hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Federal Submerged Lands Transportation Development Act

Bill: 113-s-1609
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2013-10-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Coast guard
Land use and conservation
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-29
text: 
Federal Submerged Lands Transportation Development Act - Authorizes the Commandant of the Coast Guard to lease tidelands and submerged lands under the control of the Coast Guard for periods longer than five years. (Currently, the Commandant is limited to renting or leasing real property under the Coast Guard's control for a period of up to five years, provided that such property may not be required for immediate use, with specified amounts of rental or lease monies received to be deposited in the Treasury.)


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2013-10-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Patent Litigation Integrity Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1612
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2013-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Higher education
Intellectual property
Legal fees and court costs
Research and development
Technology transfer and commercialization

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: 
Patent Litigation Integrity Act of 2013 - Requires courts to award a prevailing party reasonable fees and other expenses, including attorney fees, incurred in connection with a civil action in which any party asserts a claim for relief arising under any Act of Congress relating to patents, unless the court finds that the position and conduct of the nonprevailing party were substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust. (Currently, in exceptional cases, the court is permitted but not required to award reasonable attorney fees.)
 
Authorizes courts, in response to a motion, to order the party alleging infringement to post a bond sufficient to ensure payment of such fees and expenses of the accused infringer.
 
Directs a court, in determining whether such a bond would be unreasonable or unnecessary, to consider whether: 
 
 
the bond will burden the ability of the party alleging infringement to pursue activities unrelated to the assertion, acquisition, litigation, or licensing of any patent; 
 
the party alleging infringement is an institution of higher education or a non-profit technology transfer organization; 
 
a licensee, who has an exclusive right under a patent held by such an institution of higher education or non-profit organization, conducts further research or development to make the subject matter more licensable; 
 
the party alleging infringement: (1) is a named inventor of or an original assignee to an asserted patent, (2) makes or sells a product related to the subject matter described in an asserted patent, or (3) can demonstrate that it has and will have the ability to pay the accused infringer's fees and other expenses if so ordered; and 
 
any party will agree to pay the accused infringer's shifted fees and other expenses, provided that the party can demonstrate an ability to pay. 



Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-12-17
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held.
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7675)
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Credit Access and Inclusion Act

Bill: 113-s-1613
Sponsor: Sen. Kirk, Mark Steven [R-IL]
Introduced: 2013-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Business records
Consumer affairs
Consumer credit
Housing finance and home ownership
Public utilities and utility rates
Telephone and wireless communication

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: 
Credit Access and Inclusion Act - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act, with respect to the responsibilities of furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies, to declare that nothing in the Act or related regulations shall be construed as to prohibit a person from furnishing to a consumer reporting agency certain consumer identifying information, including: (1) a consumer's full name, telephone number, mother's maiden name, address, zip code, date of birth, any generational designation, or Social Security number; (2) information solely as to transactions or experiences between the consumer and the person furnishing the information; (3) public record information; and (4) information about the performance of a consumer making payments under a real property lease or pursuant to a utility or telecommunications service contract.
 
Defines "utility or telecommunication service" as an entity that provides utility services to the public through pipe, wire, landline, wireless, cable, or other connected facilities, or radio, electronic, or similar transmission, including the extension of such facilities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Family Fairness and Opportunity Tax Reform Act

Bill: 113-s-1616
Sponsor: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
Introduced: 2013-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Capital gains tax
Charitable contributions
Employment taxes
Housing finance and home ownership
Income tax credits
Income tax deductions
Income tax rates
Inflation and prices
Interest, dividends, interest rates
Medicare
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Tax reform and tax simplification
Tax treatment of families

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: 
Family Fairness and Opportunity Tax Reform Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the taxation of individual and married taxpayers, to: 
 
 
reduce to two the number of individual income tax brackets, imposing a 15% tax rate on income up to $87,850 ($175,700 for married couples filing a joint return and surviving spouses) and a 35% rate on income above such level; 
 
eliminate or reduce the capital gains tax rate based on taxable income levels;
 
repeal after 2013 the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for individual and corporate taxpayers; 
 
increase from $1,000 to $2,500 the child tax credit and make a portion of such credit refundable; 
 
allow a new personal income tax credit of $2,000 for individual taxpayers ($4,000 for married couples filing a joint return and surviving spouses) in lieu of the standard tax deduction, the personal tax exemption, and certain itemized deductions, other than the deductions for mortgage interest and charitable contributions; 
 
provide annual inflation adjustments after 2013 to income levels and credit amounts in this Act; 
 
make mortgage interest and charitable contributions deductible from gross income (above-the-line deductions); 
 
limit to $300,000 the deductible amount of acquisition indebtedness for principal residences (currently, $1 million); 
 
repeal the additional hospital insurance tax on individual taxpayers earning over $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing joint tax returns); and 
 
repeal the 3.8% Medicare tax on certain unearned income (e.g., income from rents, royalties, stocks, bonds, and other investments). 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
If You Like Your Health Plan, You Can Keep it Act

Bill: 113-s-1617
Sponsor: Sen. Johnson, Ron [R-WI]
Introduced: 2013-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Comprehensive health care
Employee benefits and pensions
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health programs administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: 
If You Like Your Health Plan, You Can Keep it Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to prohibit anything in the Act from being construed to require an individual to terminate coverage under a group health plan or health insurance coverage in which the individual was enrolled during any part of the period beginning on the date of enactment of PPACA (March 23, 2010) and ending on December 31, 2013.
 
