hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Increasing Medical Oversight in the Department of Veterans Affairs Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2401
Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Introduced: 2014-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Crime prevention
Department of Veterans Affairs
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal officials
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Government studies and investigations
Health care coverage and access
Health care quality
Health facilities and institutions
Performance measurement
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: 
Increasing Medical Oversight in the Department of Veterans Affairs Act of 2014 - Establishes the Office of the Medical Inspector of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) within the Office of the Under Secretary for Health. Includes among the functions of the Office to:
 
 
review the quality of health care provided to veterans by the VA generally and by the VA through contracts with non-VA health care providers;
 
review offices of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) that have an impact on the quality of health care provided to veterans by the VA and the performance of the VA in providing such care;
 
review VHA offices and facilities to ensure that VA and VHA policies and procedures are applied consistently;
 
investigate any systemic issues that arise within VHA, including improper issuance of credentials and privileges to health care providers, impediments to access to VA health care, wait times for appointments at VA medical facilities in excess of VA goals, and intentional falsification by VA employees of information regarding wait times;
 
establish temporary investigative teams to carry out reviews in response to specific incidents or inquiries, including veterans' complaints and potential systemic issues within VHA that may require the conduct of surveys, the collection of data, and the analysis of VA databases; 
 
recommend policies to promote economy and efficiency in the administration of, and to prevent and detect criminal activity, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in, VHA programs and operations; and
 
report on problems or deficiencies encountered in VHA programs and operations and recommend corrective actions.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
Work and Learn Act

Bill: 113-s-2402
Sponsor: Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]
Introduced: 2014-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Employment and training programs
Performance measurement
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: 
Work and Learn Act - Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to require a local workforce investment board to include a representative with expertise implementing work-based programs of employment and training activities that combine technical training with related instruction, including programs that begin by providing mentoring and job shadowing opportunities, which evolve into intensive internships and registered apprenticeships.
 
Revises requirements for a comprehensive performance accountability system assessing the effectiveness of states and local areas in achieving continuous improvement of workforce investment activities. Adds completion of a registered apprenticeship to the core indicators of performance for authorized employment and training activities (except for self-service and informational activities) and youth activities for eligible individuals age 19 through 21.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
Leverage Prior Skills Act

Bill: 113-s-2403
Sponsor: Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]
Introduced: 2014-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Employment and training programs
Higher education
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: 
Leverage Prior Skills Act - Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to require a governor, in establishing a procedure for local workforce investment boards in the state in determining the initial eligibility of a provider to receive funds for a program of training services, to require the applicant proposing a program that leads to a recognized postsecondary credential to include in the application information on the quality of the services that lead to that credential.
 
Requires a state to use federal funds reserved to carry out statewide employment and training activities (other than certain statewide rapid response activities) to identify and implement a process by which local boards will contract with providers of training services, or identify eligible providers of training services, only if the providers involved agree to:
 
 
use direct assessments to assess the prior learning of the participants in noncredit employment and training programs; and
 
take that prior learning into account when determining whether a participant has earned credit hours or made progress toward earning a degree from an institution of higher education, or has earned or made progress towards earning a recognized postsecondary credential.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
Foreclosure Relief and Extension for Servicemembers Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2404
Sponsor: Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI]
Introduced: 2014-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Housing finance and home ownership
Veterans' loans, housing, homeless programs

Summary:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: 
Foreclosure Relief and Extension for Servicemembers Act of 2014 - Amends the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 to make permanent the extended one-year period after a servicemember's military service during which: (1) a court may stay proceedings to enforce an obligation on real or personal property owned by the servicemember prior to such military service; and (2) the sale, foreclosure, or seizure of such property is invalid without a court order or agreement. (Currently, the extended one-year period is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2014, and return to a nine-month period under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.)


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act

Bill: 113-s-2405
Sponsor: Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI]
Introduced: 2014-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Emergency medical services and trauma care
Health facilities and institutions
Health programs administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: 
Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for trauma care programs through FY2019. Requires that not more than 50% of amounts remaining for a fiscal year after FY2014 (after allocation for administrative purposes or for improvement of emergency medical services in rural areas) be allocated for competitive grants to support pilot projects for emergency care and trauma systems.
 
