hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
American Dream Accounts Act

Bill: 114-s-687
Sponsor: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Congressional oversight
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Financial literacy
Higher education
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: 

American Dream Accounts Act

 
Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to eligible entities so each can establish and administer American Dream Accounts for a group of at least 30 low-income public school students who, at the time the entities apply for a grant, are attending a grade no higher than ninth grade.
 
Lists as eligible entities: (1) state educational agencies; (2) local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that operate as their own LEA; (3) charter management organizations or charter school authorizers; (4) institutions of higher education (IHEs) or Tribal Colleges or Universities; (5) nonprofit organizations; (6) entities experienced in educational savings or assisting low-income students attain higher education; (7) consortia of two or more of these entities; and (8) consortia of one or more of these entities and a public, charter, or Indian school.
 
Describes an American Dream Account as a personal online account for low-income students that monitors their progress toward higher education and includes a college savings account.
 
Requires American Dream Accounts to provide students with opportunities, either online or in person, to: (1) attain financial literacy; (2) learn about preparing for enrollment in an IHE; and (3) identify their skills or interests, including career interests.
 
Requires grantees, subject to federal privacy laws and regulations, to allow vested stakeholders to have secure Internet access to an American Dream Account, but not the college savings account portion of that Account.
 
Prohibits grantees from using their grant to provide the initial deposit into the college savings account portion of a student's American Dream Account.
 
Prohibits the funds in those college savings accounts from being considered in making federal student financial aid determinations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-688
Sponsor: Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Government studies and investigations
Hospital care
Medicare

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: 

Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015

 
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) with respect to the hospital readmissions reduction program under the inpatient (hospital) prospective payment system (IPPS).
 
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in determining a hospital's excess readmission ratio for purposes of making payments for discharges occurring during FY2016-FY2017, is required to make a risk adjustment to the ratio that takes into account both: (1) a hospital's proportion of inpatients who are full-benefit dual eligible individuals (eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid under SSAct title XIX), and (2) the socioeconomic status of patients served by the hospital.
 
The Secretary must base the risk adjustment under the readmission program for subsequent fiscal years on specified reports required by the Improving Medicare Post Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 as well as a report the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission shall submit on the appropriateness of using a threshold of 30 days for readmissions under the program. The Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must then incorporate report recommendations in carrying out risk adjustments for discharges occurring in such fiscal years in order to ensure that the most vulnerable populations are not unfairly penalized by the program.
 
The Secretary shall consider the use of V or other International Classification of Diseases-related codes for potential exclusion of noncompliant patient cases when promulgating related regulations for FY2017.
 
The Secretary must: (1) assess whether to exclude from the calculation of excess readmissions any patients whose clinical conditions or diagnoses may require frequent hospitalizations; then (2) exclude, starting in FY2018, any relevant clinical conditions identified in the assessment recommendations when determining a hospital's publicly reported readmission rate and excess readmissions ratio.
 
The Secretary is directed to make a payment adjustment to subsection (d) hospitals necessary to ensure that the implementation of this Act does not result in any increase in aggregate expenditures under the IPPS.
 
(Generally, a subsection (d) hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payment under the IPPS when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.)


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act

Bill: 114-s-689
Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Athletes
Civil actions and liability
Health care quality
Health personnel
Jurisdiction and venue
Professional sports
School athletics

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: 

Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act

 
Provides that for purposes of medical professional liability insurance or civil and criminal malpractice liability determinations, a physician or athletic trainer (covered sports medicine professional) who is authorized to practice medicine in a state (primary state) and who provides medical services to an athlete or athletic team in a state where such professional is not authorized to practice (secondary state) shall be deemed to have provided such medical services in the primary state, provided that prior to providing the covered medical services such professional has disclosed the nature and extent of such services to the entity that provides such professional with medical professional liability insurance in the primary state.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act

Bill: 114-s-691
Sponsor: Sen. Reid, Harry [D-NV]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Federal-Indian relations
Intergovernmental relations
Radioactive wastes and releases
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: 

Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act

 
This bill prohibits the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from authorizing construction of a nuclear waste repository unless the Secretary of Energy has entered into an agreement to host the repository with the following entities:
 
 
the governor of the state in which the repository is proposed to be located,
 
each affected unit of local government,
 
any unit of general local government contiguous to the affected unit if spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste will be transported through that unit of general local government for disposal at the repository, and
 
each affected Indian tribe.
 
 
Furthermore, any agreement to host the repository must meet the following conditions:
 
 
it must be written and signed by all parties,
 
it must be binding on the parties, and
 
it shall not be amended or revoked except by mutual agreement of the parties.
 
