<p><b>Securing America's Elections Act of </b><strong></strong><b>2023</b></p> <p>This bill requires voting systems for federal elections to produce paper ballots that the voter may inspect and verify before the vote is cast and counted. The bill also (1) requires the paper ballot to be suitable for manual audits, (2) prescribes approved methods for such audits, and (3) directs the Department of Homeland Security and the Election Assistance Commission to report on the desirability of using open-source software in voting systems.</p>

<p><strong>Community Mentors for Moms Act</strong></p> <p>This bill requires the Health Resources &amp; Services Administration to make grants for demonstration projects that provide community-based maternal mentoring, which may include dedicated individual mentors and networks of peer and community support groups.</p>

<p><b> Real Estate Exchange Fairness Act of 2023</b></p> <p>This bill requires Puerto Rico to be treated as part of the United States for the purpose of determining if an exchange of real property qualifies as a like-kind exchange for tax purposes. (Under current law, real property located in the United States and real property located outside of the United States are not property of a like kind.) </p>

<p><b>Parris Island Protection Act</b></p> <p>This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to close or realign Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island in South Carolina, or to conduct any planning or other activity related to such closure or realignment.</p>

<p>This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to allow an individual who is not a U.S. citizen to vote in any election in the District of Columbia (DC). Further, DC must certify that it does not allow noncitizens to vote in elections as a condition of receiving any federal funds.</p> <p>Federal law bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections; however, the DC Council passed a bill on October 18, 2022, that allows noncitizens who meet residency and other requirements to vote in local elections.</p>

<p><b>Building America's Health Care Workforce Act</b></p> <p>This bill extends certain flexibilities relating to training and competency requirements for nurse aides in Medicare skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and Medicaid nursing facilities (NFs).</p> <p>Generally, SNFs and NFs may not hire nurse aides for longer than four months unless they meet certain training and certification requirements. The Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services waived some of these requirements during the COVID-19 emergency period so as to allow facilities to maintain adequate staffing levels; the blanket waiver ended in June 2022, though individual facilities, states, and counties may continue to apply for waivers during the emergency period.</p> <p>The bill extends these flexibilities for at least two years after the bill's enactment and specifies that (1) any time worked by a nurse aide during the emergency period counts toward the 75 hours required for initial training, and (2) a competency evaluation may be conducted at the SNF or NF where the nurse aide is employed if the state does not offer such an evaluation at least once a week.</p>

<p><strong></strong><b>Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act of 2023 </b></p> <p>This bill requires the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice to report on one or more proposed programs to make treatment or preventative care available to public safety officers and public safety telecommunicators for job-related post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder.</p> <p>The report must also include draft legislative language related to each proposed program, as well as the estimated cost for administering each proposed program.</p>

Memorializing the unborn by lowering the United States flag to half-staff on the 22d day of January each year.

<p><b>Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act</b></p> <p> This bill creates new federal crimes related to the performance of an abortion on an unborn child who has Down syndrome.</p> <p>It subjects a violator to criminal penalties&#8212;a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both.</p> <p>It also authorizes civil remedies, including damages and injunctive relief.</p> <p>A woman who undergoes such an abortion may not be prosecuted or held civilly liable.</p>

<p><b>Sand Acquisition, Nourishment, and Development Act of 2023 or the SAND Act</b> <b>of 2023</b> </p> <p>This bill allows the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to acquire fill material for beach erosion and nourishment purposes from non-domestic sources even if such materials are available from domestic sources.</p>

<p><b>Wildfire Smoke Relief Act</b></p> <p>This bill provides for assistance for the purchase of smoke inhalation prevention equipment to specified individuals at risk of wildfire smoke-related illness.</p> <p>The President, in carrying out the Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), shall provide (1) assistance to a state or local government, local public health authority,&nbsp;or a coordinated care organization to purchase and provide such equipment to at-risk individuals; and (2) cost-efficient transitional shelter assistance to at-risk individuals in any case in which such equipment is insufficient to mitigate the risk of illness.</p>

<p><strong>Agility in Manufacturing Preparedness Act of 2023</strong></p> <p>This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to seek to contract with the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals to assess and make recommendations concerning U.S. capabilities for biopharmaceutical manufacturing and related matters. HHS must coordinate with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority on this contract.</p>

<p><b>Providing for Life Act of 2023</b><br> <br> This bill revises various programs and supports for families and children related to taxes, health, and other benefits.<br> <br> First, the bill increases the child tax credit to a maximum of $3,500 per child ($4,500 per child under the age of six) and makes permanent the increased income threshold over which the credit phases out.</p> <p>The bill further eliminates the federal deduction for certain state and local taxes (SALT deduction) and makes the adoption tax credit refundable.<br> <br> The bill allows parents to use a portion of their Social Security benefits for up to three months of paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child.<br> <br> Additionally, the bill requires Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to cooperate with states in establishing child support orders. It also provides additional workforce training for noncustodial parents with child support obligations.<br> <br> States must establish requirements for the biological father of a child to pay, at the mother's request, at least 50% of reasonable out-of-pocket medical expenses associated with the mother's pregnancy and delivery.<br> <br> The bill requires institutions of higher education to provide students with certain information about the resources and services (excluding abortion services) available to pregnant students.</p> <p>Additionally, the bill</p> <ul> <li>provides grants for community-based maternal mentoring programs and for pregnancy resource centers that do not provide abortions;</li> <li>requires the Department of Health and Human Services to publish a website with specified pregnancy-related information; and</li> <li>extends from one to two years the postpartum benefit eligibility period under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).</li> </ul>

<p><b>Facilitating the Reshoring of Energy Grid Component Manufacturing Act of 2023</b></p> <p>This bill directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a loan program for the production of energy grid products or components. Under the program, DOE may provide loans for activities related to projects that reequip, expand, or establish manufacturing facilities to produce energy grid products or their components. Energy grid products include large power transformers or any other electrical equipment commonly used for the transmission or distribution of electric energy by public electric utilities.</p>

<p><strong>Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act or the HALT Fentanyl Act</strong></p> <p>This bill places fentanyl-related substances as a class into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. A schedule I controlled substance is a drug, substance, or chemical that has a high potential for abuse; has no currently accepted medical value; and is subject to regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act.</p> <p>Additionally, the bill establishes a new, alternative registration process for schedule I research that is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Veterans Affairs or that is conducted under an investigative new drug exemption from the Food and Drug Administration.</p> <p>The bill also makes several other changes to registration requirements for conducting research with controlled substances, including</p> <ul> <li>permitting a single registration for related research sites in certain circumstances, </li> <li>waiving the requirement for a new inspection in certain situations, and </li> <li>allowing a registered researcher to perform certain manufacturing activities with small quantities of a substance without obtaining a manufacturing registration. </li> </ul>