hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Fair Telephone Billing Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1144
Sponsor: Sen. Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV]
Introduced: 2013-06-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Consumer affairs
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Telecommunication rates and fees
Telephone and wireless communication

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: 
Fair Telephone Billing Act of 2013 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit local exchange carriers or providers of interconnected VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service from placing, or causing to be placed, a third-party charge that is not directly related to the provision of telephone services on the bill of a customer, unless: (1) the third-party charge is from a contracted third-party vendor and for a product or service that the carrier or provider markets or sells jointly with its own service, (2) the customer provided affirmative consent for the charge, (3) the customer was provided with a disclosure of material terms and conditions prior to such consent, and (4) the charge is implemented with reasonable procedures to ensure that the customer has requested the product or service. 
 
Defines: (1) a &quot;third-party charge&quot; as a charge for a product or service not provided by a local exchange carrier or a provider of interconnected VoIP service, and (2) a &quot;contracted third-party vendor&quot; as a person with a contractual right to receive billing and collection services from such a carrier or provider for a product or service the person provides directly to a customer.
 
Subjects violators to civil forfeiture and specified penalties and refund requirements.
 
Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to promulgate rules to: (1) define how local exchange carriers and providers of interconnected VoIP service will obtain affirmative consent from a consumer for a third-party charge, (2) ensure that consumers are fully aware of the charges to which they are consenting, and (3) impose recordkeeping requirements on such carriers and providers related to any grants of affirmative consent by consumers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4408-4409)
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4407-4408)
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Lifetime Income Disclosure Act

Bill: 113-s-1145
Sponsor: Sen. Isakson, Johnny [R-GA]
Introduced: 2013-06-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Department of Labor
Employee benefits and pensions
Government information and archives

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: 
Lifetime Income Disclosure Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require the quarterly pension benefit statement furnished to a participant or beneficiary with the right to direct the investment of assets in his or her account under an individual account plan to include a lifetime income disclosure at least once during any 12-month period.
 
Requires such lifetime income disclosure to set forth the lifetime income stream equivalent of the participant's or beneficiary's total benefits accrued. Defines a lifetime income stream equivalent of the total benefits accrued as the monthly annuity payment the participant or beneficiary would receive if those total accrued benefits were used to provide lifetime income streams to a qualified joint and survivor annuitant.
 
Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) issue a model lifetime income disclosure, written in a manner which can be understood by the average plan participant; and (2) prescribe assumptions that plan administrators may use in converting total accrued benefits into lifetime income stream equivalents.
 
Declares that no plan fiduciary, plan sponsor, or other person shall have any liability under ERISA solely by reason of the provision of lifetime income stream equivalents derived in accordance with such assumptions and related rules and including explanations contained in the model lifetime income disclosure.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Introduced in Senate
State Ethics Law Protection Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1146
Sponsor: Sen. Kirk, Mark Steven [R-IL]
Introduced: 2013-06-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Public contracts and procurement
Roads and highways
State and local government operations
Transportation programs funding

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: 
State Ethics Law Protection Act of 2013 - Considers a state transportation department not to have violated federal contract requirements for the construction of a federal-aid highway project solely because the state in which the department is located, or a local government within that state, has in effect a law or order that limits the amount of money an individual or entity doing business with a state or local agency with respect to such a project may contribute to a political party, campaign, or elected official (pay to play).


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Due Process and Military Detention Amendments Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1147
Sponsor: Sen. Udall, Mark [D-CO]
Introduced: 2013-06-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Criminal procedure and sentencing
Detention of persons
Due process and equal protection
Military law
Military operations and strategy
Terrorism

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: 
 Due Process and Military Detention Amendments Act of 2013 - Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (such Act) to provide that, in the case of a person detained in the United States pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force or such Act, disposition under the law of war shall occur immediately upon custody and shall only mean transfer for trial and proceedings with all due process rights as provided under the Constitution.
 
Prohibits any person detained, captured, or arrested in the United States or a U.S. territory or possession from being transferred to the custody of the Armed Forces for detention under the Authorization for Use of Military Force or such Act.
 
Repeals the requirement of detention in military custody pending disposition under the law of war for an individual determined to be a member or part of al Qaeda or an associated force who has participated in planning or carrying out an attack or attempted attack against the United States or its coalition partners.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Veterans Benefits Claims Faster Filing Act

Bill: 113-s-1148
Sponsor: Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
Introduced: 2013-06-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Disability assistance
Government information and archives
Veterans' pensions and compensation

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: 
Veterans Benefits Claims Faster Filing Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to post in a conspicuous place in each VA regional office and claims intake facility and on the VA website information on: (1) the average processing time for fully developed and not fully developed VA benefits claims submitted in specified forms, and (2) the percentage of such claims filed by specified methods for which benefits are awarded.
 
