hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
First Responders Support Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2885
Sponsor: Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]
Introduced: 2009-12-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Disability and paralysis
Employee benefits and pensions
Law enforcement officers
Mental health
Performance measurement
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: 
First Responders Support Act of 2009 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to: (1) increase death and disability benefits for public safety officers; (2) expand educational benefits for dependents of public safety officers killed or disabled in the line of duty; and (3) require the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to adopt and apply a system for prioritizing claims for public safety officers' benefits based on the severity of a claim and the likelihood of its approval (grants automatic priority to a claim for death benefits or 100% disability).
 
Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to organizations for reduced cost mental health services or counseling to public safety officers seriously injured in the line of duty and their families.
 
Requires the Director to structure, design, and implement a performance measure for the Public Safety Officers Benefits program to monitor the claims process and payment of benefits to public safety officers and their beneficiaries and to report to Congress annually on the performance of the program and its activities. 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Banking Integrity Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2886
Sponsor: Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA]
Introduced: 2009-12-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Banking and financial institutions regulation
Insurance industry and regulation
Securities

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: 
Banking Integrity Act of 2009 - Amends the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall Act) to prohibit a member bank from being affiliated with specified organizations engaged principally in the issue, flotation, underwriting, public sale, or distribution of stocks, bonds, debenture, notes, or other securities.
 
Prohibits the staff and personnel of corporations and partnerships (as well as any individual) primarily engaged in the issue, flotation, underwriting, public sale, or distribution, of stocks, bonds, or other similar securities, from serving simultaneously as an officer, director, or employee of any member bank of the Federal Reserve System. Authorizes the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to grant limited exceptions.
 
Prohibits a depository institution from engaging in the business of insurance or any insurance-related activity.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to reduce class size through the use of highly qualified teachers, and for other purposes.

Bill: 111-s-2887
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2009-12-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
School administration
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: 
 Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to award formula grants to states for allocation to their local educational agencies (LEAs) to: (1) reduce class size, particularly in the early elementary grades, by using highly qualified teachers; and (2) create a continuum of small classes from kindergarten through third grade for all their students.
 
Permits LEAs to use such funds to recruit highly qualified teachers, test new teachers, and provide professional development that enables teachers to teach effectively in their content areas.
 
Requires 80% of an LEA's allocation to be based on its proportion of the state's low-income students, with the remainder based on its proportion of the state's enrolled students.
 
Requires LEAs that receive allocations to provide written notice to the parent of each child who is taught for two or more consecutive weeks by a substitute teacher or a teacher who is not highly qualified. 
 
Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide for an independent evaluation of this Act's effectiveness in reducing class size and improving teaching in small classrooms; and (2) develop and maintain, through the National Center for Education Statistics, a database that accurately calculates class size for every school, school district, and state.
 
Amends the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 to require the National Center for Education Research, in the Institute of Education Sciences, to develop and maintain a web-based National Clearinghouse on Class Size to inform the public regarding class size reduction research, resources, and best practices.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Law Student Clinic Participation Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2888
Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2009-12-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: District of Columbia
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Higher education
Lawyers and legal services
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: 
Law Student Clinic Participation Act of 2009 - Amends the federal criminal code to exempt a law student or staff member participating in the legal clinic or externship of an accredited law school for a covered matter (i.e., a legal proceeding in which the United States has a direct and substantial interest) within the scope of the clinic from the criminal conflict of interest rules applicable to federal and District of Columbia employees, unless: (1) the student or staff member has participated personally and substantially in the matter as a government employee; or (2) the matter is pending in the department or agency in which the student or staff member is serving.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Hoover Power Allocation Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2891
Sponsor: Sen. Reid, Harry [D-NV]
Introduced: 2009-12-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Arizona
California
Congressional oversight
Dams and canals
Electric power generation and transmission
Nevada
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: 
Hoover Power Allocation Act of 2009 - Amends the Hoover Power Plant Act of 1984 (HPPA) to modify, commencing October 1, 2017, certain statutory schedules governing contracts for delivery to specified localities in Arizona, California, and Nevada of hydroelectric power generated at Hoover Dam.
 
Directs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) create, from certain apportioned allocations of contingent capacity and firm energy, a resource pool equal to 5% of the full rated capacity of 2.074 million kilowatts and associated firm energy; (2) offer Schedule D contingency capacity and firm energy to new allottees not receiving contingent capacity and firm energy for delivery commencing October 1, 2017; and (3) allocate through the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) for delivery, commencing October 1, 2017, 66.7% of Schedule D contingent capacity and firm energy to specified new allottees located within the marketing area for the Boulder City Area Projects.
 
