Defense Community Teacher Support Act This bill makes certain teachers who teach in military impacted communities eligible for student loan forgiveness. A school in a military impacted community is served by a local educational agency for which at least 20% of the students in average daily attendance in all schools served by the agency during the preceding school year had a parent on active duty. Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Education to cancel up to $17,500 of federal student loans for a borrower who is an elementary or secondary school teacher employed for five consecutive years in a school in a military impacted community. In addition, a teacher who is required to move due to a permanent change in duty station of their spouse may meet the five-year teaching requirement by teaching in multiple schools in different military impacted communities.
Entrepreneurs Need Timely Replenishment (for) Eating Establishments Act or the ENTRÉE Act This bill provides FY2021 supplemental appropriations for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and modifies requirements related to administration of the fund. The fund was established in response to COVID-19 to make grants to eligible food and beverage purveyors for covering specified costs such as payroll, operational expenses, and paid sick leave. The bill correspondingly rescinds unobligated amounts previously made available for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program and coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds. Further, the bill requires the Small Business Administration (SBA) to (1) review and process grant applications in the order in which they are received; (2) impose requirements on applicants that reduce waste, fraud, and abuse; and (3) submit and report monthly on an oversight and audit plan outlining the SBA's policies, procedures, and activities with respect to these grants.
Taiwan Partnership Act This bill requires the Department of Defense to submit a report annually to the congressional defense committees on the feasibility and advisability of enhanced cooperation between the National Guard and Taiwan.
Association Health Plans Act of 2021 This bill provides statutory authority for certain short-term, limited-duration health insurance plans and association health plans. The bill permits short-term, limited-duration plans to provide coverage for a period of less than 12 months, not including extensions. Under current law, such plans are exempt from certain market requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, such as coverage of individuals with preexisting conditions. The bill further permits groups or associations of employers to sponsor fully insured group health plans as if they were employers. Such plans may not discriminate based on the health factors of any prospective plan participant for the purpose of granting an employer's membership in the association or determining a participant's eligibility for benefits or premium amounts.
Everyday Philanthropist Act This bill allows employers to offer certain employees a tax-advantaged flexible giving account as a fringe benefit. Flexible giving accounts allow employees to set aside up to $2,700 of their annual pretax earnings to make tax-deductible charitable contributions without having to itemize tax deductions.
Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices Uniformity Act This bill eliminates the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to take action against a person or service provider for an abusive act or practice in connection with a consumer financial product or service. Additionally, the bureau is prohibited from taking action against an unfair or deceptive act unless the bureau first consults with the primary financial regulatory agency of the person or service provider. Finally, any rulemaking made by the bureau regarding an unfair or deceptive act must comply with certain Federal Trade Commission rulemaking requirements.
Generating Resilient, Environmentally Exceptional National Streets Act or the GREEN Streets Act This bill establishes national goals to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and improve the resilience of the transportation system. Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish minimum standards for states to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and per capita vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) on the National Highway System; DOT to establish measures for states to assess and reduce carbon dioxide; states and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to consider projects and strategies that reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and decrease per capita VMT's; states and MPOs to publish an analysis of the impact on per capita VMTs and mobile source greenhouse gas emissions for each project that adds new lanes or otherwise increases traffic capacity and costs more than $25 million; states that are out of compliance with the per capita VMT standards or carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emission measures to dedicate federal highway funding to achieve compliance; and DOT to establish national transit access standards and performance measures for transit accessibility, transit stop distance, and transit mode share.
Comprehensive Paid Leave for Federal Employees Act This bill provides paid family and medical leave to federal employees. Currently, federal employees are entitled to 12 weeks of administrative leave for one or more of the following reasons: (1) the birth of a child, (2) the adoption or foster care of a child, (3) the care of an immediate family member with a serious health condition, (4) inability to work due to a serious health condition, and (5) exigencies relating to an immediate family member's active duty service in the Armed Forces. However, of these reasons, employees are entitled to paid administrative leave only in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care of a child (i.e., parental leave). The bill provides 12 weeks of paid administrative leave for any of these reasons, and specifies that this leave is in addition to any annual or sick leave to which employees are entitled.
Reverse Transfer Efficiency Act of 2021 This bill allows the release of a transfer student's educational records from an institution of postsecondary education where a student earned credit for coursework to an institution of postsecondary education where the student was previously enrolled in order to apply the student's coursework and credits toward completion of a recognized postsecondary credential, such as an associate's degree. Specifically, the bill allows the Department of Education to provide funding to an institution of postsecondary education that releases a student's records of postsecondary coursework and credits without the consent of the student or the student's parents if the student provides written consent prior to receiving the credential.
PFAS Safe Disposal Act This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the disposal procedures for materials containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (commonly referred to as PFAS) or aqueous film forming foam. These substances are man-made and may have adverse human health effects. For criminal penalty purposes, materials containing PFAS shall be considered hazardous waste. No person is authorized to dispose of PFAS or aqueous film forming foam by incineration until the effective date of the promulgated regulations required by this bill.
Veterans and Servicemember Consumer Protection Act of 2021 This bill directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to designate a coordinator within the Bureau of Consumer Protection to advise the FTC on preventing fraud targeting military veterans and service members and to assist the FTC in monitoring the market for mail, television, internet, telemarketing, and recorded message telephone call (robocall) fraud targeting those individuals. The coordinator must (1) disseminate to veterans, service members, and their families and caregivers information about the most common fraud schemes, including methods of reporting complaints to the FTC; (2) make complaints immediately available to relevant law enforcement authorities; (3) publish information regarding the FTC's enforcement actions; and (4) maintain a website as a resource for information on fraud targeting those individuals.
Travel Mask Mandate Repeal Act of 2021 This bill prohibits federal agencies from mandating the use of masks or face coverings on planes, trains, buses, and other public conveyances and at transportation hubs to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Specifically, the bill nullifies (1) the rule issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on January 29, 2021, that mandates such use of masks or face coverings; and (2) orders and directives of the Transportation Security Administration that relate to the CDC rule.
