<p><b>Chance to Compete Act of 2023</b></p> <p>This bill modifies examination requirements and other components of the federal hiring process for positions in the competitive service.</p> <p>Specifically, the bill provides that a qualifying examination includes a r&eacute;sum&eacute; review that is conducted by a subject matter expert. Additionally, beginning two years after the bill's enactment, the bill prohibits examinations from consisting solely of a self-assessment from an automated examination, a r&eacute;sum&eacute; review that is not conducted by a subject matter expert, or any other method of assessing an applicant's experience or education.</p> <p>Agencies may use subject matter experts to develop position-specific technical assessments that allow applicants to demonstrate job-related skills, abilities, and knowledge; assessments may include structured interviews, work-related exercises, procedures to measure career-related qualifications and interests, or other similar assessments. The bill also allows agencies to establish talent teams to support and improve hiring practices.</p> <p>The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must create online platforms through which agencies may share and customize technical assessments and share the r&eacute;sum&eacute;s of qualifying applicants. The OPM must also create online platforms with information about the types of assessments used and hiring outcomes.</p>

<p><b>Safer Highways and Increased Performance for Interstate Trucking Act or the SHIP IT Act </b></p> <p>This bill expands programs and special permits for trucks and truck drivers. </p> <p>Specifically, a state may issue a special permit for certain overweight vehicles based on a Presidential major disaster declaration or a Department of Transportation (DOT) declaration (1) of an emergency (including non-natural or financial), or (2) that the United States supply chain is having issues. Currently, a state may issue a special permit only based on a Presidential major disaster declaration. </p> <p>DOT must also, subject to the availability of funds, award competitive grants to construct or improve commercial vehicle parking facilities. </p> <p>Under the bill, the Department of Labor must provide Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grants for entry level commercial motor vehicle driver training. The bill also establishes a limited tax credit, adjusted annually based on inflation, for eligible commercial driver's license holders. </p> <p>Further, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration must revise certain regulations related to commercial driver's license testing and permits, including to allow a third-party examiner to administer commercial driver's license tests. </p> <p>DOT must also establish a pilot program allowing states to issue permits for qualifying vehicles with six axles or more operating at greater than 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight on a state's Interstate System. (Generally, the federal commercial vehicle weight limit is 80,000 pounds, with some exceptions.)</p> <p>The bill also exempts the battery weight from the gross vehicle weight for certain commercial motor vehicles powered primarily by electric battery power.</p> <p>Finally, existing driving time exemptions are expanded for truck drivers transporting agricultural commodities and farm supplies within a 150-mile radius.</p>

<p><b>Medical Manufacturing, Economic Development, and Sustainability Act of 2023 or the MMEDS Act of 2023</b></p> <p>This bill provides incentives for relocating medical manufacturing facilities in the United States and for manufacturing medical products (i.e., drugs and devices) in economically distressed zones. Specifically, the bill allows a income tax credit for 40% of the sum of wages paid in a medical manufacturing economically distressed zone, employee fringe benefit expenses, and depreciation and amortization allowances with respect to qualified medical manufacturing facility property, and a credit for economically distressed zone products and services acquired by domestic medical manufacturers. The bill increases the credit rate for minority businesses.</p>

<p><b>Obtaining National and Secure Homeland Operations for Rare Earth Manufacturing Act of 2023 or the ONSHORE Manufacturing Act of 2023</b></p> <p>This bill sets forth provisions to support secure supply chains of rare earth elements. A<i> rare earth element </i>means a natural element associated with (1) the metallic element scandium, with atomic number 21; (2) the metallic element yttrium, with atomic number 39; or (3) any of the series of 15 metallic elements between lanthanum, with atomic number 57, and lutetium, with atomic number 71, on the periodic table.</p> <p>The Department of Energy (DOE) must establish a program that provides financial assistance for facilities located in the United States that produce finished rare earth products from purified rare earth elements. Financial assistance may be provided to (1) construct such facilities, (2) support workforce development for the facilities, or (3) support site development and technological upgrade for facilities.</p> <p>The Department of the Treasury may establish the Minerals Security Partnership Fund to support the development and adoption of a secure supply chain for rare earth elements.</p> <p>DOE must also establish an initiative with educational, workforce training, and apprenticeship programs relating to advanced rare earth element mining, separation, processing, metallurgy, and advanced equipment maintenance capabilities.</p> <p>In addition, the President must develop a plan of action for using the authorities available under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to establish or enhance a domestic production capability for finished rare earth products and related technologies.</p>

<p>This bill eliminates automatic pay adjustments for Members of Congress, beginning with the 119th Congress.</p>

