hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Colonias Improvement Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2558
Sponsor: Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM]
Introduced: 2014-06-26 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Arizona
California
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government studies and investigations
Housing and community development funding
Housing supply and affordability
New Mexico
Rural conditions and development
Solid waste and recycling
Texas
Water quality
Water use and supply

Summary:
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: 
Colonias Improvement Act of 2014 - Directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue, in consultation with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), a rule defining colonia (a type of settlement along the border of the United States and Mexico) that:
 
 
is the same for any program of the EPA, HUD, or USDA that specifically includes assistance for colonias (covered program); 
 
is limited to a community that is located within 75 miles of the border or that has applied for or received funding under a covered program before this Act's enactment; 
 
reflects and preserves the historic, geographic, and cultural character of the communities served by the covered program; and
 
may be used to determine whether an applicant qualifies for assistance under a program.
 
 
Directs the EPA, HUD, and USDA to establish and update an online clearinghouse with information relating to covered programs and links to information specific to each state. 
 
Requires EPA to establish a working group that includes HUD and USDA to review covered programs, record information relating to each award made under a covered program, hold public hearings, and make recommendations to Congress for improving the programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: Introduced in Senate
United States Fish and Wildlife Service Resource Protection Act

Bill: 113-s-2560
Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2014-06-26 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Civil actions and liability
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Judicial review and appeals
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Oil and gas
Pollution liability
Water quality
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: 
United States Fish and Wildlife Service Resource Protection Act - Authorizes the Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to seek compensation from individuals or entities for costs or damages for destroying, causing the loss of, or injuring any living, nonliving, historical, cultural, or archaeological resource on land managed by the USFWS, or for causing the USFWS to carry out actions to prevent, minimize, or abate such destruction, loss, or injury.
 
Requires amounts recovered as a result of such destruction, loss, or injury to be made available to USFWS to: (1) reimburse response costs and damage assessments; (2) restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of a resource that was destroyed, lost, or injured; or (3) monitor and study those resources.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-16
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works Senate Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 113-772.
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4162)
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4160-4162)
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: Introduced in Senate
Human Smuggling Prevention Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2561
Sponsor: Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2014-06-26 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Agricultural trade
Border security and unlawful immigration
Congressional oversight
Crimes against children
Crimes against property
Crimes against women
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Customs enforcement
Department of Homeland Security
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Firearms and explosives
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government buildings, facilities, and property
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Human trafficking
Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information
Intergovernmental relations
Law enforcement administration and funding
Law enforcement officers
Sex offenses
Smuggling and trafficking
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: 
Human Smuggling Prevention Act of 2014 - Prohibits an individual acting for financial gain from directing or participating in an effort to bring or attempt to bring five or more persons unlawfully into the United States. 
 
Establishes monetary and/or prison penalties for such actions. Prescribes increased penalties for actions that: (1) result in death or serious bodily injury; (2) place a life in jeopardy; or (3) involve bribery of a government official, robbery, sexual abuse, or 10 or more persons.
 
Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) implement a strategy to deter and interdict human smuggling across the international land and maritime borders of the United States, and (2) submit an annual list to Congress of high traffic areas of human smuggling.
 
Makes it a crime to: (1) transmit to another person the location, movement, or activities of law enforcement agents with the intent to further a federal crime relating to immigration, customs, controlled substances, agriculture, monetary instruments, or other border controls; and (2) destroy, alter, or damage any physical or electronic device used by the federal government to control the border or any port of entry. 
 
Prohibits the carrying or use of a firearm in an alien smuggling crime.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: Introduced in Senate
Bring Jobs Home Act

Bill: 113-s-2562
Sponsor: Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI]
Introduced: 2014-06-26 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Business investment and capital
Employee hiring
Foreign and international corporations
Income tax credits
Income tax deductions
Taxation of foreign income
U.S. territories and protectorates

Summary:
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: 
Bring Jobs Home Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) grant business taxpayers a tax credit for up to 20% of insourcing expenses incurred for eliminating a business located outside the United States and relocating it within the United States, and (2) deny a tax deduction for outsourcing expenses incurred in relocating a U.S. business outside the United States. Requires an increase in the taxpayer's employment of full-time employees in the United States in order to claim the tax credit for insourcing expenses.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-07
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 451.
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: Introduced in Senate
Improving Driver Safety Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2563
Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
Introduced: 2014-06-26 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Licensing and registrations
Roads and highways
State and local government operations
Telephone and wireless communication
Transportation programs funding
Transportation safety and security

Summary:
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: 
Improving Driver Safety Act of 2014 - Revises distracted driving incentive grant program eligibility requirements to require the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to award such grants to states that include distracted driving issues as part of their driver's license examination.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to use up to 50% of amounts available for grants to states that: (1) in FY2015 have a basic text messaging statute for drivers of all ages, make violation of the statute a primary offense, and participate in the Secretary's annual distracted driving law enforcement mobilization; and (2) in FY2016 meet the aforementioned requirements, impose increased fines for repeat violations, and have a statute that prohibits a driver younger than 18 from using a personal wireless communications device while driving.
 
