hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the reduction in the deductible portion of expenses for business meals and entertainment.

Bill: 111-s-2905
Sponsor: Sen. Inouye, Daniel K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2009-12-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Income tax deductions

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from 50 to 80% the percentage of meals and entertainment expenses that may be claimed as a business tax deduction.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S13389-13390)
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13389)
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Water Heater Rating Improvement Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2908
Sponsor: Sen. Kohl, Herb [D-WI]
Introduced: 2009-12-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Consumer affairs
Department of Energy
Energy efficiency and conservation
Lighting and heating
Lighting, heating, cooling

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: 
Water Heater Rating Improvement Act of 2009 - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to require the Secretary of Energy to publish a rule that establishes a uniform efficiency descriptor and accompanying test methods for water heaters, storage water heaters, instantaneous water heaters, and unfired water storage tanks (covered heaters). Requires: (1) the efficiency descriptor and accompanying test method to apply to all water heating technologies in use and to future water heating technologies; and (2) the efficiency descriptor to be the efficiency standard for covered heaters.
 
Sets forth provisions concerning a mathematical conversion factor for converting the measurement of efficiency for covered heaters from the test procedures in effect on the date of enactment of this Act to the new energy descriptor.
 
Authorizes the rule to exclude a specific category of covered water heaters from the uniform efficiency descriptor if the category of water heaters: (1) does not have a residential use and can be clearly described; and (2) are rated effectively using the thermal efficiency and standby loss descriptors applied to the category.
 
 
Requires the Secretary, in establishing the rule, to contract with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to conduct testing and simulation of alternative descriptors identified for consideration.
 
Considers a covered water heater to be in compliance with the rule and with any revised labeling requirements established by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to implement the rule if the covered water heater: (1) was manufactured prior to the effective date of the rule; and (2) complied with the efficiency standards and labeling requirements in effect prior to the rule.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-03-10
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 111-402.
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13460)
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Worker Ownership, Readiness and Knowledge Act

Bill: 111-s-2909
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2009-12-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Corporate finance and management
Department of Labor
Employee benefits and pensions
Executive agency funding and structure
Labor-management relations

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: 
Worker Ownership, Readiness and Knowledge Act or the WORK Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish within the Department of Labor an Office of Employee Ownership and Participation to promote employee ownership and employee participation in business decisionmaking.
 
Requires the Office Director, with federal grants and acting as an information clearinghouse, to: (1) support existing programs in the states designed to promote employee ownership and employee participation in business decisionmaking; and (2) promote the formation of new such programs.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a program, administered by the Director, which is designed to foster employee ownership and employee participation in business decisionmaking throughout the United States.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Increasing American Wages and Benefits Act of 2010

Bill: 111-s-2910
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2009-12-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Civil actions and liability
Department of Labor
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Foreign labor
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government trust funds
Labor standards
Temporary and part-time employment
User charges and fees
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: 
Increasing American Wages and Benefits Act of 2010 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize: (1) the Secretary of Labor to take such actions as may be necessary to enforce federal labor laws with respect to employers of H-2B nonagricultural temporary workers; and (2) a private right of action against such employers.
 
Specifies employer actions to be taken to recruit U.S. workers prior to filing for admission of H-2B workers.
 
Prohibits H-2B worker entry until the Secretary certifies that prevailing wages will be paid to such workers or to U.S. workers.
 
Sets forth H-2B and U.S. worker protections.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish an H-2B (employer) labor certification application fee. Establishes in the Treasury the H-2B Employment Certification Application Fee Account.
 
Indentured Servitude Abolition Act of 2010 - Requires foreign labor contractors and employers to inform foreign workers of specified employment terms and conditions at the time of recruitment. Requires that such information be provided in written form in English or in the language of the worker being recruited. 
 
Prohibits worker recruitment fees.
 
Sets forth protection and enforcement provisions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Common Sense Budgeting Act

Bill: 111-s-2911
Sponsor: Sen. Sessions, Jeff [R-AL]
Introduced: 2009-12-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Budget deficits and national debt
Budget process
Legislative rules and procedure

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: 
Common Sense Budgeting Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order to consider in either chamber any legislation that would exceed specified discretionary spending limits.
 
Sets discretionary spending limits for FY2010-FY2014.
 
