hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-887
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2009-04-23 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Congressional oversight
Department of Labor
Foreign labor
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Visas and passports
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: 
H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2009 - Amends the the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise employer and government provisions regarding H-1B (specialty occupation) and L-1 (intracompany transfer) nonimmigrant aliens.
 
Amends H-1B employer application requirements to: (1) revise wage determination requirements; (2) require Internet posting and description of employment positions; (3) lengthen U.S. worker displacement protection: (4) apply certain requirements to all H-1B employers rather than only to H-1B dependent employers; (5) prohibit employer advertising that makes a position available only to, or gives priority to, H-1B nonimmigrants; and (6) limit the number of H-1B and L-1 employees that an employer of 50 or more workers in the United States may hire.
 
Revises application review provisions. Authorizes the Department of Labor (DOL) to: (1) investigate applications for fraud; and (2) conduct H-1B compliance audits. 
 
Directs DOL to conduct annual audits of companies with large numbers of H-1B workers.
 
Authorizes DOL to initiate H-1B employer application investigations.
 
Increases employer penalties.
 
Revises provisions regarding initiation of employer violation investigations by DOL.
 
Provides for information sharing between DOL and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services regarding employer noncompliance.
 
Authorizes DOL to hire 200 additional employees to administer H-1B programs.
 
Prohibits, with a specified waiver by the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), an employer from hiring an L-1 nonimmigrant for more than one year who will: (1) serve in a capacity involving specialized knowledge; and (2) be stationed primarily at the worksite of an employer other than the petitioning employer. 
 
Specifies L-1: (1) employer petition requirements for employment at a new office; (2) wage rates and working conditions; and (3) employer penalties.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to initiate an L-1 employer investigation.
 
Requires a report to Congress regarding the L-1 blanket petition process.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4689-4693)
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Introduced in Senate
Oil Industry Tax Break Repeal Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-888
Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2009-04-23 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Alternative and renewable resources
Business investment and capital
Energy efficiency and conservation
Energy research
Government trust funds
Income tax credits
Income tax deductions
Oil and gas
Pipelines
Taxation of foreign income

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: 
Oil Industry Tax Break Repeal Act of 2009- Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) limit the oil depletion allowance; (2) terminate accelerated depreciation of natural gas distribution lines and Alaska natural gas pipelines, expensing of equipment used in refining of liquid fuels, the tax deduction for intangible drilling and development costs and tertiary injectants, and the tax credits for enhanced oil recovery and for producing oil and gas from marginal wells; (3) classify natural gas gathering lines as 15-year property for depreciation purposes; and (4) deny large integrated oil companies the tax deduction for income attributable to the domestic production of oil, natural gas, or related products. Defines &quot;large integrated oil companies&quot; as companies with gross receipts in excess of $1 billion and average daily worldwide crude oil production of at least 500,000 barrels.
 
Requires large integrated oil companies to revalue their LIFO inventories of crude oil, natural gas, or other petroleum products according to a specified formula. Denies such oil companies a foreign tax credit for payments to certain foreign countries from which they receive a specified economic benefit as a dual capacity taxpayer. 
 
Establishes in the Treasury the Energy Trust Fund and dedicates amounts in such Trust Fund to accelerating the use of clean domestic renewable energy and alternative fuels, promoting energy efficiency, and increasing research, development, and deployment of clean renewable energy and efficient technologies.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Introduced in Senate
Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-889
Sponsor: Sen. Specter, Arlen [R-PA]
Introduced: 2009-04-23 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agricultural marketing and promotion
Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
Food industry and services

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: 
Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2009 - Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to base the minimum Class II milk price on the average production cost of producing all milk in the 48 contiguous states. 
 
Directs the Secretary to: (1) announce the minimum price for Class II milk by November 1 of each year, with specified price adjustment dates; (2) use the Class II milk price as the basic formula price for all federal and state milk marketing orders and all unregulated milk production areas; and (3) estimate annual milk production and domestic consumption.
 
States that the price of Class I (fluid) milk price in all federal and state milk marketing orders and all unregulated milk production areas shall be equal to the basic formula price plus the applicable Class I differential under federal and state milk marketing orders.
 
Authorizes the Secretary, upon a determination of a positive dairy trade balance and excess production, to provide for a producer price reduction of not more than 5% of all milk produced in the 48 contiguous states and marketed by producers for commercial use.
 
Prohibits imposition of producer charges for the cost of hauling milk or the conversion of raw milk to manufactured products.
 
Sets forth provisions respecting: (1) milk inventory management; and (2) milk handler responsibilities.
 
