hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Women Veterans Access to Quality Care Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-471
Sponsor: Sen. Heller, Dean [R-NV]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Department of Veterans Affairs
Employee performance
Federal officials
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Health care quality
Health facilities and institutions
Health personnel
Medical education
Personnel records
Right of privacy
Sex and reproductive health
State and local government operations
Veterans' medical care
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Women Veterans Access to Quality Care Act of 2015

 
Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) establish standards to ensure that all VA medical facilities have the structural characteristics necessary to adequately meet the gender-specific health care needs of veterans at such facilities, including privacy, safety, and dignity; (2) integrate such standards into its prioritization methodology with respect to requests for funding major medical facility projects and major medical facility leases; and (3) report on such standards, including regarding the facilities that fail to meet such standards and the costs of projects and leases required to meet them.
 
Requires the VA to: (1) use health outcomes for women veterans furnished health care by the the VA in evaluating the performance of VA medical center directors, (2) publish on its website information on such performance and on health outcomes for women veterans for each VA medical facility, (3) ensure that every VA medical center has a full-time obstetrician or gynecologist, and (4) carry out a pilot program to increase the number of residency program positions and graduate medical education positions for obstetricians and gynecologists at VA medical facilities in not less than three Veterans Integrated Service Networks.
 
Directs the VA to develop procedures to share information that includes military service and separation data, personal email addresses and telephone numbers, and mailing addresses of veterans with state veterans agencies in electronic format as a means of facilitating the furnishing of assistance and benefits to such veterans. Allows a veteran to elect to prevent their information from being shared.
 
Directs the Government Accountability Office to carry out an examination of whether VA medical centers are able to meet the health care needs of women veterans.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-03
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-201.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Douglas County Conservation Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-472
Sponsor: Sen. Heller, Dean [R-NV]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Floods and storm protection
Forests, forestry, trees
Indian lands and resources rights
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Nevada
Outdoor recreation
Parks, recreation areas, trails
Water use and supply
Watersheds
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Douglas County Conservation Act of 2015

 
Directs the Forest Service to convey approximately 67 acres of certain Forest Service land (Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park) to the state of Nevada to be used for the conservation of wildlife or natural resources or for a public park. 
 
Directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to make publicly available a prospectus to solicit one or more concessionaires for the approximately 125 acres of land identified as the Round Hill Pines Resort and the approximately 448 acres of land identified as the Zephyr Shoals. 
 
 Directs the Forest Service for National Forest System land and the Department of Interior for land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to convey approximately 7,990 acres of specified federal land to Douglas County, Nevada, to be used for flood control or any other public purpose. Prohibits such land from being disposed of by the county. 
 
Directs the Forest Service or Interior, as appropriate, to conduct one or more sales of specified public lands in the county to qualified bidders, with the option for the state or county to obtain the land for public purposes before the land is offered for sale. Amends the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998 to specify the disposition of funds from a sale. 
 
Transfers all interest of the United States in the approximately 1,016 acres of certain federal land which shall be held in trust for the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, and which shall become part of the Tribe's reservation. Prohibits the conduct of certain gaming on such land. 
 
Designates approximately 12,330 acres of specified federal land managed by the BLM, to be known as the Burbank Canyons Wilderness, as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. 
 
Releases the approximately 1,065 acres of public land in the Burbank Canyons Wilderness study area not designated as wilderness by this Act from further study for designation as wilderness. 
 
Authorizes USDA to transfer from the Forest Service to Douglas County, Nevada, certain lands or interests in Forest Service land which are unsuitable for Forest Service administration or necessary for a public purpose. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-21
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 114-380.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act

Bill: 114-s-474
Sponsor: Sen. Toomey, Patrick [R-PA]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Assault and harassment offenses
Child safety and welfare
Crimes against children
Criminal justice information and records
Domestic violence and child abuse
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government information and archives
Personnel records
Pornography
School administration
Sex offenses
State and local government operations
Teaching, teachers, curricula
User charges and fees
Violent crime

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act

 
Requires states that receive funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to: 
 
 
 require criminal background checks for each school employee that include searches of the criminal registry or repository of the state in which the employee resides, the child abuse and neglect registries and databases of that state, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Sex Offender Registry; 
 
 prohibit the employment of an individual who refuses to consent to, or who makes a false statement in connection with, a background check or who has been convicted of one of specified felonies or of a violent or sexual crime against a minor; 
 
 require background checks to be periodically repeated or updated in accordance with state law or the policies of the state's local educational agencies (LEAs); 
 
 provide school employees who have had a background check with a copy of the background check if they request one and a timely process to appeal the results of the background check if it blocks their service as a school employee;
 
ensure that such policies and procedures are published on state and LEA websites; and
 
allow an LEA to share the results of a recent background check on a school employee with another LEA that is considering that individual for employment.
 
