This resolution urges the United States to protect the human rights of unhoused individuals, to establish regulations and enforcement tools to protect unhoused individuals from violations of civil and human rights, and to establish blanket legal protections for third parties providing goods or services to unhoused individuals. The resolution also urges the United States to establish a process to award appropriate damages, attorney's fees, and costs to a prevailing plaintiff in an action alleging a violation of the human and civil rights of unhoused individuals. Relatedly, the resolution urges the United States to allow the court in such an action to consider housing status and apply leniency in compiling records, receipts, and documentation from those plaintiffs. The resolution also expresses the intention of the House of Representatives to address the unhoused crisis in the United States by providing funding and imposing requirements on the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Fiscal Analysis by Income and Race Scoring Act or the FAIR Scoring Act This bill requires the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) cost estimates for legislation to include a distributional analysis by race and income if the legislation will have a gross budgetary effect of at least 0.1% of gross domestic product in any fiscal year during the 10-year budget window. CBO's analysis must show the transfers that would result by race and income level, and the effects must be shown both in dollars and as a percent change in after-tax-and-transfer-income. The bill also requires CBO to report to Congress on methods for conducting such a distributional analysis by gender.
Preserving Direct Seller Independence Act This bill excludes a real estate agent or a direct seller of consumer products from the definition of an employee for the purpose of applying the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
Fair Sugar Policy Act of 20 21 This bill makes several modifications to the Department of Agriculture's sugar program. Among other modifications, the bill decreases the rate for price support loans, repeals the marketing allotments, revises the administration of import quotas, and repeals the Feedstock Flexibility Program.
Forest Improvements through Research and Emergency Stewardship for Healthy Ecosystem Development and Sustainability Act or the FIRESHEDS Act This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA), with respect to National Forest System lands, and the Department of the Interior, with respect to public lands, no later than 90 days after receiving a request from a state, to enter into an agreement with such state to jointly designate one or more fireshed management areas within such state, and conduct fireshed management projects in such fireshed management areas. Not later than 90 days after entering into an agreement, the USDA or Interior, as appropriate, and such state shall jointly conduct a stewardship and fireshed assessment. The USDA and Interior shall carry out fireshed management projects in accordance with the timeline and project size limitations included in the stewardship and fireshed assessment. Fireshed management projects shall be categorically excluded from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement and exempt from the special administrative review process. The bill makes permanent the authority for a state to use revenue from timber sales under a good neighbor agreement for forest, rangeland, and watershed restoration services.
Commonsense Coordination Act This bill allows a federal agency to categorically exclude certain actions from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement if another agency has categorically excluded such actions. Such a categorical exclusion shall not be subject to judicial review. The bill also categorically excludes certain forest management activities from requirements for environmental assessments or environmental impact statements. The forest management activities designated for such a categorical exclusion are those carried out by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) or the Department of the Interior jointly with another federal agency on certain National Forest System lands or certain public lands, respectively; and for which a categorical exclusion applies with respect to such other agency. USDA or Interior, as appropriate, may use the categorical exclusion after first obtaining written confirmation from the other federal agency that the categorical exclusion applies to the proposed forest management activity.
For the People Act of 2021 This bill addresses voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance, and ethics for the three branches of government. Specifically, the bill expands voter registration (e.g., automatic and same-day registration) and voting access (e.g., vote-by-mail and early voting). It also limits removing voters from voter rolls. The bill requires states to establish independent redistricting commissions to carry out congressional redistricting. Additionally, the bill sets forth provisions related to election security, including sharing intelligence information with state election officials, supporting states in securing their election systems, developing a national strategy to protect U.S. democratic institutions, establishing in the legislative branch the National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions, and other provisions to improve the cybersecurity of election systems. Further, the bill addresses campaign finance, including by expanding the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals, requiring additional disclosure of campaign-related fundraising and spending, requiring additional disclaimers regarding certain political advertising, and establishing an alternative campaign funding system for certain federal offices. The bill addresses ethics in all three branches of government, including by requiring a code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices, prohibiting Members of the House from serving on the board of a for-profit entity, and establishing additional conflict-of-interest and ethics provisions for federal employees and the White House. The bill requires the President, the Vice President, and certain candidates for those offices to disclose 10 years of tax returns.
