hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
BEST Act

Bill: 113-hr-2549
Sponsor: Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Foreign language and bilingual programs
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Biliteracy Education Seal and Teaching Act or the BEST Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award renewable two-year grants to states to establish or improve a Seal of Biliteracy program to recognize student proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in both English and a second language.
 
Requires students who wish to participate in such a program to submit an application to their state that includes assurances that they: (1) will receive a secondary school diploma or its equivalent in the year they apply; and (2) have met the state's criteria for demonstrating proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in both English and a second language.
 
Requires states to provide participating students who demonstrate that proficiency: (1) a permanent seal or other marker on their secondary school diploma or its equivalent, and (2) documentation of that proficiency on their official academic transcript.
 
Allows students who gain proficiency in a second language outside of school to participate in such programs.
 
Prohibits states from charging students an application fee.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-09-13
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
Minority Small Business Enhancement Act of 2013

Bill: 113-hr-2550
Sponsor: Rep. Rush, Bobby L. [D-IL-1]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Government studies and investigations
Minority and disadvantaged businesses
Public contracts and procurement
Small business
Women in business

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Minority Small Business Enhancement Act of 2013 - Amends the Small Business Act to consider an individual with a net worth of less than $1.5 million as eligible for participation in a Small Business Administration (SBA) program providing grants to small businesses owned and controlled by economically disadvantaged individuals. Allows a small business to receive SBA developmental assistance under the program for the entire period of an SBA-guaranteed loan.
 
Redefines the term &quot;bundled contract&quot; to mean a contract or order entered into to meet procurement requirements that are consolidated in a bundling of contract requirements, without regard to its designation by the procuring agency or whether a study of the effects of the solicitation on civilian or military personnel has been made, subject to exceptions. Expands the definition of &quot;bundling of contract requirements.&quot; Makes the revised and expanded definitions inapplicable to contracts for construction services under $65 million or under $5 million for all other types of contracts.
 
Increases from: (1) 23% to 25% the government-wide small business procurement contract goal, and (2) 5% to 10% the government-wide procurement goal for small disadvantaged businesses and women-owned businesses. Limits the number of categories for which a small business may qualify under such goals.
 
Requires a report from the Comptroller General to Congress on disparities in the awarding of federal contracts to small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, small businesses, and other businesses.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
Colorado Wilderness Act of 2013

Bill: 113-hr-2552
Sponsor: Rep. DeGette, Diana [D-CO-1]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Colorado
Land transfers
Water use and supply
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Colorado Wilderness Act of 2013 - Amends the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to add specified lands in Colorado managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) (proposed as the Powderhorn Wilderness Addition) to the Powderhorn Wilderness. 
 
Designates specified lands in Colorado managed by the BLM or the U.S. Forest Service as wilderness and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
 
Designates specified lands in Colorado administered by the BLM, Forest Service, and Bureau of Reclamation as wilderness and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Incorporates such lands into the West Elk Wilderness. 
 
Allows the Secretary of the Interior to continue authorizing competitive running events currently permitted in the Redcloud Peak Wilderness and Handies Peak Wilderness Areas. 
 
Authorizes the Colorado Army National Guard, through the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, to conduct aerial navigation training maneuver exercises over the wilderness areas designated by this Act. 
 
Designates specified lands managed by the BLM as: (1) potential wilderness areas, and (2) as the Deep Creek Wilderness and the Pisgah Mountain Wilderness upon publication by the Secretary of a notice in the Federal Register that all nonconforming uses of such lands authorized by this Act for the conduct of such exercises and overflights of military helicopters in violation of the Wilderness Act have ceased. 
 
Provides for the securing, adjudication, and use of U.S. water rights for certain of the wilderness areas designated by this Act. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-07-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
action_date: 2013-07-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
To increase water storage availability at the New Melones Reservoir to provide additional water for areas served below the reservoir, and for other purposes.

