Resident Education Deferred Interest Act or the REDI Act This bill allows borrowers in medical or dental internships or residency programs to defer student loan payments until the completion of their programs.
Humane and Existing Alternatives in Research and Testing Sciences Act of 2021 or the HEARTS Act of 2021 This bill expands the responsibilities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to promote research methods that do not use animals. Specifically, the NIH must (1) provide incentives for nonanimal research, and (2) require the evaluation of viable nonanimal alternatives before approving any research that involves animals. Additionally, NIH applications for research grants involving animals must include an assurance that nonanimal methods for such research are not available.
Safe Skies Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to modify a specified DOT final rule relating to flight crew member duty and rest requirements so that the requirements under that rule apply to all-cargo flight crew members to the same extent they apply to air passenger flight crew members.
School Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021 This bill allows rehabilitation expenditures for public school buildings to qualify for the rehabilitation tax credit during a specified five-year period.
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.
Patsy T. Mink and Louise M. Slaughter Gender Equity in Education Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to establish an Office for Gender Equity to support state and local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and elementary and secondary schools in fully implementing title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs or activities. The office may provide grants and perform activities to reduce or prevent sex discrimination in all areas of education. The office must provide technical assistance and annual training to title IX coordinators and develop a handbook for conducting self-evaluations of title IX compliance. The training must address discrimination based on multiple characteristics, including race, ethnicity, national origin, disability status, religion, age, or actual or perceived sex. The office may award grants to eligible entities and partnerships that apply to carry out programs and activities designed to implement title IX and prevent and reduce sex discrimination, including programs that increase access to resources. ED must coordinate with the Institute of Education Sciences and other federal entities to investigate, identify, and disseminate best practices to (1) reduce and prevent sex stereotyping, bias, and discrimination in educational materials; (2) address sex-based harassment and violence on campuses; (3) develop counseling and career guidance training; (4) mitigate implicit bias in teaching and discipline; and (5) address the needs of students who face discrimination based on multiple characteristics.
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.
Protecting Airport Communities from Particle Emissions Act This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency to jointly contract with an institution of higher education to study the characteristics, distributions, sources, and potential human health effects of airborne ultrafine particles.
Blue Carbon Protection Act This bill establishes programs, grants, and requirements to protect and restore marine and blue carbon ecosystems, which are vegetated coastal habitats and include mangroves, tidal marshes, and other tidal or salt-water wetlands that have the capacity to sequester and store carbon.
Conceding Our Veterans' Exposures Now And Necessitating Training Act of 2021 or the COVENANT Act of 2021 This bill establishes a presumption of service-connection for certain illnesses related to exposure to airborne hazards or open burn pits and addresses the care available through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for veterans with illnesses they assert to be related to exposures during their service. Specifically, the bill establishes a presumption of service-connection for certain illnesses becoming manifest in covered veterans to a degree of 10% or more. Under a presumption of service-connection, specific conditions diagnosed in certain veterans are presumed to have been caused by the circumstances of their military service. Health care benefits and disability compensation may then be awarded. A covered veteran is any veteran who served on or after August 2, 1990, in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, or the United Arab Emirates; or served on or after September 11, 2001, in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Uzbekistan, the Philippines, or other countries the VA determines to be relevant. Among other elements, the bill requires the VA to provide medical examinations for veterans who submit a claim for disability compensation for an illness not listed in the bill but that is asserted to be related to airborne hazard or open burn pit exposure; authorizes the VA to stay pending claims for disability compensation related to the service and illnesses covered by this bill until the implementation of the bill; and provides VA hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care to covered veterans.
Presumptive Benefits for War Fighters Exposed to Burn Pits and Other Toxins Act of 2021 This bill establishes a presumption of service-connection for specified diseases associated with exposure to burn pits (an area used for burning solid waste in open air without equipment) and other toxins by veterans who were awarded specified medals on or after August 2, 1990. Under a presumption of service-connection, specific conditions diagnosed in certain veterans are presumed to have been caused by the circumstances of their military service. Health care benefits and disability compensation may then be awarded. Under the bill, if the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) receives a written petition to add a disease to the list, the VA must request a determination by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine with respect to whether there is a positive association between the exposure of humans to a covered toxin and the occurrence of the disease in humans. The bill makes disability or death of certain employees from specified diseases compensable as a work injury. Specifically, such employees are those who were employees of the Department of State, the Department of Defense, or an element of the intelligence community on or after August 2, 1990, and carried out job responsibilities for at least 30 days during a contingency operation.
