Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act of 2021 This bill imposes a limitation on the tax deduction for qualified conservation contributions made by certain partnerships if the amount of the contribution exceeds 2.5% times the sum of each partner's relevant basis in the partnership. This limitation also applies to other pass-thru entities, such as S corporations.
Better Care Better Jobs Act This bill establishes programs and provides funds for state Medicaid programs to improve home- and community-based services (HCBS), such as home health care, personal care, case management, and rehabilitative services. Specifically, the bill provides funds for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to award planning grants, develop quality measures, and provide technical assistance to states regarding specified HCBS improvements, particularly with respect to access, utilization, and the associated workforce. The bill also increases the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (i.e., federal matching rate) for HCBS in states that develop plans and meet specified benchmarks for improvements. The bill also makes permanent (1) the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration Program (a grant program to help states increase the use of HCBS for long-term care and decrease the use of institutional care), and (2) certain provisions regarding Medicaid eligibility that protect against spousal impoverishment for recipients of HCBS.
Israel Relations Normalization Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of State to take certain actions promoting the normalization of relations between Israel, Arab states, and other relevant countries and regions. Specifically, the State Department must develop a strategy on expanding and strengthening the Abraham Accords (the term used to refer collectively to agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain marking the public normalization of relations between the two Arab countries and Israel). The strategy must include a description of how the U.S. government will encourage further normalization of relations with Israel. The State Department must report on the status of efforts to promote normalization of relations with Israel and other countries, including information on (1) laws that punish individuals for people-to-people relations with Israelis (i.e., anti-normalization laws), and (2) instances of the use of state-owned or state-operated media outlets to promote the prosecution of citizens or residents of Arab countries calling for peace with Israel.
Green Neighborhoods Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish incentives that encourage participants in HUD programs to increase energy efficiency in new and existing housing.
Reducing Hereditary Cancer Act of 2021 This bill provides for Medicare coverage of germline mutation testing for individuals with a personal or family history of a hereditary cancer gene mutation or suspected history of hereditary cancer, as well as for associated coverage of risk-reducing surgeries and screenings.
Ending Platform Monopolies Act This bill prohibits large online platforms, as designated by the Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission, from offering certain products or services from another line of business that is owned or controlled by the platform. Specifically, such platforms are prohibited from owning or controlling another line of business that (1) uses the platform to sell products or services, (2) offers a product or service that the platform requires a business user to purchase or use as a condition for access to the platform, or (3) gives rise to a conflict of interest. Under the bill, a conflict of interest occurs when a platform operator's ownership or control of another line of business creates an incentive and the ability for the platform to provide an advantage to the platform's own products or services over those of a competitor on the platform, or exclude or disadvantage the products or services of a competitor on the platform. For example, under the bill, Amazon.com, Inc. may be prohibited from offering for sale on Amazon.com privately labeled products or services (e.g., Amazon Essentials, AmazonBasics, etc.) if designated as a large online platform. Finally, the bill prohibits a director, officer, employee, or agent of a platform from simultaneously serving in the same or a similar role with a formerly affiliated entity.
Platform Competition and Opportunity Act of 2021 This bill generally prohibits operators of covered platforms from acquiring the stock or other share capital or the assets of another person engaged in commerce or in any activity affecting commerce. Covered platforms are online platforms that (1) have at least 50 million U.S.-based monthly active users or at least 100,000 U.S.-based monthly active business users, (2) are owned or controlled by a person with net annual sales or a market capitalization greater than $600 billion, and (3) are critical trading partners for the sale or provision of any product or service offered on or directly related to the platform. The Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice must designate whether an entity is a covered platform, and both must carry out enforcement activities. The bill provides for any person (other than a foreign state and any instrumentality thereof) who is injured by an activity forbidden under the bill to recover triple damages. (A foreign state may only recover actual damages.) Further, the bill specifies the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as the judicial venue for a covered platform's appeals related to (1) the designation as a covered platform, (2) other administrative and enforcement proceedings, or (3) a final order issued in any district court.
Augmenting Compatibility and Competition by Enabling Service Switching Act of 2021 or the ACCESS Act of 2021 This bill requires large online platforms (e.g., YouTube, Salesforce) to facilitate consumers and businesses switching from one platform to another. Specifically, the platforms must maintain interfaces that (1) securely transfer user data to other platforms (i.e., portability), and (2) allow other platforms to connect and communicate with their systems (i.e., interoperability). The bill provides the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice with the authority to designate specific platforms to which these requirements apply. After a platform is designated, the FTC must issue standards of interoperability specific to the platform. A platform may not change its interoperability interface without petitioning the FTC, and the platform must provide to competing businesses documentation for accessing the interface. Further, the FTC must establish a technical committee to assist with the implementation of these requirements. The bill provides the FTC with authority to enforce these requirements including through recovery of civil penalties and injunctive relief.
Veteran Families Health Services Act of 2021 This bill addresses fertility treatments, counseling, and other health-related programs for veterans and members of the Armed Forces. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide fertility treatments and counseling to covered veterans and active duty service members or a spouse, partner, or gestational surrogate of such veteran or service member. A covered veteran or service member is a former or current member of the Armed Forces who has an infertility condition, unless it is demonstrable that the individual was completely infertile prior to serving in the Armed Forces. In the case of in vitro fertilization treatment, DOD and the VA may not furnish more than three completed cycles or six attempted cycles, whichever occurs first. DOD must establish procedures related to gamete retrieval and storage. Additionally, DOD must provide service members with the opportunity to cryopreserve and store their gametes prior to deployment to a combat zone or a hazardous duty assignment. DOD and the VA must share best practices and facilitate referrals for the furnishing of fertility treatment and counseling to eligible individuals. Fertility counseling and treatment are included within authorized VA medical services. The VA may pay the adoption expenses (for up to three adoptions) for a covered member who is enrolled in the VA health care system. The VA must facilitate specified reproduction and infertility research conducted collaboratively by DOD and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Cultivating Opportunity and Recovery from the Pandemic through Service Act or the CORPS Act This bill makes several changes to AmeriCorps programs during the COVID-19 health emergency. Specifically, the bill: increases living allowance payments to program participants; increases educational awards for program participants; relaxes program requirements, including reducing the age requirement for AmeriCorps Seniors to 45 and older; creates a pilot program to allow state commissions to directly place individuals in approved AmeriCorps programs; and allows for targeted AmeriCorps grants to fund recovery projects in communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The bill also excludes AmeriCorps living allowance payments and educational awards from taxable income for program participants.
Healthy Future Students and Earth Pilot Program Act of 2021 This bill establishes a pilot program for providing 100% plant-based food and milk options in school meals. The Department of Agriculture must award up to 50 grants to school food authorities. Recipients may use funds for activities including training food service personnel on serving 100% plant-based options and covering additional costs of buying plant-based foods and milks.
Vanessa Guillén Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act This bill modifies the process and policy related to the disposition of charges and convening of courts-martial for certain sexual assault cases and other specified offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Among other elements, the bill provides that the determinations on the preferral, disposition, and referral of charges for specified offenses under the UCMJ must be made by a commissioned officer of the Armed Forces who is designated as a court-martial convening authority (in grade O-6 or higher) and who is available for detail as trial counsel, has significant trial experience, and is outside the chain of command of the member subject to the charges.