<p><b>Allowing Military Exemptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots Act of 2023 or the AMERICANS Act</b></p> <p>This bill prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from issuing any COVID-19 vaccine mandate as a replacement for the rescinded vaccine mandate of August 24, 2021, unless the mandate is expressly authorized by Congress. The bill also provides that DOD must establish an application process for remedies for members of the Armed Forces who were discharged or subject to adverse action under the rescinded mandate.</p> <p>Any administrative discharge of a member on the sole basis of a failure to receive a COVID-19 vaccine must be categorized as an honorable discharge, and DOD is prohibited from taking any adverse action against such a member for that reason.</p> <p>Under the bill, DOD must try to retain unvaccinated members and provide such members with professional development, promotion and leadership opportunities, and consideration equal to that of their peers. </p> <p>Additionally, DOD may only consider the COVID-19 vaccination status of members in making certain decisions (e.g., deployments in countries where it is the law) and must establish a process to provide exemptions to certain members for such decisions.</p> <p>This bill applies to all members of the Armed Forces, regardless of whether they sought an accommodation to any DOD COVID-19 vaccination policy.</p>

<p>This bill increases the allowable amount of the energy efficient home improvement tax credit for biomass stoves and boilers.</p>

<p><strong>Asylum Abuse Reduction Act</strong></p> <p>This bill places restrictions on non-U.S. nationals (<i>aliens</i> under federal law) seeking asylum and contains provisions related to immigration enforcement.</p> <p>Under this bill, an asylum seeker who arrives at a U.S. land port of entry without entry documents may not be admitted unless an asylum officer at a U.S. embassy or consulate has interviewed the individual and has concluded that the individual (1) has been persecuted in the alien's country of nationality due to their race, religion, or other characteristics; (2) has a credible fear of persecution if they returned to that country; or (3) would be tortured by the government upon return to that country. (Currently, an individual arriving at a port of entry may apply for asylum and an immigration officer there typically will conduct a credible fear interview.)</p> <p>Furthermore, an individual who traveled through a third country to enter the United States through the southern border shall be ineligible for asylum unless (1) the individual has applied for and been denied asylum or protection in that third country, (2) the individual was a victim of severe human trafficking, or (3) the third country is not party to certain international agreements relating to refugees.</p> <p>Each federal judicial district shall appoint at least one judge to issue arrest warrants for individuals violating orders to depart, upon a showing of probable cause.</p> <p>Under this bill, the <em>Flores</em> agreement (a lawsuit settlement which imposes various requirements relating to the treatment of minors detained for immigration-related purposes) shall not apply.</p>

To void existing non-compete agreements for any employee who is fired for not complying with an employer's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and for other purposes.

A joint resolution removing the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

<p><strong>Stop the Nosy Obsession with Online Payments Act of 2023 or the SNOOP Act of 2023</strong></p> <p>This bill modifies requirements for third party settlement organizations to eliminate their reporting requirement with respect to the transactions of their participating payees unless they have earned more than $20,000 on more than 200 separate transactions in an applicable tax period. A <em>third party settlement organization</em> is the central organization that has the contractual obligation to make payments to participating payees (generally, a merchant or business) in a third party payment network.</p> <p>This reverses a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that lowered the reporting threshold to $600 with no minimum on the number of transactions.</p>

<p><b>Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act</b></p> <p>This bill allows individual and corporate taxpayers a tax credit for cash contributions to certain scholarship-granting and workforce training organizations. It imposes a cap of $10 billion on the sum of contributions that qualify for a tax credit under this bill. </p> <p>The bill requires the Department of Education, in coordination with the Departments of the Treasury and Labor, to establish, host, and maintain a web portal that (1) lists all eligible scholarship-granting and workforce training organizations; (2) enables contributions to such organizations; (3) provides information about the benefits of this bill; and (4) enables a state to submit and update information about its programs and educational organizations, including information on student eligibility and allowable educational expenses.</p>

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide or assist in providing a vehicle adapted for operation by disabled individuals to certain eligible persons, to pay expenses associated with the delivery of such vehicle, and for other purposes.

<p><b>Foreign Adversary Risk Management Act or the FARM Act</b></p> <p>This bill places the Secretary of Agriculture on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. It also requires the committee to review any investment that could result in foreign control of any U.S. agricultural business.</p> <p>Further, the bill includes agricultural systems and supply chains in the definitions of critical infrastructure and critical technologies for the purposes of reviewing such investments.</p> <p>The Department of Agriculture and the Government Accountability Office must each analyze and report on foreign influence in the U.S. agricultural industry.</p>

To amend title 5, United States Code, to require an executive agency to submit information to any committee of the House of Representatives upon the request of 7 of the members of the committee, and to submit information to any committee of the Senate upon the request of 5 of the members of the committee, if the information relates to any matter under the jurisdiction of the committee, and for other purposes.