Requires the Secretary to notify each person submitting a claim for a VA benefit of such information and of the person's eligibility to receive up to an extra year of benefit payments if the person files a claim that is fully developed.
 
Requires the notice information to be updated at least quarterly.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-280.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act

Bill: 113-s-1149
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2013-06-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Department of Justice
Firearms and explosives

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: 
Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act - Amends the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 to: (1) delay the repeal date of such Act for 10 years, and (2) extend the prohibitions against undetectable firearms in such Act to specified firearm receivers and ammunition magazines.
 
Prohibits the manufacture, importation, sale, shipment, delivery, possession, transfer, or receipt of any receiver for a rifle or handgun, or of any ammunition magazine, that: (1) is manufactured by a person who is not a licensed manufacturer, (2) is not as detectable as the Receiver Security Exemplar or the Magazine Security Exemplar by walk-through metal detectors, or (3) does not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of a receiver or an ammunition magazine when subjected to inspection by airport x-ray machines. 
 
Defines "Receiver Security Exemplar" and "Magazine Security Exemplar" as objects fabricated at the direction of the Attorney General that are: (1) constructed, respectively, of 3.7 ounces of material type 17-4 PH stainless steel in a shape resembling the lower receiver for a rifle or handgun, or of 1 ounce of material type 17-4 PH stainless steel in a shape resembling an ammunition magazine; and (2) suitable for testing and calibrating metal detectors.
 
Directs the Attorney General to promulgate regulations to permit the manufacture, importation, sale, shipment, delivery, possession, transfer, or receipt of receivers or magazines that were previously prohibited but that become as detectable as their respective Exemplars in view of advances in weapons detection technology. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Congressional Tribute to Constance Baker Motley Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1150
Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2013-06-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Subjects: Congressional tributes
Federal district courts
Judges
Lawyers and legal services
New York City
New York State
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Congressional Tribute to Constance Baker Motley Act of 2013 - Authorizes the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of Constance Baker Motley (civil rights attorney at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., first African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate, and Chief Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York), in recognition of her enduring contributions and service to the United States.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Introduced in Senate
America's Agricultural Heritage Partnership Reauthorization Act

Bill: 113-s-1151
Sponsor: Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA]
Introduced: 2013-06-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Farmland
Historic sites and heritage areas
Iowa

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: 
America's Agricultural Heritage Partnership Reauthorization Act - Amends the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to extend the Secretary of Agriculture's (USDA) authority to make grants or provide assistance to the America's Agricultural Heritage Partnership (Iowa).


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-07-31
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 113-93.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Building a Health Care Workforce for the Future Act

Bill: 113-s-1152
Sponsor: Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI]
Introduced: 2013-06-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Dental care
Education programs funding
Government studies and investigations
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health care quality
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Health programs administration and funding
Medicaid
Medical education
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Medicare
Mental health
Nursing
State and local government operations
Student aid and college costs
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: 
Building a Health Care Workforce for the Future Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award matching grants to enable states to implement scholarship programs to ensure an adequate supply of health professionals.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to assist medical schools in developing and strengthening primary care mentorship programs and cultivating leaders in primary care among its students.
 
Requires the Secretary to award grants to medical and other health professions schools to promote priority competencies that are selected annually by the Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry, in order to foster curricular innovations to improve the education and training of health care providers.
 
Directs the Institute of Medicine to study the documentation requirements for cognitive services (evaluation and management services) required under Medicare and Medicaid and through private health insurers. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4409)
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Exchange Sunset Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1154
Sponsor: Sen. Roberts, Pat [R-KS]
Introduced: 2013-06-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Comprehensive health care
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: 
Exchange Sunset Act of 2013 - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to make inapplicable provisions concerning Health Benefit Exchanges if one or more Exchanges fail to accept applications for enrollment in qualified health plans beginning on October 1, 2013.
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to terminate the requirement that individuals maintain minimum essential coverage upon such a determination by the Secretary of the Treasury.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Rural Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act

Bill: 113-s-1155
Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Introduced: 2013-06-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Appropriations
Computers and information technology
Congressional oversight
Department of Veterans Affairs
Executive agency funding and structure
Government studies and investigations
Health care coverage and access
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Health technology, devices, supplies
Home and outpatient care
Licensing and registrations
Medical education
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Mental health
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: 
Rural Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act - Amends appropriations authorities for veterans' benefits to provide advanced appropriations for information technology relating to medical services, support, compliance, and facilities of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).
 
