hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Florida Fisheries Improvement Act

Bill: 113-s-2824
Sponsor: Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL]
Introduced: 2014-09-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Atlantic Ocean
Capital gains tax
Congressional oversight
Disaster relief and insurance
Economic performance and conditions
Fishes
Florida
Government studies and investigations
Gulf of Mexico
Legislative rules and procedure
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine and inland water transportation
Research administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: 
Florida Fisheries Improvement Act - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) to revise requirements for fishery management in the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic.
 
 Gives regional fishery management councils authority to use alternative fishery management measures in a recreational fishery. 
 
Revises requirements for fishery management plans, especially by exempting certain species from fishery rebuilding requirements, changing how to determine the timelines for rebuilding fisheries, and repealing the requirement for plans to contain catch limits for the red snapper.
 
Authorizes: (1) the collection of funds from fines, penalties, and forfeitures of property for violations of marine resource law to be used for the cost of stock assessments, surveys, and data collection on fisheries; and (2) a citizen owning or leasing an eligible fishery facilities to make an agreement with the Department of Commerce to establish a capital construction fund to provide for the acquisition or reconstruction of a facility. 
 
Requires the Department to make a decision on whether there is a commercial fishery failure because of a fishery resource disaster within 90 days of a receiving a complete estimate of the economic impact of the disaster. 
 
Requires the Gulf Council and the South Atlantic Council to review every five years the allocation of fishing privileges. Authorizes the Councils to delay the review for three one-year periods. 
 
Directs the Department to: (1) arrange for the National Academy of Sciences to study the process of allocating fishing privileges; (2) develop and publish a plan to conduct stock assessments for all stocks of fish for which a MSA fishery management plan is in effect, unless the assessment is not necessary; and (3) report on facilitating greater incorporation of data, analysis, stock assessments, and surveys from nongovernmental sources. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Ensuring Safe Access to Prescription Medication Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2825
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH]
Introduced: 2014-09-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Health personnel
Prescription drugs

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: 
Ensuring Safe Access to Prescription Medication Act of 2014 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to modify the definition of &quot;dispense&quot; to include the delivery of a controlled substance by a pharmacy to a practitioner, if: (1) such delivery is pursuant to a patient-specific prescription of the practitioner; and (2) the practitioner has deemed that it is medically necessary, acting in the usual course of professional practice, for the controlled substance to be administered by the practitioner to the patient.
 
 
 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Strengthening Forgiveness for Public Servants Act

Bill: 113-s-2826
Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2014-09-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Child care and development
Family services
First responders and emergency personnel
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government lending and loan guarantees
Health personnel
Higher education
Interest, dividends, interest rates
Law enforcement officers
Lawyers and legal services
Military personnel and dependents
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Student aid and college costs
Tax-exempt organizations
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: 
Strengthening Forgiveness for Public Servants Act - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to cancel 15%, 15%, 20%, 20%, and 30% of the amount a borrower owes after 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 years of public service employment, respectively, on a William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan made after this Act's enactment. (Currently, the balance of a borrower's Direct Loan is cancelled if the borrower is not in default and has made 120 monthly payments on such loan while employed as a public service employee.)
 
Requires borrowers availing themselves of such loan cancellation to submit an employment certification form that includes self-certification of employment and employer certification of employment dates. Places the borrower's loan in deferment during the period in which the borrower is employed in an eligible public service job if the borrower submits such form to the Secretary.
 
Cancels the entire amount of interest on such a loan that accrues for any year in which a portion of the loan is cancelled under this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Make Student Grants Truly Tax-Free Act

Bill: 113-s-2827
Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2014-09-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Afghanistan
Asia
Conflicts and wars
Higher education
Income tax exclusion
Iraq
Middle East
Military operations and strategy
Military personnel and dependents
Student aid and college costs
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: 
Make Student Grants Truly Tax-Free Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the tax exclusion for scholarships to include amounts received: (1) through a scholarship or fellowship grant program administered by the Secretary of Education that is based on financial need, including a Federal Pell Grant, and (2) as an Iraq and Afghanistan Service grant under the Higher Education Act of 1965. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Financial Regulatory Clarity Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2829
Sponsor: Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS]
Introduced: 2014-09-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Banking and financial institutions regulation
Commodities markets
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Congressional oversight
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Department of the Treasury
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Federal Reserve System
Financial services and investments
National Credit Union Administration
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: 
Financial Regulatory Clarity Act of 2014 - Requires the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), before issuing a final regulation or order, to assess other federal regulations and orders to determine whether the agency's proposal is in conflict with, is inconsistent with, or is duplicative of such other regulations or orders and whether such other federal regulations or orders are outdated.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to permanently reauthorize the special diabetes programs for Indians.