States that in the case of a federal milk order, disapproval of an amendment to the order shall not be considered disapproval of the order or of other terms of the order.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4693-4694)
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Introduced in Senate
Health Information Technology (IT) Public Utility Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-890
Sponsor: Sen. Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV]
Introduced: 2009-04-23 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Child health
Department of Health and Human Services
Executive agency funding and structure
Health care quality
Health facilities and institutions
Health information and medical records
Health programs administration and funding
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Performance measurement
Rural conditions and development

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: 
Health Information Technology (IT) Public Utility Act of 2009 - Establishes within the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a Federal Consolidated Health Information Technology Board to facilitate the implementation of electronic health record systems among safety-net health care providers, particularly small, rural providers. Sets forth the duties of the Board, which include: (1) ensuring that there is a constant interoperability between VistA (the software program utilized by the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA]) and the RPMS (the Resource and Patient Management System of the Indian Health Service); (2) updating VistA and RPMS open source software on a timely basis; (3) establishing a child-specific electronic health record; and (4) developing and integrating quality and performance measurements.
 
Directs the Board to establish the 21st Century Health Information Technology (HIT) Grant Program to award competitive grants to eligible safety-net health care providers to enable such providers to fully implement VistA or RPMS with respect to the patients served by such providers. Directs the Board to give preference to applicants that: (1) are located in geographical areas that have a greater likelihood of serving the same patients and utilizing interoperability to promote coordinated care management; or (2) demonstrate the greatest need for such award. 
 
Authorizes the Board to award competitive grants to eligible long-term care providers for demonstration projects to implement VistA or RPMS with respect to the individuals served by such providers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-06
text: Star Print ordered on the bill.
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4694-4696)
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4694)
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to educational organizations to carry out programs about the Holocaust.

Bill: 111-s-892
Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2009-04-23 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Religion
War crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity
World history

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: 
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to educational organizations to carry out proposed or existing Holocaust education programs.
 
Prohibits such grants from being used to supplant nonfederal funds the grantees would otherwise have used for Holocaust education programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4748)
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Introduced in Senate
Imported and Domestic Product Safety Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-893
Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2009-04-23 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Department of Commerce
Executive agency funding and structure
Government information and archives
Product safety and quality

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: 
Imported and Domestic Product Safety Act of 2009 - Establishes in the Department of Commerce an Office of Imported and Domestic Product Safety to carry out specified duties, including: (1) coordinating all departments and agencies that have product safety responsibilities in a way that protects the health and safety of U.S. consumers and provides consumers and businesses with access to product safety information; (2) improving the www.Recalls.gov website; and (3) developing a publicly accessible database with information about all mandatory and voluntary product safety actions taken by businesses, departments, and agencies.
 
Establishes a Product Safety Coordinating Council to assist the Office's director.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Introduced in Senate
Success in Countering Al Qaeda Reporting Requirements Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-894
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2009-04-23 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information
Performance measurement
Terrorism

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: 
Success in Countering Al Qaeda Reporting Requirements Act of 2009 - Directs the President to submit annual counterterrorism reports to the appropriate congressional committees, including an assessment of U.S. counterterrorism efforts in fighting Al Qaeda and its related affiliates.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2009-04-23
text: Introduced in Senate
Limitation on Government Spending Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-897
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2009-04-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Budget deficits and national debt
Budget process
Legislative rules and procedure

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-24
text: 
Limitation on Government Spending Act of 2009 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to define GDP as the gross domestic product for the relevant fiscal year as most recently estimated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
 
Defines federal spending limits for: (1) FY2011, as outlays not exceeding 22% of the GDP; (2) FY2012, as outlays not exceeding 21% of the GDP; and (3) FY2013 and fiscal years thereafter, as outlays not exceeding 20% of the GDP.
 
Makes it out of order in the Senate to consider any legislation that includes any provision that would result in a deficit for a fiscal year that exceeds the maximum deficit amount or federal spending limit, as applicable, for such fiscal year.
 
Permits waiver or suspension of such prohibition, or successful appeals from rulings of the Chair, only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths (60) of the Senate.
 

 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
action_date: 2009-04-24
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4722-4723)
action_date: 2009-04-24
text: Introduced in Senate
States' Right To Innovate in Health Care Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-898
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2009-04-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Department of Health and Human Services
Executive agency funding and structure
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health programs administration and funding
Intergovernmental relations
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-24
text: 
States' Right To Innovate in Health Care Act of 2009 - Amends the Social Security Act to add a new title XXII (State Comprehensive Health Care and Cost Containment Demonstration Projects).
 
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a state-based Universal Health Care Coverage Commission to participate in the review of state applications for planning and demonstration grants for the development of a cost-effective delivery system of universal, comprehensive health care with simplified administration.
 
Authorizes such grants.
 