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to include, as a component of VHA health-care personnel education and training programs, education and training of marriage and family therapists as well as licensed professional mental health counselors.
 
Amends the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 to require the Secretary, through VA medical centers, to provide mental health services, including outpatient care, to the immediate families of certain veterans returning from Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.
 
Requires the Secretary to report to Congress regarding telemedicine services (the use by a health care provider of telecommunications to assist in the diagnosis or treatment of a patient's medical condition) for veterans, including updates on VA teleconsultation and telemedicine initiatives, training, and partnerships with primary care providers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-280.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2013-06-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Understanding the True Cost of College Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1156
Sponsor: Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN]
Introduced: 2013-06-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Consumer affairs
Education programs funding
Government information and archives
Government lending and loan guarantees
Higher education
School administration
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-13
text: 
Understanding the True Cost of College Act of 2013 - Amends the Higher Education Opportunity Act to refer to the Secretary of Education's model institution of higher eduction (IHE) financial aid offer form as the standard form. 
 
Requires the standard form to include certain additional items, such as: (1) information concerning work study assistance, including its dependence on the availability of employment opportunities; (2) the disclosure that federal student loans offer generally more favorable terms and repayment options than private education loans; (3) the deadline for and a summary of the financial aid acceptance process; (4) the academic period covered by the offer and whether the aid is based on full-time or part-time enrollment; and (5) the IHE's most recent cohort default rate compared to the national average cohort default rate, if more than 30% of the school's students take out student loans.
 
Requires more detailed information to be included on the form. 
 
Includes among those details, with respect to federal education loans, information: (1) identifying the type and amount of loan recommended for the applicable student; (2) clearly indicating that such loans need to be repaid; (3) disclosing the student's right to borrow less than the recommended amount; (4) detailing the interest rates, fees, expected monthly repayment amounts, and sums to be paid over the life of such loans (assuming a ten-year repayment plan); and (5) disclosing the student's possible eligibility for longer repayment terms and that longer repayment terms may result in the student paying more over the life of such loans.
 
Requires that certain steps be taken to improve the clarity of the form and provide recipients with access to additional information.
 
Directs the Secretary, before finalizing the standard form, to submit it to consumer testing among students, their families, IHEs, secondary school and postsecondary counselors, and nonprofit consumer groups.
 
Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require each IHE receiving federal financial assistance under the Act to use the standard form in providing written or electronic financial aid offers to students enrolled in, or accepted for enrollment in, the IHE.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2013-06-13
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to reauthorize the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, the Lackawanna Valley National Heritage Area, the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, and the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Area.

Bill: 113-s-1157
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2013-06-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Dams and canals
Historic sites and heritage areas
Industrial facilities
Lakes and rivers
Manufacturing
Metals
Pennsylvania
Watersheds

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-13
text: 
 Amends the Steel Industry American Heritage Area Act of 1996 to extend through FY2023 the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to make grants or provide other assistance for the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area in Pennsylvania. 
 
 Amends the Lackawanna Valley National Heritage Area Act of 2000 to extend through FY2023 the authority of the Secretary to provide grants or other assistance for the Lackawanna Valley National Heritage Area in Pennsylvania. 
 
Amends the Delaware and Lehigh Navigation Canal Heritage Corridor Act of 1988 to extend through FY2023: (1) the authorization of appropriations for the management action plan respecting the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor in Pennsylvania, and (2) the authority of the Secretary to provide financial assistance for the Corridor. 
 
Amends the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Area to extend through FY2023 the authority of the Secretary to make grants or provide other assistance for the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Area in Pennsylvania. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-07-31
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 113-93.
action_date: 2013-06-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2013-06-13
text: Introduced in Senate
National Park Service 100th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act

Bill: 113-s-1158
Sponsor: Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]
Introduced: 2013-06-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Commemorative events and holidays
Currency
Department of the Interior
Parks, recreation areas, trails

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-13
text: 
National Park Service 100th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue gold, silver, and half-dollar clad coins in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the National Park Service (NPS). 
 
Authorizes the issuance of coins under this Act only for a one-year period, beginning on January 1, 2016.
 
Requires all sales of coins minted under this Act to include a surcharge of $35 per gold coin, $10 per silver coin, and $5 per half-dollar clad coin. 
 
Requires all of the surcharges received from the sale of such coins to be paid to the National Park Foundation for projects and programs to help preserve and protect resources under the stewardship of the NPS and to promote public enjoyment and appreciation of those resources. 
 
Prohibits the surcharges paid to the Foundation from being used for land acquisition. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-06-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2013-06-13
text: Introduced in Senate