hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Individual Assistance Improvement Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-4243
Sponsor: Rep. Kilmer, Derek [D-WA-6]
Introduced: 2015-12-11 in the House
Policy area: Emergency Management
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Disaster relief and insurance
Federal-Indian relations
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Rural conditions and development

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-11
text: 

Individual Assistance Improvement Act of 2015

 
This bill requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to submit to Congress an annual report on recommendations for improving federal assistance for small states and rural areas under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and additional resources required for such improvements.
 
In measuring the severity, magnitude, and impact of a disaster and evaluating the need for assistance to individuals under that Act, FEMA shall not apply, with respect to a rural area, the factor relating to concentration of damages.
 
 FEMA shall provide the governor or the chief executive of an Indian tribal government with documentation related to a major disaster declaration decision within 25 days after such individual requests that documentation, including: (1) an analysis of the factors that it considered in making the decision, and (2) its rationale. 
 
The Government Accountability Office shall conduct a comprehensive review of: (1) FEMA's damage assessment processes for major disaster declarations, and (2) the teams that carry out such processes.
 
FEMA shall conduct a study, biennially, to: (1) compare the average amount of individual assistance provided per person for each major disaster declared during the five most recently completed fiscal years, the average damages realized per individual for each disaster, and the average damages realized per individual for each event where a request for a major disaster declaration was denied during the five most recently completed fiscal years; and (2) collect the data needed to update a table relating to the average amount of individual assistance by state.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-12-14
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.
action_date: 2015-12-11
text: Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
action_date: 2015-12-11
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-11
text: Introduced in House
Refugee Resettlement Fund Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-4244
Sponsor: Rep. Perry, Scott [R-PA-4]
Introduced: 2015-12-11 in the House
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Government trust funds
Immigration status and procedures
Refugees, asylum, displaced persons
State and local finance

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-11
text: 

Refugee Resettlement Fund Act of 2015

 
This bill permits an alien applying for U.S. refugee admission who is referred for resettlement by the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) to be admitted only after the Department of the Treasury, in coordination with the revenue agency of the state in which the alien is to be resettled and a representative of the local government where the alien is to be resettled, determines that any admission and resettlement cost incurred by the federal, state, or local government is financed by a Refugee Resettlement Fund payment.
 
The bill establishes the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the Treasury, for deposit of only those amounts received from the UNHCR for refugee resettlement purposes.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-01-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
action_date: 2015-12-11
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-12-11
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-11
text: Introduced in House
Cuban Immigrant Work Opportunity Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-4247
Sponsor: Rep. Curbelo, Carlos [R-FL-26]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Caribbean area
Congressional oversight
Cuba
Government studies and investigations
Immigrant health and welfare
Immigration status and procedures
Latin America
Poverty and welfare assistance
Refugees, asylum, displaced persons

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: 

Cuban Immigrant Work Opportunity Act of 2015

 
This bill makes Cuban nationals who enter the United States on or after the date of enactment of this Act ineligible for refugee/parolee assistance under the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980.
 
Conforming amendments are made to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and the Immigration and Nationality Act.
 
The Inspector General of the Social Security Administration shall report to Congress describing methods for enforcing the loss of Supplemental Security Income eligibility by persons who are absent from the United States for at least one month.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-03-23
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Human Resources.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Social Security.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
FSOC Designation Review Act

Bill: 114-hr-4248
Sponsor: Rep. Westmoreland, Lynn A. [R-GA-3]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Banking and financial institutions regulation
Department of the Treasury
Financial Stability Oversight Council
Financial crises and stabilization
Judicial review and appeals

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: 

FSOC Designation Review Act 

 
This bill amends the Financial Stability Act of 2010 to revise requirements for reevaluation and reaffirmation of determinations by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) that the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System supervise and regulate U.S. or foreign nonbank financial companies.
 
The FSOC shall reevaluate such a determination not only annually (as under current law) but also upon the request of a nonbank financial company based on its representation that there has been a material change in its operations or activities or a material change in regulatory or market conditions. 
 
FSOC must give the company as part of a reevaluation:
 
 
a confidential written analysis of the specific elements of the company's exposures or activities that would be relevant to the FSOC's reevaluation; and
 
opportunity to submit written materials in response, including a plan to obtain rescission of the determination or other materials relevant to the assessment. 
 