Requires the inclusion of standards and requirements of the American Burn Association in trauma care modifications of a state plan for providing emergency medical services.
action_date: 2014-07-23
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

 
Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for trauma care programs through FY2019. Requires that not more than 50% of amounts remaining for a fiscal year after FY2014 (after allocation for administrative purposes or for improvement of emergency medical services in rural areas) be allocated for competitive grants to support pilot projects for emergency care and trauma systems.
 
Requires the inclusion of standards and requirements of the American Burn Association in trauma care modifications of a state plan for providing emergency medical services.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-23
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 481.
action_date: 2014-07-23
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Harkin without amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2014-07-23
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Harkin without amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2014-07-23
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3298)
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
Improving Trauma Care Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2406
Sponsor: Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI]
Introduced: 2014-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Emergency medical services and trauma care
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Health programs administration and funding
Medical research
Radioactive wastes and releases
Research administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: 
Improving Trauma Care Act of 2014 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, with respect to trauma care and research programs, to include in the definition of "trauma" an injury resulting from extrinsic agents other than mechanical force, including those that are thermal, electrical, chemical, or radioactive.

action_date: 2014-07-23
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

 
Improving Trauma Care Act of 2014 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, with respect to trauma care and research programs, to include in the definition of "trauma" an injury resulting from extrinsic agents other than mechanical force, including those that are thermal, electrical, chemical, or radioactive.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-23
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 482.
action_date: 2014-07-23
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Harkin without amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2014-07-23
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Harkin without amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2014-07-23
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
21st Century Global Health Technology Act

Bill: 113-s-2407
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2014-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Child health
Congressional oversight
Executive agency funding and structure
Foreign aid and international relief
HIV/AIDS
Health promotion and preventive care
Health technology, devices, supplies
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Medical research
Nutrition and diet
Research and development
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Women's health
World health

Summary:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: 
21st Century Global Health Technology Act - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to establish within the Health and Infectious Diseases and Nutrition Section of the Global Health Bureau of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) a program to develop technologies designed to: (1) improve the health and nutrition of populations in developing countries; (2) reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality in such countries; and (3) improve the diagnosis, prevention, and reduction of disease, especially HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases in such countries. 
 
States that such program shall be carried out under a cooperative agreement between USAID and one or more institutions with a successful record of advancing the technologies described in this Act and integrating practical field experience into the research and development process. 
 
States that USAID's Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact shall continue its work to speed the development, introduction, and scale-up of priority global health interventions.
 
Directs USAID to report annually to Congress for four years on USAID research and development activities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
No Surface Occupancy Western Arctic Coastal Plain Domestic Energy Security Act

Bill: 113-s-2408
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2014-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Alaska
Alaska Natives and Hawaiians
Arctic Ocean
Arctic and polar regions
Department of the Interior
Energy revenues and royalties
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Indian lands and resources rights
Labor-management relations
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Oil and gas
State and local finance
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: 
No Surface Occupancy Western Arctic Coastal Plain Domestic Energy Security Act - Authorizes the exploration, leasing, development and production of oil and gas on the Western Coastal Plain of Alaska.
 
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) establish a competitive oil and gas leasing program for oil and gas exploration, development, and production on the Western Coastal Plain; and (2) prohibit surface occupancy of the Western Coastal Plain during any oil and gas development and production
 
States that, in connection with specified environmental protection laws, the Secretary shall neither: (1) identify nonleasing alternative courses of action, nor (2) analyze the environmental effect of those courses of action.
 
Requires the Secretary, within one year after the first lease sale is conducted under this Act, to conduct a second lease sale (and additional sales if sufficient interest in exploration or development exists). 
 
Sets forth procedures for: (1) lease sales and lease grants on the Western Coastal Plain, and (2) Western Coastal Plain environmental protection. 
 
Prescribes a revenue allocation scheme derived from bonus, rental, and royalty revenues from federal oil and gas leasing and operations authorized under this Act, including monthly payments to the state of Alaska.
 
Requires the Secretary to convey to: (1) the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation the surface estate of certain land, and (2) the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation the remaining subsurface estate to which that Corporation is entitled under a specified agreement.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3298-3299)
action_date: 2014-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
United States Employee Ownership Bank Act

Bill: 113-s-2411
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2014-06-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Banking and financial institutions regulation
Corporate finance and management
Department of the Treasury
Employee benefits and pensions
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Executive agency funding and structure
Government lending and loan guarantees
Labor-management relations
Unemployment

Summary:
action_date: 2014-06-02
text: 
United States Employee Ownership Bank Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish the United States Employee Ownership Bank to foster increased employee ownership and greater employee participation in company decisionmaking throughout the United States.
 
