Juneteenth National Independence Day Act This bill establishes Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19, as a legal public holiday.
Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2021 This bill makes various changes to the Federal Pell Grant program, including by expanding student eligibility for Pell Grants. The bill also revises student eligibility for federal student-aid programs. Specifically, the bill provides funding to increase the maximum Pell Grant award for each eligible student. Further, the bill requires the award amount to be adjusted for inflation. Next, the bill allows students who receive means-tested federal benefits (e.g., Medicaid) to automatically qualify for the maximum Pell Grant award plus an additional award amount. In addition, the bill moves the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant program into the Pell Grant program. Next, the bill raises from 12 to 18 the total number of semesters during which a student may receive a Pell Grant. The bill makes Dreamer students (i.e., students who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status) who entered the United States before the age of 18 and who meet certain educational criteria eligible for federal financial aid. The bill also revises satisfactory academic progress requirements for federal student-aid programs, including by allowing a student who has not been enrolled in an institution of higher education for two years to regain eligibility for federal student aid.
Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021 This bill provides an additional $60 billion in FY2021 for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which was established to support restaurants and other food and beverage purveyors in response to COVID-19.
Disarm Hate Act The bill expands the categories of persons who are prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm. Specifically, it prohibits firearm sale or transfer to and receipt, possession, shipment, or transport by a person (1) who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime, or (2) who has received an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence.
This resolution designates June 19, 2021, as Juneteenth Independence Day to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.
IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act of 2021 This bill modifies provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to whistleblower protections. Specifically, the bill revises the standard for review of whistleblower awards in the Tax Court to require a de novo review standard (currently, the standard is abuse of discretion); exempts whistleblower awards from reductions due to budget sequestration; establishes a rebuttable presumption that whistleblowers would suffer harm if their identities were disclosed in a Tax Court proceeding; modifies the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower report to require inclusion of a list and description of the top 10 tax avoidance schemes disclosed by whistleblowers; requires the IRS to pay interest on whistleblower awards if not paid within one year of receipt of proceeds collected from whistleblower disclosures, allows the IRS to retain 3% of whistleblower proceeds (up to $10 million) to pay administrative costs of the whistleblower program; and allows payment of the attorney fees of whistleblowers regardless of whether the whistleblower award was paid through the mandatory or the discretionary whistleblower award program.
Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2021 This bill imposes limits on the use of biometric surveillance systems, such as facial recognition systems, by federal and state government entities. A federal agency or official may not in an official capacity acquire, possess, or use in the United States any such system or information obtained by such a system unless Congress passes an act that specifically authorizes such a use. Such an act of Congress must contain certain provisions, such as provisions naming the specific authorized entity and auditing requirements relating to the system. Information obtained in violation of this bill shall not be admissible by the federal government in any proceeding or investigation, except in a proceeding alleging a violation of this bill. An individual aggrieved by a violation of these restrictions shall have the right to sue. Any state officer authorized to sue on behalf of the state's residents shall also have the right to sue on behalf of the state's aggrieved residents. A state or local government unit shall not receive certain federal law enforcement grants unless the government unit complies with a law or policy that is substantially similar to this bill's restrictions on acquiring and using biometric surveillance systems.
Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Act of 2021 This bill increases the number of states that may participate in two-year Medicaid demonstration programs that improve access to community mental health services. It also provides for additional grants to certified community behavioral health clinics.
Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act of 2021 This bill modifies eligibility for, and other components of, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, including by (1) increasing applicable income and resource limits used to determine SSI eligibility, (2) equalizing treatment of married couples when both spouses receive SSI as compared to two unmarried individuals, and (3) eliminating the penalty on SSI applicants or recipients who transfer resources to another individual for less than fair market value.
This resolution condemns the recent rise in anti-Semitic violence and harassment targeting Jewish Americans. The resolution (1) recommits to combating anti-Semitism in all forms; and (2) calls on elected officials, faith leaders, and civil society leaders to denounce and combat all manifestations of anti-Semitism. The resolution urges the President to continue the leadership role of the United States in combating anti-Semitism internationally, advance accurate Holocaust education and counter Holocaust denial and distortion, ensure the physical security of Jewish institutions and organizations, and produce an analysis that accounts for the level and scope of the threat that anti-Semitism poses to the people of the United States. The resolution urges law enforcement agencies to fully participate in the data collection process of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to improve anti-Semitic hate crime data collection.