 Allows: (1) continuation of coverage under a group health plan or health insurance in which an individual was enrolled during any part of such period, regardless of whether the individual renews such coverage; (2) family members of the individual to join coverage under such a plan that is renewed; (3) new employees to join a group health plan that provides coverage during any part of such period; and (4) continuation of coverage maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement that was ratified before the end of such period.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7675-7677)
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Skills Gap Strategy Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1619
Sponsor: Sen. Donnelly, Joe [D-IN]
Introduced: 2013-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Elementary and secondary education
Employment and training programs
Higher education
Public-private cooperation
Teaching, teachers, curricula
Vocational and technical education

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: 
Skills Gap Strategy Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to develop a strategy report to address the skills gap by providing analysis and recommendations to increase on-the-job training and apprenticeship opportunities, identify industry-recognized postsecondary credentials that are nationally portable and aligned with in-demand occupations in industries such as construction, manufacturing, and others that are emerging, and increase employer participation in education and workforce training.
 
Defines the term &quot;skills gap&quot; as the difference, or gap, between the current supply of labor and skills of the workforce and that which is desired by employers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-11-13
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7967)
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Tax Transparency Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1620
Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Introduced: 2013-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: General taxation matters
Income tax rates
Legislative rules and procedure

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: 
Tax Transparency Act of 2013 - Requires legislation, including conference reports or amendments, that modifies federal tax law to contain a statement describing the general effect of the modification on federal tax law. Provides that failure to provide such a statement shall give rise to a point of order during consideration of such legislation in either House of Congress. Sets forth procedures for consideration of such a point of order. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7678)
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1623
Sponsor: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
Introduced: 2013-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Civil actions and liability
Congressional oversight
Department of Labor
Employee leave
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Government studies and investigations
Labor standards
Labor-management relations
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: 
Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to authorize private employers to provide compensatory time off to private employees at a rate of 1 1/2 hours per hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required. Authorizes an employer to provide compensatory time only if it is in accordance with an applicable collective bargaining agreement or, in the absence of such an agreement, an agreement between the employer and employee.
 
Prohibits an employee from accruing more than 160 hours of compensatory time. Requires an employee's employer to provide monetary compensation, after the end of a calendar year, for any unused compensatory time off accrued during the preceding year.
 
Requires an employer to give employees 30-day notice before discontinuing compensatory time off.
 
Prohibits an employer from intimidating, threatening, or coercing an employee in order to: (1) interfere with the employee's right to request or not to request compensatory time off in lieu of payment of monetary overtime compensation, or (2) require an employee to use such compensatory time.
 
Makes an employer who violates such requirements liable to the affected employee in the amount of the compensation rate for each hour of compensatory time accrued, plus an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, reduced for each hour of compensatory time used.
 
Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to report to Congress every three years on: (1) the extent to which employers provide compensatory time off and employees opt to receive it; (2) the number of complaints filed by an employee with the Secretary of Labor alleging a violation of the requirements as well as enforcement actions commenced by the Secretary on behalf of an aggrieved employee; (3) the disposition of such complaints and actions; and (4) any unpaid wages, damages, penalties, injunctive relief, or other remedies sought by the Secretary in connection with such actions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
VOW to Hire Heroes Extension Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1624
Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2013-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: American Samoa
Congressional oversight
Employment taxes
Government trust funds
Income tax credits
Northern Mariana Islands
Puerto Rico
Social security and elderly assistance
U.S. territories and protectorates
Unemployment
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Virgin Islands
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: 
VOW to Hire Heroes Extension Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend through 2017 the work opportunity tax credit for hiring a qualified veteran (defined as an unemployed veteran who is certified as being a member of a family receiving food stamp assistance and who is entitled to compensation for a service-connected disability), (2) revise tax credit eligibility requirements for documenting the status of veterans and their receipt of unemployment compensation, and (3) extend the payroll tax offset for such credit to certain for-profit employers.
 
 Directs the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, to make annual reports on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of this Act in increasing the employment of veterans.
 
Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to pay: (1) each U.S. possession (i.e., American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) with a mirror code tax system amounts equal to the loss to such possession due to this Act; and (2) each U.S. possession without such a tax system an amount estimated to equal the loss to such possession that would have occurred due to this Act if such a tax system had been in effect in such possession.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Drug Free Commercial Driver Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1625
Sponsor: Sen. Pryor, Mark L. [D-AR]
Introduced: 2013-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Congressional oversight
Department of Transportation
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Employee hiring
Motor carriers
Personnel records
Transportation employees
Transportation safety and security

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: 
Drug Free Commercial Driver Act of 2013 - Revises regulations that require motor carriers to conduct preemployment, reasonable suspicion, random, and post-accident testing of commercial motor vehicle operators for controlled substances or alcohol. 
 
Allows motor carriers to use hair testing as an acceptable alternative to urinalysis for detecting use of controlled substances by an operator, but only for preemployment testing and random testing (but the latter only if the motor carrier tested the operator at preemployment using the same method).
 
Requires the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to develop requirements for laboratories and testing procedures for controlled substances that include mandatory guidelines that establish, among other things, laboratory protocols and cut-off levels for hair testing to detect the use of such substances.
 
Allows any motor carrier that demonstrates it has consistently carried out a generally applicable hair testing program during the most recent one-year period to apply to the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for exemption from mandatory urinalysis testing.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2013-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Fallen Wildland Firefighters Fair Compensation Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1628
Sponsor: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced: 2013-10-31 in the Senate
Policy area: Emergency Management
Subjects: Department of the Interior
Employee benefits and pensions
Fires
First responders and emergency personnel
Forests, forestry, trees
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Public contracts and procurement
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: 
Fallen Wildland Firefighters Fair Compensation Act of 2013 - Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to make eligible for death or disability benefits an individual who: (1) serves the Forest Service, any agency of the Department of the Interior, or any state or local firefighting entity as a contractor or subcontractor, in an official capacity, with or without compensation; (2) performs under an exclusive use, call when needed, or equipment rental agreement with such agency or entity; and (3) directly performs fire suppression activities as a member of an aerial or ground-based firefighting crew or equipment operator in the direct fire suppression, or en route to or return from such direct fire suppression activity. 
 
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to include such an individual within the definition of &quot;public safety officer&quot; for purposes of death benefits eligibility provisions. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: Introduced in Senate
Show Your Exemption Act

Bill: 113-s-1629
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2013-10-31 in the Senate
Policy area: Congress
Subjects: Comprehensive health care
Congressional leadership
Congressional officers and employees
Congressional operations and organization
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Members of Congress

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: 
Show Your Exemption Act - Requires the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives and the Financial Clerk of the Senate to make publicly available the determinations of each Member of the House of Representatives and each Senator regarding the designation of their congressional staff (including leadership and committee staff) as &quot;official&quot; for purposes of requiring such staff to enroll in health insurance coverage provided through a health benefit exchange as required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
 
Requires the failure to designate any staff as &quot;official&quot; to be noted in the determination along with a statement that such failure permits the staff involved to remain in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: Introduced in Senate
Water Rights Protection Act

Bill: 113-s-1630
Sponsor: Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY]
Introduced: 2013-10-31 in the Senate
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Land use and conservation
Licensing and registrations
Water use and supply

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: 
Water Rights Protection Act - Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) from: (1) conditioning the issuance, renewal, amendment, or extension of any permit, approval, license, lease, allotment, easement, right-of-way, or other land use or occupancy agreement on the transfer or relinquishment of any water right directly to the United States, in whole or in part, granted under state law, by federal or state adjudication, decree, or other judgment, or pursuant to any interstate water compact and such Secretaries; and (2) requiring any water user to apply for a water right in the name of the United States under state law as a condition of such a land use or occupancy agreement.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: Introduced in Senate
Restoring the 10th Amendment Act

Bill: 113-s-1632
Sponsor: Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS]
Introduced: 2013-10-31 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Administrative remedies
Civil actions and liability
Constitution and constitutional amendments
Federal district courts
Government information and archives
Intergovernmental relations
Judicial review and appeals
Jurisdiction and venue
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: 
Restoring the 10th Amendment Act - Authorizes a designated state official to submit to the head of a federal agency proposing a rule, during the period when the proposed rule is open for public comment, a legal brief challenging the constitutionality of the rule under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. 
 
Directs the agency head: (1) to notify the designated official of each state within 15 days after such a brief was submitted; (2) to post prominently on the front page of the agency's website a link to the brief; and (3) within 15 days after posting such link, to certify in writing that such rulemaking does not violate the Tenth Amendment and post the certification prominently on the agency's website next to the briefs pertaining to the rule, unless the agency determines not to finalize such proposed rule.
 
Authorizes a designated state official, at any time after an agency head posts such a certification, to commence a civil action against the agency on the grounds that the rule violates the Tenth Amendment. Permits such state official, in addition to any other venue or jurisdiction provided by law, to bring such action in the U.S. district court for the district in which the official's place of business is located. 
 
Directs the appropriate U.S. court of appeals, upon the filing of a notice by a designated state official, to grant expedited review of a decision by the district court in such an action.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2013-10-31
text: Introduced in Senate