Authorizes the Bank to make loans to employees, on a direct or guaranteed basis (which may be subordinated to the interests of all other creditors), to purchase a company through an employee stock ownership plan or eligible worker-owned cooperative which is at least 51% employee owned, or will become so as a result of Bank assistance.
 
Authorizes the Bank also to allow: (1) a company that is less than 51% employee owned to become at least 51% employee owned; and (2) allow a company that is already at least 51% employee owned to increase the level of employee ownership, expand operations, and increase or preserve employment. 
 
Amends the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to require the employer, if it orders a plant or facility closing in connection with the termination of its operations there, to offer its employees an opportunity to purchase that plant or facility through an employee stock ownership plan or an eligible worker-owned cooperative that is at least 51% employee owned. 
 
Exempts from such requirement an employer that orders a plant closing if the employer: (1) will retain the plant assets to continue or begin a business within the United States; or (2) intends to continue the business conducted at such plant at another plant within the United States.
 
Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to authorize the appropriate federal financial supervisory agency, in assessing and taking into account the record of a financial institution during an examination, to consider capital investments, loans, loan participation, technical assistance, financial advice, grants, and other ventures undertaken by the institution to support or enable employees to establish employee stock ownership plans or eligible worker-owned cooperatives that are at least 51% employee-owned.
 

 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-06-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2014-06-02
text: Introduced in Senate
WORK Act

Bill: 113-s-2412
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2014-06-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Corporate finance and management
Department of Labor
Employee benefits and pensions
Executive agency funding and structure
Labor-management relations

Summary:
action_date: 2014-06-02
text: 
Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge Act or the WORK Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, to establish within the Employment and Training Administration an Employee Ownership and Participation Initiative to promote employee ownership and employee participation in business decisionmaking.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish a program, which may include grants for outreach, technical assistance, and training, to encourage new and existing state programs designed to foster employee ownership and employee participation in business decisionmaking throughout the United States.
 
Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on progress related to employee ownership and participation in U.S. businesses.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-06-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-06-02
text: Introduced in Senate
Protecting Jobs, Families, and the Economy From EPA Overreach Act

Bill: 113-s-2414
Sponsor: Sen. McConnell, Mitch [R-KY]
Introduced: 2014-06-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Air quality
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Coal
Economic performance and conditions
Electric power generation and transmission
Energy prices
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental regulatory procedures
Oil and gas
Public utilities and utility rates
Unemployment

Summary:
action_date: 2014-06-03
text: 
Coal Country Protection Act or the Protecting Jobs, Families, and the Economy From EPA Overreach Act - Amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from promulgating any regulation or guidance that limits or prohibits new carbon dioxide emissions from a fossil fuel-fired power plant until it is certified: (1) by the Secretary of Labor that the regulation or guidance will not generate a loss of employment, (2) by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that it will not result in a loss in the gross domestic product, (3) by the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration that it will not generate an increase in electricity rates, and (4) by the Chairperson of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the President of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation that it will not effect the reliability of electricity delivery. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-06-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S3369)
action_date: 2014-06-03
text: Introduced in Senate
SuperPAC Elimination Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2415
Sponsor: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
Introduced: 2014-06-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Congressional elections
Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
Government information and archives

Summary:
action_date: 2014-06-03
text: 
SuperPAC Elimination Act of 2014 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: (1) eliminate the limitations on direct contributions to candidates in federal elections, and (2) require 24-hour notification to the Secretary of the Senate, or the Federal Election Commission, and the Secretary of State, as appropriate, for all direct contributions to candidates in excess of $200.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-06-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
action_date: 2014-06-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Free All Speech Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2416
Sponsor: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
Introduced: 2014-06-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Subjects: Constitution and constitutional amendments
First Amendment rights
News media and reporting
Television and film

Summary:
action_date: 2014-06-03
text: 
Free All Speech Act of 2014 - Requires any law that restricts political speech of American citizens to apply with equal force to media corporations (such as the New York Times, the American Broadcasting Company [ABC], the National Broadcasting Company [NBC], and the CBS Television Network). 
 
Prohibits such a law from having any force or effect with respect to American citizens to the extent that its application to a media corporation is found unconstitutional.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-06-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2014-06-03
text: Introduced in Senate