Requires a state plan to provide: (1) coverage of all eligible state residents, without regard to employment status, income, health status or preexisting condition, or location of residency within the state; and (2) health benefits that are at least actuarially equivalent to the standard Blue Cross/Blue Shield preferred provider option service benefit plan under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program.
 
Allows one or more contiguous states in a geographic region to file a joint application for such grants.
 
Authorizes Interstate Compacts of states to conduct joint health care programs under a grant.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-04-24
text: Introduced in Senate
DTV Cliff Effect Assistance Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-899
Sponsor: Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2009-04-27 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Broadcasting, cable, digital technologies
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
State and local finance
Telephone and wireless communication

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: 
 DTV Cliff Effect Assistance Act of 2009 - Directs the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information of the Department of Commerce to make payments (not to exceed $125 million in the aggregate) during FY2009-FY2012 from the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund for a program through which a local civil government body may receive funding for the construction and equipment of digital TV translators to fill gaps in the digital coverage for full-power stations where the gaps were created from the conversion of the signal from analog to digital.
 
 Requires any translator tower built under this Act to reasonably facilitate the collocation of any wireless communications or broadband equipment (unless there is clear evidence of unresolvable signal interference issues).


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4756-4757)
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Introduced in Senate
Credit Card Safety Star Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-900
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2009-04-27 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Advisory bodies
Banking and financial institutions regulation
Consumer credit
Federal Reserve System
Interest, dividends, interest rates

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: 
Credit Card Safety Star Act of 2009 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to direct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to promulgate rules to implement a Safety Star System, with one to five stars, to allow consumers to compare quickly and easily the terms, conditions, and levels of safety associated with various open end credit plan agreements.
 
Specifies a point structure for rating credit cards.
 
Assigns an automatic one-star rating (the lowest level of safety) to any open end credit plan that allows the card issuer to modify the terms of the agreement with a cardholder at any time or periodically for unspecified or unstated reasons.
 
Establishes the Credit Card Safety Star Advisory Commission.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4757-4760)
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4757)
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Introduced in Senate
Sustainable Revenue for Oregon Counties Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-901
Sponsor: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced: 2009-04-27 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Alternative and renewable resources
Electric power generation and transmission
Energy revenues and royalties
Forests, forestry, trees
Intergovernmental relations
Land transfers
Oregon
State and local finance
State and local taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: 
Sustainable Revenue for Oregon Counties Act of 2009 - Establishes the Oregon Task Force on Sustainable Revenue for Counties to consider and review concepts for the establishment of a long-term revenue source for counties in Oregon that have historically received federal funds. 
 
Directs the Task Force, in conducting the consideration and review, to consider: (1) revenue sources proposed by relevant legislation or administrative actions; (2) payments based on timber harvests, including thinning to restore forest health, carried out at sustainable levels; (3) payments based on the revenues each county could have received through property taxation if the land owned by the federal government was privately held and subject to a property tax; (4) revenue based on a portion of the proceeds from sales of material collected from public land in Oregon for the production of biomass electricity or cellulosic liquid transportation fuels, user fees for recreational activities on such land, payments for increases in carbon sequestration, and land exchanges or transfers that could provide compensation for nontaxable federal land in the counties; (5) local revenue sources that could be used to reduce or eliminate reliance of the counties on federal funds; (6) federal payments made by the government to the counties, including specified guaranteed payments; and (7) any other revenue source appropriate for review. 
 
Requires the Task Force to hold hearings on the establishment of a sustainable, long-term revenue source for the counties. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4761-4763)
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4760-4761)
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Introduced in Senate
Services, Education, and Rehabilitation for Veterans Act

Bill: 111-s-902
Sponsor: Sen. Kerry, John F. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2009-04-27 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Criminal procedure and sentencing
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Juvenile crime and gang violence
Law enforcement administration and funding
Mental health
Specialized courts
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: 
Services, Education, and Rehabilitation for Veterans Act or the SERV Act - Requires the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to delegate to the Department of Justice (DOJ) the authority to administer the veteran's treatment courts program established by this Act.
 
Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to states and other entities: (1) to develop, implement, or enhance veteran's treatment courts or to expand operational drug courts to serve veterans; and (2) for programs that involve continuing judicial supervision over nonviolent offenders with substance abuse or mental health problems who have served in the U.S. military. Requires such programs to include mandatory periodic testing for the use of drugs, substance abuse and mental health treatment, opportunities for diversion, probation, or supervised release, and programmatic, offender management, and aftercare services. 
 
Directs the National Drug Court Institute to conduct national training programs for state and local communities to improve the professional skills of drug court practitioners and provide comprehensive technical assistance to adult, juvenile, and family dependency drug courts.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2009-04-27
text: Introduced in Senate