 
Prohibits states and LEAs from knowingly transferring or facilitating the transfer of any school employee if they know, or have substantive reason to believe, that such employee engaged in sexual misconduct with an elementary or secondary school student.
 
Allows: (1) the Attorney General and state law enforcement officials to charge reasonable fees for conducting the background checks, and (2) states and LEAs to use ESEA administrative funds to pay such fees.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1345-1347)
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Sugar Reform Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-475
Sponsor: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agricultural marketing and promotion
Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
Agricultural trade
Alternative and renewable resources
Motor fuels
Tariffs

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Sugar Reform Act of 2015 

 
This bill revises the Department of Agriculture (USDA) sugar program to decrease price support levels and make other modifications. 
 
The bill amends the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to decrease the rate for price support loans to processors of domestically grown sugarcane and sugar beets. The loan rate is the price level at which processors can take out loans. 
 
The bill amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to require USDA to set the marketing allotments at a level appropriate to maintain adequate domestic supplies at reasonable prices. The allotments limit the amount of sugar that each processor may sell. The allotments may be suspended or modified based on: (1) the interests of consumers, workers, businesses, and agricultural producers; and (2) the relative competitiveness of domestically produced and imported foods containing sugar. 
 
In setting import quotas necessary to comply with trade agreements, USDA must: 
 
 
set the quotas at no less than the minimum level necessary for compliance, 
 
adjust the quotas to provide adequate domestic supplies at reasonable prices,
 
establish and adjust quotas so that the ratio of sugar stocks to total sugar use at the end of the year will be approximately 15.5% or the target necessary to prevent unreasonably high prices or forfeitures, and 
 
permit the temporary transfer of quotas between countries. 
 
 
The bill amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to repeal the Feedstock Flexibility Program for Bioenergy Producers, which requires USDA to purchase sugar from domestic processors and sell it to bioenergy producers for biofuel production. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
School Principal Recruitment and Training Act

Bill: 114-s-476
Sponsor: Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Higher education
Performance measurement
Rural conditions and development
School administration
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

School Principal Recruitment and Training Act

 
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a principal recruitment and training grant program awarding renewable, matching grants to states, local educational agencies (LEAs), educational service agencies, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and partnerships of those entities to recruit, prepare, place, and support principals in eligible schools.
 
Defines "eligible schools" as high-need schools, persistently low-achieving schools, achievement gap schools, schools with middle grades that feed students to high schools with low graduation rates, and rural schools served by high-need LEAs.
 
Requires grantees to work with experts and stakeholders to develop, during the first year of a grant, a leadership training program for principals, mentors, and other school leaders that prepares and supports them in leading effective school reform efforts in persistently low-achieving schools.
 
Requires grantees to use the grants, after that first year, to:
 
 
implement their leadership training program;
 
ensure that their training program is informed, on an ongoing basis, by consultations with experts and stakeholders and by tracking the performance of program graduates;
 
select cohorts of trained or experienced principals to lead school reform efforts in persistently low-achieving schools;
 
support and encourage interaction among principals who have completed the training program; and
 
disseminate information to principals, mentors, and other school leaders engaging in reform efforts in persistently low-achieving schools.
 
 
Makes grant renewal decisions dependent on the Secretary of Education's evaluation of the extent to which the principals recruited, prepared, placed, or supported by the grantee have improved school-level student outcomes.
 
Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish performance metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities funded by the grant program; and (2) identify, and disseminate research on, best practices to improve school leadership.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Firearms Manufacturers and Dealers Protection Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-477
Sponsor: Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Banking and financial institutions regulation
Credit and credit markets
Firearms and explosives
Manufacturing
Retail and wholesale trades

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Firearms Manufacturers and Dealers Protection Act of 2015

 
This bill declares that funds appropriated or otherwise made available, including amounts derived from any fee or other source, are denied to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Department of Justice, or any other federal agency to carry out Operation Choke Point or any other program designed to discourage the provision or continuation of credit or the processing of payments by financial institutions for dealers and manufacturers of firearms and ammunition.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Career Ready Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-478
Sponsor: Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Education programs funding
Educational guidance
Elementary and secondary education
Employment and training programs
Government information and archives
Higher education
Vocational and technical education

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Career Ready Act of 2015

 
Amends the school improvement program under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow states to include certain career readiness indicators in their determination as to whether students are making adequate yearly progress toward state academic performance standards.
 
