Department of Defense Climate Resiliency and Readiness Act This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to address climate resiliency and energy and resource efficiency. Each DOD contract for the procurement of property or services entered into on or after October 1, 2021, must include specified information related to energy consumption and energy sources. When deciding whether to enter into a contract, DOD must consider whether the contractor verifiably produces as much renewable energy as the total energy it consumes and whether there is any order against the contractor for a violation of an environmental law or regulation. Among other elements, the bill requires DOD to achieve aggregate net zero energy in use of energy by non-operational sources by December 31, 2031; DOD to give preference to contractors and small businesses that use green manufacturing technology; DOD to administer the Energy and Climate Resiliency Fund established by the bill; DOD and the military departments to consider climate change risks when making strategic decisions related to any military installation; DOD and other relevant federal agencies to incorporate climate change into the National Defense Strategy, the National Military Strategy, and DOD's operational plans; and DOD to conduct a program of research, development, and demonstration of hybrid microgrid systems and electric grid energy storage. The Government Accountability Office must report on the individual and aggregate uses of DOD's authority to give preference to contractors that use green manufacturing technology and small businesses that verifiably use green manufacturing technology or operate with net zero energy.
Urban Indian Health Providers Facilities Improvement Act This bill expands the authority of the Indian Health Service (IHS) to make funds available for urban Indian organizations to renovate, construct, or expand urban Indian health facilities. Specifically, the bill authorizes the IHS to (1) make funds available for renovations even if the renovations are not minor, and (2) make funds available for purposes other than assisting the organizations in meeting certain accreditation standards.
Accountability for Acting Officials Act This bill makes a series of changes with respect to the appointment, tenure, and qualifications of acting officials of executive agencies. Among other things, the bill specifies that, for a position that requires an appointment by the President (by and with the advice and consent of the Senate), the first assistant to the office may temporarily fill the position only if the individual has been the first assistant for at least 30 days during the preceding year; an officer or employee of the agency who is directed by the President to temporarily fill the position may only do so if the officer or employee has served at the agency for at least the entire preceding year (rather than 90 days); and an individual who is a presidential appointee and is directed by the President to temporarily fill the position, including an acting Inspector General, must possess the requisite qualifications for the position as provided by law or regulation. The bill also limits the tenure of acting heads of agencies to no more than 120 days (rather than 210 days).
Divided Families Reunification Act This bill directs the Department of State to periodically report to Congress on its consultations with South Korea on potential opportunities to reunite Korean Americans with family in North Korea. The State Department's Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues shall periodically report to Congress on its consultations with representatives of Korean Americans with family in North Korea on reunification efforts.
Comprehensive Paid Leave for Federal Employees Act This bill provides paid family and medical leave to federal employees. Currently, federal employees are entitled to 12 weeks of administrative leave for one or more of the following reasons: (1) the birth of a child, (2) the adoption or foster care of a child, (3) the care of an immediate family member with a serious health condition, (4) inability to work due to a serious health condition, and (5) exigencies relating to an immediate family member's active duty service in the Armed Forces. However, of these reasons, employees are entitled to paid administrative leave only in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care of a child (i.e., parental leave). The bill provides 12 weeks of paid administrative leave for any of these reasons, and specifies that this leave is in addition to any annual or sick leave to which employees are entitled.
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.
Wildfire Prevention and Drought Mitigation Act of 2021 This bill categorically excludes forest management activities carried out on specified public lands from requirements to conduct environmental assessments and environmental impact statements. In order to be excluded from environmental review, the primary purposes of such activities must be to protect a municipal or tribal water source from damage caused by wildfire; improve watershed or habitat conditions; improve, maintain, or restore water yield or quality; improve, maintain, or restore snowpack; or adapt the forest landscape to an increased threat of drought. The bill limits the categorical exclusion to activities that manage up to 10,000 acres of land. However, activities that manage up to 30,000 acres of land may be categorically excluded from environmental review if the activities are located in areas that (1) are in a severe, extreme, or exceptional drought; or (2) have been in such droughts in the previous five years.
Medicaid Dental Benefit Act This bill requires state Medicaid programs to cover dental and oral health services for adults. It also increases the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (i.e., federal matching rate) for such services. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must develop oral health quality and equity measures and conduct outreach relating to such coverage. Additionally, the Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Payment and Access Commission must report on specified information relating to adult oral health care.
21st Century Jobs Act This bill establishes an independent agency to be known as the Federal Institute of Technology in the executive branch of the federal government. The bill provides for a Board of Directors for the institute, which shall establish a minimum of 10 local boards. The Board of Directors shall develop requirements for each local board based on the comprehensive strategy of the local board. Each local board shall establish a research hub and oversee the activities of such hub.
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.
Fighting Homelessness Through Services and Housing Act This bill requires the Health Resources and Services Administration to award grants to local and tribal government entities for the planning and implementation of programs to address homelessness.
Emergency Economic and Workforce System Resiliency Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to award to states (1) temporary five-year supplemental formula grants for emergency layoff aversion, workforce training, and other assistance to reduce and prevent unemployment and limit the impact of disruptions on labor markets; and (2) planning and implementation grants for innovative layoff aversion models. A state receiving a grant under the bill must establish an advisory council to oversee and assess the performance of activities carried out under such grants. The bill also requires the Departments of Commerce and Labor to jointly establish a federal interagency task force to (1) identify any challenges that a state or local area receiving funds under this bill has had to overcome; (2) collect and disseminate best practices and develop and recommend policies at the federal level to support ongoing efforts to limit the impact of market disruptions on workers, employers, and industry sectors or occupations; (3) establish a framework for a state receiving a grant under the bill to measure employer satisfaction for activities funded under it; and (4) establish the minimum standards of job quality that an employer is required to meet as a condition of receiving assistance under the bill.