Authorizes states to use grant funds for: (1) enforcement of distracted driving laws, and (2) highway safety program projects.
 
Directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to report to Congress on any legal and technical barriers to capturing data on the prevalence of wireless communications devices while driving, including recommendations on how to address those barriers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2014-06-26
text: Introduced in Senate
Helping Working Families Afford Child Care Act

Bill: 113-s-2565
Sponsor: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Introduced: 2014-07-08 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Child care and development
Income tax credits
Inflation and prices

Summary:
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: 
Helping Working Families Afford Child Care Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for employment-related expenses incurred for the care of a taxpayer's dependent, to: (1) increase to $200,000, the adjusted gross income threshold level above which such credit is incrementally reduced; (2) increase the dollar limit on the allowable amount of such credit; (3) allow an inflation adjustment to the threshold amount and the maximum credit amounts, beginning after 2015; and (4) make such credit refundable. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: Introduced in Senate
Nevada Mining Townsite Conveyance Act

Bill: 113-s-2566
Sponsor: Sen. Heller, Dean [R-NV]
Introduced: 2014-07-08 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Land transfers
Mining
Nevada

Summary:
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: 
Nevada Mining Townsite Conveyance Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to implement an expedited program to examine and determine the validity of each unpatented mining claim (including each claim for which a patent application has been filed) within specified mining townsites (federally owned real property in the Gold Point, Ione, Gold Hill, and Virginia City townsites within Esmeralda, Nye, and Storey, Counties, Nevada, on which improvements were constructed based on the belief that: (1) the property had been or would be acquired from the federal government by the entity that operated the mine, or (2) the individual or entity that made the improvement had a valid claim for acquiring the property from the federal government).
 
Directs the Secretary of the Interior, after completing the validity review, and subject to the county's agreement, to convey to the appropriate county, without consideration, all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to any such mining townsites (including improvements) which are not subject to valid mining claims. Requires the Secretary to reserve the mineral rights in each parcel of land subject to a valid mining claim, but convey, without consideration, the remaining U.S. right, title, and interest.
 
Requires the county receiving such a site, if one or more individuals (occupants, for instance) prove a valid interest under Nevada law, to reconvey the property to such individual or individuals. 
 
Withdraws the mining townsites from: (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and (3) disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials.
 
Requires withdrawal and conveyance to the owner of the surface rights of any mining claim determined valid which is abandoned, invalidated, or otherwise returned to the BLM.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress that the examination of certain unpatented mining claims and the conveyances should be completed not later than 18 months after enactment of this Act.
 

 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: Introduced in Senate
REDEEM Act

Bill: 113-s-2567
Sponsor: Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY]
Introduced: 2014-07-08 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Criminal justice information and records
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Employee hiring
Food assistance and relief
Government studies and investigations
Judicial procedure and administration
Juvenile crime and gang violence
Law enforcement administration and funding
Law enforcement officers
Licensing and registrations
Poverty and welfare assistance

Summary:
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: 
Record Expungement Designed to Enhance Employment Act of 2014 or the REDEEM Act - Amends the federal criminal code to provide a process for the sealing or expungement of records relating to nonviolent or juvenile offenses.
 
Requires a court considering a petition to seal a nonviolent offense to balance factors including the harm of the protected information to the ability of the petitioner to secure and maintain employment.
 
Sets forth limitations on involuntary room confinements at juvenile detention facilities.
 
Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) to remove offenses relating to possession or use of a controlled substance from the categories of drug offenses that result in the convicted individual being ineligible for assistance under: (1) a state program funded with temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) grants under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act; or (2) the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly the food stamp program) or any state program carried out under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008.
 
Prohibits the denial of such assistance and benefits if the convicted individual: (1) committed an offense related to a substance abuse disorder, (2) participates in a substance abuse treatment program, and (3) complies with all court-imposed obligations. Includes employment services among the categories of federal benefits that are not to be denied under PRWORA. 
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to allow the Attorney General, in awarding public safety and community policing grants, to give preferential consideration to an applicant in a state with laws similar to this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: Introduced in Senate
ACE Act

Bill: 113-s-2568
Sponsor: Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE]
Introduced: 2014-07-08 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Elementary and secondary education
Higher education
Income tax exclusion
School athletics
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: 
Allocating for Children's Education Act or the ACE Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to Coverdale education savings accounts, to: (1) increase from $2,000 to $5,000 the maximum allowable contribution to such accounts in a taxable year, and (2) allow distributions from such accounts for the purchase of athletic equipment at elementary and secondary schools. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: Introduced in Senate
Bring Jobs Home Act

Bill: 113-s-2569
Sponsor: Sen. Walsh, John E. [D-MT]
Introduced: 2014-07-08 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Business investment and capital
Employee hiring
Foreign and international corporations
Income tax credits
Income tax deductions
Taxation of foreign income
U.S. territories and protectorates