Allows states to include on their annual report cards on student progress toward those standards:
 
 
the number and percentage of their public secondary school students who attain state and local adjusted levels of career and technical education performance, as defined by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006;
 
the number and percentage of their public secondary school students that attain a recognized postsecondary credential, as defined by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; and
 
high school graduation, enrollment, remediation, persistence, and completion rates.
 
 
Requires local educational agencies awarded a grant for elementary and secondary school counseling programs under part D of title V of the ESEA to use the funds for additional activities that include:
 
 
developing and implementing comprehensive school counseling programs that are aligned with their grant applications;
 
 identifying regional workforce trends, in collaboration with entities experienced in identifying such trends, and enabling school counselor programs at the secondary school level to access that data;
 
 training counselors to effectively provide labor market information to secondary school students;
 
developing and implementing integrated, job-embedded, and ongoing professional development programs for educators who prepare students for postsecondary opportunities and careers; and
 
developing personalized learning plans for each student that map a defined program of study based on the student's academic and career goals.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S985-986)
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Chief Standing Bear National Historic Trail, and for other purposes.

Bill: 114-s-479
Sponsor: Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Federal-Indian relations
Government studies and investigations
Historic sites and heritage areas
Kansas
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Parks, recreation areas, trails
U.S. history

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 
Amends the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on feasibility of designating as a national historic trail the Chief Standing Bear Trail extending approximately 550 miles from Niobrara, Nebraska, to Ponca City, Oklahoma, which follows the route taken by Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca people during federal Indian removal, and approximately 550 miles from Ponca City through Omaha to Niobrara, Nebraska, which follows the return route taken by Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca people. 
 
Requires Interior to consider input from owners of private land within or adjacent to such study area. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Examination and Reporting Threshold Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-482
Sponsor: Sen. Toomey, Patrick [R-PA]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Banking and financial institutions regulation
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Government information and archives

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Examination and Reporting Threshold Act of 2015

 
 Amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to raise the examination threshold that brings an insured depository institution or insured credit union within its supervisory purview from assets of $10 billion or more to assets of $50 billion or more.
 
Increases from assets of $10 billion or less to assets of $50 billion or less the size of an insured depository institution or insured credit union that is subject to the Act's reporting requirements.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
PATIENTS Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-484
Sponsor: Sen. Roberts, Pat [R-KS]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Genetics
Health care coverage and access
Health information and medical records
Health programs administration and funding
Medical research
Minority health

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Preserving Access to Targeted, Individualized, and Effective New Treatments and Services (PATIENTS) Act of 2015 or the PATIENTS Act of 2015

 
Prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from using data obtained from comparative effectiveness research, including any conducted or supported using funds appropriated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or authorized or appropriated under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to deny or delay coverage of an item or service under a federal health care program.
 
Requires HHS to ensure that comparative effectiveness research conducted or supported by the federal government accounts for factors contributing to differences in the treatment response and treatment preferences of patients, including patient-reported outcomes, genomics and personalized medicine, the unique needs of health disparity populations, and indirect patient benefits.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Assuring Private Property Rights Over Vast Access to Land Act

Bill: 114-s-485
Sponsor: Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Electric power generation and transmission
Federal-Indian relations
Intergovernmental relations
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Assuring Private Property Rights Over Vast Access to Land Act or the APPROVAL Act

 
This bill amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to prohibit the Secretary of Energy and the Administrators of the Western Area Power Administration and of the Southwestern Power Administration from using the power of eminent domain to implement modernization of electricity transmission infrastructure, unless they have received explicit permission to do so by: (1) the state governor and the head of each applicable public utility commission or public service commission of the affected state, and (2) the head of the governing body of each Indian tribe whose land would be affected.
 
 An electricity transmission infrastructure project, to the greatest extent practicable, must be sited upon either an existing federal right-of-way or upon federal land managed by either: (1) the Bureau of Land Management, (2) the Forest Service, (3) the Bureau of Reclamation, or (4) the Corps of Engineers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-14
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate