hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety Act

Bill: 113-s-395
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2013-02-27 in the Senate
Policy area: Animals
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Animal protection and human-animal relationships
Department of Agriculture
Licensing and registrations
Retail and wholesale trades

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-27
text: 
Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety Act - Amends the Animal Welfare Act to define a &quot;high volume retail breeder&quot; as a person who, in commerce, for compensation or profit: (1) has an ownership interest in or custody of one or more breeding female dogs; and (2) sells, via any means of conveyance, more than 50 of the offspring of such dogs for use as pets in any one-year period. Considers such a breeder of dogs to be a dealer. 
 
Requires dealers to include on licensing applications and annual renewals the total number of dogs exempted from exercise on the premises of the dealer in the preceding year by a licensed veterinarian.
 
Requires the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to promulgate requirements for the exercise of dogs at facilities owned or operated by a dealer, including requiring daily access to exercise that: (1) allows the dogs to move sufficiently in a way that is not forced, repetitive, or restrictive; and (2) is in an area that is spacious, cleaned at least once a day, free of infestation by pests or vermin, and designed to prevent the dogs from escaping. Allows an exemption if: (1) a licensed veterinarian determines that a dog should not exercise because of the health, condition, or well-being of the dog; and (2) such determination is reviewed and updated at least once every 30 days by the veterinarian, unless the basis for the determination is a permanent condition. Subjects such a determination to review and approval by the Secretary.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (text of measure as introduced: CR S944-945)
action_date: 2013-02-27
text: Introduced in Senate
Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act

Bill: 113-s-396
Sponsor: Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2013-02-27 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental health
Environmental regulatory procedures
Environmental technology
Government information and archives
Solid waste and recycling
Water quality

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-27
text: 
 Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to require owners or operators of publicly owned treatment works to: (1) institute monitoring systems to provide timely alerts of sewer overflows, (2) notify the public not later than 24 hours after receiving knowledge of such overflows in areas where human health is potentially affected, (3) notify public health authorities and other affected entities immediately of an overflow that may imminently and substantially endanger human health, (4) report each overflow on discharge monitoring reports to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the state, and (5) annually report to the Administrator or the state on the total number of overflows in a calendar year.
 
Makes specified exceptions to notification and reporting requirements for backups into single-family residences and for overflows that occur in the course of treatment works maintenance, respectively.
 
Requires annual summary reports by states to the Administrator.
 
Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations, including to establish overflow assessment guidance and develop communications measures to provide notification under this Act. 
 
Makes the monitoring systems eligible for state water pollution control revolving fund assistance.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2013-02-27
text: Introduced in Senate
Lena Horne Recognition Act

Bill: 113-s-397
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2013-02-27 in the Senate
Policy area: Arts, Culture, Religion
Subjects: Art, artists, authorship
Congressional tributes
Music
Performing arts
Racial and ethnic relations

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-27
text: 
Lena Horne Recognition Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of Lena Horne in recognition of her achievements and contributions to American culture and the civil rights movement.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2013-02-27
text: Introduced in Senate
American Job Protection Act

Bill: 113-s-399
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Business records
Comprehensive health care
Employee benefits and pensions
Government information and archives
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Sales and excise taxes
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
American Job Protection Act - Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, as added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, that: (1) impose fines on large employers (employers with more than 50 full-time employees) who fail to offer their full-time employees the opportunity to enroll in minimum essential health insurance coverage, and (2) require such large employers to file a report with the Secretary of the Treasury on health insurance coverage provided to their full-time employees. Applies the Internal Revenue Code as if such provisions had never been enacted.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Corps of Engineers Recreation Improvement Act

Bill: 113-s-400
Sponsor: Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Army Corps of Engineers
Department of Defense
Land use and conservation
Outdoor recreation
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Corps of Engineers Recreation Improvement Act - Amends the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to include the Corps of Engineers as a federal land management agency. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1013)
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act

Bill: 113-s-401
Sponsor: Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Alternative and renewable resources
Business investment and capital
Great Lakes
Income tax credits
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow a 30% tax credit for investment in a qualifying offshore wind facility (an offshore facility using wind to produce electricity), and (2) direct the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a qualifying credit for offshore wind facilities program to consider and award certifications for investments eligible for such a credit to qualifying offshore wind facility sponsors.
 
