hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Small Business Penalty Relief Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2771
Sponsor: Sen. Baucus, Max [D-MT]
Introduced: 2009-11-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: 
Small Business Penalty Relief Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the penalty for failure to disclose a reportable transaction (a transaction determined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as having a potential for tax avoidance or evasion) to 75% of the decrease in tax resulting from such transaction. Sets forth a maximum penalty for failure to report a reportable transaction and a minimum and maximum penalty for failure to report a listed transaction (a transaction specifically identified by the IRS as a tax avoidance transaction).
 
Requires the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to report by June 1, 2010, and then annually, to Congress on penalties relating to tax shelters and reportable transactions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11384)
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act of 2010

Bill: 111-s-2772
Sponsor: Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI]
Introduced: 2009-11-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Law enforcement administration and funding
Performance measurement
State and local finance

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: 
Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to states, local governments, territories, or Indian tribes to: (1) analyze and improve the cost-effectiveness of state and local spending on prisons, jails, and community corrections; and (2) assist in managing the growth in spending on corrections and increase public safety.
 

 

action_date: 2010-03-22
text: 
Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act of 2010 - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to states, local and territorial governments, or Indian tribes to: (1) analyze and improve the cost-effectiveness of spending on prisons, jails, and community corrections; and (2) implement policies, programs, or practices to help control growth in spending on corrections and increase public safety. 
 
Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Justice (DOJ), beginning in FY2012, to conduct annual audits of not less than 10% of all grantees receiving funds under this Act to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. Denies continued funding to a grant recipient who has an unresolved audit. 
 
Requires the Attorney General to: (1) report to the Judiciary Committees of Congress on November 1 of each year concerning the development and implementation of grants and strategies developed under this Act; (2) establish an information clearinghouse for data collected and best practices developed by grant recipients; and (3) ensure equitable distribution of grants among geographical regions and between urban and rural populations, including Indian tribes.
 
Authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2015. Limits expenditures for salaries and DOJ administrative expenses to 5% of funds authorized.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-03-22
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 328.
action_date: 2010-03-22
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2010-03-22
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2010-03-11
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11384)
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Offshore Wind Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Commercial Application Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2773
Sponsor: Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2009-11-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Alternative and renewable resources
Energy efficiency and conservation
Energy research
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Government information and archives
Higher education
Licensing and registrations
Manufacturing
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Research administration and funding
Research and development

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: 
Offshore Wind Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Commercial Application Act of 2009 - Requires the Secretary of Energy to implement a program to: (1) improve the energy efficiency, reliability, and capacity of offshore wind turbines; and (2) reduce the cost of manufacturing, construction, deployment, generation, and maintenance of offshore wind energy systems. 
 
Requires the Secretary to implement the program to support: (1) the design, demonstration, and deployment of advanced wind turbine foundations and support structures, blades, turbine systems, components, and supporting land- and water-based infrastructure for application in shallow water, transitional depths, and deep offshore water; (2) the full-scale testing and establishment of regional demonstrations of offshore wind components and systems to validate technology and performance issues relating to the components; (3) assessments of the offshore wind resources for inclusion in a publicly accessible database; (4) the design, demonstration, and deployment of integrated sensors, actuators, and advanced materials; (5) advanced blade manufacturing activity to stimulate the development of the blade manufacturing capacity of the United States; and (6) methods to assess and mitigate the effects of wind energy systems on marine ecosystems and marine industries.
 
Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants to institutions of higher education to establish national offshore wind centers. Requires such a center to be designed to: (1) focus on deepwater floating offshore wind energy technologies; and (2) facilitate the conduct of initiatives to advance program activities.
 

 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-08
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 111-330.
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11385)
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Fighting Medicare Payment Fraud Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2774
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2009-11-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Department of Health and Human Services
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government studies and investigations
Medicare

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: 
Fighting Medicare Payment Fraud Act of 2009 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to extend to up to 365 calendar days for particular categories of service providers or suppliers the number of days in which Medicare claims are required to be paid in order to ensure that they are clean claims. 
 
