in allied health professions.
Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 2021 This bill requires the Small Business Administration to carry out a pilot program assessing the feasibility and advisability of making grants to eligible veterans to start or acquire a small business concern, a franchise business enterprise, or any other appropriate category of business enterprise. Eligible veterans are those veterans or members of the Armed Forces who (1) are currently retiring or separating from the Armed Forces or have been honorably discharged from active duty, (2) have completed a specified minimum period of active duty, and (3) are entitled to certain educational assistance programs. Grant recipients must complete an entrepreneurship readiness program and prepare a business plan, and they may use grant funds for purposes such as purchasing goods or services, funding a project that is directed toward economic development objectives, and acquiring a business enterprise.
Northern Neck National Heritage Area Act This bill establishes the Northern Neck National Heritage Area in Virginia. The bill includes in the heritage area land between the Potomac River and Rappahannock River of the eastern coastal region of Virginia, including King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland Counties. The bill designates the Northern Neck Tourism Commission, a working committee of the Northern Neck Planning District Commission, as the local coordinating entity for the heritage area. The Northern Neck Tourism Commission shall submit a proposed management plan for the heritage area to the Department of the Interior for approval.
Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act or the PRIME Act This bill expands the exemption of custom slaughtering of animals from federal inspection requirements. Under current law, the exemption applies if the meat is slaughtered for personal, household, guest, and employee uses. The bill expands the exemption to include meat that is slaughtered and prepared at a custom slaughter facility in accordance with the laws of the state where the facility is located; and prepared exclusively for distribution to household consumers in the state or restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, grocery stores, or other establishments in the state that either prepare meals served directly to consumers or offer meat and food products for sale directly to consumers in the state. The bill does not preempt any state law concerning (1) the slaughter of animals or the preparation of carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products at a custom slaughter facility; or (2) the sale of meat or meat food products.
