Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2022 This bill provides support for long-term improvements to public elementary and secondary school facilities. First, the bill sets forth allocations to states and establishes a need-based grant program for local educational agencies (LEAs) to improve school facilities. Further, the bill specifies allowable uses of grant funds, including carrying out major repairs, improving indoor air quality, and making facilities accessible to disabled individuals. Additionally, the bill requires LEAs that receive funds for new construction, modernization, or renovation projects to comply with hazard-resistance building codes and performance criteria under the WaterSense program of the Environmental Protection Agency. Further, the bill requires such LEAs to adopt certain green practices (environmental standards) and requires the use of iron, steel, and manufactured products that are made in the United States (Buy America). The bill restores school infrastructure tax credit bonds. The bill also sets forth reporting requirements, including annual reports on grant program projects and a report by the Government Accountability Office that requires a study of the geographic distribution of projects, the impact of selected projects on student and staff health and safety, and the accessibility of projects to high-poverty schools. The bill also establishes the Office of School Infrastructure and Sustainability within the Department of Education. Next, the bill extends through FY2027 the Impact Aid Construction program. Finally, the bill establishes a grant program to assist LEAs with repairing or replacing concrete foundations affected by pyrrhotite (an iron sulfide material linked to crumbling foundations).
HRES 1525 is a non-binding House resolution condemning antisemitism spread by public figures, celebrities, and officials on social media. It cites the Anti-Defamation League’s report of 2,717 antisemitic incidents in 2021 (a 34% increase from 2020) and urges influential people to use their platforms to speak out against antisemitism. The resolution calls for unity with Jewish communities and emphasizes the need for Holocaust education to combat rising hate. As a symbolic measure, it does not create new laws or penalties but formally expresses the House’s stance against antisemitic rhetoric.
Access for Veterans to Records Act of 2022 This bill directs the Office of the Archivist of the United States to submit to Congress a comprehensive plan for eliminating the backlog of requests for records from, and improving the efficiency and responsiveness of operations at, the National Personnel Records Center. Such plan must include the number and percentage of unresolved veteran record requests that have been pending for more than 20 days, 90 days, and one year; target time frames to eliminate the backlog; a detailed plan for using existing funds to improve technology infrastructure, including secure access to appropriate agency federal records, to prevent future backlogs; actions to improve customer service for requesters; measurable goals with respect to the comprehensive plan and metrics for tracking progress toward such goals; and strategies to prevent future record request backlogs, including backlogs caused by an event that prevents employees of the center from reporting to work in person. The office must submit updates of such plan at specified intervals.
Legacy IT Reduction Act of 2022 This bill addresses the problem of legacy information technology (IT) used by the federal government. Specifically, each federal agency must compile an inventory that lists each legacy IT system used, operated, or maintained by the agency; and within two years of this bill's enactment, and every five years thereafter, develop and include a plan to modernize the legacy IT systems as part of the agency's information resource management strategic plan. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must issue guidance on this bill's implementation, including criteria to determine whether IT qualifies as a legacy IT system. Each agency must transfer to schools or nonprofit organizations any educationally useful federal equipment that the agency no longer uses. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress on this bill's implementation and how this bill functions alongside other IT modernization offices, policies, and programs.
National Risk Management Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to establish a recurring process by which to identify, assess, and prioritize risks to critical infrastructure and requires the President to deliver to Congress a national critical infrastructure resilience strategy designed to address the risks identified.
Continuity for Operators with Necessary Training Required for ATC Contract Towers Act of 2021 or the CONTRACT Act of 2021 This bill exempts certain air traffic controllers from a required reduction in their retirement annuity payment on account of earnings from certain work performed while entitled to such annuity. Under current law, retired Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers receive an annuity payment during the period between the mandatory retirement age of 56 and the Social Security minimum age of 62. Such annuity payment is required to be reduced by a certain percentage of any excess earnings during this period. The bill exempts from such reduction in annuity payments an air traffic controller who participates in the Air Traffic Control Contract Program (a public-private partnership for air traffic control services) following mandatory retirement.
This bill extends until December 31, 2024, the temporary scheduling order issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration to place fentanyl-related substances in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. The temporary order expires on December 31, 2022.
HRES 1522 is a symbolic resolution condemning the November 19, 2022, mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs that killed five people and injured 22. It honors the victims, offers condolences to their families, and expresses support for those impacted by the attack. The resolution also highlights the broader context of anti-LGBTQ+ violence and hate, including the Pulse nightclub tragedy, and calls for an end to anti-LGBTQ+ hate and violence. As a ceremonial resolution, it contains no new laws or funding but serves as a formal statement of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.
Simplifying Access to Student Loan Information Act of 2022 This bill expands the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) to include information about private education loans. Specifically, the bill requires private educational lenders to submit to the NSLDS information regarding private education loans made to borrowers, including the outstanding balances and interest rates of such loans. Currently, only federal student loan information is available in the NSLDS. The bill requires the Department of Education to ensure that a cosigner of a private education loan for which information is included in the NSLDS has access only to that information in a separate account, ensure that a private educational lender has access to the NSLDS only to submit information regarding the lender's loans, and establish a functionality within the NSLDS that enables a student borrower of federal student loans to input the information necessary to compare repayment plans.
This bill establishes energy efficiency standards for consumer room air cleaners under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). The bill defines consumer room air cleaners as cleaners that (1) are portable or wall-mounted (fixed) units; (2) plug into an electrical outlet; (3) operate with a fan for air circulation; and (4) contain a means to remove, destroy, or deactivate particulates. The bill enumerates energy efficiency standards for air cleaners manufactured on December 31, 2023–December 30, 2025, as well as air cleaners manufactured on or after December 31, 2025. It also prescribes procedures to test the energy efficiency of air cleaners. Energy efficiency labeling requirements apply to air cleaners beginning on December 31, 2023.
Disaster Management Costs Modernization Act This bill authorizes the use of excess funds for management costs for certain disaster recovery projects. Specifically, excess funds for management costs made available to a grantee or subgrantee may be used for activities associated with building capacity to respond to or recover from incidents. Such funds may also be used to provide such assistance, including for providing training and other activities associated with any major disaster or emergency declaration, or to otherwise prepare for such an incident.
Right to Private Conduct Act of 2022 This bill provides statutory authority for the right of adults to engage in private, consensual sexual conduct with other adults.