Bill: 113-hr-2554
Sponsor: Rep. Denham, Jeff [R-CA-10]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: California
Lakes and rivers
Public contracts and procurement
Water storage
Water use and supply

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop and offer to the Oakdale Irrigation District and the South San Joaquin Irrigation District in California a contract enabling the Districts to collectively impound and store up to 100,000 acre-feet of their superior Stanislaus River water rights in the New Melones Reservoir in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Warren Act.
 
Requires any such contract to be for not less than 10 years and to expressly: (1) permit the Districts to use any water impounded and stored in such Reservoir for any legal purpose under California law, including use within the boundaries of either District, transfer to and reasonable and beneficial use by a person or entity not located within such boundaries, and for in stream use in the Stanislaus River, the San Joaquin River, or the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta; and (2) prohibit any water impounded and stored by either District from being released or withdrawn if the storage level of such Reservoir is below 1 million acre-feet and to require, in such event, that the impounded and stored water be retained for use by the Districts in the following year, subject to the same minimum storage requirement and without additional payment.
 
Excludes any water impounded and stored in such Reservoir by either District under such contract from water placed in the Districts' conservation account as defined in the August 30, 1988 Stipulation and Agreement entered into between the Bureau of Reclamation and the Districts.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-07-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic River Act

Bill: 113-hr-2555
Sponsor: Rep. Esty, Elizabeth H. [D-CT-5]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Connecticut
Lakes and rivers
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic River Act - Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate specified segments of the Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook in Connecticut as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. 
 
Requires the Secretary of the Interior to manage: (1) the river segments in accordance with the Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Management Plan, dated June 2011; and (2) coordinate the management responsibilities of the Secretary under this Act relating to such segments with the Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic Committee. 
 
Makes the provisions of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act prohibiting federal acquisition of lands by condemnation applicable to the designated segments. Limits the authority of the Secretary to acquire lands for the purposes of such segments to acquisition by donation or with the owner's consent and subject to additional management plan criteria. 
 
Prohibits the designation made by this Act from being construed as: (1) prohibiting, pre-empting, or abridging the potential future licensing or re-licensing of the Rainbow Dam and Reservoir (including any and all aspects of its facilities, operations, and transmission lines) by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as a federally licensed hydroelectric generation project; or (2) affecting the operation of, or imposing any flow or release requirements on, the unlicensed hydroelectric facility at the Dam and Reservoir. 
 
Bars the Lower Farmington River from being administered as part of the National Park System or being subject to System regulations.
 
Revises the description of a specified designated segment of the Farmington River in Connecticut.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-07-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
Excellence in Cybersecurity Act

Bill: 113-hr-2556
Sponsor: Rep. Honda, Michael M. [D-CA-17]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Computer security and identity theft
Computers and information technology
Department of Commerce
Executive agency funding and structure
Public-private cooperation
Trade secrets and economic espionage

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Excellence in Cybersecurity Act - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to establish five Vertical Centers of Excellence on Cybersecurity to: (1) identify and analyze existing and future cybersecurity challenges faced by various industries, (2) create solutions and promote best practices to address such challenges, and (3) collaborate with individuals in those industries to share knowledge. 
 
Requires the Director to select for each Center: (1) a manager, (2) an appropriate location, and (3) a particular industry to be the focus of its work. 
 
Requires the Director and each manager to jointly select a group of experts to: (1) identify and analyze existing and future cybersecurity challenges faced by the industry selected for the Center; (2) create cost-effective, repeatable, and scalable solutions; (3) collaborate, convene discussions, and share knowledge with individuals in that industry; and (4) create educational programs to promote best practices for such individuals.
 
Directs each Center to: (1) work within the Cybersecurity Framework created pursuant to Executive Order 13636, entitled &quot;Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity&quot;; (2) collaborate with each of the other Centers; (3) encourage relationships among individuals in the industry selected for the Center; and (4) share best practices and lessons learned from the work of the Center with those individuals. 
 