 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1387)
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 442 East 167th Street in Bronx, New York, as the "Herman Badillo Post Office Building".

Bill: 114-s-692
Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Congressional tributes
Government buildings, facilities, and property
New York City
Postal service

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 442 East 167th Street in Bronx, New York, as the "Herman Badillo Post Office Building."

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Lena Horne Recognition Act

Bill: 114-s-693
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Arts, Culture, Religion
Subjects: Art, artists, authorship
Congressional tributes
Music
Performing arts
Racial and ethnic relations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: 

Lena Horne Recognition Act

 
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal in commemoration of Lena Horne in recognition of her achievements and contributions to American culture and the civil rights movement.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Future Logging Careers Act

Bill: 114-s-694
Sponsor: Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Child safety and welfare
Family relationships
Forests, forestry, trees
Worker safety and health
Youth employment and child labor

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: 

Future Logging Careers Act

 
 Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to make the restrictions on oppressive child labor inapplicable to employment of an employee age 16 or 17 by a parent, or a person standing in place of a parent, in a logging or mechanized operation owned or operated by that parent or person.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Dignified Interment of Our Veterans Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-695
Sponsor: Sen. Toomey, Patrick [R-PA]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Cemeteries and funerals
Congressional oversight
Government studies and investigations
Veterans' organizations and recognition

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: 

Dignified Interment of Our Veterans Act of 2015

 
Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to study and report to Congress on matters relating to the interring of veterans' unclaimed remains in national cemeteries under the control of the National Cemetery Administration, including:
 
 
 the scope of the issues relating to veterans' unclaimed remains, including the estimated number of such remains;
 
 the effectiveness of VA procedures for working with persons or entities having custody of unclaimed remains to facilitate the interment of such remains in such cemeteries;
 
 state and local laws that affect the Secretary's ability to inter unclaimed veterans' remains in such cemeteries; and
 
 recommendations for appropriate legislative or administrative action.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Marketplace Fairness Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-698
Sponsor: Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Retail and wholesale trades
Sales and excise taxes
State and local government operations
State and local taxation
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: 

Marketplace Fairness Act of 2015

 
 Authorizes each member state under the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (the multistate agreement for the administration and collection of sales and use taxes adopted on November 12, 2002) to require all sellers not qualifying for a small-seller exception (applicable to sellers with annual gross receipts in total U.S. remote sales not exceeding $1 million) to collect and remit sales and use taxes with respect to remote sales under provisions of the Agreement, but only if such Agreement includes minimum simplification requirements relating to the administration of the tax, audits, and streamlined filing. Defines "remote sale" as a sale of goods or services into a state in which the seller would not legally be required to pay, collect, or remit state or local sales and use taxes unless provided by this Act. Prohibits states from beginning the exercise of the authority granted by this Act for a specified period after enactment.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
American Opportunity Tax Credit Permanence and Consolidation Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-699
Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Computers and information technology
Educational technology and distance education
Higher education
Income tax credits
Income tax exclusion
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: 

American Opportunity Tax Credit Permanence and Consolidation Act of 2015

 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to replace the Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning tax credits with a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that: (1) allows an income tax credit of up to $3,000 of the qualified tuition and related expenses of a student who is carrying at least one half of a normal course load, (2) increases the income threshold for reductions in the credit amount based upon modified adjusted gross income, (3) imposes a lifetime dollar limitation on such credit of $15,000 for all taxable years, and (4) makes a portion of the credit refundable. Allows an exclusion from gross income of any amount received as a Federal Pell Grant. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
READ Act

Bill: 114-s-700
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Business records
Civil actions and liability
Congressional oversight
Consumer affairs
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Manufacturing
Product safety and quality
Trade restrictions
Worker safety and health

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: 

Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database Act of 2015 or the READ Act

 
This bill amends the Asbestos Information Act of 1988 to require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish and maintain a database of asbestos-containing products. The database must be accessible through EPA's website, publicly available, and searchable. An asbestos-containing product is any product to which asbestos is deliberately or knowingly added or in which asbestos is deliberately used or knowingly present in any concentration.
 
Any person who manufactured, processed, distributed, sold, imported, transported, or stored an asbestos-containing product must report to the EPA each year to identify the characteristics and location of the asbestos-containing products. 
 
Civil penalties are imposed upon any person who knowingly: (1) manufactured, processed, distributed, sold, imported, transported, or stored an asbestos-containing product and who did not submit a report; or (2) provides false or inaccurate information in a report or fails to provide required information.
 
The Government Accountability Office must report on the utility of the database. The report must contain recommendations for measures to increase use of the database by consumers and further reduce the harm caused by exposure to asbestos.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1387-1388)
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill for the relief of Tim Lowry and Paul Nettleton of Owyhee County, Idaho.