Summary:
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: 
Bring Jobs Home Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) grant business taxpayers a tax credit for up to 20% of insourcing expenses incurred for eliminating a business located outside the United States and relocating it within the United States, and (2) deny a tax deduction for outsourcing expenses incurred in relocating a U.S. business outside the United States. Requires an increase in the taxpayer's employment of full-time employees in the United States in order to claim the tax credit for insourcing expenses.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-30
text: Cloture on the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 54 - 42. Record Vote Number: 249. (consideration: CR S5082-5083; text: CR S5082)
action_date: 2014-07-30
text: Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S5075-5076, S5076-5077, S5080, S5081-5083)
action_date: 2014-07-28
text: Cloture motion on the measure presented in Senate. (consideration: CR S4988; text: CR S4988)
action_date: 2014-07-28
text: Motion by Senator Reid to commit to Senate Committee on Finance with instructions to report back forthwith with the following amendment (SA 3695) made in Senate. (consideration: CR S4988)
action_date: 2014-07-28
text: Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S4988-4993)
action_date: 2014-07-24
text: Measure laid before Senate by motion. (consideration: CR S4876)
action_date: 2014-07-24
text: Motion to proceed to consideration of measure agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (consideration: CR S4876)
action_date: 2014-07-24
text: Motion to proceed to measure considered in Senate. (consideration: CR S4853, S4876)
action_date: 2014-07-23
text: Cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 93 - 7. Record Vote Number: 240. (consideration: CR S4728; text: CR S4728)
action_date: 2014-07-23
text: Motion to proceed to measure considered in Senate. (consideration: CR S4723-44728, S4728-4753)
action_date: 2014-07-22
text: Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (consideration: CR S4667)
action_date: 2014-07-21
text: Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate. (consideration: CR S4650; text: CR S4650)
action_date: 2014-07-21
text: Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (consideration: CR S4637; text: CR S4637)
action_date: 2014-07-17
text: Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (consideration: CR S4571, S4595, S4599, S4599-4601)
action_date: 2014-07-09
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 453.
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2014-07-08
text: Introduced in Senate
Tribal Adoption Parity Act

Bill: 113-s-2570
Sponsor: Sen. Johnson, Tim [D-SD]
Introduced: 2014-07-09 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Adoption and foster care
Income tax credits
Indian social and development programs

Summary:
action_date: 2014-07-09
text: 
Adoption Tax Credit Tribal Parity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow Indian tribes to make the determination that a child is a child with special needs for purposes of the adoption tax credit.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-09
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2014-07-09
text: Introduced in Senate
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Boundary Adjustment Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2571
Sponsor: Sen. Isakson, Johnny [R-GA]
Introduced: 2014-07-09 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Conflicts and wars
Georgia
Land transfers
Military history
Parks, recreation areas, trails

Summary:
action_date: 2014-07-09
text: 
 Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Boundary Adjustment Act of 2014 - Modifies the boundary of the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Georgia to include approximately eight acres identified as Wallis House and Harriston Hill. 
 
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire land or interests, by donation or exchange, from willing sellers only.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-09
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2014-07-09
text: Introduced in Senate
Ban Poisonous Additives Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2572
Sponsor: Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2014-07-09 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Cancer
Child health
Department of Health and Human Services
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Food industry and services
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Product safety and quality
Sex and reproductive health
Water quality
Women's health
Worker safety and health

Summary:
action_date: 2014-07-09
text: 
Ban Poisonous Additives Act of 2014 - Prohibits the distribution of a food if its container is composed, in whole or in part, of bisphenol A (BPA) or can release BPA into food. 
 
Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to grant one-year renewable waivers to a facility for a particular container if such facility: (1) demonstrates that it is not technologically feasible to replace BPA in the container or to use an alternative container that does not contain BPA, and (2) submits to the Secretary a plan and timeline for removing BPA from such container. Sets forth labeling requirements for a product granted a waiver.
 
Requires the Secretary to promote and facilitate the use of BPA replacements. Prohibits replacement of BPA with substances that: (1) are known or are likely human carcinogens; (2) have been found by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic; (3) cause reproductive or developmental toxicity; or (4) are endocrine disrupting chemicals.
 
Requires the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA) to review substances used in food containers in order determine whether there is a reasonable certainty that no harm will result from aggregate exposure to such substance, taking into consideration potential adverse effects from low-dose exposure and the effects on vulnerable populations and populations with high exposure. Sets forth remedial actions based on the Secretary's determination.
 Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require a manufacturer or supplier of a food contact substance to notify the Secretary of the identity and intended use of any such substance prior to its introduction into interstate commerce and of its determination that: (1) no adverse health effects result from low-dose exposures to such substance; and (2) such substance has not been shown, after tests which are appropriate for the evaluation of the safety of food contact substances, to cause reproductive or developmental toxicity in humans or animals.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-09
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-07-09
text: Introduced in Senate