Rep. André Carson

Homecare for Seniors Act This bill allows tax-exempt distributions from health savings accounts (HSAs) to be used for qualified home care. Qualified home care means a contract to provide three or more of the following services in the residence of the service recipient assistance with eating, assistance with toileting, assistance with transferring, assistance with bathing, assistance with dressing, assistance with continence, and medication adherence. The Department of Health and Human Services must carry out a campaign to increase public awareness of the in-home service expenses that are eligible for tax-free distribution from HSAs.

Railroad Employee Equity and Fairness Act or the REEF Act This bill permanently exempts payments made from the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Account from sequestration. Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals. Currently, this exemption ends 30 days after the termination of the COVID-19 national emergency period.

Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act This bill provides funds to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for an affordable child care and early learning program. Children who are at least six weeks of age but not yet required to attend school may participate in the program regardless of family income, disability status, citizenship status, or employment of a family member. Under the program, HHS must support sponsors (e.g., states, local governments, tribal organizations, and nonprofit community organizations) that provide child care and early learning services for families. Families must pay a subsidized fee, based on their income, for the services. The fees are waived for children from families with incomes below 200% of the poverty line. The fees are capped at 7% of a family's income regardless of the family's income level.

Ghost Guns Are Guns Act This bill broadens the definition of firearm for purposes of federal firearms laws. Specifically, it includes as a firearm any combination of parts designed or intended to be used to convert a device into a firearm and from which a firearm may be readily assembled.

No Guns for Abusers Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make grants for states, local governments, and tribal governments to implement procedures to remove firearms from individuals who are charged with or convicted of domestic violence or subject to a domestic violence protective order. The National Institute of Justice must report on best practices for implementing such procedures, and DOJ must submit federal legislative recommendations in accordance with the best practices.

Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide a variety of assistance to address historical discrimination and disparities in the agricultural sector. For example, the bill establishes an equity commission in USDA to examine discrimination by the agency against Black farmers and ranchers and recommend actions to end the systematic disparities in the treatment of Black farmers and ranchers. USDA must also establish a Farm Conservation Corps to provide young adults who are from socially disadvantaged groups with the skills necessary to pursue careers in farming and ranching. The bill provides funding for historically Black colleges and universities to commence and expand courses of study that are focused on careers in agriculture or related disciplines. The bill also increases the authorization of appropriations for a program to resolve issues relating to ownership and succession on farmland. Additionally, it expands credit assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Further, the bill (1) establishes that a minimum of 50% of a covered packer's (not including a packer that owns only one livestock processing plant) daily volume of livestock slaughter must be purchased through spot market sales from nonaffiliated producers; (2) increases funding for the Local Agriculture Market Program; and (3) gives priority to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers for conservation technical assistance, the Conservation Stewardship Program, and the Rural Energy for America Program.

Pandemic Heroes Compensation Act of 2021 This bill allows essential workers and their family members to file claims and receive compensation for harm or death suffered as a result of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). A Special Master appointed by the Department of Justice must review claims submitted and determine if a claimant is eligible for compensation, the extent of the harm to the claimant, and the amount of compensation to be awarded.

Mental Health Justice Act of 2021 This bill creates a grant program for states and local governments to train and dispatch mental health professionals to respond, instead of law enforcement officers, to emergencies that involve people with behavioral health needs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) must manage the program in consultation with the Department of Justice (DOJ). SAMHSA may cancel grants that increase incarceration or institutionalization. Grantees must use funds for purposes including de-escalation and anti-racism training. The Department of Health and Human Services and the DOJ must evaluate this program.

Do No Harm Act This bill prohibits the application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) to specified federal laws or the implementation of such laws. Currently, RFRA prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest when using the least restrictive means. Under the bill, RFRA is inapplicable to laws or the implementation of laws that protect against discrimination or the promotion of equal opportunity (e.g., the Civil Rights Act of 1964); require employers to provide wages, other compensation, or benefits, including leave; protect collective activity in the workplace; protect against child labor, abuse, or exploitation; or provide for access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for, any health care item or service. The bill prevents RFRA from being used to deny (1) goods or services the government has contracted, granted, or made an agreement to provide to a beneficiary of or participant in a program or activity funded by such government contract, grant, agreement, or other award; or (2) a person's full and equal enjoyment of a government-provided good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation. In order for a person to assert a RFRA claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, the government must be a party to the proceeding.

Protect the Youth Vote Act of 2021 This bill outlines specific practices that violate the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, identifies actions that are voting offenses, and provides for the enforcement of the amendment. The Twenty-Sixth Amendment sets the voting age at 18 and prohibits states or the federal government from denying or restricting the right to vote based on age. First, the bill specifies those actions by a state or political subdivision that qualify as a violation of the right to vote based on age, including laws that reduce or restrict the ability of students who attend an institution of higher education and reside in the jurisdiction of the institution to register to vote in that jurisdiction. It also provides for (1) criminal penalties for such violations, and (2) preventive relief such as an injunction or a restraining order. Next, the bill allows for the appointment of federal observers to enforce voting rights related to age. The Department of Justice may monitor and enforce such voting rights whenever federal observers are appointed. Further, the bill specifies other actions that are voting offenses. It also establishes criminal penalties for certain voting offenses, including those related to duplicative voting and the deprivation of voting rights. The bill also sets forth requirements for a state or political subdivision to notify the public about changes with respect to the voting procedures for federal elections.