hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Improving Food-borne Illness Surveillance and Response Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3358
Sponsor: Sen. Obama, Barack [D-IL]
Introduced: 2008-07-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Agriculture and Food
Commerce
Department of Health and Human Services
Federal advisory bodies
Federal-local relations
Federal-state relations
Food safety
Foodborne diseases
Government Operations and Politics
Governmental investigations
Health surveys
Medical laboratories
Medical statistics

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: 
Improving Food-borne Illness Surveillance and Response Act of 2008 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to strengthen and expand foodborne illness surveillance systems to: (1) inform and evaluate efforts to prevent foodborne illness; and (2) enhance the identification and investigation of, and response to, foodborne illness outbreaks.

Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to enhance foodborne illness surveillance systems to improve the collection, analysis, reporting, and usefulness of data on foodborne illnesses.

Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, to improve capacity for surveillance in states, including by: (1) supporting outbreak investigations with needed specialty expertise; (2) supporting model practices in states; and (3) developing training curricula on foodborne illness surveillance investigations.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) carry out activities to support core food safety functions of state and local public health laboratories; and (2) establish a working group to advise the Secretary regarding the improvement of foodborne illness surveillance and implementation of this Act.

Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary to: (1) leverage and enhance the food safety capacity and roles of state and local agencies; (2) survey state and local capacities and enhancement needs; (3) develop a plan addressing food safety functions at state and local levels; and (4) make grants to state and local agencies to enhance food safety capacity and programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Introduced in Senate
American Shipping Reinvestment Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3359
Sponsor: Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA]
Introduced: 2008-07-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Air cargo
Commerce
Dividends
Finance and Financial Sector
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Foreign corporations
Income tax
Investments
Merchant ships
Stockholders
Tax deductions
Tax exclusion
Taxation of foreign income
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: 
American Shipping Reinvestment Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal shipping investment withdrawal tax rules; and (2) allow U.S. corporate shareholders a tax deduction for dividends attributable to foreign base company shipping income received from a controlled foreign corporation.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Creating American Rolling Stock Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3360
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2008-07-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Aerospace industries
Automobile industry
Bonds
Buy American
Commerce
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Department of Transportation
Diesel motor
Dislocated workers
Economics and Public Finance
Employee training
Energy
Excise tax
Federal aid to transportation
Finance and Financial Sector
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Fuel
Gasoline
Government Operations and Politics
Government corporations
Government trust funds
Highspeed ground transportation
Highway finance
Income tax
Labor and Employment
Law
Manufacturing industries
National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)
Petroleum
Railroad commuting traffic
Railroad employees
Railroad engineering
Railroad equipment
Railroad finance
Railroad passenger traffic
Railroad retirement plans
Tax credits
Taxation
Transportation planning

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: 
Creating American Rolling Stock Act of 2008 or the Train CARS Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to award grants to eligible applicants to purchase or rehabilitate domestically manufactured rolling stock for intercity passenger rail transportation. Prohibits Secretary approval of a grant project without a state rail plan.
 
Sets forth certain Buy American requirements.
 
 
Directs Amtrak to establish a Next Generation Corridor Equipment Pool Committee.
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to create an Intercity Passenger Rail Rolling Stock Account.
 
Allows a tax credit to a holder of a qualified Amtrak bond issued for projects to purchase or rehabilitate domestically manufactured rolling stock for intercity passenger rail transportation (rail infrastructure investment).
 
Requires the Comptroller General to study the potential costs, benefits, and economic impact of providing intercity passenger rail along a national railway electrification system.
 
Directs the Secretary of Labor to report to Congress on existing federal programs that could assist in the training of automotive, aviation, and manufacturing workers to transition to the railcar manufacturing industry.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7633-7636)
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7633)
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Drug Free Families Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3361
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2008-07-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Social Welfare
Subjects: Aid to dependent children
Cash welfare block grants
Drug abuse
Drug testing
Economics and Public Finance
Families
Government Operations and Politics
Welfare eligibility

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: 
Drug Free Families Act of 2008 - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require state TANF programs to implement a program to test TANF applicants and recipients for illegal drug use.
 
Requires state TANF programs to deny assistance to individuals who test positive for illegal drugs and individuals convicted of drug-related crimes.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Section 515 Rural Housing Property Transfer Improvement Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3363
Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Introduced: 2008-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Apartment houses
Bonds
Congressional reporting requirements
Department of Agriculture
Economics and Public Finance
Federally-guaranteed loans
Finance and Financial Sector
Government Operations and Politics
Government lending
Housing finance
Housing subsidies
Income tax
Law
Low-income housing
Moderate income housing
Mortgage guaranty insurance
Mortgages
Rental housing
Rural housing
Social Welfare
Tax credits
Taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: 
Section 515 Rural Housing Property Transfer Improvement Act of 2008 - Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) implement administrative and procedural changes to expedite the application approval process for transferring ownership of Section 515 rural multifamily housing projects for which a loan is either made or insured for a project's preservation, continued use restriction, and rehabilitation; and (2) actively facilitate such transfers.
 