Limits such extension to categories of service providers or suppliers, such categories in a certain geographic area, or individual service providers or suppliers about which the Secretary has determined that there is a likelihood of fraud, waste, or abuse involving them.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11385-11386)
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Residential and Commuter Toll Fairness Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2775
Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2009-11-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Commuting
Public transit
Roads and highways
State and local government operations
Transportation programs funding
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: 
 Residential and Commuter Toll Fairness Act of 2009 - Grants state, county, and municipal governments, as well as multi-jurisdictional transportation authorities that operate or manage roads, bridges, railroads, buses, ferries, or other transportation systems, rulemaking authority to establish toll, user fee, or fare discount programs for their local residents or commuters.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Clean Energy Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2776
Sponsor: Sen. Alexander, Lamar [R-TN]
Introduced: 2009-11-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Advanced technology and technological innovations
Advisory bodies
Alternative and renewable resources
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Education programs funding
Electric power generation and transmission
Elementary and secondary education
Employment and training programs
Energy research
Government lending and loan guarantees
Higher education
Licensing and registrations
Nuclear power
Radioactive wastes and releases
Research and development
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: 
Clean Energy Act of 2009 - Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to: (1) revise provisions of the loan guarantee program for innovative technologies relating to the definition of commercial technology, subrogation, and fees; and (2) direct the Secretary of Energy, in carrying out the Nuclear Power 2010 Program, to offer to enter into cooperative agreements with reactor manufacturers and electric utilities to license certain small nuclear reactors.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress supporting the convening by the President of a blue-ribbon panel for the development of a federal nuclear waste policy. 
 
Authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2020 to carry out: (1) the education and training of a nuclear workforce; (2) nuclear reactor uprate and lifetime-extension research; and (3) clean energy research and development activities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11386-11388)
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to repeal the American Recovery Capital loan program of the Small Business Administration.

Bill: 111-s-2777
Sponsor: Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2009-11-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Business investment and capital
Government lending and loan guarantees
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: 
Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to repeal the small business stabilization program, under which the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) provides deferred loans to small businesses experiencing difficulty in repaying existing business debt.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. (text of measure as introduced: CR S11389)
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11388-11389)
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act

Bill: 111-s-2779
Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
Introduced: 2009-11-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Agricultural conservation and pollution
Computers and information technology
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Government information and archives
Hydrology and hydrography
Illinois
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Iowa
Lakes and rivers
Land use and conservation
Minnesota
Mississippi River
Missouri
Missouri River
Water quality
Watersheds
Wisconsin

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: 
Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the United States Geological Survey (USGS), to establish a nutrient and sediment monitoring network for the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
 
Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish guidelines for related data collection and storage activities; (2) inventory the sediment and monitoring efforts of governmental and nongovernmental entities for the purpose of creating a baseline understanding of overlap, data gaps, and redundancies; and (3) collaborate with other public and private monitoring efforts in establishing the monitoring program.
Directs the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a water resources assessment of the Basin. 
Requires the Director of the USGS to establish: (1) a computer modeling program of nutrient and sediment sources in the Basin; and (2) an Internet-based system to distribute information about nutrient and sediment loss reduction projects and nutrient and sediment levels in the Upper Mississippi River and its tributaries.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-06-09
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 111-707.
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2009-11-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Small Business Intermediary Lending Pilot Program Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2780
Sponsor: Sen. Levin, Carl [D-MI]
Introduced: 2009-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Business investment and capital
Community life and organization
Economic performance and conditions
Government lending and loan guarantees
Small Business Administration
Small business
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: 
Small Business Intermediary Lending Pilot Program Act of 2009 - Establishes a three-year small business intermediary lending pilot program under which the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) may make direct loans to eligible nonprofit lending intermediaries for the purpose of making loans of up to $200,000 each to startup, newly-established, and growing small businesses. Authorizes the Administrator, under the program, to make one percent, 20-year loans of up to $3 million to up to 20 lending intermediaries.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11432)
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for used oil re-refining, and for other purposes.

Bill: 111-s-2783
Sponsor: Sen. Bayh, Evan [D-IN]
Introduced: 2009-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Business investment and capital
Income tax credits
Income tax deductions
Oil and gas

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) expand the definition of &quot;qualified refinery&quot; for purposes of the taxpayer election to expense the costs of refinery property to include refineries for processing non-virgin lube oil from used, refined products (including used lube oil originally derived from crude oil or qualified fuels); (2) extend through 2016 the expensing allowance with respect to such refineries; and (3) allow a business-related tax credit for the production of qualified re-refined lubricating oil.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permanently extend the estate tax as in effect in 2009, and for other purposes.

