Employee Bonus Protection Act This bill excludes from an employee's regular pay rate, for purposes of calculating overtime compensation, payments made to reward an employee or group of employees for meeting or exceeding the productivity, quality, efficiency, or sales goals specified in writing in a gainsharing plan, incentive bonus plan, commission plan, or performance contingent bonus plan.
Reshoring American Manufacturing Act of 2021 or the RAM Act of 2021 This bill allows business taxpayers a tax credit, up to $25 million in a taxable year, for the cost of eligible reshoring expenses. The bill defines eligible reshoring expenses as amounts paid for the transportation (including any import duties, fees, or tariffs imposed with respect to such transportation) of manufacturing equipment from China to the United States. The credit expires after 2024.
Presidential Inaugural Committee Oversight Act This bill requires disbursements by presidential inaugural committees to be reasonable, related to the inaugural ceremony, and reported to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Currently, these committees are required to report only donations to the FEC. Upon termination, a committee's remaining funds must be donated to a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Banning Operations and Leases with the Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian Regime Act or the BOLIVAR Act This bill prohibits an executive agency from entering into a contract for the procurement of goods or services with any person that has business operations with the Maduro regime in Venezuela. The bill lists exceptions, including where vital to U.S. national security or as necessary for purposes of providing humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and other urgent lifesaving measures, or to carry out noncombatant evacuations.
Put School Counselors Where They're Needed Act This bill directs the Department of Education to implement a demonstration project providing competitive, four-year grants to at least 10 secondary schools that have a four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate of 60% or lower, for the provision of additional school counselors and counselor resources. The additional school counselors must primarily serve students identified as being at risk of not graduating in four years. Grantees that demonstrate progress in improving their graduation rates shall be eligible for subsequent grants.
Save Education Jobs Act This bill establishes through FY2030 the Education Jobs Fund, from which the Department of Education (ED) must award grants to state educational agencies and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to retain and create education jobs. ED must also provide grants to outlying areas and the Bureau of Indian Education. Specifically, LEAs must use subgrants for compensation and benefits to retain existing employees, rehire former employees, and hire new employees. Further, subgrants may be used for certain activities such as training and professional development, providing salary increases to cover extended days or school years to make up for lost instructional time due to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019), and developing teacher leadership roles in high-need schools. The bill prohibits the use of subgrants for certain activities, such as funding voucher programs, tax-credit scholarships, or education savings accounts.
Fast Track Advanced Apprenticeships Now Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to make a determination on whether to approve an application for certain occupations as apprenticeable occupations within 45 days after its receipt or else provide the applicant with a written explanation for the delay and offer an estimated timeline for a determination within 90 days after the explanation. Furthermore, Labor must convene—on an ongoing basis and take into consideration recommendations of the National Advisory Committee on Apprenticeships—certain industry sector leaders and experts to establish or update specific frameworks of industry-recognized occupational standards for current and potential apprenticeable occupations that (1) meet federal regulations governing safety and health standards and equal employment opportunity in apprenticeships; and (2) describe program scope and length, related instructions, on-the-job training, recognized postsecondary credentials, and competencies, and relevant timelines for review of such frameworks.
Preserve American History Act This bill provides statutory authority for a November 2, 2020, executive order establishing the President's Advisory 1776 Commission to promote the history and principles of the founding of the United States.
Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success Act or the A PLUS Act This bill creates a framework under which states may receive federal elementary and secondary education funds on a consolidated basis and use such funds for any educational purpose permitted by state law.
Relaunching America's Workforce Act This bill establishes several grant programs to address employment, the workforce, and education access in response to the COVID-19 national emergency. The Department of Labor must provide grants in response to the COVID-19 national emergency to provide training and employment for dislocated, unemployed, and underemployed workers; support youth employment; establish workforce information systems improvements; provide reentry employment opportunities for justice-involved youth and young adults; and create or expand apprenticeship programs. Programs directed towards assisting Native Americans and migrant and seasonal farmworkers may be extended. The Department of Education must provide grants to expand the capacity of adult education providers to prioritize serving adults with low-literacy or numeracy levels negatively impacted by the COVID-19 national emergency, and to improve or expand career and technical education programs and programs of study to respond to state and local needs as a result of the COVID-19 national emergency.
Woman on the Twenty Act of 2021 This bill bars the printing of any $20 note after December 31, 2024, which does not prominently feature a portrait of Harriet Tubman on the front face of the note. The Department of the Treasury shall release to the public the preliminary design of the $20 note prominently featuring a portrait of Harriet Tubman no later than December 31, 2022.
Keeping the Lights On Act of 2021 This bill allows an eligible employer a payroll tax credit equal to 50% of a limited amount of qualified fixed expenses paid by such employer in a calendar quarter. Qualified fixed expenses include a mortgage, rent, or a utility payment. An employer is eligible for such payroll credit if the employer was carrying on a trade or business that had not more than 1,500 full-time employees or not more than $41.5 million in gross receipts in 2019. The employer's business must have been suspended in a calendar quarter due to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) and have experienced a significant decline in gross receipts due to that pandemic. The credit may not be claimed by the federal government or by any state or tribal government, or by U.S. possessions, but may be claimed by tax-exempt organizations.
