Limiting Emergency Powers Act of 2021 This bill provides that a national emergency declared by the President terminates 30 days after a declaration unless a joint resolution affirming such declaration is enacted. All existing emergency declarations expire after two years unless the President requests a renewal that receives congressional approval.
Veteran Overmedication and Suicide Prevention Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to report on the deaths of covered veterans who died by suicide during the last five years, regardless of whether information relating to such deaths has been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A covered veteran is any veteran who received VA hospital care or medical services during the five-year period preceding the veteran's death. Among other elements, the report shall include the total number of covered veterans who died by suicide, violent death, or accidental death, as well as certain demographic information.
Analyzing Disaster Vulnerabilities and Applicable National Capabilities for Emergencies Act or the ADVANCE Act This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct national hazard preparation and response exercises and to report to Congress on such exercises and to report annually on the impact of natural disasters or public health emergencies on critical infrastructure. Specifically, DHS, in coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE), must at specified intervals conduct an exercise to test the modeling, simulation, and analysis capabilities and their utility for emergency response of the United States with respect to significant natural disasters or public health emergencies impacting critical infrastructure. Each exercise shall be coordinated through the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center and the DOE National Laboratories and Technology Centers.
Paycheck Fairness Act This bill addresses wage discrimination on the basis of sex. Specifically, it (1) limits an employer's defense that a pay differential is based on a factor other than sex to only bona fide job-related factors in wage discrimination claims, (2) enhances nonretaliation prohibitions, (3) makes it unlawful to require an employee to sign a contract or waiver prohibiting the employee from disclosing information about the employee's wages, and (4) increases civil penalties for violations of equal pay provisions. Additionally, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs must train EEOC employees and other affected parties on wage discrimination. The bill directs the Department of Labor to (1) establish and carry out a grant program for negotiation skills training for girls and women, (2) conduct studies to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, and (3) make available information on wage discrimination to assist the public in understanding and addressing such discrimination. The bill also establishes the Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace for an employer who has made a substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. Finally, the bill requires the EEOC to issue regulations for collecting from employers compensation and other employment data according to the sex, race, and national origin of employees for use in enforcing laws prohibiting pay discrimination.
Access Technology Affordability Act of 2021 This bill allows a refundable tax credit equal to the amounts paid for qualified access technology for use by a blind individual who is the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or a dependent of the taxpayer. Qualified access technology is hardware, software, or other information technology with the primary function of converting or adapting information that is visually represented into forms or formats useable by blind individuals. The credit is limited to (1) costs that are not compensated by insurance or otherwise, and (2) an aggregate amount of $2,000 per blind individual in any period of three consecutive taxable years. The credit must be adjusted for inflation after 2022 and terminates after 2026.
Supporting Eating Disorders Recovery Through Vital Expansion Act or the SERVE Act This bill provides for inpatient and outpatient treatment of eating disorders under TRICARE for dependents of members of the uniformed services. Dependents are eligible for such care regardless of their age, except with respect to residential service. The bill also requires the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (with respect to the Coast Guard) to identify, treat, and rehabilitate members of the armed forces who have an eating disorder. Finally, DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs must jointly develop, publish, and disseminate clinical practice criteria and guidelines on the identification and treatment of eating disorders.
Ethan's Law This bill establishes a framework to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises at the federal, state, and tribal levels. At the federal level, the bill establishes statutory requirements for firearms on residential premises to be safely stored if a minor is likely to gain access without permission or if a resident is ineligible to possess a firearm. An individual who violates the requirements is subject to criminal penalties. A firearm stored in violation of the requirements is subject to seizure and forfeiture. At the state and tribal levels, the bill requires the Department of Justice to award grants to implement functionally identical requirements for the safe storage of firearms.
Relaunching America's Workforce Act This bill establishes several grant programs to address employment, the workforce, and education access in response to the COVID-19 national emergency. The Department of Labor must provide grants in response to the COVID-19 national emergency to provide training and employment for dislocated, unemployed, and underemployed workers; support youth employment; establish workforce information systems improvements; provide reentry employment opportunities for justice system-involved youth or young adults, formerly incarcerated youths or adults, and former offenders; and create or expand apprenticeship programs. Programs directed towards assisting Native Americans and migrant and seasonal farmworkers may be extended. The Department of Education must provide grants to expand the capacity of adult education providers to prioritize serving adults with low-literacy or numeracy levels negatively impacted by the COVID-19 national emergency, and to improve or expand career and technical education programs and programs of study to respond to state and local needs as a result of the COVID-19 national emergency.
Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act This bill allows tax credits and grants for activities that provide access to healthy food in food deserts, which are communities that have limited or no access to grocery stores and meet income requirements. For entities that are certified by the Department of the Treasury as special access food providers using specified criteria, the bill allows tax credits for operating a new grocery store or renovating an existing grocery store in a food desert. The bill also authorizes grants for a portion of (1) the construction costs of building a permanent food bank in a food desert, and (2) the annual operating costs of temporary access merchants (mobile markets, farmers markets, and food banks). Treasury, in coordination with the Department of Agriculture (USDA), must annually allocate the tax credits and grants to special access food providers. Grants authorized by this bill are not considered gross income for tax purposes. The bill also requires USDA to update the Food Access Research Atlas at least annually to account for food retailers that are placed in service during that year.
Right to Earn a Living Act of 2021 This bill requires a state or local government, to be eligible to receive future payments from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, to certify that it will not limit the operation, hours, or occupancy of small businesses without the state or local government taking legislative action.
Child and Animal Abuse Detection and Reporting Act This bill requires the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families to disseminate information through the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information about the incidence of cases of child abuse that involve abuse to animals.
Medical Debt Relief Act of 2021 This bill modifies requirements related to the reporting of medical debt. Specifically, a consumer reporting agency is prohibited from adding medical debt information to a consumer credit report if the debt was fully paid or settled, or is less than a year old. Additionally, a debt collector must notify the consumer prior to reporting medical debt to a consumer reporting agency.