Requires each contract offered under HPPA to: (1) authorize and require WAPA to collect from new allottees a pro rata share of Hoover Dam repayable advances paid for by contractors before October 1, 2017, and to remit such amounts to the contractors that paid such advances in proportion to the amounts paid by them as specified in a certain Implementation Agreement; (2) permit transactions with an independent system operator; and (3) contain the same material terms included in those long-term contracts for purchases from the Hoover Power Plant that were made in accordance with HPPA and are in existence on the date of enactment of this Act.
 
Subjects the contractual obligation of the Secretary to deliver contingent capacity and firm energy under HPPA to the availability of the water needed to produce such contingent capacity and firm energy.
 
Continues through FY2067 the requirements of HPPA as the exclusive method for (in effect, congressional oversight of) the disposal of capacity and energy from Hoover Dam.


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: 2009-12-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S13323-13325)
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area Act

Bill: 111-s-2892
Sponsor: Sen. Shelby, Richard C. [R-AL]
Introduced: 2009-12-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Alabama
Historic sites and heritage areas
Historical and cultural resources

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: 
Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area Act - Establishes the Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area in Alabama. (Describes the Black Belt area as a region in the lower-central portion of Alabama that sustains an abundance of natural resources, historical sites, cultural diversity, and recreational activities shaped by its fertile black soil.)
 
Designates the Center for the Study of the Black Belt at the University of West Alabama as the local coordinating entity for the Heritage Area, requires the Center to submit a management plan for the Heritage Area, and sets forth procedures for the approval or disapproval of such plan.
 

action_date: 2010-08-05
text: 
Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area Act - Establishes the Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area in Alabama.
 
Specifies the boundaries of the Heritage Area.
 
Designates the Center for the Study of the Black Belt at the University of West Alabama as the local coordinating entity for the Heritage Area, requires the Center to submit a management plan for the Heritage Area, and sets forth procedures for the approval or disapproval of such plan. 
 
Authorizes appropriations. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-08-05
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 535.
action_date: 2010-08-05
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Bingaman with amendments. With written report No. 111-265.
action_date: 2010-08-05
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Bingaman with amendments. With written report No. 111-265.
action_date: 2010-06-21
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.
action_date: 2010-03-17
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 111-476.
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Cross Border Reservation Drug Trafficking Sentence Enhancement Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2893
Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2009-12-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Canada
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Indian lands and resources rights
Latin America
Mexico

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: 
Cross Border Reservation Drug Trafficking Sentence Enhancement Act of 2009 - Amends the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to impose a fine and/or 10-year prison term (to be served consecutively to any other sentence for a violation of such Act) on anyone who knowingly or intentionally traffics in a controlled substance within a federal or state Indian reservation that borders or traverses any portion of the U.S. international border. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Home Heating Fuels Cost Relief Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2894
Sponsor: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2009-12-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Energy efficiency and conservation
Government lending and loan guarantees
Housing and community development funding
Income tax credits
Lighting and heating
Lighting, heating, cooling
Oil and gas
Residential rehabilitation and home repair
State and local finance

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: 
Home Heating Fuels Cost Relief Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income-based refundable tax credit for up to $1,000 ($2,000 in the case of a joint return) of the cost of heating oil, natural gas, and propane to heat a principal residence. Terminates such credit after 2010.
 
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make grants to states to create revolving loan funds for home weatherization loans. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-12-16
text: Introduced in Senate
School Principal Recruitment and Training Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2896
Sponsor: Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN]
Introduced: 2009-12-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Government information and archives
School administration
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: 
School Principal Recruitment and Training Act of 2009 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award renewable five-year matching grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) and certain educational or nonprofit entities that partner with LEAs to recruit, support, and train principals for service in high-need schools.
 
Requires grantees to: (1) recruit, select, and provide training to individuals who are or aspire to be principals in high-need schools, agree to serve for at least four years in such schools, and work to ensure that student academic achievement in their schools improves substantially within three to six years; (2) provide aspiring principals with a pre-service residency for at least one year that focuses on instructional leadership and organizational management and is followed by ongoing training for at least two years after their residency ends and school leadership begins; and (3) deliver high-quality, differentiated, school-level support services that meet the specific needs of high-need schools led by individuals that are receiving or have received training pursuant to this Act.
 