Affordable Pricing for Taxpayer-Funded Prescription Drugs Act of 2021 This bill requires companies that receive federal funding for research (or a license of the rights to a patent or regulatory test data) for a biomedical product or service to agree to set reasonable prices for the resulting biomedical product or service. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must determine a reasonable price based on a formula that ensures the U.S. price for the product or service is not more than the median price for the product or service in Canada and six other reference countries with, based on specified criteria, large economies and high incomes. Companies entering these agreements also must report to HHS certain financial information related to the biomedical product or service involved.
Resilient Federal Forests Act This bill modifies and sets forth provisions regarding forest management activities on National Forest System, public, and tribal lands. The bill provides for, among other things the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Interior to conduct fireshed management projects in fireshed management areas, certain categorical exclusions for various purposes, the balancing of the short- and long-term effects of forest management activities while considering injunctive relief, USDA and Interior to establish their own discretionary arbitration pilot programs as an alternative dispute resolution process for forest management activities, increasing the maximum term for a stewardship end result contract to 20 years, demonstration projects to support the development and commercialization of biochar on Indian forest lands or rangelands and in nearby communities by providing reliable supplies of feedstock from federal lands, the decommissioning of certain Forest Service Roads within designated high fire-prone areas, repealing of the Eastside Screens requirements on National Forest System lands, making the Northwest Forest Plan Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standards and Guidelines inapplicable to any National Forest System lands or public lands, development of a protection plan for giant sequoia trees on National Forest System lands and public lands, and permanent rights of access to the Oregon and California Railroad grant lands and the Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands for private landowners issued reciprocal road rights-of-way.
Salvaging American Lumber Via Action with Greater Efficiency Act or the SALVAGE Act This bill provides for certain activities related to salvage operations and certain reforestation activities conducted on National Forest System lands or public lands. The bill categorically excludes salvage operations carried out by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior, on certain National Forest System lands or certain public lands, respectively, from the requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement. Each salvage operation covered by the categorical exclusion may not contain treatment units that exceed a total of 10,000 acres. An environmental assessment for a salvage operation or reforestation activity proposed to be conducted on National Forest System lands or public lands that are adversely impacted by a large-scale catastrophic event shall be completed within 60 days after the conclusion of the event. In the case of such reforestation activities USDA and Interior shall, to the maximum extent practicable, achieve reforestation of at least 75% of the impacted lands during the five-year period following the conclusion of the catastrophic event. No later than 60 days after a wildfire is contained on National Forest System lands, USDA shall convert any timber sales on lands impacted by such wildfire to salvage sales. No restraining order, preliminary injunction, or injunction pending appeal shall be issued by any U.S. court respecting any decision to prepare or conduct a salvage operation or reforestation activity in response to a large-scale catastrophic event.
Protecting and Restoring Our Trees by Enhancing Conservation and Treatments Act or the PROTECT Act 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 address insect or disease infestations, reduce hazardous fuel loads, protect municipal water sources, protect critical habitats from catastrophic disturbances, increase water yield, remove dead or dying trees or trees at high risk of dying, or facilitate native species restoration. 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 developed through a collaborative process, proposed by certain resource advisory committees, or covered by community wildfire protection plans.
Twenty-First Century Dams Act This bill addresses dam infrastructure and safety. First, the bill provides resources for programs related to state dam safety, the rehabilitation of high hazard potential dams, and the inspection of dams. In particular, the bill reauthorizes through FY2026 the National Dam Safety Program. In addition, the bill reauthorizes through FY2026 a program related to the rehabilitation of structural measures and a program related to water infrastructure. Next, the bill allows a new tax credit for maintaining and enhancing hydroelectric dams that is equal to 30% of the basis of any qualified dam safety, environmental, and grid resilience enhancement property placed in service in a taxable year. It also allows a 30% credit for qualified obsolete river obstruction removal expenditures for demolishing and removing certain nonpowered or hydroelectric dams. The bill directs the Department of the Army to establish a program to carry out dam removal projects. Further, the bill establishes the Dam Removal Council to (1) coordinate with participating federal agencies to annually notify all known dam owners of the availability of dam removal funding and provide guidance on the existing programs of participating agencies; (2) evaluate and submit to Army recommendations for dam removal projects, technical assistance programs, and funding allocations; and (3) develop a dam removal strategy. The bill requires certain dam assessments, including a joint assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of Energy. The bill also authorizes specified federal agencies to undertake certain activities related to federal dam infrastructure.
