hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Low-Income Gasoline Assistance Program Act

Bill: 110-s-2968
Sponsor: Sen. Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV]
Introduced: 2008-05-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Social Welfare
Subjects: Access to health care
Aid to dependent children
Cash welfare block grants
Commuting
Economics and Public Finance
Energy
Energy assistance for the poor
Energy prices
Families
Gasoline
Government Operations and Politics
Grants-in-aid
Health
Labor and Employment
Transportation and Public Works
Vocational and technical education
Welfare eligibility
Welfare recipients

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-01
text: 
Low-Income Gasoline Assistance Program Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to enable states to establish emergency assistance programs to make certain payments to eligible low-income households for the purchase of gasoline.
 
Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to authorize a state to use funds from any TANF grant to carry out such a program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-05-01
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a suspension of the highway fuel tax, and for other purposes.

Bill: 110-s-2971
Sponsor: Sen. Clinton, Hillary Rodham [D-NY]
Introduced: 2008-05-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Commerce
Diesel motor
Economics and Public Finance
Energy
Energy prices
Excess profits tax
Excise tax
Gasoline
Government trust funds
Highway finance
Income tax
Oil and gas royalties
Petroleum
Petroleum industry
Petroleum reserves
Restrictive trade practices
Tax deductions
Tax rates
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-02
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to suspend excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuels between May 26, 2008, and September 1, 2008. Provides for reimbursement from the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund for any reduction in Trust Fund receipts resulting from such suspension.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) consumers immediately receive the benefit of the reduction in taxes resulting from the suspension of gasoline excise taxes; and (2) transportation motor fuels producers and other dealers take necessary actions to reduce fuel prices to reflect such reduction in taxes. Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to monitor oil, diesel, and gasoline markets to: (1) ensure that consumers receive the benefit resulting from the suspension of taxes; and (2) prevent price gouging and market manipulation. 
 
Imposes in taxable years beginning in 2008 an excise fee of 50% of the excess profit of integrated oil companies and other producers or refiners of crude oil with gross receipts exceeding $1 billion. Defines &quot;excess profit&quot; for purposes of this Act. 

Directs the Secretary of Energy to suspend acquisition of petroleum for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through the royalty-in-kind program or any other acquisition method until December 31, 2008. Permits an earlier resumption of petroleum acquisition for periods when the weighted average price of petroleum is $75 or less per barrel.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-05-02
text: Introduced in Senate
Gulf Coast Multifamily and Assisted Housing Recovery Act

Bill: 110-s-2975
Sponsor: Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]
Introduced: 2008-05-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Apartment houses
Authorization
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Cooperative societies
Disabled
Disaster relief
Economics and Public Finance
Emergency Management
Federal aid to housing
Government Operations and Politics
Home repair and improvement
Housing for the aged
Housing for the disabled
Hurricanes
Louisiana
Low-income housing
Nonprofit organizations
Rent
Residential rehabilitation
Social Welfare

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-02
text: 
Gulf Coast Multifamily and Assisted Housing Recovery Act - Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to authorize additional appropriations to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide assistance to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives to expand the supply of supportive housing for low-income elderly persons meeting certain criteria relating to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
 
 
Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to authorize additional appropriations to the Secretary to provide the same kind of assistance for low-income persons with disabilities.
 
Authorizes appropriations for the redevelopment (rebuilding or replacement) of housing authorized under the Housing Act of 1959 which was damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and in the Parish of St. Bernard.
 
Requires the Secretary to adjust the rent levels annually on a budget-based basis for eligible projects in a designated disaster area receiving rental assistance under the Housing Act of 1959 and the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act.
 
Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the number of project-based assistance contracts and units which were terminated in the designated disaster area after September 30, 2005; and (2) the specific developer, project name, location, number of units, and project description for each such project-based assistance contract.
 
Prohibits a project-based assistance payments contract for a covered assisted multifamily housing project from expiring or being terminated because of the damage or destruction of dwelling units in the project by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita.
 
Deems the expiration date of such a contract to be the later of the date: (1) specified in the contract; or (2) that is not less than three months after the dwelling units in such project, or in a replacement project, are first made habitable.
 
Requires the Secretary to develop and report to specified congressional committees on a written disaster response plan for federally assisted properties that receive assistance pursuant to such Acts.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S3746-3747)
action_date: 2008-05-02
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3744-3746, S3747-3748)
action_date: 2008-05-02
text: Introduced in Senate
OPEC Accountability Act

Bill: 110-s-2976
Sponsor: Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2008-05-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Africa (Sub-Saharan)
Cartels
Commerce
Dispute settlement
East Asia
Ecuador
Energy
Energy prices
Energy supplies
Export controls
Free trade
Indonesia
International Affairs
International agencies
Kuwait
Latin America
Middle East and North Africa
Natural gas
Nigeria
Nontariff trade barriers
OPEC countries
Petroleum
Price fixing
Qatar
Restrictive trade practices
Saudi Arabia
Trade negotiations
United Arab Emirates
Venezuela

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: 
OPEC Accountability Act - Requires the President to initiate consultations with Indonesia, Kuwait, Nigeria, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Saudi Arabia to seek their elimination of any action that: (1) limits the production or distribution of oil, natural gas, or any other petroleum product; (2) sets or maintains the price of any such product; or (3) otherwise is an action in restraint of trade with respect to such products when such action constitutes an act, policy, or practice that is unjustifiable and burdens and restricts U.S. commerce.
 