Grants final regulatory authority over such property transfers to the Office of Rental Housing Preservation of the Rural Housing Service of the Department of Agriculture.
 
Sets forth deadlines for the processing of transfer applications.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Long-Term Care Family Accessibility Act

Bill: 110-s-3365
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2008-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Finance and Financial Sector
Health
Income tax
Insurance premiums
Long-term care insurance
Tax credits

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: 
Long-Term Care Family Accessibility Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income-based tax credit for 50% of the first $4,000 of premiums paid for long-term care insurance coverage of a taxpayer or a taxpayer's family member or dependent.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Refuge Ecology Protection, Assistance, and Immediate Response Act

Bill: 110-s-3366
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2008-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Animals
Commerce
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Cost effectiveness
Data banks
Economics and Public Finance
Ecosystem management
Endangered species
Environmental Protection
Environmental assessment
Environmental monitoring
Fishes
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Grants-in-aid
Habitat conservation
Non-native species
Pest control
Pests
Plant protection
Public-private partnerships
Restoration ecology
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare
Technological innovations
Volunteer workers
Wildlife conservation
Wildlife management
Wildlife refuges

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: 
Refuge Ecology Protection, Assistance, and Immediate Response Act - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide under the Refuge Ecology Protection, Assistance, and Immediate Response Grant Program or the REPAIR Program (established by this Act): (1) a grant to any eligible applicant to carry out a qualified plant control project to control harmful nonnative species; and (2) a grant to any state to carry out an assessment project to identify harmful nonnative plant and animal species, assess the needs to restore, manage, or enhance native fish, wildlife, and habitats, identify priorities, and identify mechanisms to increase capacity building for native fish, wildlife, and habitats. 

 Authorizes the Secretary to provide financial assistance for not more than three fiscal years to enable an immediate response to outbreaks of harmful nonnative plant species that threaten or may negatively impact refuge resources that are at a stage at which rapid eradication or control is possible, and to ensure eradication or immediate control of such species. 

 Directs the Secretary, consistent with the National Wildlife Refuge System Volunteer and Community Partnership Enhancement Act of 1998, to establish a cooperative volunteer monitoring and control program to administer and coordinate projects implemented by partner organizations concerned with national wildlife refuges to address harmful nonnative species that threaten national wildlife refuges or adjacent lands. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7783-7785)
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7782-7783)
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to revise the timeframe for recognition of certain designations in certifying rural health clinics under the Medicare program.

Bill: 110-s-3367
Sponsor: Sen. Smith, Gordon H. [R-OR]
Introduced: 2008-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Clinics
Housing and Community Development
Medicare
Rural health
Social Welfare

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: 
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend from three to four years the lookback timeframe for recognition of certain designations and certification with respect to rural health clinics under the Medicare program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7786)
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7785)
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3368
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH]
Introduced: 2008-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Adult education
Aid to dependent children
Career education
Cash welfare block grants
Crime and Law Enforcement
Data banks
Economic development
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Elementary and secondary education
Employee training
Families
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Grants-in-aid
Higher education
Job creation
Literacy programs
Prison labor
Rehabilitation of criminals
Science, Technology, Communications
Secondary education
Social Welfare
Wages

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: 
Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success Act of 2008 or the SECTORS Act of 2008 - Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to require the Secretary of Labor to award competitive industry or sector partnership grants to eligible entities to develop strategies that: (1) encourage growth and competitiveness through work with high road employers within a targeted industry cluster; (2) help workers move toward economic self-sufficiency and ensure that they have access to supportive services; (3) address the needs of firms with limited human resources or in-house training capacity, including small- and medium-sized firms; and (4) coordinate with entities that carry out state and local workforce investment, economic development, and education activities.
 
Requires federal agency coordination with the Secretary in carrying out such program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7786-7789)
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7786)
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for relief to surviving spouses and children, and for other purposes.

Bill: 110-s-3369
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2008-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Families
Immigrants
Law
Marriage
Visas
Widowers
Widows
Women

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: 
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow a surviving spouse of a U.S. citizen who was married for less than two years at the time of the citizen's death who proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the marriage was entered into in good faith and not for the purpose of obtaining an immigration benefit to self-petition (within the required two years) for continued immediate relative status. (Applies such provision to applications and petitions pending on or after the date of enactment of this Act.)
 
