hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
A bill to repeal certain sections of the Act of May 26, 1936, pertaining to the Virgin Islands.

Bill: 110-s-279
Sponsor: Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Local taxation
Property tax
Tax rates
Taxation
Virgin Islands

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: 
Repeals specified provisions pertaining to real property taxation in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Makes such amendment effective on July 22, 1954.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S510)
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-281
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Amnesties
Collection of accounts
Commerce
Congressional reporting requirements
Crime and Law Enforcement
Criminal investigation
Economics and Public Finance
Fines (Penalties)
Government paperwork
Law
Small business
Tax administration
Tax assessment
Taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: 
Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Paperwork Reduction Act to direct agency heads not to impose civil fines for first-time paperwork violations by small business concerns unless there is potential for serious harm to the public interest, the detection of criminal activity would be impaired, the violation is not corrected within six months, the violation is a violation of internal revenue law or a law concerning the assessment or collection of any tax, debt, revenue, or receipt, or the violation presents a danger to the public health or safety. Permits an agency to determine that a fine should not be imposed for a violation that presents a danger to public health or safety if the violation is corrected within 24 hours after receipt by the small business owner of notification of the violation. 
 
Makes this Act inapplicable to any violation by a small business of a requirement regarding the collection of information by an agency if the small business previously violated any requirement concerning the collection of information by that agency. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
College Student Relief Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-282
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Economics and Public Finance
Federally-guaranteed loans
Finance and Financial Sector
Higher education
Interest rates
Student loan funds

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: 
College Student Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to phase-in cuts in the interest rate charged undergraduate student borrowers of subsidized loans under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, thereby reducing such rate from 6.8% in July 2006 to 3.4% in July 2011.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S516)
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S515-516)
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Emergency Farm Relief Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-284
Sponsor: Sen. Conrad, Kent [D-ND]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Agricultural conservation
Agricultural cooperatives
Agricultural credit
Agricultural industries
Agricultural subsidies
Animal diseases
Animals
Anthrax
Cattle
Commerce
Dairy industry
Department of Agriculture
Disaster relief
Droughts
Economics and Public Finance
Emergency Management
Environmental Protection
Farm lands
Farm produce
Finance and Financial Sector
Floods
Forest fires
Government Operations and Politics
Grants-in-aid
Grazing
Habitat conservation
Hawaii
Health
Hurricanes
Indemnity
Land use
Law
Livestock
Montana
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Sheep
Small business
Soil conservation
Soil erosion
Sugar
Texas
Water Resources Development
Watersheds

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: 
Emergency Farm Relief Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide financial assistance for: (1) crop disaster assistance for qualifying quantity or quality losses (other than sugar beets) for the 2005 and/or 2006 crop due to weather or related conditions (including disease, insects, and delayed harvest); (2) dairy losses; (3) livestock assistance for 2005 and 2006 disaster-caused losses, including losses from blizzards that began in 2006 and continued into 2007; (4) livestock indemnity payments for 2005 and 2006 disaster-caused losses, including wildfires, hurricanes, floods, extreme heat, anthrax, and blizzards that began in 2006 and continued into 2007; (5) ewe lamb replacement and retention; (6) sugar beet disaster assistance for crop year 2005 or 2006; (7) sugarcane growers in Hawaii through a payment to an agricultural transportation cooperative in Hawaii; and (8) flooded crop and grazing land in the Devils Lake basin, the McHugh, Lake Laretta, and Rose Lake closed drainage areas, North Dakota. 
 
Directs the Secretary to make grants to state agriculture departments or comparable agencies in qualified states for direct economic loss payments to eligible small businesses that suffered weather-related agricultural losses in crop year 2005 or 2006.
 
Directs the Secretary to use specified funds to carry out emergency measures under: (1) the emergency watershed protection program, including specified projects in Hawaii; (2) the emergency conservation program, including wildfire recovery efforts in Montana and other states and specified projects in Hawaii; and (3) the environmental quality incentives program, including wildfire and blizzard recovery efforts in Montana and other states.
 
Directs the Secretary to use specified funds to hire additional county Farm Service Agency personnel to expedite the delivery of agricultural disaster and economic assistance.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
CAFO Tax Credit Act

Bill: 110-s-285
Sponsor: Sen. Hagel, Chuck [R-NE]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Agricultural pollution
Agricultural wastes
Agriculture and Food
Animals
Environmental Protection
Income tax
Livestock
Tax credits
Water pollution control

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: 
CAFO Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow owners or operators of a concentrated animal feeding operation a business-related tax credit, up to $500,000 in a taxable year, for the cost of compliance with a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit issued under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Terminates such credit after 2010. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Rural Economic Investment Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-286
Sponsor: Sen. Hagel, Chuck [R-NE]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Agricultural credit
Agriculture and Food
Commerce
Farm lands
Finance and Financial Sector
Housing and Community Development
Income tax
Interest
Mortgages
Rural housing
Savings and loan associations
Tax exclusion

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: 
Rural Economic Investment Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income interest received by a bank or savings association that is insured under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act on a loan secured by agricultural real estate or by a leasehold mortgage on agricultural real estate (real property used for agricultural production or certain single family rural residences).