Requires the Secretary to review credits allocated under this Act periodically and authorizes the Secretary to make additional allocations and reallocations of such credits upon determining that: (1) the limit on the total amount of megawatt capacity for offshore facilities with respect to which credits may be allocated under the program has not been attained, or (2) scheduled placed-in-service dates of previously certified facilities have been significantly delayed and the applicant will not meet the required timeline.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to provide for the addition of certain real property to the reservation of the Siletz Tribe in the State of Oregon.

Bill: 113-s-402
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Department of the Interior
Gambling
Indian lands and resources rights
Land transfers
Oregon

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Amends the Siletz Tribe Indian Restoration Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to take into trust for the Siletz Tribe additional lands that lie within the original 1855 Siletz Coast Reservation and are located in Benton, Douglas, Lane, Lincoln, Tillamook, or Yamhill County in Oregon.
 
Requires such land to be considered and evaluated as an on-reservation acquisition and become part of the Tribe's reservation. (Off-reservation land acquisition requests require the Secretary to give greater scrutiny to the tribe's justification of the anticipated benefits from the acquisition.)
 
Prohibits gaming on lands taken into trust pursuant to this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1014)
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1013-1014)
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-403
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Assault and harassment offenses
Child safety and welfare
Congressional oversight
Crime prevention
Crime victims
Crimes against children
Disability and health-based discrimination
Elementary and secondary education
Government information and archives
Performance measurement
Racial and ethnic relations
Religion
School administration
Sex, gender, sexual orientation discrimination

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states to direct their local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish policies that prevent and prohibit conduct, including bullying and harassment, that is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive to: (1) limit students' ability to participate in, or benefit from, school programs; or (2) create a hostile or abusive educational environment that adversely affects their education.
 
Requires LEAs to also provide: (1) students, parents, and educational professionals with annual notice of the conduct prohibited in their discipline policies; (2) students and parents with grievance procedures that target such conduct; and (3) the public with annual data on the incidence and frequency of that conduct at the school and LEA level.
 
Requires: (1) the Secretary of Education to conduct, and report on, an independent biennial evaluation of programs and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elementary and secondary schools; and (2) the Commissioner for Education Statistics to collect state data, that are subject to independent review, to determine the incidence and frequency of the conduct prohibited by LEA discipline policies. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-405
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Broadcasting, cable, digital technologies
Evidence and witnesses
Federal appellate courts
Federal district courts
Judicial procedure and administration
Photography and imaging
Sound recording
Supreme Court
Television and film

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2013 - Authorizes the presiding judge of a U.S. appellate court or U.S. district court to permit the photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising to the public of court proceedings over which that judge presides, except when such action would constitute a violation of the due process rights of any party.
 
Directs: (1) a district court, upon the request of any witness in a trial proceeding other than a party, to order the face and voice of the witness to be disguised or otherwise obscured to render the witness unrecognizable to the broadcast audience of the trial proceeding; and (2) the presiding judge in a trial proceeding to inform each witness who is not a party of the right to make such request. Allows a presiding judge to obscure the face and voice of an individual if good cause is shown that photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising such features would threaten the individual's safety, the court's security, the integrity of future or ongoing law enforcement operations, or the interest of justice.
 
Prohibits a presiding judge from permitting the photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising of any juror in a trial proceeding, or of the jury selection process. 
 
Terminates a district court's authority under this Act three years after enactment of this Act.
 
Requires the Judicial Conference of the United States to promulgate mandatory guidelines which a presiding judge must follow for obscuring certain vulnerable witnesses. 
 
Prohibits any audio pickup or broadcast of conferences which occur in a court proceeding between attorneys and their clients, co-counsel of a client, adverse counsel, or counsel and the presiding judge, if the conferences are not part of the official record of the proceedings.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1014-1015)
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1014)
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Reinvesting In Vital Economic Rivers and Waterways Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-407
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Army Corps of Engineers
Congressional oversight
Department of Defense
Government trust funds
Infrastructure development
Marine and inland water transportation
Motor fuels
Navigation, waterways, harbors
Transportation programs funding
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Reinvesting In Vital Economic Rivers and Waterways Act of 2013 or RIVER Act - Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to promulgate regulations that, at a minimum, require certain delivery process criteria for qualifying construction and major rehabilitation projects for navigation infrastructure of inland and intracoastal waterways.
 