 
The FSOC's written analysis must assess with particularity the company's vulnerability to financial distress, including consideration of its leverage, liquidity risk, and maturity mismatch, and existing regulatory scrutiny of the company.
 
Following a reevaluation the FSOC shall vote whether to reaffirm the determination; but if two-thirds of the voting members do not vote in favor of reaffirmation, the determination in question shall be rescinded immediately, subject at company option to judicial review. (Currently a determination is automatically reaffirmed upon reevaluation unless by a two-thirds vote the FSOC rescinds it.)


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
Police Agency Investigation Improvement Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-4249
Sponsor: Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [D-GA-4]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Department of Justice
Executive agency funding and structure
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Government studies and investigations
Judicial procedure and administration
Law enforcement administration and funding
Law enforcement officers

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: 

Police Agency Investigation Improvement Act of 2015

 
This bill amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to create within the Special Litigation Section of the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Civil Rights Division an Office of Police Agency Investigations to investigate alleged patterns or practices of police conduct that violate constitutional rights.
 
Additionally, it amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to expand the allowable use of grant funds under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to include complying with a judgment or consent decree pursuant to a pattern-or-practice investigation. DOJ may award additional grants to COPS grant recipients to comply with such judgments or consent decrees.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-01-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the statute of limitation for credit or refund for taxpayers who receive combat pay.

Bill: 114-hr-4250
Sponsor: Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Income tax credits
Income tax exclusion
Military personnel and dependents
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: 
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the limitation period for claiming a credit or refund for taxpayers who receive tax-exempt combat pay from 3 years from the date the return was filed, or 2 years from the date the tax was paid, to 15 years from either of such dates.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1794)
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
Guard and Reserve Equal Access to Health Act

Bill: 114-hr-4251
Sponsor: Rep. Coffman, Mike [R-CO-6]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Health care coverage and access
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Military medicine
Military personnel and dependents
National Guard and reserves

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: 

Guard and Reserve Equal Access to Health Act 

 
This bill directs the military department concerned to provide a physical examination to each requesting member of a reserve component who will not otherwise receive one through that department. 
 
 The military department concerned shall: (1) provide such examination during the 90-day period before such member's scheduled date of separation, and (2) give the member a record of the examination.
 
A member shall not be entitled to transitional health care benefits through his or her department solely by reason of being given such examination.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-01-19
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
Foreclosure Relief and Extension for Servicemembers Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-4252
Sponsor: Rep. Fincher, Stephen Lee [R-TN-8]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Housing finance and home ownership
Veterans' loans, housing, homeless programs

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: 

Foreclosure Relief and Extension for Servicemembers Act of 2015

 
This bill amends the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 to extend through 2017 the one-year period after a service member's military service during which: (1) a court may stay proceedings to enforce an obligation on real or personal property owned by the service member before such military service; and (2) any sale, foreclosure, or seizure of such property shall be invalid without a court order or waiver agreement signed by the service member. (Currently, the extended one-year period is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2015, and return to a nine-month period under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.)
 
Effective January 1, 2018 (currently, January 1, 2016), the old nine-month period in place of the one-year period granted by such Act shall be restored.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-12-16
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
Avonte's Law Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-4253
Sponsor: Rep. Hastings, Alcee L. [D-FL-20]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Child safety and welfare
Disability and paralysis
Elementary and secondary education
Emergency communications systems
First responders and emergency personnel
Health information and medical records
Hearing, speech, and vision care
Hereditary and development disorders
Law enforcement administration and funding
Neurological disorders
School administration

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: 

Avonte's Law Act of 2015

 
 This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make grants to law enforcement agencies to: (1) reduce the risk of injury and death relating to the wandering characteristics of some individuals with autism and other disabilities, and (2) safeguard the well-being of individuals with disabilities during interactions with law enforcement.
 