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to prohibit the use of funds for an escalation of United States military forces in Iraq above the numbers existing as of January 9, 2007.

Bill: 110-s-287
Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, Edward M. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Armed Forces and National Security
Armed forces abroad
Congress
Congress and military policy
Defense budgets
Economics and Public Finance
Iraq
Iraq compilation
Legislation
Middle East and North Africa
Military occupation
Military operations
Military strategy

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: 
Prohibits the U.S. government from obligating or expending funds to increase the number of U.S. military forces in Iraq above the number for such forces which existed as of January 9, 2007, without a specific congressional authorization for such increase.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 7.
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend titles 10 and 14, United States Code, to provide for the use of gold in the metal content of the Medal of Honor.

Bill: 110-s-288
Sponsor: Sen. Kerry, John F. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Commemorations
Congress
Congressional Medal of Honor
Gold
Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Requires the metal content of the Medal of Honor, awarded by the President to members of the Armed Forces and Coast Guard, to be 90 percent gold and ten percent alloy.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S516-517)
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Rural Physicians Relief Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-290
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Health
Housing and Community Development
Income tax
Mental health services
Physicians
Rural health
Tax credits

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: 
Rural Physicians Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain primary health services providers (i.e., physicians and licensed mental health care practitioners) a tax credit of $1,000 for each month such providers provide medical care to rural patients in certain sparsely populated areas of the United States.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-02-14
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1939-1941)
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S517-518)
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-291
Sponsor: Sen. Smith, Gordon H. [R-OR]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Alaska
Arts, Culture, Religion
Black colleges
Commerce
Computer literacy
Computer networks
Computer software
Computers
Conferences
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Continuing education
Distance education
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Education of the disadvantaged
Educational planning
Educational technology
Elementary and secondary education
Engineering
Executive reorganization
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to Indians
Federal aid to education
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Grants-in-aid
Hawaii
Hawaiians
Higher education
Hispanic Americans
Indian education
Indigenous peoples
Infrastructure
Mathematics
Minorities
Minority business enterprises
Minority education
National Science Foundation
Nonprofit organizations
Paraprofessional school personnel
Preschool education
Public-private partnerships
Research
School libraries
School personnel
Scientific education
Small business
Social Welfare
Teacher education
Technical education
Telecommunication systems
Wireless communication

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act of 2007 - Establishes within the National Science Foundation (NSF) an Office of Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology to: (1) award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements (assistance) to eligible institutions to provide educational instruction in digital and wireless network technologies; and (2) strengthen the national digital and wireless infrastructure by increasing national investment in telecommunications and technology infrastructure at eligible institutions. 
Requires the NSF Director to establish an advisory council on the best approaches for involving eligible institutions in supported activities and for reviewing and evaluating submitted proposals. Requires the council to include members from minority serving institutions.
Makes the following institutions eligible for such assistance: (1) a historically Black college or university; (2) a Hispanic-, Alaska Native-, or Native Hawaiian-serving institution; (3) a tribally controlled college or university; or (4) an institution determined to have enrolled a substantial number of minority, low-income students who received assistance under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Provides a matching funds requirement.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Commission on Catastrophic Disaster Risk and Insurance Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-292
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Alabama
Building laws
Casualty insurance
Commerce
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Depressed areas
Disaster insurance
Earthquakes
Economics and Public Finance
Emergency Management
Federal advisory bodies
Floods
Florida
Government Operations and Politics
Government insurance
Government trust funds
Housing and Community Development
Hurricanes
Income tax
Insurance companies
Legislation
Louisiana
Mississippi
Property insurance
Public-private partnerships
Reinsurance
Risk
Tax deferral
Tax exemption
Taxation
Texas
Tsunamis
Urban affairs
Volcanoes
Zoning and zoning law

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: 
Commission on Catastrophic Disaster Risk and Insurance Act of 2007 - Establishes the bipartisan Commission on Catastrophic Disaster Risk and Insurance to assess: (1) the condition of the property and casualty insurance and reinsurance markets in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma in 2005, and the four major hurricanes that struck the United States in 2004; (2) the ongoing exposure of the United States to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and floods; and (3) recommend and report legislative and regulatory changes that will improve the domestic and international financial health and competitiveness of such markets.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S518-520)
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S518)
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to extend the period in which States may spend funds from the additional allotments provided to States under the Social Services Block Grant program for necessary expenses related to the consequences of Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.