Directs the Secretary, in conjunction with the Inland Waterways Users Board, to submit to Congress a 20-year program for making capital investments on inland and intracoastal waterways. Allows such program to be based on the 20-year capital investment strategy contained in the Inland Marine Transportation System Capital Projects Business Model, Final Report published on April 13, 2010, as approved by the Board.
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit expenditures from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund to 50% of the total cost of the construction or rehabilitation project. Makes Fund amounts unavailable for: (1) construction or rehabilitation of dams, or (2) rehabilitation expenditures that do not equal or exceed $50 million.
 
Increases the Inland Waterways Trust Fund financing rate (user fee) from 20 cents to 29 cents after 2013. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-408
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Department of Health and Human Services
Medicare
Prescription drugs

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2013 - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) establishment of one or more Medicare operated prescription drug plan options; and (2) an appeals process for denials of benefits under a Medicare operated prescription drug plan.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1016-1017)
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1015-1016)
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to add Vietnam Veterans Day as a patriotic and national observance.

Bill: 113-s-409
Sponsor: Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Asia
Commemorative events and holidays
Conflicts and wars
Congressional tributes
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Veterans' organizations and recognition
Vietnam

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Authorizes the President to annually issue a proclamation: (1) designating March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day, (2) honoring and recognizing the contributions of veterans who served in Vietnam during war and peace, (3) encouraging state and local governments to establish a Vietnam Veterans Day, and (4) encouraging the people of the United States to observe such Day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act

Bill: 113-s-410
Sponsor: Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Commodities markets
Employee benefits and pensions
Foreign and international corporations
Health care costs and insurance
Income tax credits
Income tax deferral
Sales and excise taxes
Securities
Student aid and college costs
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a .03% excise tax on the purchase of a security if: (1) such purchase occurs or is cleared on a trading facility located in the United States, or (2) the purchaser or seller is a U.S. person. 
 
Defines "security" to include: (1) stocks, partnership interests, notes, bonds, debentures, or other evidences of indebtedness; (2) interests in a derivative financial instrument (i.e., any option, forward contract, futures contract, or any similar financial instrument) and (3) any notional principal contract. 
 
Exempts from such tax: (1) initial issues of securities; (2) any note, bond, debenture, or other evidence of indebtedness which is traded on a trading facility located in the United States and has a fixed maturity of not more than 100 days; and (3) securities traded pursuant to certain lending arrangements. Makes such tax applicable to transactions by controlled foreign corporations and payable by its U.S. shareholders. 
 
Allows an offset against such tax for contributions to certain tax-favored accounts, including tax-exempt retirement plans, Archer medical savings accounts, health savings accounts, and qualified tuition plans and Coverdell education savings accounts.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Short Line Railroad Rehabilitation and Investment Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-411
Sponsor: Sen. Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Income tax credits
Railroads

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Short Line Railroad Rehabilitation and Investment Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for railroad track maintenance, to: (1) expand the types of maintenance expenditures eligible for such credit, and (2) extend such credit through 2016.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1019)
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Keep Our Commitment to Veterans Act

Bill: 113-s-412
Sponsor: Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: California
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Health facilities and institutions
Home and outpatient care
Kansas
Louisiana
Massachusetts
New Jersey
New Mexico
Puerto Rico
South Carolina
Texas
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Keep Our Commitment to Veterans Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out specified major medical facility leases in FY2013-FY2014 in New Mexico, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Florida, Puerto Rico, Texas, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. 
Reduces lease amounts authorized in previous fiscal years for VA outpatient clinics in: (1) Johnson County, Kansas; (2) San Diego, California; and (3) Tyler, Texas.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-05-09
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-203.
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Human Trafficking Reporting Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-413
Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Introduced: 2013-02-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Criminal justice information and records
Human trafficking
Law enforcement administration and funding
Violent crime

Summary:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: 
Human Trafficking Reporting Act of 2013 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to include severe forms of trafficking in persons among "part 1 violent crimes" required to be reported by states for the Uniform Crime Reports of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for purposes of Bureau of Justice Assistance Grants and Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1019)
action_date: 2013-02-28
text: Introduced in Senate