Directs the Secretary to award a grant to one or more research groups to develop a high-quality evaluation and information clearinghouse system to facilitate the sharing of best practices and inform: (1) the recruitment, selection, and training of principals for high-need schools; (2) the development of principal effectiveness standards; and (3) the development of system-wide supports and policies that foster school and principal actions identified as most often differentiating the most dramatically improved schools from others.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Energy Efficiency Modernization Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2897
Sponsor: Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]
Introduced: 2009-12-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Building construction
Congressional oversight
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Energy efficiency and conservation
Federal preemption
Government information and archives
Housing and community development funding
Housing industry and standards
Public utilities and utility rates
Water use and supply

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: 
Energy Efficiency Modernization Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make: (1) payments (green dividends) to owners of assisted multifamily rental housing projects who undertake utility cost-saving measures; and (2) review HUD regulations and agreements concerning residual receipts accounts in assisted rental housing and revise HUD policy on the use of such accounts for energy efficiency items.
 
Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study and report to Congress on the benefits of a federal statutory exemption from compliance with state and local building codes to enable and encourage the construction and installation in assisted multifamily rental housing projects of distributive energy generation and water efficiency measures.
 
Requires owners of assisted multifamily rental housing projects to report to the Secretary on consumption of electricity, water, gas, and other utilities by such projects. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Renewable Energy Incentive Act

Bill: 111-s-2899
Sponsor: Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Introduced: 2009-12-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Alternative and renewable resources
Income tax credits
Land use and conservation
Lighting and heating
Lighting, heating, cooling
Manufacturing
Public utilities and utility rates

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: 
Renewable Energy Incentive Act - Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to: (1) extend through 2012 grants for investment in renewable energy property, including renewable resources used to produce electricity and fuel cell, solar, wind, geothermal, and microturbine property, in lieu of tax credits; and (2) expand eligibility for such grants to public power utilities and qualified solar manufacturing project property. Defines &quot;qualified solar manufacturing property&quot; as any tangible personal property purchased to re-equip, expand, or establish a manufacturing facility for producing solar energy equipment to generate electricity.
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow an energy tax credit for investment in qualified solar manufacturing project property; (2) allow a tax credit for the purchase, consolidation, and use of contiguous high solarity disturbed private land to produce solar energy for use in a trade or business; and (3) limit the energy tax credit for solar energy equipment used to generate electricity or heat or cool a structure, as applied to swimming pools, to exclude those located at single-family residences.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13386-13387)
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2901
Sponsor: Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2009-12-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government trust funds
Public contracts and procurement
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: 
Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act of 2009 - Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to direct the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) to establish a government-wide acquisition management fellows program for the purpose of investing in the long-term improvement and sustained excellence of the federal acquisition workforce.
 
Lists as the program's objectives to: (1) develop a new generation of acquisition leaders with government-wide perspective, skills, and experience; (2) recruit individuals with the outstanding academic merit, ethical value, business acumen, and leadership skills to meet the government's acquisition needs; and (3) offer opportunities for advancement, competitive compensation, and leadership opportunities. Requires the program to consist of one academic year of full-time, on-campus training followed by two years of on-the-job and part-time training toward a Masters or equivalent graduate degree in related fields. 
 
Requires persons selected for the program to commit to employment with the government in the field of acquisition following program completion. Requires executive agencies to give priority to program graduates for purposes of hiring employees in the acquisition field.
 
 
Establishes in the Treasury the OFPP Acquisition Fellows Development Fund to be used for the establishment and operations of the program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13387-13388)
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Child Care Protection Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-2903
Sponsor: Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]
Introduced: 2009-12-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Families
Subjects: Child care and development
Child safety and welfare
Crimes against children
Criminal justice information and records
Personnel records
Sex offenses

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: 
Child Care Protection Act of 2009 - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to require states that receive funds under such Act to: (1) require and conduct criminal background checks for staff members of child care providers; (2) prohibit the employment of a child care staff member who refuses to consent to a criminal background check, makes a false statement in connection with such background check, is registered as a sex offender, or is a convicted felon involving certain crimes; and (3) provide criminal background checks to child care providers upon request. Imposes a financial penalty on states that fail to comply substantially with the requirements of this Act. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act

Bill: 111-s-2904
Sponsor: Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN]
Introduced: 2009-12-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Family planning and birth control
Military facilities and property
Military medicine
Military personnel and dependents
Prescription drugs
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: 
Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act - Requires emergency contraception in drug form to be included on the basic core formulary of the uniform formulary of pharmaceutical agents for the pharmacy benefits program of the Department of Defense. Allows emergency contraception in other-than-drug form to also be so included.
 
States that prior authorization shall not be required for such contraception.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (text of measure as introduced: CR S13388-13389)
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13388)
action_date: 2009-12-17
text: Introduced in Senate