Requires the U.S. Trade Representative to: (1) initiate World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute proceedings if the consultation is not successful with respect to any such country; and (2) take appropriate action regarding the country under U.S. trade remedy laws.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Free Speech Protection Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2977
Sponsor: Sen. Specter, Arlen [R-PA]
Introduced: 2008-05-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Civil actions and liability
Damages
Freedom of speech
Injunctions
Legal fees
Libel and slander

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: 
Free Speech Protection Act of 2008 - Allows any U.S. person against whom a lawsuit for defamation is brought in a foreign country on the basis of the content of any speech by that person that has been published, uttered, or otherwise disseminated in the United States to bring an action in a U.S. district court against any person who, or entity which, brought the suit, if the speech at issue in the foreign lawsuit does not constitute defamation under U.S. law.

Allows the award of treble damages if it is determined by a preponderance of the evidence that the person or entity bringing the foreign lawsuit intentionally engaged in a scheme to suppress rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution by discouraging publishers or other media from publishing, or by discouraging financial supporters from employing, retaining, or supporting the research, writing, or other speech of an individual.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3793-3794)
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2978
Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2008-05-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Commerce
Consumer protection
Credit cards
Crime and Law Enforcement
Crime prevention
Debit cards
Fraud
Frivolous lawsuits
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Identity theft
Law

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: 
Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act of 2008 - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to declare that any person who printed an expiration date on any receipt provided to a consumer cardholder at a point of sale (POS) or transaction between December 4, 2004, and the enactment of this Act, but otherwise complied with FCRA requirements for such receipt, shall not be in willful noncompliance by reason of printing such expiration date on it.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Starting Early Starting Right Act

Bill: 110-s-2980
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2008-05-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Families
Subjects: Appropriations
Child care and development
Department of Health and Human Services
Executive agency funding and structure
Licensing and registrations
Poverty and welfare assistance
State and local finance
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: 
Starting Early Starting Right Act - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to establish, within the Administration for Children and Families, an Office of Child Care to serve as the principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families on issues regarding state-funded child care programs.
 
Requires the state plan under the Act to certify that the state has in effect: (1) licensing requirements applicable to child care providers within the state that include one annual announced and one annual unannounced visit to each site at which the provider provides child care services; and (2) licensing or registration requirements pertaining to training.
 
Requires the state plan to: (1) demonstrate the manner in which the state will meet the specific child care needs of low-income and working families and how the state is implementing practices and procedures to help ensure that children receive continuous care from the same provider; (2) provide information demonstrating that the state is ensuring that payment rates for the provision of child care services for which assistance is provided are equal to or exceed the 75th percentile of the current market rate for all types of child care; and (3) describe efforts to address the need for child care for special populations.
 
Increases from 4% to 15% the maximum amount of child care and development block grant funds that a state may use for specified activities designed to improve the quality of child care. Provides for minimum funding set-asides for: (1) extension of full-day care; and (2) high-quality care for infants and toddlers.
 
Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide for increased appropriations for child care assistance grants under the TANF program for FY2009-FY2014.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3794-3795)
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Disabled Veterans Home Ownership Preservation Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2981
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2008-05-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Disabled
Finance and Financial Sector
Foreclosure
Health
Housing and Community Development
Mortgages
Veterans' disability compensation
Veterans' loans
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: 
Disabled Veterans Home Ownership Preservation Act of 2008 - Amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to extend the period of protection against mortgage sales, foreclosures, or seizures of property to: (1) the period of service and one year following service in the case of servicemembers with a service-related serious injury or illness; and (2) the period of service and for 30 days after final adjudication of a disability compensation claim in the case of such servicemembers and others who file such a claim. (Current law provides protection for all servicemembers for the period of service and the following 90 days, subject to exception.)
 
Defines &quot;serious injury or illness&quot; as an injury or illness incurred by the servicemember in line of duty on duty that may render the servicemember medically unfit to perform the duties of the servicemember's office, grade, rank, or rating.
 



Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2008-05-06
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users to correct a reference relating to a transit project in Orleans Parish, Louisiana.

Bill: 110-s-2985
Sponsor: Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]
Introduced: 2008-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Economics and Public Finance
Federal aid to transportation
Intermodal transportation
Louisiana
Terminals (Transportation)
Transportation planning

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: 
Amends the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) to modify the reference to the New Orleans, Louisiana, project to construct New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal intermodal facilities in Orleans Parish.
 