Extends the petition filing deadline for two years after the date of the enactment of this Act if: (1) the alien's U.S. citizen spouse died before the date of the enactment of this Act; (2) the alien and the citizen spouse were married for less than two years at the time of the citizen spouse's death; and (3) the alien has not remarried.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Home Office Tax Deduction Simplification and Improvement Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3371
Sponsor: Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2008-07-31 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Commerce
Depreciation and amortization
Finance and Financial Sector
Home offices
Housing and Community Development
Income tax
Interest
Labor and Employment
Mortgages
Property tax
Self-employed
Tax deductions
Tax returns

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: 
Home Office Tax Deduction Simplification and Improvement Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer who uses a residence to conduct a trade or business to elect a standard tax deduction equal to the product of a standard rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury and the square footage of the portion of a residence used to conduct a trade or business (home office tax deduction). Modifies the rules for the home office tax deduction to: (1) allow a deduction for the cost of dealing with patients, clients, or customers even if they are not physically present in the home office; and (2) establish a de minimis exemption for personal use of a home office.

Requires the Secretary to ensure that all self-employment tax forms and schedules separately state amounts attributable to real estate taxes, mortgage interest, and depreciation for purposes of the home office tax deduction.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7909)
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7908-7909)
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Introduced in Senate
Saver's Bonus Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-3372
Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2008-07-31 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Bank accounts
College costs
Education
Education savings accounts
Government Operations and Politics
Government publicity
Higher education
Income tax
Labor and Employment
Saving and investment
Savings bonds
Tax refunds
Tax returns
Tax-deferred compensation plans
Taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: 
Saver's Bonus Act of 2007 [
sic
] - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to develop programs to: (1) match deposits made by low-income individuals into certain savings accounts (saver's bonus); (2) deposit tax refunds electronically into savings accounts; and (3) allow individual taxpayers to purchase U.S. savings bonds on their federal income tax returns. 

Requires the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to notify low-income taxpayers of their eligibility for the saver's bonus and of their options under this Act. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Introduced in Senate
Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative Reauthorization and Expansion Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3373
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2008-07-31 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
County politics and government
Economics and Public Finance
Ecosystem management
Environmental Protection
Federal advisory bodies
Federal-Indian relations
Federal-state relations
Foundations
Government Operations and Politics
Grants-in-aid
Habitat conservation
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine ecology
Marine resources conservation
Minorities
Restoration ecology
Social Welfare
Washington State

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: 
Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative Reauthorization and Expansion Act of 2008 - Amends the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative Act to: (1) set forth the membership of the Northwest Straits Advisory Commission; (2) state the goal of the Commission as the protection and restoration of the marine waters, habitats, and species of the Northwest Straits region in the state of Washington to achieve ecosystem health and sustainable resource use; and (3) enumerate the duties of the Commission and establish benchmarks for its work. Provides for the appointment of a Director of the Commission and the establishment of marine resources committees in specified counties of the state of Washington. 

Authorizes the Director of the Commission and the Director of the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve to establish the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Foundation as a nonprofit foundation to support the Commission and the marine resources committees established by this Act. 

Authorizes appropriations for the Commission.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7909)
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Introduced in Senate
Healing Our Nation's Heroes Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3374
Sponsor: Sen. Smith, Gordon H. [R-OR]
Introduced: 2008-07-31 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Brain
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Executive reorganization
Families
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to education
Government Operations and Politics
Governmental investigations
Head injuries
Health
Higher education
Labor and Employment
Law
Licenses
Medical education
Medical personnel
Mental health services
Military dependents
Military medicine
Military personnel
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Recruiting of employees
Veterans' employment
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: 
Healing Our Nation's Heroes Act of 2008 - Establishes a commission on veterans and members of the Armed Forces (members) with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), or other mental health disorders caused by military service. Requires the commission to: (1) oversee the monitoring and treatment of veterans and members with such disorders; and (2) conduct a study of the long-term adverse consequences of such disorders for such veterans and members.
 
Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary) to carry out a program, to be known as the Heroes-to-Healers Program, to assist veterans and members separating from service to: (1) obtain certification as mental health care providers; and (2) find employment with federal, state, and local agencies and nongovernmental organizations that provide mental health care to members, veterans, and their families. Requires participants, following certification, to work for at least five years in such mental health care capacity, but authorizes the Secretary to waive such requirement when considered appropriate. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to pay a bonus of up to $10,000 to a Program participant who agrees to such service.
 
Authorizes the Secretary of Education to establish a program to award grants to encourage state and local mental health agencies and other entities to establish, expand, or enhance mental health provider recruitment and retention efforts. Requires participants who receive training through the program to serve at a high-need medical facility or agency for at least three years.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7910-7914)
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7909-7910)
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Introduced in Senate
Protect Children from Dangerous Lighters Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3375
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2008-07-31 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Child safety
Environmental Protection
Families
Flammable materials
Product safety

Summary:
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: 
Protect Children from Dangerous Lighters Act of 2008 - Treats certain novelty lighters as banned hazardous substances under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, and applies to them the Act's prohibitions (in effect banning their introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce).


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7915)
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7914-7915)
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Introduced in Senate