Bill: 114-s-701
Sponsor: Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID]
Introduced: 2015-03-10 in the Senate
Subjects: Private Legislation

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Provides for the relief of Tim Lowry and Paul Nettleton of Owyhee County, Idaho.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Stop Illegal Insider Trading Act

Bill: 114-s-702
Sponsor: Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI]
Introduced: 2015-03-11 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Securities
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: 

Stop Illegal Insider Trading Act 

 
This bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 governing manipulative and deceptive devices to make it unlawful for any person to: (1) purchase, sell, or cause the purchase or sale of any security on the basis of material information that the person knows or has reason to know is not publicly available; or (2) knowingly or recklessly communicate material information that the person knows or has reason to know is not publicly available to any other person under circumstances in which it is reasonably foreseeable that the communication is likely to result in a violation of this prohibition.
 
Excludes from the definition of &quot;not publicly available&quot; any information a person has developed independently from publicly available sources.
 
 The Securities and Exchange Commission is permitted to exempt, by rule, any person, transaction, communication, or any class of persons, transactions, or communications from the prohibitions of this Act, if it determines that the exemption is necessary or appropriate in the public interest and consistent with the protection of investors. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1440-1441)
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: Introduced in Senate
Weatherization Enhancement and Local Energy Efficiency Investment and Accountability Act

Bill: 114-s-703
Sponsor: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2015-03-11 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Energy assistance for the poor and aged
Energy efficiency and conservation
Low- and moderate-income housing
Public contracts and procurement
Residential rehabilitation and home repair
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: 

Weatherization Enhancement and Local Energy Efficiency Investment and Accountability Act 

 
This bill amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to reauthorize the Weatherization Assistance Program for low-income persons through FY2020.
 
The Department of Energy (DOE) must make competitive grants to qualified tax-exempt charitable organizations for energy efficiency retrofit of low-income homes. The grants may be used for single-family and multifamily housing.
 
Contractors carrying out weatherization with funds under the bill must be selected through a competitive bidding process and be accredited as specified by this bill. In order to receive a grant, organizations must use a crew chief who is certified or accredited as required by this bill. 
 
Beginning on October 1, 2016, DOE must ensure that: (1) each retrofit for which weatherization assistance is provided meets minimum efficiency and quality of work standards, (2) at least 10% of the dwelling units are randomly inspected by an accredited third party to ensure compliance with the standards, and (3) the standards meet or exceed the current industry standards for home performance work.
 
The Energy Policy and Conservation Act is amended to reauthorize the program for state energy conservation plans through FY2020.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: Introduced in Senate
Community Based Independence for Seniors Act

Bill: 114-s-704
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2015-03-11 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Adult day care
Aging
Health care costs and insurance
Home and outpatient care
Hospital care
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Medicaid
Medicare
Nursing

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: 

Community Based Independence for Seniors Act 

 
This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a Community-Based Institutional Special Needs Plan demonstration program to target home and community-based care to eligible low-income Medicare beneficiaries age 65 or older.

action_date: 2015-07-30
text: 

Community Based Independence for Seniors Act 

 
(Sec. 3) This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a five-year Community-Based Institutional Special Needs Plan demonstration program to prevent and delay institutionalization under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) among eligible low-income Medicare beneficiaries age 65 or older.
 
HHS shall enter into agreements with up to five eligible Medicare Advantage (MA) plans under part C (Medicare+Choice) of SSAct title XVIII (Medicare) to conduct the demonstration program. Each eligible MA plan may enroll up to 1,000 eligible low-income Medicare beneficiaries in such program.
 
A participating MA plan shall use the rebate the plan must provide to eligible low-income Medicare enrollees to furnish certain benefits, including homemaker services, home delivered meals, transportation services, respite care, adult day care services, and non-Medicare-covered safety and other equipment.
 
HHS shall help to educate eligible Medicare beneficiaries about the availability of the demonstration program through State Health Insurance Assistance Programs and other organizations dedicated to assisting seniors with Medicare benefits and enrollment.
 
The demonstration program shall be implemented by January 1, 2018.
 
HHS shall arrange for an independent third party evaluation of the demonstration program, on the basis of which its duration and scope may be expanded.
 
Funding for the demonstration program shall come out of the Medicare trust funds.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-07-30
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 182.
action_date: 2015-07-30
text: Committee on Finance. Reported by Senator Hatch with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-103.
action_date: 2015-07-30
text: Committee on Finance. Reported by Senator Hatch with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-103.
action_date: 2015-06-24
text: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: Introduced in Senate