Permits waiver or suspension of such prohibition, or successful appeals from rulings of the Chair in the Senate only: (1) by an affirmative vote of two-thirds (67) of the Senate; or (2) in the case of the defense budget authority, a declaration of war by Congress.
 
Makes it out of order in the Senate to consider any direct spending or revenue legislation that would increase the on-budget deficit or cause an on-budget deficit for: (1) the current fiscal year; (2) the budget year; or (3) 5 to 10 ensuing fiscal years after the current fiscal year.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Foreclosure Mandatory Mediation Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2912
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2009-12-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration
Housing finance and home ownership

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: 
Foreclosure Mandatory Mediation Act of 2009 - Amends the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 to require the mortgagee of certain one- to four-family residences, as a prerequisite to a foreclosure proceeding or a sheriff sale, and at the mortgagee's expense, to conduct a one-time mediation with the affected mortgagor and a housing counseling agency.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act

Bill: 111-s-2913
Sponsor: Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2009-12-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Air quality
Ecology
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental health
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Metals
Soil pollution
Water quality
Watersheds

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: 
Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a national mercury monitoring program that monitors: (1) long-term changes in mercury levels and important ancillary measures in the air; and (2) long-term changes in mercury and methyl mercury levels and important ancillary measures in the water and soil or sediments and in aquatic and terrestrial organisms.
 
Requires the Administrator to: (1) select multiple monitoring sites representing multiple ecoregions that include national parks, wildlife refuges, National Estuarine Research Reserve units, and other sensitive ecological areas that include long-term protection and in which substantive changes are expected from reductions in domestic mercury emissions; (2) establish and publish standardized measurement protocols for the program; and (3) establish a centralized database for environmental mercury data.
 
Establishes the Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee to advise the Administrator on the establishment, site selection, protocols, and operation of the program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S13461-13462)
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13460)
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Introduced in Senate
United States Employee Ownership Bank Act

Bill: 111-s-2914
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2009-12-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Banking and financial institutions regulation
Corporate finance and management
Department of the Treasury
Employee benefits and pensions
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Executive agency funding and structure
Government lending and loan guarantees
Labor-management relations
Unemployment

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: 
United States Employee Ownership Bank Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish the United States Employee Ownership Bank to foster increased employee ownership and greater employee participation in company decision making throughout the United States.
 
Authorizes the Bank to make loans, on a direct or guaranteed basis, and which may be subordinated to the interests of all other creditors, to employees to purchase a company through an employee stock ownership plan or eligible worker-owned cooperative which is at least 51% employee owned, or will become so as a result of Bank assistance.
 
Authorizes the bank also to allow: (1) a company that is less than 51% employee owned to become at least 51% employee owned; and (2) allow a company that is already at least 51% employee owned to increase the level of employee ownership, expand operations, and increase or preserve employment.
 
 
Amends the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to require the employer, if it orders a plant or facility closing in connection with the termination of its operations there, to offer its employees an opportunity to purchase such plant or facility through an employee stock ownership plan or an eligible worker-owned cooperative that is at least 51% employee owned. 
 
Exempts from such requirement an employer that orders a plant closing: (1) but will retain the plant assets to continue or begin a business within the United States; or (2) intends to continue the business conducted at such plant at another plant within the United States.
 

 
Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to authorize the appropriate federal financial supervisory agency, in assessing and taking into account the record of a financial institution during an examination, to consider capital investments, loans, loan participation, technical assistance, financial advice, grants, and other ventures undertaken by the institution to support or enable employees to establish employee stock ownership plans or eligible worker-owned cooperatives that are at least 51% employee-owned.
 

 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Rape Victims Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2915
Sponsor: Sen. Corker, Bob [R-TN]
Introduced: 2009-12-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration
Civil actions and liability
Crime victims
Crimes against women
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Labor-management relations
Sex offenses
Worker safety and health

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: 
Rape Victims Act of 2009 - Declares that an agreement made between an employer and employee to arbitrate a claim of rape shall not be enforceable.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to provide that Internal Revenue Service Notice 2010-2 shall have no force and effect and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to restrict the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations under section 382 of such Code.