Bill: 111-s-2784
Sponsor: Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2009-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Inflation and prices
Transfer and inheritance taxes

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish a permanent estate tax exclusion of $3.5 million ($7 million for married couples filing joint tax returns) and a maximum 45% tax rate for decedents dying, generation-skipping transfers, and gifts made, after December 31, 2009; (2) allow an annual inflation adjustment to the exclusion amount after 2010; and (3) allow a surviving spouse an increase in the estate tax exclusion by the unused exclusion amount of a deceased spouse.
 
Expresses the sense of the Senate that any reduction in federal revenues resulting from this Act should be fully offset.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
After-School Partnerships Improve Results in Education (ASPIRE) Act

Bill: 111-s-2785
Sponsor: Sen. Lincoln, Blanche L. [D-AR]
Introduced: 2009-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Art, artists, authorship
Business investment and capital
Child health
Ecology
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Language arts
Music
Physical fitness and lifestyle
Science and engineering education
Social Sciences and History
Teaching, teachers, curricula
Vocational and technical education

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: 
Afterschool Partnerships Improve Results in Education (ASPIRE) Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive matching grants to partnerships, composed of a state or local educational agency (LEA) and at least one college or nonprofit, community, tribal, business, labor, or career technical student organization, for the development of national model afterschool interdisciplinary education programs for secondary school students. 
 
Directs the Secretary to allot grants to states for matching subgrants to other partnerships, composed of an LEA and at least one college or organization listed above, for the development of afterschool interdisciplinary education programs for secondary school students.
 
Gives grant and subgrant priority to programs targeting a high percentage of impoverished, struggling, or rural students and their families.
 
Requires each partnership grantee and subgrantee to include in its program: (1) at least one activity involving mathematics and science education, language arts, writing, and reading, or history, geography, or social studies; and (2) at least one activity involving career technical education, business and entrepreneurial education, health and wellness, the environment and conservation, or arts and music education.
 
Allows program activities to take place after school, before school, or at any other time that the school is not in session.
 
Directs the Secretary to carry out national activities, such as providing technical assistance to grantees and subgrantees, or conducting a national evaluation of such programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Enhanced Restitution Enforcement and Equitable Retirement Treatment Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2786
Sponsor: Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT]
Introduced: 2009-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Civil actions and liability
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Department of Justice
Executive agency funding and structure
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government trust funds
Law enforcement officers
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: 
Enhanced Restitution Enforcement and Equitable Retirement Treatment Act of 2009 - Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) impose a late fee on unpaid criminal fines or restitution obligations of $2,500 or more; (2) revise requirements for the modification or remission of unpaid criminal fines, restitution obligations, or special assessments; (3) require the Attorney General to establish guidelines for the enforcement of all criminal and civil obligations owed to the United States; and (4) increase special assessments on persons convicted of federal misdemeanors and felonies.
 
Amends the federal judicial code to impose a late fee on unpaid money judgments owed to the United States.
 
Establishes in the Treasury the Department of Justice (DOJ) Enhanced Financial Recovery Fund to support DOJ debt collection activities. Requires current federal agency share contributions for personnel benefits incurred as a result of this Act to be paid from such Fund. 
 
Requires assistant U.S. attorneys to be treated in the same manner as federal law enforcement officers for purposes of federal employee retirement benefit provisions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S11434-11437)
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11434)
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
TARP Sunset Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2787
Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced: 2009-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Financial crises and stabilization

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: 
TARP Sunset Act of 2009 - Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) to terminate, on December 31, 2009 (as under current law), the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to implement the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
 
Repeals the Secretary's authority to extend the TARP program through October 3, 2010, upon submission of a written certification to Congress.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Aegis Ashore Test Facility Construction Authorization Act

Bill: 111-s-2788
Sponsor: Sen. Levin, Carl [D-MI]
Introduced: 2009-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Defense spending
Hawaii
Military facilities and property
Military procurement, research, weapons development

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: 
Aegis Ashore Test Facility Construction Authorization Act - Amends the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 to authorize a military construction project at the Hawaii Pacific Missile Range Facility, relating to construction of an Aegis Ashore Test Facility.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2009-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate