hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Accessible Transportation for All Act

Bill: 113-s-2887
Sponsor: Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Administrative remedies
Civil actions and liability
Department of Transportation
Disability and health-based discrimination
Disability and paralysis
Executive agency funding and structure
Government studies and investigations
Income tax credits
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles
Public transit
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Accessible Transportation for All Act - Requires owners or operators of a for-hire transportation company, taxi service, or transportation network company to provide accessible vehicles for hire by disabled individuals in need of transportation services.
 
Prohibits discrimination against disabled individuals in the provision of for-hire transportation services.
 
Requires the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to organize a national competition for U.S. automobile manufacturers to design one or more model accessible taxi vehicles and model accessible passenger cars.
 
Establishes in the FTA an Accessible Taxi and For-Hire Transportation Board.
 
Requires states to develop a strategic plan to increase the availability of accessible taxi vehicles, accessible vehicles for hire, and other accessible for-hire transportation options for people with disabilities.
 
Directs the Administrator, in collaboration with the U.S. Access Board, to promulgate accessibility and service standards for accessible taxi vehicles and accessible vehicles for hire to ensure that they are fully accessible to, and usable by, passengers with disabilities.
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for expenditures incurred by a small business that is a qualified taxi company in purchasing or adapting a vehicle for use as an accessible taxi vehicle.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5790-5792)
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5790)
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Exercise and Fitness For All Act

Bill: 113-s-2888
Sponsor: Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Access Board
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Disability and paralysis
Income tax credits
Physical fitness and lifestyle
Small business
Sports and recreation facilities

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Exercise and Fitness For All Act - Directs the Access Board to develop and publish guidelines for exercise or fitness service providers to provide accessible exercise or fitness equipment, including relevant personnel training. Requires such guidelines to ensure that exercise or fitness equipment is accessible to, and usable by, individuals with disabilities. 
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow eligible small businesses a tax credit for providing accessible exercise or fitness equipment for use by individuals with disabilities. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5792-5793)
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5790)
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Universal Home Design Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2889
Sponsor: Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Access Board
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Building construction
Civil actions and liability
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Executive agency funding and structure
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government studies and investigations
Housing and community development funding
Housing finance and home ownership
Housing for the elderly and disabled
Housing industry and standards
Housing supply and affordability
Income tax credits
Legal fees and court costs
Public housing
Veterans' loans, housing, homeless programs

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Universal Home Design Act of 2014 - Requires the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) to develop guidelines setting forth the minimum technical criteria and scoping requirements for certain federally assisted single family houses, townhouses, and other specified kinds of dwelling to comply with universal home design.
 
Requires universal home design to include architectural and other landscaping features that allow basic access to and within a residential dwelling by an individual with a disability who cannot climb stairs, including an individual who uses a mobility device such as a wheelchair.
 
Requires each applicant for such federal financial assistance to submit compliance assurances to the relevant federal agency.
 
Permits: (1) private civil actions in a U.S. district court for violations of this Act, and (2) the Attorney General to commence civil actions or intervene in civil actions under it.
 
Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish an Office of Accessible Housing and Development to: (1) disseminate information to the public about the importance of universal home design, including through a website; (2) survey and report to the Secretary on the availability of affordable and accessible housing; and (3) promote universal home design.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5793-5794)
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5790)
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Digital Coast Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2890
Sponsor: Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Broadcasting, cable, digital technologies
Department of Commerce
Earth sciences
Executive agency funding and structure
Geography and mapping
Government information and archives
Intergovernmental relations
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
State and local government operations
U.S. territories and protectorates

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Digital Coast Act of 2014 - Requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a constituent-driven Digital Coast program. (This program currently exists under NOAA to provide data, tools, and training that communities use to manage their coastal resources.) Directs the program to: (1) provide an online resource that integrates geospatial data, decision-support tools, training, and best practices to address coastal management issues and needs and to enhance resilient communities, ecosystem values, and coastal economic growth and development; and (2) provide for the documentation, dissemination, and archiving of the data.
 
Requires NOAA to focus on filling data needs and gaps for critical coastal management issues, support continued improvement in existing efforts to coordinate the acquisition and integration of key data sets needed for coastal management and other purposes, and enter into financial agreements to carry out the program. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Innovation in Surface Transportation Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2891
Sponsor: Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Air quality
Economic development
Government information and archives
Pedestrians and bicycling
Public transit
Railroads
Roads and highways
State and local government operations
Transportation programs funding
Transportation safety and security

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Innovation in Surface Transportation Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT), in coordination with state transportation departments, to establish an innovation in surface transportation program.
 
Requires states to make competitive grants for innovative surface transportation projects to eligible entities, including local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, regional transportation authorities, transit agencies, tribal governments, private providers of public transportation, nonprofit transportation organizations, port authorities, joint power authorities, freight rail providers, and local rail authorities.
 
Requires each state (including the governor and state department of transportation) to establish an innovation in surface transportation selection panel to formulate criteria for selecting projects.
 
Requires a state to reserve certain percentages of federal funds apportioned for the national highway performance, the highway safety improvement, the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement, surface transportation, and transportation alternatives programs in order to fund related projects under state innovative surface transportation grants.
 
Authorizes a state to reserve a specified percentage of apportioned funds to meet rural local government requests to support development of project applications.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5794)
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
401(Kids) Education Savings Account Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2892
Sponsor: Sen. Kirk, Mark Steven [R-IL]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Elementary and secondary education
Employee benefits and pensions
Higher education
Housing finance and home ownership
Income tax exclusion
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
401(Kids) Education Savings Account Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) eliminate after 2014 the income-based reduction of contributions to Coverdell education savings accounts, (2) increase the annual contribution limit for such accounts, (3) allow the use of such an account to pay home school expenses and the acquisition costs of a first-time homebuyer, and (4) allow tax-free rollovers of amounts in a Coverdell education savings account to a Roth individual retirement account (Roth IRA). 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Workforce Residential Housing Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2893
Sponsor: Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Government studies and investigations
Housing and community development funding
Housing finance and home ownership
Housing supply and affordability

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Workforce Residential Housing Act of 2014 - Amends the National Housing Act to except from the prohibition against the use of houses built with federally insured mortgages for transient or hotel housing certain mulifamily housing that is a short-term residential property, provided that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has determined that the provision of such insurance is appropriate.
 
Defines &quot;short-term residential property&quot; as multifamily housing that:
 
 
has more than 50 dwelling units, each of which contains a kitchen and bathroom facilities;
 
provides mailboxes for each unit;
 
rents the units for a minimum stay of seven days; and
 
does not provide food or beverage services, daily maid services, furnishing and laundering of linen without charge, or bellhop services.
 
 
Directs the Secretary to: (1) evaluate the risk of providing mortgage insurance for short-term residential properties, and (2) report to Congress on whether any additional risk to the General Insurance Fund resulting from the provision of mortgage insurance for such properties is appropriate. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to streamline the oil and gas permitting process and to recognize fee ownership for certain oil and gas drilling or spacing units, and for other purposes.

Bill: 113-s-2894
Sponsor: Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Licensing and registrations
Oil and gas

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
States that a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) drilling permit shall not be required under either the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 or the Code of Federal Regulations for an action occurring within an oil and gas drilling or spacing unit, if: (1) less than 50% of the minerals within the oil and gas drilling or spacing unit are federally owned, and (2) the federal government neither owns nor leases the surface estate within the unit's boundaries. 
 
Retains the right of the federal government to receive royalties from the production of federal minerals within the unit. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Pay What You Owe Before You Go Act

Bill: 113-s-2895
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Corporate finance and management
Foreign and international corporations
Taxation of foreign income

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Pay What You Owe Before You Go Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the recapture in subpart F income (i.e., income of a controlled foreign corporation earned outside the United States which is not tax deferred) the accumulated deferred foreign income of such corporation (i.e., the undistributed earnings of the controlled foreign corporation over its undistributed U.S. earnings) for its last taxable year. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Social Security Garnishment Modernization Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2896
Sponsor: Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Debt collection
Government lending and loan guarantees
Higher education
Inflation and prices
Poverty and welfare assistance
Social security and elderly assistance
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Social Security Garnishment Modernization Act of 2014 - Exempts an inflation-adjusted $9,000 each year of an individual's benefits under the Social Security Act from being used by the Department of Education to offset the amount the individual owes on a defaulted student loan under title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5795)
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Manufacturing Skills Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2897
Sponsor: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Appropriations
Department of Labor
Employment and training programs
Executive agency funding and structure
Government studies and investigations
Manufacturing
Minority employment
Science and engineering education
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Vocational and technical education

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Manufacturing Skills Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretaries of Commerce, Labor, Education, and Defense (DOD) and the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to jointly establish a Manufacturing Skills Partnership to administer and carry out a program to award compeititve, three-year grants to enable up to five states and five metropolitan areas to carry out proposals to promote reforms in workforce education and skill training for manufacturing.
 
Requires the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): (1) acting through the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office, to conduct an audit of all federal education and skills training programs related to manufacturing to ensure that states and metropolitan areas are able to align federal resources with the labor demands of their primary manufacturing industries; and (2) to work with states and metropolitan areas to determine how federal funds can be more tailored to meet their different needs.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act

Bill: 113-s-2898
Sponsor: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Consumer affairs
Department of Education
Education programs funding
Government lending and loan guarantees
Higher education
Licensing and registrations
Marketing and advertising
Student aid and college costs
Vocational and technical education

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act - Makes any institution of higher education (IHE) postsecondary program designed to prepare students for a recognized occupation or profession requiring licensing or other entry pre-conditions ineligible to participate in a federal financial assistance program, unless it meets specified student consumer protection requirements within one year after this Act's enactment. 
 
Requires each program to: (1) fully prepare students to satisfy those entry pre-conditions in the metropolitan statistical areas and states in which the students reside and in any state the program claims a successful program graduate will be prepared to work in the particular occupation or profession involved; and (2) provide timely placement of students in required pre-licensure positions, such as clinical placements, internships, or apprenticeships.
 
Directs the Secretary of Education to promulgate regulations regarding pre-accredited IHE programs to: (1) impose consumer protection requirements on such programs that are consistent with those this Act imposes on accredited programs, and (2) condition an IHE's participation in any federal financial assistance program on the IHE signing a loan discharge agreement with each of their students who is enrolled in any pre-accredited program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Responsible Estate Tax Act

Bill: 113-s-2899
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Farmland
Inflation and prices
Land use and conservation
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
Transfer and inheritance taxes

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Responsible Estate Tax Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes, to: (1) revise estate tax rates to impose an increased tax for estates over $3.5 million and a maximum tax rate of 55% for estates over $50 million; (2) impose a 10% surtax on estates over $500 million; (3) reduce the basic estate tax exclusion amount from $5 million to $3.5 million; (4) increase to $3 million the reduction in valuations of farmland for estate tax purposes and adjust such increased amount for inflation after 2014; and (5) increase to $2 million the maximum estate tax exclusion for contributions of conservation easements.
 
Requires that the value of the basis in any property acquired from a decedent or by gift be consistent with the basis as determined for estate and gift tax purposes. Requires executors of estates and donors of gifts required to file a gift tax return to disclose to the Secretary of the Treasury, and to recipients of any interest in an estate or a gift, information identifying the value of each interest received.
 
Sets forth estate valuation rules for certain transfers of nonbusiness assets and limits estate tax discounts for certain individuals with minority interests in a business acquired from a decedent.
 
Expands rules for valuing assets in grantor retained annuity trusts to require that: (1) the right to receive fixed amounts from an annuity last for a term of not less than 10 years and that such fixed amounts not decrease during the first 10 years of the annuity term, and (2) the remainder interest have a value greater than 10% when transferred.
 
Sets forth rules for the application of transfer taxes to a grantor trust (a trust in which the grantor retains control over the trust assets and has the right to receive income from the trust). 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate
Livable Communities Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2900
Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2014-09-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Air quality
Building construction
Congressional oversight
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Economic development
Employee hiring
Energy efficiency and conservation
Environmental health
Executive agency funding and structure
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government studies and investigations
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Housing and community development funding
Housing supply and affordability
Low- and moderate-income housing
Public transit
Regional and metropolitan planning
Residential rehabilitation and home repair
Rural conditions and development
Urban and suburban affairs and development

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: 
Livable Communities Act of 2014 - Establishes in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) an Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC) to review and coordinate federal policies that:
 
 
encourage locally directed comprehensive and integrated planning and development at the state, regional, and local levels, and coordinated public investments through development of comprehensive regional plans; and 
 
provide long-term affordable, accessible, energy-efficient, healthy and location-efficient housing choices for all people, particularly low-income families. 
 
 
Requires the OSHC Director to establish a program to make comprehensive planning grants and community challenge grants to units of general local government or Indian tribes to carry out projects meeting specified criteria.
 
Authorizes the Secretary of HUD to make or guarantee (up to 75% of) loans to eligible governmental, corporate, or partnership borrowers for infrastructure development projects used to support transit-oriented development.
 
Requires the Director of the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes to lead the federal initiative to support healthy housing and eradicate housing-related health hazards.
 
Requires the Secretary to study how sustainable building features in housing, such as energy efficiency, affect: (1) the quality of the indoor environment, (2) the prevalence of housing-related health hazards, and (3) the health of the occupants.
 



Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2014-09-18
text: Introduced in Senate