Bill: 111-s-2916
Sponsor: Sen. Bunning, Jim [R-KY]
Introduced: 2009-12-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Corporate finance and management
Department of the Treasury
Financial crises and stabilization
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Securities

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: 
Nullifies Internal Revenue Service Notice 2010-2 (guidance regarding the application of section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code to corporations whose instruments are acquired and disposed of by the Department of Treasury pursuant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008).
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from prescribing any regulation after December 18, 2009, that provides an exemption or special rule under such section (provisions limiting net operating loss carryforwards and certain built-in losses following a change in corporate ownership) that is restricted to the disposition of corporate instruments acquired by the Secretary, unless Congress specifically authorizes the exemption or special rule.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S13462)
action_date: 2009-12-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Helping Small Business Succeed Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2918
Sponsor: Sen. Specter, Arlen [D-PA]
Introduced: 2009-12-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Credit and credit markets
Economic performance and conditions
Financial crises and stabilization
Government lending and loan guarantees
Minority and disadvantaged businesses
Small Business Administration
Small business
Unemployment
User charges and fees
Veterans' loans, housing, homeless programs
Women in business

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-21
text: 
Helping Small Business Succeed Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Act to increase maximum amounts of loans under the section 7(a) guaranteed loan program and the Microloan Program. Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to increase maximum amounts of loans to state and local development companies for plant acquisition, construction, conversion, and expansion.
 
Increases the maximum loan guarantee percentage under the 7(a) program, effective until October 3, 2011.
 
Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to extend through such date the authority to extend increased loan guarantees to small business lenders and to eliminate certain loan fees.
 
Authorizes the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), through such date, to make loans to small businesses located in an economic disaster area.
 
Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer to the Administrator necessary amounts to carry out this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2009-12-21
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13699)
action_date: 2009-12-21
text: Introduced in Senate
Small Business Lending Enhancement Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2919
Sponsor: Sen. Udall, Mark [D-CO]
Introduced: 2009-12-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Banking and financial institutions regulation
Congressional oversight
Credit and credit markets
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-21
text: 
Small Business Lending Enhancement Act of 2009 - Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to increase the total permissible amount of member business loans by an insured credit union (excluding those made to nonprofit religious organizations) to a limit of 25% of the credit union's total assets.
 
Increases from $50,000 to $250,000 the maximum total extensions of credit a borrower or associated member of an insured credit union may have before any extension of credit shall be considered a member business loan.
 
Directs the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board to report semiannually to Congress on the status of member business lending made by insured credit unions during the reporting period.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2009-12-21
text: Introduced in Senate
Drunk Driving Repeat Offender Prevention Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2920
Sponsor: Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2009-12-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Motor vehicles
Roads and highways
State and local government operations
Transportation programs funding
Transportation safety and security

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-21
text: 
Drunk Driving Repeat Offender Prevention Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to withhold specified graduated percentages of a state's apportionment of certain federal-aid highway funds for FY2013-FY2015 if the state has not enacted and is not enforcing a law requiring the installation of an ignition interlock device for a minimum of 180 days on each motor vehicle operated by an individual convicted of driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2009-12-21
text: Introduced in Senate
Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act

Bill: 111-s-2922
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2009-12-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Health facilities and institutions
Hospital care
Medicare
Rural conditions and development

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-22
text: 
Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act - Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to extend for an additional five years the rural community hospital demonstration program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-12-22
text: Introduced in Senate
Youth Jobs Act of 2010

Bill: 111-s-2923
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2009-12-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Employment and training programs
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Youth employment and child labor

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-22
text: 
Youth Jobs Act of 2010 - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Labor for summer and year-round youth jobs and training programs for individuals aged 14 to 24 under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 which are directly linked to academic and occupational learning for the period January 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011.
 
Prohibits the use of such funds for unpaid jobs, statewide workforce investment activities, or the award of certain youth opportunity grants.
 
Requires local areas receiving such funds to give priority to providing: (1) work experiences in viable, emerging, or demand industries, or work experiences in the public or nonprofit sector that fulfill a community need; and (2) job referral services for youth for such jobs in which the employer agrees to pay the wages and benefits consistent with federal and state child labor laws.
 
Authorizes such local areas to give priority to providing work experiences linked to academic and occupational learning to: (1) provide opportunities to youth to earn a short-term certificate or credential that has value in the labor market; and (2) encourage the likelihood of a participant's return to, or completion of, a program of study leading to a recognized secondary or postsecondary degree, certificate, or credential.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S13786-13787)
action_date: 2009-12-22
text: Introduced in Senate