Commission to Study the Stigmatization, Criminalization, and Ongoing Exclusion and Inequity for LGBTQ Servicemembers and Veterans Act This bill establishes the Commission to Study the Stigmatization, Criminalization, and Ongoing Exclusion and Inequity for LGBTQ Servicemembers and Veterans. The Commission must identify and compile information about the history of military policy regarding homosexuality from 1778 onward, including regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) sexual orientation and gender identity. The Commission must hold public hearings, gather public testimony, examine lasting and disparate impacts of the discriminatory policies on the physical and mental well-being of members of the Armed Forces, and make recommendations on appropriate remedies.
Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers Act of 2021 or the PAWS Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement a grant program for the purpose of pairing service dogs with eligible veterans. Organizations that receive grants shall provide veterinary health insurance coverage, hardware, and travel expenses for each service dog and veteran participating in the program. Eligible veterans are those who (1) are enrolled in the VA health care system, (2) have been evaluated and treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but remain diagnosed with PTSD, (3) may benefit from a service dog, and (4) agree to successfully complete training provided by an eligible organization. Veterans are required to see a VA health care provider at least once every 180 days to determine whether the veteran continues to benefit from a service dog. Eligible organizations are nonprofit organizations that are accredited by a widely recognized accreditation organization, meet publicly available standards set forth by the Association of Service Dog Providers for Military Veterans, have expertise in the needs of veterans with PTSD, agree to cover all costs in excess of the grant amount to guarantee the benefits of the program, agree to reaccept or replace a service dog provided to a veteran, and submit an application to the VA. Any improvement in PTSD symptoms as a result of the provision of a service dog shall not affect the veteran's eligibility for any other VA benefits. The Government Accountability Office must report on the grant program.
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.
Foreign Gain-of-Function Research Prevention Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to conduct or support gain-of-function research involving potential pandemic pathogens by China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, or other foreign adversaries. Gain-of-function research is any research that is anticipated to confer an attribute on a pathogen to enhance its pathogenicity or transmissibility in mammals. If the Department of State finds that an entity has used funds for prohibited research, the entity may not receive any federal funding for a period of five years.
Telemental Health Care Access Act of 2021 This bill eliminates certain restrictions relating to Medicare coverage of mental health services that are provided through telehealth. Current law allows for coverage of such services regardless of the geographic location of the originating site (i.e., the location of the beneficiary) after the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, as long as the beneficiary previously received in-person services and continues to receive in-person services at specified intervals. The bill eliminates these in-person requirements.
Minority Business Resiliency Act of 2021 This bill permanently authorizes the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and requires the MBDA to promote and administer programs that assist the development of minority business enterprises (MBEs). Specifically, the bill requires the MBDA to (1) provide assistance to MBEs in domestic and foreign markets by making available specified resources, (2) promote the position of MBEs in local economies, and (3) collect data on the causes of MBE success or failure and research how economic conditions affect the development of MBEs. The bill establishes formal processes for the MBDA Business Center Program and the MBDA Rural Business Center Program through which business centers provide programs and services to support MBEs. The bill also establishes new initiatives to promote economic resiliency for minority businesses, including (1) an annual forum to review problems and programs relating to capital formation by MBEs, (2) a study and report on alternative financing solutions for MBEs, and (3) entrepreneurship education grants for certain institutions of higher education to develop and implement entrepreneurship curricula. Further, the bill establishes grants for (1) certain nonprofit organizations that provide services to MBEs as one of their primary activities, and (2) MBEs for the purpose of supporting MBEs or helping MBEs remain in business. The Government Accountability Office must report on the programs carried out pursuant to the bill.
This resolution recognizes the 100th anniversary of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on July 1, 2021. It also commends the GAO for 100 years of service to Congress and the United States as the preeminent independent government watchdog agency in the world.
Lori Jackson-Nicolette Elias Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act This bill makes changes to the federal statutory framework that prohibits the shipment, transport, receipt, or possession of firearms or ammunition by an individual who is subject to a qualifying domestic violence court order. Under current law, a qualifying domestic violence court order must meet certain requirements, including to (1) be issued after a hearing of which the individual had notice and an opportunity to participate; and (2) restrain the individual from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner (i.e., a current or former spouse, a co-parent of a child, or a current or former cohabitant) or the child of an intimate partner. This bill expands the scope of qualifying domestic violence court orders to include an order that is issued after an ex parte hearing (i.e., a hearing with only one party present); restrains the individual from harassing, stalking, or threatening a dating partner or former dating partner; or restrains the individual from intimidating a witness. Current law also prohibits an individual who is convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from shipping, transporting, receiving, or possessing firearms or ammunition. These restrictions generally only apply to spouses, co-parents, and cohabitants, and to offenses that involve physical force or deadly weapons. This bill expands the scope of these restrictions to include dating partners and offenses that involve stalking. Finally, the bill authorizes grants for state, local, and tribal governments to remove firearms and take other steps after a domestic violence court order is issued.
Restored, Equitable, Coronavirus Adjusted Lodging Act of 2021 or the RECAL Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the General Services Administration (GSA), when determining the FY2022 and FY2023 per diem reimbursement rates for locations within the Continental United States (CONUS), from setting lodging allowances below the FY2020 levels. CONUS per diem reimbursement rates are the maximum allowances that federal employees are reimbursed for official travel expenses. The rates consist of lodging, meals, and incidental expense allowances; the GSA sets rates annually based on data from the prior 12-month period.
Fire Fighters and EMS Employer-Employee Cooperation Act This bill requires the Federal Labor Relations Authority to determine whether a state substantially provides fire and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel the right to form and join a labor organization; recognition by fire and EMS employers of the employees' labor organization, agreement to bargain with the organization, and reduction of any agreements to writing in a contract or memorandum of understanding; the right to bargain over hours, wages, and terms and conditions of employment; and arbitration or other mechanisms to resolve an impasse in collective bargaining negotiations. The bill makes the authority responsible for (1) determining the appropriateness of units for labor representation; (2) supervising elections; (3) conducting hearings and resolving complaints of unfair labor practices; and (4) protecting the right of employees to form, join, or assist any labor organization, or to refrain from doing so. An employer, fire and EMS personnel, or labor organization may not engage in a lockout, sickout, work slowdown, strike, or any other organized job action that will measurably disrupt the delivery of emergency services and is designed to compel an employer, fire and EMS personnel, or labor organization to agree to the terms of a proposed contract.