It requires grant awards to be used to: (1) provide education and resources to law enforcement agencies, first responders, schools, clinicians, and the public in order to reduce the risk of wandering by such individuals, help to identify signs of abuse in such individuals, increase their personal safety and survival skills, and facilitate effective communication with individuals who have communication-related disabilities; (2) provide training and emergency protocols for school administrators, staff, and families; (3) provide response tools and training for law enforcement and search-and-rescue agencies, including tracking technology; or (4) provide response tools and training to law enforcement agencies in order to recognize and respond to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
 
 DOJ must establish standards and best practices relating to the use of tracking technology to monitor children with autism and other disabilities. It requires each law enforcement agency that receives a grant to comply with any such standards and best practices.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-01-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1794)
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
Freedom for Workers to Seek Opportunity Act

Bill: 114-hr-4254
Sponsor: Rep. Kilmer, Derek [D-WA-6]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Contracts and agency
Employee hiring
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Food industry and services
Labor-management relations
Retail and wholesale trades

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: 

Freedom for Workers to Seek Opportunity Act

 
This bill: (1) prohibits employers from entering into not-to-compete covenants with any grocery store employees engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, and (2) requires an employer of such employees to post a notice of this prohibition in a conspicuous place on the employer's premises.
 
No employers who own or operate at least one grocery store may, in conjunction with the purchase of one or more grocery stores owned or operated by another employer, include in any agreement between such employers any provision that restricts either employer from hiring a grocery store employee of the other employer.
 
An employer who acquires the operation of another employer and retains in employment a grocery store employee of the former employee at the same grocery store of the former employer shall continue to recognize, for all employment purposes, the seniority of that grocery store employee, and, to the extent practicable, make available to such employees any benefits made available by the former employer.
 
The Secretary of Labor shall: (1) enforce a complaint of a violation of this Act in the same manner as a complaint of a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and (2) impose a specified civil fine on any employer who violates this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-03-23
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
To amend the Act commonly known as the Indian Long-Term Leasing Act to expand certain exceptions for long-term lease limits for the Pueblo of Santa Clara.

Bill: 114-hr-4255
Sponsor: Rep. Lujan, Ben Ray [D-NM-3]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Indian lands and resources rights
New Mexico

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: 
This bill amends the Indian Long-Term Leasing Act to expand the land of the Pueblo of Santa Clara that may be leased for up to 99 years with the approval of the Department of the Interior, from lands held in trust, to all of the lands of the Pueblo of Santa Clara.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-12-17
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
Quarantining the Ayatollah's State-Sponsored Aggression and Militancy (QASSAM) Act

Bill: 114-hr-4258
Sponsor: Rep. Roskam, Peter J. [R-IL-6]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Corporate finance and management
Foreign property
Iran
Middle East
Sanctions
State and local finance
Trade restrictions
U.S. and foreign investments

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: 

Quarantining the Ayatollah's State-Sponsored Aggression and Militancy (QASSAM) Act

 
This bill directs the President to block all property and property interest transactions of an entity that is U.S-located or controlled by a U.S. person if it is at least 20% owned by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), regardless of whether the entity itself is included on the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control.
 
 Treasury shall establish and publish in the Federal Register a list of each entity with respect to which the IRGC: 
 
 
owns any interest that is less than 20%; or 
 
does not own any interest but maintains a presence on the board of directors or otherwise influences the entity's actions, policies, or personnel decisions. 
 
 
The Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 is amended to express the sense of Congress that the United States should support any state or local government that for moral, prudential, or reputational reasons divests from, or prohibits the investment of its assets in, any person that engages in investment or business activities with the IRGC or IRGC-related companies, as long as the IRGC is subject to U.S. economic sanctions. 
 
A state or local government may adopt and enforce specified divestment or investment prohibition measures. It is the sense of Congress that a state or local government should not adopt such a measure against a person unless it has made every effort to avoid erroneously targeting such person.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
To prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from establishing, implementing, or enforcing any limit on the aggregate emissions of carbon dioxide from a State or any category or subcategory of sources within a State.

Bill: 114-hr-4259
Sponsor: Rep. Sensenbrenner, F. James, Jr. [R-WI-5]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Air quality
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental regulatory procedures

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: 
This bill prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency from establishing or enforcing limits on aggregate carbon dioxide emissions from a state or any categories of pollution sources in a state.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-12-18
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Power.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
For the relief of Max Villatoros.

Bill: 114-hr-4261
Sponsor: Rep. Loebsack, David [D-IA-2]
Introduced: 2015-12-15 in the House
Subjects: Private Legislation

Summary:
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Provides for the relief of Max Villatoros.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-01-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-12-15
text: Introduced in House