Broadband for Rural America Act This bill modifies and consolidates Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs for expanding broadband internet in rural areas. Specifically, the bill modifies a program that provides grants, loans, and loan guarantees to support broadband expansion in rural areas. Modifications include revising the criteria used to prioritize applications and projects and changing the name of the program to the ReConnect Rural Broadband Program. Additionally, the bill terminates on June 30, 2022, a Department of Agriculture (USDA) COVID-19 response program that supports broadband expansion in rural areas for distance learning and telemedicine. Any remaining program funds available after the termination date shall be used for the ReConnect Rural Broadband Program. The bill also expands coordination requirements that apply to the Department of Commerce, USDA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. This includes requiring the use of specified FCC maps when assessing a community's access to broadband.
No Land Grab Act of 2021 This bill prohibits from having the force and effect of law a provision of Executive Order 14008 (86 Fed. Reg. 7619), titled Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad , that requires the Department of the Interior to recommend steps to achieve the goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
The bill directs the Joint Committee on the Library to remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and to obtain a bust of Clarence Thomas with which to replace it.
Essential Caregivers Act of 2021 This bill requires skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities for the intellectually disabled, and nearby inpatient rehabilitation facilities to establish an essential caregivers program during a public health emergency. Under the program, facilities must allow each resident to select up to two essential caregivers to provide daily living assistance, emotional support, or companionship during the emergency. Facilities must afford such caregivers 12 hours of access to residents each day (or unlimited access for end-of-life care), and caregivers must agree to follow facility protocols for staff safety. Facilities may deny access to caregivers who violate protocols, subject to certain notification requirements; the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must establish an appeals process relating to such decisions and may take specified enforcement actions against facilities that violate the bill's requirements.
This concurrent resolution expresses the sense of Congress that tax-exempt fraternal benefit societies provide critical benefits to the people and communities of the United States and their work should continue to be promoted.
This resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States must lead efforts to reform the rules of the World Trade Organization for special and differential treatment to ensure those rules promote advancement for truly developing countries.
This bill temporarily exempts certain workers involved with forest health or conservation from the annual limit on visas for temporary nonagricultural workers (H-2B visas). Specifically, for five years starting from the bill's enactment, a visa for a temporary nonagricultural worker entering the United States to perform certain work (such as orchard work, tree planting, nursery care, or harvesting minor forest products) shall not count against the annual limit on H-2B visas. (Currently, only 66,000 H-2B visas may be issued each year, with exemptions for certain types of workers.)
Low Carbon Biofuel Credit Act This bill allows certain taxpayers (defined by this bill as an oxygenate blender and a retailer ) a new business-related income tax credit for the sale or blending of E15 gasoline (more than 13 and no more than 15 volume percent ethanol) and other fuels containing more than 15 volume percent ethanol.
Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act of 2021 This bill requires federally funded entities to certify that they will not perform an abortion, and will not provide funds to any other entity that performs an abortion, except in cases of rape or incest or where a physical condition endangers the woman's life unless an abortion is performed. The bill's requirements do not apply to hospitals, as long as the hospital does not provide funds to any non-hospital entity for abortions that are not otherwise excepted.
Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2021 This bill expands tax incentives and federal assistance for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) that are sponsored by S corporations. The bill provides additional tax incentives for ESOPs by (1) extending to all domestic corporations, including S corporations, provisions allowing deferral of tax on gain from the sale of employer securities to an ESOP; and (2) allowing a tax deduction for 50% of the interest received by a bank on loans to S corporation-sponsored ESOPs for the purchase of employer securities. The Department of the Treasury must establish the S Corporation Employee Ownership Assistance Office to foster increased employee ownership of S corporations. The bill defines an ESOP business concern for purposes of the Small Business Act as a business concern that was eligible for a loan, preference, or other program under such Act before more than 49% of the business concern was acquired by an ESOP.
Enhancing Credit Opportunities in Rural America Act of 2021 or the ECORA Act of 2021 This bill modifies the requirements for calculating taxable income to exclude from gross income interest received by a lender from real estate loans secured by agricultural real estate or by a leasehold mortgage (with a status as a lien) on agricultural real estate. Agricultural real estate includes real property that is substantially used for the production of one or more agricultural products. It also includes any single family residence that is (1) the principal residence of its occupant, (2) located in a rural area which is not within a Metropolitan Statistical Area and has a population of 2,500 or less, and (3) is purchased or improved with the proceeds of a loan secured by agricultural real estate or by a household mortgage.
Recognizing and Ensuring Taxpayer Access to Infrastructure Necessary for GPS and Satellite Communications Act of 2021 or the RETAIN GPS and Satellite Communications Act of 2021 This bill places conditions on entities that deploy commercial terrestrial operations in the 1525-1559 megahertz (MHz) band or the 1626.5-1660.6 MHz band of the electromagnetic spectrum. These frequency bands are traditionally used for satellite operations, including the global positioning system (GPS). On April 19, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission approved an application for a low-power 5G wireless network in such bands despite concerns about the network interfering with GPS and other operations on adjacent bands. In its application, the entity committed to update, repair, or replace federal devices, platforms, or systems affected by its operations. This bill requires an entity (including the previously approved entity) that deploys terrestrial operations in the designated bands to reimburse a federal agency or a person for certain costs if the entity's operations interfere with or otherwise affect the operations of the agency or person. These costs may include necessary upgrades, repairs, or replacements to satellite communication devices and related equipment, as well as expenses for engineering studies and labor. Reimbursable costs owed by the entity transfer to any assignee, successor, or purchaser of its license to deploy terrestrial operations in the designated bands. The bill also expressly authorizes federal agencies to directly accept from the entity reimbursements for incurred costs.