Bill: 110-s-293
Sponsor: Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]
Introduced: 2007-01-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Social Welfare
Subjects: Alabama
Block grants
Economics and Public Finance
Emergency Management
Government Operations and Politics
Hurricanes
Louisiana
Mississippi

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: 
Extends through September 30, 2008, the period in which states may spend funds from the additional allotments provided to them under title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act under the Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006 for necessary expenses related to the consequences of Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-01-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Servitude and Emancipation Archival Research ClearingHouse Act

Bill: 110-s-295
Sponsor: Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]
Introduced: 2007-01-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Archives
Arts, Culture, Religion
Blacks
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Colleges
Data banks
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Families
Federal aid to education
Genealogy
Government paperwork
Grants-in-aid
Higher education
History
Minorities
Public records
Science, Technology, Communications
Slavery

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: 
Servitude and Emancipation Archival Research ClearingHouse Act or the SEARCH Act - Directs the Archivist of the United States to establish, as part of the National Archives, a national database consisting of historic records of servitude and emancipation in the United States to assist African Americans in researching their genealogy. Requires the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to maintain the database.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-30
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs referred to Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security.
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S596)
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the availability of the cash method of accounting for small businesses, and for other purposes.

Bill: 110-s-296
Sponsor: Sen. Bond, Christopher S. [R-MO]
Introduced: 2007-01-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Accounting
Commerce
Economics and Public Finance
Finance and Financial Sector
Income tax
Indexing (Economic policy)
Inventories
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt certain small business taxpayers from the requirements of using the accrual method of accounting and of using inventories. Allows such taxpayers to use a cash method of accounting if they meet the gross receipts test and are not engaged in farming as a corporation. Increases the amount of the gross receipts test to $10 million (currently, $5 million) and permits an annual inflation adjustment of that amount. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Business RAISE Act

Bill: 110-s-297
Sponsor: Sen. Salazar, Ken [D-CO]
Introduced: 2007-01-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Agriculture and Food
Armed Forces and National Security
Commerce
Depreciation and amortization
Disabled
Income tax
Labor and Employment
Restaurants
Retail trade
Tax credits
Tax deductions
Veterans' employment

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: 
Business Relief and Incentives for Small Entrepreneurs Act of 2007 or the Business RAISE Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow accelerated depreciation (i.e., 15-year recovery period) of qualified retail improvement property (defined as any improvement to the interior portion of any nonresidential building used in the trade or business of selling retail goods or services to the general public) placed in service before January 1, 2008; (2) allow new improvements to restaurant property to qualify for accelerated depreciation; and (3) expand the eligibility of certain disabled veterans for employment under the work opportunity tax credit.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Renewable Energy, Fuel Reduction, and Economic Stabilization and Enhancement Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-298
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2007-01-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Agriculture and Food
Automobile tires
Automobiles
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Economic impact statements
Economics and Public Finance
Electric batteries
Electric vehicles
Federal aid to transportation
Fuel consumption
Geothermal resources
Governmental investigations
Grants-in-aid
Income tax
Irrigation
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Ocean energy resources
Standards
Tax credits
Taxation
Technological innovations
Telecommuting
Traffic congestion
Transportation and Public Works
Trucks
Water Resources Development

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: 
Renewable Energy, Fuel Reduction, and Economic Stabilization and Enhancement Act of 2007 or REFRESH Act - Directs the Secretary of Energy to make grants to: (1) promote geothermal power development; (2) develop all forms of ocean energy; and (3) assist in the development of new technology for the production of plug-in hybrid electric-combustion engine vehicles.
 
Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in calculating average fuel economy, to use the procedures described in the final rule relating to fuel economy labeling published in the Federal Register on December 27, 2006.
 
Requires the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to study anticipated economic impacts and fuel savings from a requirement that all vehicles manufactured in the United States with a gross vehicle weight of not less than 10,000 pounds meet specific average fuel economy standards.
 
Requires all passenger automobile tires sold in the United States to meet low rolling resistance standards prescribed by the NHTSA Administrator.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to states to develop telecommuting and flexible work scheduling incentives to reduce traffic congestion in urban areas.
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) include wave, current, tidal, and ocean thermal resources as qualified energy resources under the renewable energy tax credit; (2) extend through 2012 the qualified hybrid motor vehicle credit for plug-in hybrids; and (3) eliminate the limit on new qualified hybrid and advanced lean burn technology vehicles eligible for the full alternative motor vehicle tax credit.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S598)
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S596-598)
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend increased expensing for small businesses.

Bill: 110-s-299
Sponsor: Sen. Coleman, Norm [R-MN]
Introduced: 2007-01-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Commerce
Depreciation and amortization
Income tax
Small business
Tax deductions

Summary:
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2010 the increased expensing allowance for small business assets.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-01-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S644-645)
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S599)
action_date: 2007-01-16
text: Introduced in Senate