Energy Infrastructure Act This bill addresses energy infrastructure, clean energy supply chains, carbon capture and storage, ecosystem restoration, and western water infrastructure. Specifically, the bill establishes new programs or expands existing programs to support energy infrastructure, including (1) the electric grid (e.g., infrastructure to prevent power outages, enhance grid cybersecurity, and integrate renewable energy); (2) nuclear energy (e.g., infrastructure for micro or small modular reactors); (3) hydropower; (4) solar and other clean energy; (5) clean hydrogen; and (6) energy efficiency in buildings. The bill also establishes programs to support supply chains for clean energy technologies, such as supply chains for rare earth minerals, critical minerals, and batteries for electric vehicles. In addition, the bill provides for the capture, utilization, storage, and transportation of carbon dioxide. It also provides for the restoration of ecosystems, including efforts to reduce methane from orphaned well sites on federal land, clean up waste from abandoned coal mines, and reduce the risk of wildfires. Finally, the bill provides for western water infrastructure, including water storage projects, water recycling and reuse projects, desalination projects, and drought contingency plans.
Topics
✓ EnergySupports EnergyBill establishes programs for grid integration of renewables, clean energy supply chains, and nuclear infrastructure, directly advancing clean energy infrastructure goals.95% confidence
✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentBill explicitly promotes clean energy supply chains, carbon capture, and ecosystem restoration, directly advancing environmental protection through infrastructure programs.95% confidence
✓ TechnologySupports TechnologyBill explicitly enhances grid cybersecurity, a key aspect of technology policy, supporting cybersecurity. However, bill is primarily energy infrastructure, support limited to this point.80% confidence
Jobs and Opportunity with Benefits and Services for Success Act This bill renames the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program as the Jobs and Opportunity with Benefits and Services (JOBS) program, reauthorizes the program through FY2027, and makes changes relating to work requirements for beneficiaries. States providing aid under the program shall create an individual opportunity plan for each beneficiary. States shall impose work requirements on all work-eligible beneficiaries and shall reduce benefits for noncompliance. (Currently, individual plans are optional under TANF, and states have discretion as to whether to reduce benefits for noncompliant individuals.) States providing aid shall meet annual performance targets related to the number of beneficiaries who exit the program and find unsubsidized employment. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall reduce grants to states that fail to meet such targets. States shall provide data related to beneficiary employment and wages to HHS, which shall be publicly available. The bill modifies certain limitations that restrict the use of funds for case management and other purposes and requires states to spend at least 25% of funds from various grants on core activities. Certain existing laws relating to monitoring and recovering improper benefits payments shall apply to the JOBS program. The bill eliminates programs providing (1) supplemental grants for population increases, (2) bonuses for high performance states, (3) welfare-to-work grants, and (4) contingency funds for state welfare programs.
Accelerating Individuals into the Workforce Act This bill requires the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to make grants to states for demonstration projects that provide wage subsidies to enable low-income individuals to enter and retain employment. States may use grant funds to subsidize an individual's wages for up to 12 months. The subsidy may be up to 50% of an individual's wages. Individuals are eligible for subsidized wages if they (1) are recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or similar state assistance or a noncustodial parent of a child receiving such assistance, and (2) are unemployed when the subsidy begins or have an income below 200% of the poverty line. States must ensure that participants in subsidized job programs do not displace current workers. The ACF must reserve funding to carry out this bill from amounts in the Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs.
Facilitating Innovative Nuclear Diagnostics Act of 2021 This bill establishes separate payment requirements for diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals under the Medicare prospective payment system for hospital outpatient department services. The bill's requirements apply to diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals that have an average daily cost of $500 or more in 2022 and as adjusted based on a specified fee schedule factor in each year thereafter.
Helping Ensure Access to Local TeleHealth Act of 2021 or the HEALTH Act of 2021 This bill modifies requirements relating to Medicare coverage of telehealth services, including services that are furnished by federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health clinics (RHCs). Specifically, the bill expands coverage to include audio-only telehealth services. It also permanently allows FQHCs and RHCs to serve as the distant site (i.e., the location of the health care practitioner) for telehealth services and excludes such services from certain geographic restrictions. Payment must be made in the same manner as for non-telehealth services, rather than in accordance with a separate methodology determined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Conservatorships Immoral Relationship with Contraception in the United States Act or the CIRCUS Act This bill excludes from participation in federal health care programs providers who (1) require the approval of the conservator before removing a contraceptive device from an individual under a conservatorship, or (2) prescribe birth control medications to an individual under a conservatorship without that individual's written consent.
This resolution recognizes and expresses support for efforts to promote democracy and human rights in Cuba.
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.
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.
This resolution recognizes and expresses support for the efforts of democracy and human rights activists in Cuba.
Lessening Addiction By Enhancing Labeling Opioids Act of 2021 or the LABEL Opioids Act of 2021 This bill requires prescription opioids to contain a warning label specifying that the opioids may cause dependence, addiction, and overdose. A registrant (e.g., a pharmacist) who dispenses an opioid in violation of the labeling requirement is subject to penalties.
Stop the Importation and Manufacturing of Synthetic Analogues Act of 2021 or the SIMSA Act of 2021 This bill establishes a process and requirements for regulating substances that have a similar chemical structure and actual or predicted effect as a controlled substance that is currently subject to such regulation because of its potential for abuse or dependence.