Bill: 113-s-2830
Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Introduced: 2014-09-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Digestive and metabolic diseases
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Indian social and development programs
Minority health

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: 
Amends the Public Health Service Act to make permanent the special diabetes programs for Indians, which provide services for prevention and treatment of diabetes through the Indian Health Service and Indian health programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Economic Growth and Development Act

Bill: 113-s-2831
Sponsor: Sen. Isakson, Johnny [R-GA]
Introduced: 2014-09-16 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: African Development Foundation
Congressional oversight
Department of State
Economic development
Executive agency funding and structure
Foreign aid and international relief
Government corporations and government-sponsored enterprises
Government studies and investigations
Inter-American Foundation
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
Public-private cooperation
Rule of law and government transparency
Trade and Development Agency
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
U.S. and foreign investments

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: 
Directs the President to establish a primary mechanism to assist the private sector in coordinating U.S. development programs with private sector investment activities. 
 
 Directs the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to direct their respective policy and country teams to include private sector consultation in all country, sector, and global development strategies.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Employ Young Americans Now Act

Bill: 113-s-2832
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2014-09-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Adult education and literacy
Education of the disadvantaged
Employee hiring
Employment and training programs
Government trust funds
Performance measurement
State and local government operations
Temporary and part-time employment
Unemployment
Youth employment and child labor

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: 
Employ Young Americans Now Act - Establishes in the Treasury the Employ Young Americans Fund, with an initial appropriation of $5.5 billion for FY2015.
 
Requires the Secretary of Labor to make certain Fund allocations to each state with an approved workforce investment system plan modification, other specified requests for funds, and Native American program grantees to provide summer and year-round employment opportunities to low-income youth.
 
Requires the Secretary to award allocations and competitive grants to local entities for work-based training and other work-related and educational strategies and activities of demonstrated effectiveness to provide unemployed, low-income young adults and low-income youths with skills that will lead to employment.
 
Subjects activities funded under this Act to federal labor standards and nondiscrimination protections.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5634)
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Introduced in Senate
CASE Act

Bill: 113-s-2833
Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced: 2014-09-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Air quality
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental regulatory procedures

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: 
 Clean Air, Strong Economies Act or the CASE Act - Prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from lowering its existing national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) until at least 85% of counties that are in nonattainment areas (counties that are exceeding the limit) have attained the standard.
 
Requires the EPA, in promulgating a primary or secondary NAAQS for ozone, to: 
 
 
 only consider a county to be a nonattainment area on the basis of direct air quality monitoring (rather than modeling); 
 
 take into consideration feasibility and cost; and 
 
 include in the regulatory impact analysis for the proposed and final rule at least one analysis that does not include any calculation of benefits resulting from reducing emissions of any pollutant other than ozone.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Protect Veterans Employment and Training Services Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2834
Sponsor: Sen. Toomey, Patrick [R-PA]
Introduced: 2014-09-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Disability and paralysis
Employment and training programs
State and local government operations
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: 
Protect Veterans Employment and Training Services Act of 2014 - Amends the disabled veterans' outreach program to authorize the Secretary of Labor to establish an order of priority for furnishing program services if state disabled veterans' outreach program specialists are unable to assist every eligible veteran seeking assistance. 
 
Requires that priority order to be consistent with the program's purposes and the existing priority order of special disabled veterans, other disabled veterans, and other eligible veterans.
 
Allows a state disabled veterans' outreach program specialist to perform an initial intake and assessment of each veteran who seeks program services.
 
Authorizes local veterans' employment representatives to provide employment, training, and placement services directly to eligible veterans and eligible persons.
 
Requires those representatives to spend a majority of their time carrying out their principal duties of: (1) conducting outreach to local employers to assist veterans in gaining employment; and (2) facilitating the provision of state employment, training, and placement services to veterans. 
 
