Debt-Free College Act of 2021 This bill establishes measures to cover the unmet financial need of students who are enrolled at certain institutions of higher education (IHEs). Unmet financial need refers to the difference between a student's cost of attendance and the student's expected family contribution, plus any federal, state, and local sources of grant aid. In addition, the bill makes certain Dreamer students (i.e., students who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status) eligible for federal financial aid. First, the bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to award grants for state-federal partnerships with a goal of providing debt-free college for all eligible students at in-state public IHEs. Eligible student refers to an individual who (1) is enrolled or is eligible to enroll in an in-state public IHE, (2) completes a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or demonstrates eligibility for a Federal Pell Grant through institutional financial-aid eligibility forms, and (3) demonstrates satisfactory academic progress. Next, the bill requires ED to award grants to historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions to cover the unmet financial need of enrolled students. ED must establish an office to administer grants and provide oversight. In addition, the bill makes Dreamer students who entered the United States before the age of 16 and who meet certain educational criteria eligible for federal student aid.
Future Logging Careers Act This bill allows individuals who are 16 or 17 years old to work at certain logging operations that are owned or operated by at least one parent or a person standing in place of a parent. Thus, the bill exempts such employees from child labor laws.
Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act This bill generally prohibits law enforcement and intelligence agencies from obtaining U.S. customer or subscriber records or any illegitimately obtained information from a third party in exchange for anything of value (e.g., purchasing such information). Records or information obtained in violation of this bill are inadmissible as evidence in any trial, hearing, or other legal proceeding.
Medicare at 50 Act This bill establishes a Medicare buy-in option for certain qualifying individuals and also repeals restrictions relating to prescription drug prices under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Specifically, the bill allows individuals aged 50 to 64 to enroll in Medicare if such individuals would otherwise qualify for Medicare at the age of 65. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must determine enrollment periods and set premiums for the buy-in option established under the bill, in accordance with specified requirements. The CMS must also award grants to states and nonprofit organizations for outreach and enrollment activities relating to the buy-in option. The bill also repeals provisions that prohibit the CMS from negotiating the prices of prescription drugs or from establishing a formulary under the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
Access to Healthy Food for Young Children Act of 2021 This bill revises several provisions related to the Child and Adult Care Food Program. These revisions include increasing reimbursement rates; requiring reimbursements to be adjusted annually to reflect the Consumer Price Index for food away from home, rather than the Consumer Price Index for food at home used under current law; providing for an additional meal service to be served in child care settings with eight or more hours between the first meal service and the beginning of the fourth meal service; expanding geographical eligibility for tier I family or group day care homes; and requiring the Department of Agriculture to establish an advisory committee to examine the feasibility of reducing unnecessary or duplicative paperwork for those participating or seeking to participate in the program. The bill also provides funding to (1) provide nutrition training and technical assistance under the program, and (2) increase the participation of children from underserved communities.
Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act This bill imposes an excise tax on the transfer of ownership in certain securities (covered transaction), including any share of stock in a corporation; any partnership or beneficial interest in a partnership or trust; any note, bond, debenture, or other evidence of indebtedness (excluding tax-exempt municipal bonds); and derivative financial instruments. The bill includes exceptions for initial issues, certain traded short-term indebtedness, and securities lending arrangements. The bill also (1) imposes a penalty on taxpayers who fail to include a covered transaction on their tax return or information statement, and (2) allows an individual taxpayer whose modified adjusted gross income does not exceed $50,000 ($75,000 for married taxpayers filing joint returns) a tax credit for the amount of tax paid on covered transactions.
End Outsourcing Act This bill addresses the outsourcing (transfer) of jobs and companies from the United States to low-tax foreign jurisdictions. The bill (1) requires employers to include an outsourcing statement in worker adjustment and retraining notices; (2) denies employers a tax deduction for outsourcing expenses, including license fees and equipment installation costs; (3) allows a tax credit for similar insourcing expenses; (4) denies employers the use of certain favorable accounting methods and a deduction for interest paid on indebtedness; and (5) requires the recapture of certain tax credit amounts allowed to outsourcing employers. The bill authorizes federal contracting officers to take the outsourcing of jobs from the United States into account in awarding contracts and grants and extending loans and loan guarantees to corporations.
Future in Logging Careers Act This bill allows individuals who are 16 or 17 years old to work at certain timber harvesting operations that are owned or operated by at least one parent or a person standing in place of a parent. The bill, therefore, exempts such employees from child labor laws.
College for All Act of 2021 This bill establishes measures to expand access to higher education, including by eliminating tuition and required fees for eligible students, revising the Federal Pell Grant program, and reauthorizing certain programs to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Specifically, the bill provides funding to eliminate tuition and required fees for (1) all students at community colleges and two-year tribal colleges and universities; (2) working- and middle-class students at four-year public institutions of higher education (IHEs) and tribal colleges and universities; and (3) eligible students at private, nonprofit historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority-serving institutions. The bill permanently reauthorizes and otherwise revises the Federal Pell Grant program by providing funding to increase the maximum award for each eligible student, increasing the duration limit for the use of Pell Grants, and allowing students to use their awards to cover living and non-tuition expenses. Next, the bill makes Dreamer students (i.e., students who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status) who entered the United States before the age of 16 and who meet certain educational criteria eligible for federal financial aid. Further, the bill requires the Department of Education to award grants to underfunded IHEs, HBCUs, and minority-serving institutions for investing in support programs to improve student outcomes (e.g., graduation rates). The bill also reauthorizes through FY2031 the Federal TRIO Programs and reauthorizes through FY2025 the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.
Global Electoral Exchange Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Department of State to establish a Global Electoral Exchange Program to promote sound election-administration practices around the world. The State Department may award grants to qualified, tax-exempt, U.S.-based organizations that have expertise and experience in relevant topics, such as election-system integrity. Grants may be used to design programs to bring relevant individuals, such as election administrators and poll workers, together to study and discuss election procedures. The State Department shall periodically report to Congress on the program's activities.
This bill modifies the calculation of loan amounts for partnerships with no employees (e.g., self-employed farmers) under the Paycheck Protection Program, which was established to support small businesses in response to COVID-19. Specifically, the bill allows such individuals to apply for a loan in the amount of the difference between their gross and net income loan amounts, even if they have already received a loan based on their net income and received forgiveness for that loan.
PPP Flexibility for Farmers, Ranchers, and the Self-Employed Act This bill makes various changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) with respect to certain loans, loan applicants, and loan recipients. First, the bill permits farming partnerships with gross farming income from self-employment to request a recalculation of the amount of their PPP loans based on the partners' distributive shares of gross income from the partnership. The recalculation is available retroactively for loans made on or before the date of enactment of this bill. Additionally, applicants for PPP loans may calculate their maximum loan amount based on the applicant's Internal Revenue Service Form 1040, Schedule C (i.e., profit or loss from a business). This applies retroactively to PPP loans made or approved on or before December 27, 2020. The bill also increases the maximum amount of a second draw PPP loan for individuals who received PPP loan forgiveness. The maximum second draw PPP loan amount for an eligible individual includes the increased PPP loan amount the individual would have received under the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act had the individual not already received loan forgiveness. This applies retroactively to second draw loans made on for before the date of enactment of this bill. The bill changes from a quarterly period to any contiguous 90-day period the calculation of revenue loss in determining eligibility for a second draw PPP loan. The bill also extends certain dates with respect to the administration of the PPP.