Requires the Director to submit to Congress a report describing the cybersecurity challenges, solutions, and best practices addressed by each Center.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-09-24
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Technology.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
Imprisonment for Tax Targeting of Americans Act of 2013

Bill: 113-hr-2557
Sponsor: Rep. Johnson, Sam [R-TX-3]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Criminal procedure and sentencing
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Right of privacy
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Imprisonment for Tax Targeting of Americans Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a mandatory fine and prison term of five years (currently, not more than five years) for: (1) unauthorized disclosure of tax return and return information and for unlawful solicitation to obtain such information, and (2) unauthorized inspection of tax returns or return information. Imposes a mandatory fine and a prison term of not more than five years for willful oppression under color of law by U.S. revenue officers and employees (currently, a fine or a prison term, or both, may be imposed).


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-07-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H4091-4092)
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
Incentivize Growth Now In Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs Act of 2013

Bill: 113-hr-2558
Sponsor: Rep. Maffei, Daniel B. [D-NY-24]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Business investment and capital
Income tax exclusion
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Incentivize Growth Now In Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish tax-exempt small business start-up accounts to provide for expenditures related to the creation or acquisition of an active trade or business. Limits the annual amount that may be contributed to such accounts to the lesser of $10,000 or the taxpayer's compensation that is includible in gross income. Sets forth reporting requirements for the trustee of a small business start-up account. Makes the tax penalties for prohibited transactions and excess contributions applicable to small business start-up savings accounts.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
Community College to Career Fund Act

Bill: 113-hr-2560
Sponsor: Rep. Miller, George [D-CA-11]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Business investment and capital
Economic development
Education programs funding
Employee hiring
Employment and training programs
Higher education
Labor-management relations
Performance measurement
Small business
State and local finance
Unemployment
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Wages and earnings
Women in business

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Community College to Career Fund Act - Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to: (1) institutions of higher education for educational or career training programs for workers, (2) state or local organizations in partnership with community colleges and other training providers for pay-for-performance projects and pay-for-success job training projects, (3) state or local governments to provide job training or recruiting activities necessary to provide skilled workers for businesses that have relocated or are considering relocating operations outside the United States but may instead relocate them to areas served by those governments, and (4) institutions of higher education in partnership with local or regional economic development entities to provide training in starting a small business and entrepreneurship.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-09-13
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
FAIR Student Credit Act of 2013

Bill: 113-hr-2561
Sponsor: Rep. Peters, Gary C. [D-MI-14]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Consumer credit
Government studies and investigations
Higher education
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Federal Adjustment in Reporting Student Credit Act of 2013 or the FAIR Student Credit Act of 2013 - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act, with respect to the responsibilities of furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies, to provide for the removal of a previously reported default regarding a qualified education loan from a consumer report if the consumer of the loan meets the requirements of a loan rehabilitation program, where the number of consecutive on-time monthly payments are equal to the number of payments specified in a default reduction program under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
 
Permits a consumer to obtain such rehabilitation benefits only once per loan. 
 
Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to report on any hurdles borrowers experience with the private loan rehabilitation program. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
SLICE Act

Bill: 113-hr-2562
Sponsor: Rep. Polis, Jared [D-CO-2]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Child health
Department of Agriculture
Elementary and secondary education
Food assistance and relief
Fruit and vegetables
Nutrition and diet
Poverty and welfare assistance

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
School Lunch Improvements for Children's Education Act or the SLICE Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to implement an interim or final rule regarding the school lunch and child nutrition programs that: (1) requires the crediting of tomato paste and puree as a vegetable serving based on the volume of tomato paste or puree served, (2) implements science-based sodium reduction targets, and (3) establishes a whole grain requirement.
 
 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-09-13
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
Ending Taxpayer Subsidies for Yachts Act

Bill: 113-hr-2563
Sponsor: Rep. Quigley, Mike [D-IL-5]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Housing finance and home ownership
Income tax deductions
Marine and inland water transportation

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Ending Taxpayer Subsidies for Yachts Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny a tax deduction for interest paid on a mortgage for a second residence of a taxpayer if that residence is a boat.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
To extend the additional duty on ethanol.

Bill: 113-hr-2564
Sponsor: Rep. Rangel, Charles B. [D-NY-13]
Introduced: 2013-06-27 in the House
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Tariffs

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: 
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to extend, through January 1, 2016, the duty on ethanol.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-07-23
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-27
text: Introduced in House