United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2021 This bill establishes restrictions on businesses that relocate call centers or redirect customer service calls to locations outside the United States. Specifically, a business must notify the Department of Labor that it intends to move its customer service call center overseas and Labor must maintain a publicly available list of such businesses. Subject to narrow exceptions, a business appearing on such list is ineligible to receive federal grants or guaranteed loans for five years after the business is added to the list. Further, agencies must condition the awarding of government contracts on the requirement that any call center activity pursuant to the contract must be performed in the United States. Additionally, the bill requires call center employees to disclose their physical location at the beginning of each call initiated or received, unless all employees of the business participating in the communication are located in the United States, among other exceptions.
Securing Our Border States Act This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to provide grants to states for building barriers and related infrastructure along the U.S.-Mexico border. Within 30 days of receiving a certification from a border state that it intends to use such grant funding for constructing a border barrier, Treasury must disburse funds to the state, with the amount based on the number of miles of border in that state that currently does not have a border barrier. The bill provides $22 billion of funding for this grant program and permanently rescinds $22 billion from funds made available for various assistance programs related to COVID-19.
Universal School Meals Program Act of 2021 This bill revises requirements under the food and nutrition programs of the Department of Agriculture, such as the school lunch and breakfast programs. For example, the bill permanently provides free meals to all school children regardless of income. The bill increases the reimbursement rate for school food authorities participating in the food and nutrition programs. The bill also prohibits school food authorities from (1) physically segregating or otherwise discriminating against any child participating in the free breakfast program, or (2) overtly identifying a child participating in the program with a special token or announcement. Additionally, the bill expands the summer food service program by making all children eligible for participation in the program. Further, the bill revises eligibility determinations for measuring poverty to include runaway or homeless youth, foster children, migratory children, and children participating in specified programs (e.g., Head Start).
This resolution denounces socialism and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States.
New Opportunities for Value that Extend Lives Act of 2021 or the NOVEL Act of 2021 This bill establishes a process for expediting the assignment of Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes to medical products that have been designated as a breakthrough product or regenerative advanced therapy by the Food and Drug Administration; it also establishes a process for determining coverage under Medicare of such breakthrough products that have been assigned HCPCS codes.
Cyber Incident Notification Act of 2021 This bill requires federal agencies and certain entities to report cybersecurity intrusion incidents to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and addresses related issues. Within 24 hours of a confirmed intrusion (or potential intrusion), the targeted agency or entity must report the intrusion to CISA. CISA must promulgate rules relating to the bill, including the information that must be included in each incident report and the entities that must comply with the reporting requirements. At minimum, the covered entities must include federal contractors and owners or operators of critical infrastructure. Similarly, such rules must at minimum require federal agencies and covered entities to report all intrusions involving a nation-state, advanced persistent threat cyber actor, or transnational organized crime group. If a covered entity fails to meet the bill's requirements, CISA may assess a civil penalty of up to 0.5% of the entity's gross revenue for each day the violation lasts. If the violating entity has federal contracts, the General Services Administration may impose additional penalties, including removal from the Federal Contracting Schedule. A violation by a federal agency must be referred to that agency's office of the inspector general, which must treat the case as a matter of urgent concern. CISA, the Department of Justice, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence must provide periodic reports to Congress concerning the current cyber threat picture facing federal agencies and covered entities.
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.
Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the award of federal funds to an institution of higher education (IHE) that hosts or is affiliated with a school-based service site that provides abortion drugs or abortions to its students or to employees of the IHE or the site. An IHE that hosts or is affiliated with a site must, in order to remain eligible for federal funds, annually certify that the site does not provide abortion drugs or abortions to students or employees.
Less Imprecision in Species Treatment Act of 2021 or the LIST Act of 2021 This bill revises the process for removing a species from the endangered or threatened species lists. A species must be removed from the endangered or threatened species lists if the Department of the Interior produces or receives substantial scientific or commercial information demonstrating that the species is recovered or that recovery goals set for the species have been met. The publication and notice of a proposed regulation to remove a species from the lists must consist solely of a notice of the removal. The bill establishes a process for removing species from the lists if they were erroneously or wrongfully listed. The bill prohibits a person from submitting a petition to list a species as a threatened or endangered species for 10 years if the person knowingly submitted a petition with information that was inaccurate beyond scientifically reasonable margins of error, fraudulent, or misrepresentative.
This resolution recognizes the selfless dedication to fellow citizens displayed through heroic actions across the country and calls upon the Members of the House of Representatives and all people of the United States to observe a National Heroes Day.
Water and Agriculture Tax Reform Act of 2021 This bill permits tax-exempt mutual ditch or irrigation companies to earn income from dispositions of certain property and stock interests without affecting their tax-exempt status, but requires that such income be used to pay the costs of operations, maintenance, and capital improvements of such a company. The bill also establishes a rule regarding the organizational governance of mutual ditch or irrigation companies. Where state law provides that such a company may be organized in a manner that permits voting on a basis that is pro rata to share ownership on corporate governance matters, the tax-exempt status of the mutual ditch or irrigation company must be determined without taking into account whether its member shareholders have one vote on corporate governance matters per share held in the corporation.
Support Through Loss Act This bill provides employees with 24 hours of paid leave time each year for an absence resulting from a pregnancy loss or other specified circumstance related to pregnancy, fertility, or an unsuccessful assisted reproductive procedure or adoption match. Employers must notify each employee about the availability of this paid leave and may not discriminate or discharge an employee for exercising or attempting to exercise the right to such paid leave. The bill provides for enforcement of this requirement by the Department of Labor and through civil action brought by an employee or individual. Further, the bill requires specified federal agencies to conduct research and publish information about pregnancy loss and related evidence-based treatment options.
