This resolution expresses support for the designation of Journeyman Lineworkers Recognition Day. (A journeyman lineworker is a person who builds and maintains electrical power systems.)
Preserving Rules Ordered for The Entities Covered Through 340B Act of 2021 or the PROTECT 340B Act of 2021 This bill prohibits pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and health insurance plans from discriminating against health providers participating in the 340B drug pricing program, including pharmacies contracted with such providers to dispense 340B drugs. The 340B program allows certain providers to receive covered outpatient drugs at reduced prices from manufacturers. Specifically, PBMs and insurance plans may not reimburse 340B participants at a lower rate than other entities not participating in the program; impose differing terms (such as fees, charge-backs, or audits) on 340B participants; interfere with an individual's choice to receive drugs from a 340B participant; require 340B participants to identify which drugs fall within the program; or refuse to contract with a 340B participant on the basis that they utilize the program. Violations of this bill are subject to a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 per violation per day. These prohibitions also apply to prescription drug (Part D) sponsors under Medicare. The bill also provides for a process to prevent duplicate 340B drug discounts to states under Medicaid.
Securing America's Elections Act of 2021 This bill requires voting systems for federal elections to produce paper ballots that the voter may inspect and verify before the vote is cast and counted. The bill also (1) requires the paper ballot to be suitable for manual audits, (2) prescribes approved methods for such audits, and (3) directs the Department of Homeland Security and the Election Assistance Commission to report on the desirability of using open-source software in voting systems.
Holding SSA Employees Accountable Act This bill prohibits employees of the Social Security Administration who are convicted of certain offenses related to their official duties from further participating in federal annuity programs.
Reducing Exposure to Burn Pits Act This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to provide budget information regarding incinerators and waste-to-energy waste disposal alternatives to burn pits. DOD must include the information as a dedicated budget line item in the President's FY2022 budget.
Department of Defense Burn Pits Health Provider Training Act This bill requires the Department of Defense to train its medical providers on the potential health effects of burn pits, which are areas used for burning solid waste in open air without equipment.
Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2021 This bill requires states to direct their local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish policies that prevent and prohibit bullying and harassment of elementary and secondary school students. In particular, these policies must prohibit bullying and harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or religion. Further, LEAs must provide (1) students, parents, and educational professionals with annual notice of the conduct prohibited in their disciplinary policies; (2) students and parents with grievance procedures that target such conduct; and (3) the public with annual data on the incidence and frequency of that conduct at the school and LEA level. The Department of Education must conduct and report on an independent biennial evaluation of programs and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elementary and secondary schools. The National Center for Education Statistics must collect state data to determine the incidence and frequency of the conduct prohibited by LEA disciplinary policies.
This bill directs the Forest Service to, no less than once every 5 years, complete a wildfire assessment that includes analysis of, among other things, with respect to the previous five years the direct costs of wildfire response, preparation, and recovery, including wildfire mitigation and wildlife suppression activities and human health; the indirect costs of wildfire response, preparation, and recovery, including diminished tax revenue and lost business revenue, including supply chain impacts; and whether the direct and indirect costs have been or will be paid by the federal government, state or territory governments, or county or local governments.
American Broadband Act This bill addresses broadband and other communications services. The bill limits applicable state and local regulatory authority. Limitations include setting (and providing statutory authority for) deadlines for reviews and decisions related to personal wireless and other telecommunication service facilities, as well as cable franchises and services. Further, a state or locality may not provide broadband services in areas with more than one other commercial provider. The bill exempts certain telecommunications infrastructure projects from environmental and historic preservation reviews, including projects carried out after a declared disaster or emergency (e.g., a wildfire). The bill also establishes a rebuttable presumption that a request for a review of the effects of deploying wireless service on historically, culturally, or religiously significant tribal or Native Hawaiian land is complete if the tribe or Native Hawaiian organization receives certain forms. The bill enhances criminal penalties for willful or malicious destruction of a communication facility. Furthermore, the General Services Administration must establish a common fee schedule for deploying wireless facilities that affect federal property. Additionally, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration must award grants for expanding high-speed broadband access, facilitate through an interagency strike force timely reviews of telecommunications-related requests that affect federal property (e.g., a request for an easement or right-of-way), and report on certain requests concerning communications facilities on federal real property. The bill also requires collaboration among federal agencies that support broadband deployment.
No Biometric Barriers to Housing Act of 2021 This bill prohibits owners of certain federally assisted rental units from using facial recognition, physical biometric recognition, or remote biometric recognition technology in any units or in any building or on any grounds containing such a unit. Within one year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development must report on any known use of such technology in federally assisted rental units in the preceding five years.
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act This bill designates specified lands in the following areas of Utah as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Great Basin, (2) Grand Staircase-Escalante, (3) Moab-La Sal Canyons, (4) Henry Mountains, (5) Glen Canyon, (6) San Juan-Anasazi, (7) Canyonlands Basin, (8) San Rafael Swell, and (9) Book Cliffs and Uinta Basin. The bill sets forth administrative requirements for (1) the exchange of state-owned lands within such areas, (2) federal reservation of water rights, (3) measurement of setbacks for roads with adjacent wilderness, (4) authorized livestock grazing, and (5) withdrawal of such lands from disposition under certain public land laws.
Furthering Underutilized Technologies and Unleashing Responsible Expenditures for Western Water Infrastructure and Drought Resiliency Act or the FUTURE Western Water Infrastructure and Drought Resiliency Act This bill addresses water-related resources and infrastructure. Among other provisions, the bill reauthorizes through FY2026 the California Bay-Delta program, the Water Availability and Use Science Program, and a water desalination program; reauthorizes through FY2028 the Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation program; creates various grants for water projects and expands the allowable uses of grants for water recycling and reuse projects; establishes a funding source for certain water resources development projects in western states; expands the tax exclusion for energy conservation subsidies provided by public utilities to include certain subsidies for water conservation or efficiency measures and stormwater management measures; establishes prizes for water technology applications; requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to use specified funds for water control manual updates for forecast-informed water operations projects; and allows certain funding to be used for the remediation of land formerly used to cultivate marijuana. The Department of the Interior must, within 10 years, make certain streamgages operational. (Streamgages are fixed structures at streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs that measure water level and related streamflow.) The bill establishes programs related to ecosystem protection and restoration, including programs to (1) incentivize farmers to keep fields flooded during appropriate periods for waterbird habitat creation and maintenance, and (2) prepare drought plans to sustain critically important fisheries.
