Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act or the BELIEVE Act This bill increases maximum limits on employment-based visas and makes other related changes. The bill increases the worldwide cap on employment-based immigrants admitted each fiscal year, from 140,000 plus certain additions to 270,000 plus the same additions. The bill (1) eliminates existing per-country caps on employment-based immigrants, (2) allows certain employment-based immigrants to comprise a higher percentage of the worldwide level of immigration in a fiscal year than under current law, (3) exempts from numerical caps immigrants coming to work in the United States as physical therapists or professional nurses, and (4) exempts from numerical caps a qualifying alien who graduated from a U.S. institution of higher education and who was admitted into the United States as a dependent of a nonimmigrant. The bill provides various immigration-related benefits, such as work authorization and exemption from certain numerical limits, to qualifying spouses and children of employment-based immigrants. An alien who has properly filed for permanent legal resident status and is awaiting a visa number becoming available shall have lawful status and employment authorization while the application is pending, subject to requirements such as a background check.
Sponsored bills
Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan Act of 2021 or the HEMP Act of 2021 This bill modifies the definition of hemp to raise the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana) limit from 0.3% to 1%. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and state and tribal governments to test hemp-derived products rather than the hemp flower or plant itself and creates a margin of error in hemp testing using 0.075% as the baseline standard. Further, it requires hemp shipments to contain (1) a copy of a valid license or other authorization from USDA or a state or tribal government, or (2) a copy of a certification from a laboratory showing that such hemp contains a THC concentration of not more than 1% on a dry weight basis.
Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act This bill makes previously unused immigrant visas available to nurses and physicians who petition for such a visa before the date that is 90 days after the end of the declared national emergency relating to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak. The number of visas available shall be the total number of unused employment-based immigrant visas from FY1992-FY2020, up to 40,000. Of such visas, 25,000 shall be reserved for nurses and 15,000 for physicians. Certain family members may accompany the principal beneficiary of a visa provided under this bill, and visas for such family members shall (1) be made available from the unused visas from FY1992-FY2020, and (2) not be counted against the 40,000 cap. Visas provided under this bill shall be exempt from per-country limitations.
Protecting American Jobs Act This bill limits the authority of the National Labor Relations Board. Specifically, it repeals the authority of the General Counsel ofthe board to issue, and prosecute before the board, complaints of unfair labor practices. The bill also limits the board's rulemaking authority to rules concerning the internal functions of the board and prohibits the board from promulgating regulations affecting the substantive or procedural rights of any person, employer, employee, or labor organization, including rules concerning unfair labor practices and representation elections. Not later than six months after this bill is enacted, the board must review existing regulations and revise or rescind such regulations as necessary to implement these modifications to the board's rulemaking authority. In addition, the bill repeals the board's authority to issue orders preventing unfair labor practices, replacing it with a more limited authority to investigate allegations of such practices. Finally, it repeals the board's authority to petition courts for enforcement of its orders, seek injunctions, or hold hearings on jurisdictional strikes.
Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana Act or the CLAIM Act This bill generally provides a safe harbor from penalties or other adverse agency action for insurance companies that provide services to cannabis-related legitimate businesses in jurisdictions where such activity is legal. The Government Accountability Office must report on barriers to marketplace entry for minority-owned and women-owned cannabis-related businesses.
Personal Health Investment Today Act of 2021 or the PHIT Act of 2021 This bill allows a medical care tax deduction for up to $1,000 ($2,000 for a joint return or a head of household) of qualified sports and fitness expenses per year. The bill defines qualified sports and fitness expenses as amounts paid exclusively for participating in a physical activity, including (1) fitness facility memberships, (2) physical exercise or activity programs, or (3) equipment for a physical exercise or activity program.
Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2021 This bill allows any Medicare beneficiary to enter into a contract with an eligible professional, regardless of whether the professional is a participating or non-participating physician or practitioner, for any item or service covered by Medicare. Such beneficiaries may submit a claim for Medicare payment in the amount that would otherwise apply, except that, where the professional is considered to be non-participating, payment shall be paid as if the professional were participating. An eligible professional is a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, certified registered nurse anesthetist, certified nurse-midwife, clinical social worker, clinical psychologist, registered dietitian or nutrition professional, physical or occupational therapist, qualified speech-language pathologist, or qualified audiologist. A Medicare beneficiary must agree in writing in such a contract to (1) pay the eligible professional for a Medicare-covered item or service; and (2) submit, in lieu of the eligible professional, a claim for Medicare payment. However, a beneficiary may negotiate, as a term of the contract, for the eligible professional to file such claims on the beneficiary's behalf. The bill preempts state laws from limiting the amount of charges for physician and practitioner services for which Medicare payment is made.
Davis-Bacon Repeal Act This bill repeals the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works. References in any law to a requirement under the Davis-Bacon Act shall be null and void.
CBO Show Your Work Act This bill requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to make available to Congress and the public each fiscal model, policy model, and data preparation routine that the CBO uses to estimate the costs and other fiscal, social, or economic effects of legislation. For each estimate of the costs and other fiscal effects of legislation, the CBO must also disclose, in a manner sufficient to permit replication by individuals not employed by the CBO, the data, programs, models, assumptions, and other details of the computations used to prepare the estimate. For data that may not be disclosed, the CBO must make available to Congress and the public a complete list of all data variables for the data; descriptive statistics for all data variables for the data, to the extent that the descriptive statistics do not violate the rule against disclosure; a reference to the statute requiring that the data not be disclosed; and contact information for the individual or entity who has unrestricted access to the data.
Promoting Access to Diabetic Shoes Act This bill allows a nurse practitioner or physician assistant to fulfill documentation requirements for coverage, under Medicare, of special shoes for diabetic individuals. Under current law, such requirements may be satisfied only by a physician.