Revises the project name to Union Passenger Terminal Planning and Master Plan and Infrastructure Improvements in Orleans Parish, Louisiana.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3893-3894)
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users to modify the project description for a project for the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Bill: 110-s-2986
Sponsor: Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]
Introduced: 2008-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Bridges
Economics and Public Finance
Federal aid to transportation
Highway finance
Infrastructure
Interstate highway system
Louisiana
Road construction

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: 
Amends the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) to redescribe the high priority highway project for I-10 Ryan Street exit ramp, including relocation and realignment of Lakeshore Drive (including portions of Front Street and or Ann Street), and expansion of Contraband Bayou Bridge, for the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana.
 
Redescribes such project as one to make improvements to the on/off ramp system from I-10 to Ryan Street (LA 385), including installation of an exit ramp for eastbound traffic on I-10, incorporating, as necessary, portions of Front Street and Ann Street, including the repair of Lakeshore Drive, and providing for the realignment of Lakeshore Drive and the expansion of Contraband Bayou Bridge.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to modify the project description for a highway project for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

Bill: 110-s-2987
Sponsor: Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]
Introduced: 2008-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Economics and Public Finance
Federal aid to transportation
Highway finance
Infrastructure
Louisiana
Road construction

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: 
Amends the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to redescribe the high priority highway project to widen Lapalco Boulevard from Barataria Boulevard to Destrehan Avenue in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, as one for Lapalco Boulevard improvements in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Accelerating Cures Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2988
Sponsor: Sen. Lieberman, Joseph I. [ID-CT]
Introduced: 2008-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Appropriations
Clinical trials
Department of Health and Human Services
Diseases
Economics and Public Finance
Executive reorganization
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to research
Government Operations and Politics
Governmental investigations
Medical innovations
Medical research
Mortality
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Preventive medicine
Research and development facilities
Research centers
Research grants
Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: 
Accelerating Cures Act of 2008 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to define &quot;translational research&quot; to mean research that transforms scientific discoveries arising from laboratory, clinical, or population studies into clinical application to reduce disease incidence, morbidity, and mortality.

Establishes a Pathways to Cures Subcommittee within the Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives (OPASI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help advise and direct translational research priorities.

Requires the Director of NIH to establish a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) on clinical effectiveness research. Requires the Director of FFRDC to establish an independent Clinical Effectiveness Advisory Board.

Requires the Director of OPASI to appoint a Director of Centralized Institutional Review Boards who shall establish and oversee the functioning and progress of a series of such Boards to serve as human subject safety and well-being custodians for multi-institutional clinical trials that are funded by public research dollars. 

Requires the Director of NIH to: (1) commission the Institute of Medicine to study the rules that protect patient safety and anonymity; (2) examine informed consent processes; and (3) ensure that each institute and center of NIH has established a translational research training program.

Requires the Director of OPASI to develop a Translational Development Program for New Innovations to guide entities through the translational research development process.

Establishes the Translational Research Fund to consist of amounts appropriated for translational research priorities.

Requires each application for, and summary of, a project, grant, or contract from NIH to include a statement on the possible applications of the research for detecting, treating, or curing a health condition or disease state.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S3894-3899)
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3894)
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
National Neurotechnology Initiative Act

Bill: 110-s-2989
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2008-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Artificial intelligence
Biomedical engineering
Brain
Brain diseases
Commerce
Commercialization
Department of Health and Human Services
Drug approvals
Economic impact statements
Economics and Public Finance
Executive reorganization
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to research
Government Operations and Politics
Governmental investigations
Medical ethics
Medical research
Medical technology
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Nervous system diseases
Neurology
Pharmaceutical research
Psychiatry
Research centers
Research ethics
Science, Technology, Communications
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: 
National Neurotechnology Initiative Act - Defines &quot;neurotechnology&quot; to mean the science and technology that allows an individual to analyze, understand, treat, and heal the brain and nervous system.

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to implement a National Neurotechnology Initiative, under which the Secretary shall: (1) establish goals, priorities, and metrics for evaluation for federal neurotechnology research, development, and commercialization; (2) increase the investment in federal research, development, and translational programs in neurotechnology to achieve such goals; and (3) increase interagency coordination.

Requires the Secretary to establish the National Neurotechnology Coordination Office and the National Neurotechnology Advisory Council.

Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop the Blueprint for Neuroscience Research to: (1) identify pervasive challenges in neuroscience and any technological barriers to solving such challenges; and (2) support the development of new tools, training opportunities, and other resources to assist neuroscientists in basic and clinical research. 

Directs the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to require the Directors of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, and the Center for Devices and Radiological Health to improve the timelines of the review process for neurology and psychiatry.

Requires the Director of the National Neurotechnology Coordination Office to establish the American Neurotechnology Study Center.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3899-3900)
action_date: 2008-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate