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.
Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2026, revises, and establishes grants and activities to promote access to broadband internet and other telecommunication services. The bill addresses digital equity and inclusion through grants and by requiring studies on barriers to adoption of broadband services and related matters. The bill addresses broadband affordability and access. It (1) reauthorizes and expands various programs that subsidize or otherwise support broadband services for eligible households, schools and libraries, and tribal lands and populations; and (2) establishes a program for expanding broadband service for underserved areas and community support organizations (e.g., schools and religious organizations). Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must award grants and take other actions to expand programs that verify an individual's eligibility for subsidized services. The bill addresses broadband data collection, disclosure, and sharing. The FCC must (1) issue rules regarding the collection of pricing data and labels that disclose information about broadband plans to consumers, and (2) collaborate and share data with federal agencies and other stakeholders. The bill makes financing (e.g., low-interest loans) available to communities and public-private partnerships for broadband infrastructure investments. Additionally, the Department of Transportation must require states to install conduits for broadband cables as part of certain highway projects. The bill also sets up a task force on nationwide dig once requirements (i.e., policies or practices to minimize excavations of highway rights-of-way when installing telecommunications infrastructure). Further, the bill preempts state laws that prohibit certain telecommunications service providers (e.g., public providers) from providing high-speed broadband services.
Defending Veterans' Second Amendment Rights Act This bill prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from transmitting personally identifiable information of veterans or their beneficiaries to the national instant criminal background check system utilized by licensed importers or dealers of firearms solely on the basis that a veteran has a service-connected disability.
Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Investment and Market Expansion Act of 2021 This bill establishes programs and requirements to expand access to renewable fuel. Specifically, the U.S. Department of Agriculture must establish a program to award grants for the deployment of renewable fuel infrastructure as specified by this bill. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must finalize a 2021 proposed rule titled E 15 Fuel Dispenser Labeling and Compatibility With Underground Storage Tanks . When finalizing the rule, the EPA must eliminate the labeling requirements for fuel pumps that dispense E 15 fuel (i.e., gasoline that contains 15% ethanol).
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.
Ending Qualified Immunity Act This bill eliminates the defense of qualified immunity in civil actions for deprivation of rights. Qualified immunity is a judicially created doctrine that protects government employees or those acting with state authority from being held personally liable for constitutional violations. The bill provides that under the statute allowing a civil action alleging deprivation of rights under color of law, it shall not be a defense or immunity to any such action that (1) the defendant was acting in good faith or believed that his or her conduct was lawful at the time it was committed; (2) the rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or federal laws were not clearly established at the time of their deprivation; or (3) the state of the law was such that the defendant could not reasonably have been expected to know whether his or her conduct was lawful.
American Right to Family Act This bill requires the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status for an alien parent or spouse who meets certain requirements. To be eligible for cancellation of removal and adjustment of status under this bill, an alien must (1) meet certain residency-related requirements, such as having been physically present in the United States for at least 10 years or having received a deferral of removal under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy; (2) be a parent of either a U.S. national or an individual who first entered the United States under 16 years of age and has been continuously present in the United States since entry; and (3) not be barred from receiving certain immigration benefits on specified grounds, including certain grounds related to criminal conduct or national security. The Department of Homeland Security may waive certain crime-related grounds of inadmissibility for reasons related to the public interest, subject to various limitations. An alien whose removal is canceled under this bill shall be adjusted to temporary resident status for a three-year period, which may be renewed. Furthermore, a cancellation for removal or adjustment of status under this bill shall not count toward certain annual numerical limitations on such actions. The bill also establishes a nonimmigrant W visa available to (1) an alien parent eligible for cancellation for removal and adjustment of status under this bill, and (2) an alien spouse of a U.S. national who meets the residency-related requirements described above and not barred. W visas shall have no annual numerical limitations.
Ensuring Quality Access to Legal Defense Act of 2021 or the EQUAL Defense Act of 2021 This bill establishes and modifies certain programs that support the delivery of public defense services (i.e., legal services for criminal defendants who cannot afford counsel). Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to award grants to state and local governments, tribal organizations, and public defender offices for public defense. A grant recipient must use the grant to establish a data collection process, develop workload limits, and satisfy specified compensation requirements (e.g., pay parity between public defenders and prosecutors). The bill also directs DOJ to award grants to nonprofits and government organizations to train public defenders, court-appointed attorneys, and contract attorneys. Additionally, a state that receives Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program funds must annually submit to DOJ information related to the legal representation of defendants in criminal cases. Finally, it reauthorizes through FY2025 the student loan repayment program for prosecutors and public defenders and otherwise revises the program, including by increasing the maximum benefit amount.
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.
Fairness for All Act This bill prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity, while providing certain benefits and exemptions to religious providers. An otherwise qualified religious provider shall be eligible to receive federal financial assistance for a particular service without regard to the provider's religious views or teachings. The bill expands the definition of public accommodation to which sex discrimination laws apply, including to cover providers of financial services, medical services, and providers of transportation services. Exceptions from these sex discrimination prohibitions are made for (1) religious camps or religious retreat centers unless they also discriminate based on race, color, or national origin; and (2) providers of funeral services or burial plots that primarily limit their services or facilities to those of a particular religion unless the provider discriminates based on those factors. Agencies authorized to administer federal financial assistance for the support of adoption and foster care services shall issue final rules within two years of this bill's enactment to create an indirect funding program that delivers such assistance to eligible prospective parents for the purpose of obtaining adoption and foster care services through a qualified private agency that they select. The bill (1) exempts a church or religious organization from claims of employment discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity under specified circumstances; and (2) prohibits sanctions for certain employee speech regarding the employee's religious, political, or moral beliefs in the workplace. The bill establishes certain anti-bullying policies for public elementary and secondary schools, including cyber bullying. Any determination of the tax-exempt status of a charitable organization shall be made without regard to the organization's religious beliefs or practices concerning marriage, family, or sexuality, except insofar as such practices pertain to race or criminal sexual offenses punishable under constitutionally valid federal or state law.
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.