Prohibits the Secretary from imposing restrictions on the duties that a state disabled veterans' outreach program specialist or a local veterans' employment representative may perform or the individuals they may assist other than those set forth in the law providing veterans with job counseling, training, and placement services.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Storm Shelter Affordability Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2835
Sponsor: Sen. Pryor, Mark L. [D-AR]
Introduced: 2014-09-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Building construction
Income tax credits
Residential rehabilitation and home repair

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: 
Storm Shelter Affordability Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual taxpayer a refundable tax credit, through December 31, 2017, for the lesser of 50% of qualified storm shelter costs or $1,000. Requires such a storm shelter to be placed on property adjacent to a dwelling unit owned by the taxpayer. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Integrated Space Launch Policy Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2836
Sponsor: Sen. Toomey, Patrick [R-PA]
Introduced: 2014-09-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Government studies and investigations
Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information
Military operations and strategy
Space flight and exploration
Spacecraft and satellites

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: 
Integrated Space Launch Policy Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to jointly, in coordination with the National Security Council, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and the heads of other appropriate agencies, develop the Integrated Federal Space Launch Plan to achieve the effective planning, coordination, and execution of the civilian and national security space launch activities of the federal government in order to ensure that the mission needs of the government for reliable, timely, and affordable access to space are met in a cost-effective manner. 
 
Requires the Secretary and the Administrator to jointly submit the developed plan to Congress.
 
Directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to submit a report to Congress setting forth an assessment of the adequacy of the plan, including the extent to which it includes the launch needs and capabilities of the civilian agencies and the national security agencies of the government. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Military and Veterans Education Protection Act

Bill: 113-s-2837
Sponsor: Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2014-09-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Education programs funding
Higher education
Medical education
Military personnel and dependents
National Guard and reserves
Student aid and college costs
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: 
Military and Veterans Education Protection Act - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require proprietary institutions of higher education to derive at least 10% of their revenue from sources other than title IV or federal educational assistance programs for military personnel and veterans, or become ineligible for title IV funding and participation in those programs. (Currently, this 90/10 rule requires these schools to derive at least 10% of their revenue from sources other than title IV or become ineligible for title IV funding.)


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Introduced in Senate
U.S. OUTDOOR Act

Bill: 113-s-2838
Sponsor: Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA]
Introduced: 2014-09-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
Government trust funds
Manufacturing
Outdoor recreation
Research and development
Tariffs

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: 
United States Optimal Use of Trade to Develop Outerwear and Outdoor Recreation Act or the U.S. OUTDOOR Act - Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to provide for the duty-free treatment of certain recreational performance outerwear.
 
Establishes the Sustainable Textile and Apparel Research Fund (STAR Fund). 
 
Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to impose and collect, with specified exceptions, a fee of 1.5% of the appraised value of imported recreational performance outerwear and to deposit amounts collected into the STAR Fund. 
 
Requires the Secretary of Commerce to make quarterly distributions from the STAR Fund to one or more appropriate organizations to conduct applied research, development, and education activities to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. businesses in clean, eco-friendly apparel, other textile and apparel products, and sewn-product design and manufacturing.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Help Find the Missing Act

Bill: 113-s-2840
Sponsor: Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT]
Introduced: 2014-09-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Congressional oversight
Crimes against children
Criminal justice information and records
Department of Justice
Evidence and witnesses
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Law enforcement administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: 
Billy's Law or the Help Find the Missing Act - Authorizes the Attorney General, through the Director of the National Institute of Justice, to maintain public databases containing missing persons records and unidentified remains cases, to be known as the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System or NamUs, for purposes of assisting in identifying missing people and solving cases of unidentified human remains. Transfers all functions, personnel, assets, liabilities, and actions applicable to such System before enactment of this Act to such System as authorized by this Act. Authorizes appropriations for such System for FY2015-FY2020.
 
Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to conduct a study on: (1) how to better integrate the national missing persons databases, including the NamUs databases and the NCIC database; (2) any technical challenges for integrating such databases; and (3) practices, procedures, or technologies that would assist states, local law enforcement agencies, medical examiners, and coroners in reporting missing persons and unidentified remains to the NamUs databases and the NCIC database.
 
Requires the Attorney General to: (1) provide for information on missing persons and unidentified human remains contained in the NCIC database to be transmitted to, entered in, and shared with the NamUs databases and vice versa; (2) promulgate rules that specify the information the Attorney General may provide from the NCIC files to the NamUs databases while protecting confidential information; and (3) update the online data entry format for the NCIC database and the NamUs databases to provide state criminal justice agencies, medical examiners, and coroners with the option to authorize the submission of new data that is reported to and entered into the NCIC database to the NamUs databases.
 
Amends the Crime Control Act of 1990 to require the updating and reporting of missing children information to the NamUs databases.
 
Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish a program to provide grants to qualifying law enforcement agencies, coroners, medical examiners, and other authorized agencies to facilitate reporting information regarding missing persons and unidentified remains to the NCIC database and the NamUs databases; and (2) issue a report to medical examiners, coroners, and law enforcement agencies describing the best practices for the collection, reporting, and analysis of such information.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2014-09-17
text: Introduced in Senate