hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
PRE-K Act

Bill: 114-s-317
Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2015-01-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Child care and development
Child health
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Educational facilities and institutions
Higher education
Indian social and development programs
Language arts
Minority education
Preschool education
Rural conditions and development
School administration
Special education
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: 

Providing Resources Early for Kids Act of 2015 or the PRE-K Act

 
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award matching grants to enhance or improve state-funded preschool programs to states that: (1) have curricula aligned with state early learning standards; (2) use nationally-established, or better, best practices for class size and teacher-to-student ratios; (3) require each teacher to have at least an associate degree in early childhood education or a related field; (4) require such programs to operate for at least a full academic year; and (5) have a plan for meeting the requirement, within five years of receiving such grant, that teachers have at least a baccalaureate degree in early childhood education or have such degree in a related field, but have also completed specialized training in early childhood education.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a competitive process for awarding grants to other states that demonstrate that they will meet such requirements within two fiscal years.
 
Prohibits state grantees from reducing their preschool or child care expenditures. 
 
Requires states to give priority, in using grant funds, to preschool programs in communities with high concentrations of impoverished children.
 
 Includes among grant uses: (1) increasing the qualifications of, and benefits provided to, teachers, teacher aides, and program directors; (2) decreasing class size and improving teacher-to-student ratios; (3) providing certain comprehensive services that support healthy child development; (4) extending program duration; (5) improving program monitoring and learning environments; and (6) providing classroom supplies or equipment.
 
Reserves funds for competitive grants to Indians for their preschool programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Accelerating Biomedical Research Act

Bill: 114-s-318
Sponsor: Sen. Mikulski, Barbara A. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2015-01-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Appropriations
Department of Health and Human Services
Executive agency funding and structure
Medical research
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Research administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: 

Accelerating Biomedical Research Act 

 
This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require certain adjustments to discretionary spending limits in FY2016-FY2021 to accommodate increases in appropriations to the National Institutes of Health at the Department of Health and Human Services. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S656-657)
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to designate a mountain in the State of Alaska as Mount Denali.

Bill: 114-s-319
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2015-01-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Alaska
Parks, recreation areas, trails

Summary:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: 
Designates a specified mountain in Alaska as &quot;Mount Denali.&quot;


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Senate Subcommittee on National Parks. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 114-338.
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S657)
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Medical Innovation Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-320
Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA]
Introduced: 2015-01-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Appropriations
Civil actions and liability
Department of Health and Human Services
Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Executive agency funding and structure
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Health technology, devices, supplies
Medical research
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Prescription drugs
Research administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: 

Medical Innovation Act of 2015

 
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require certain drug manufacturers to make payments to fund research supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
 
A drug manufacturer with over $1 billion in net income in a fiscal year that has entered into a settlement agreement in the previous five years with a federal agency regarding specified violations must pay 1% of its net income to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for each of its covered blockbuster drugs. A covered blockbuster drug is a drug that has at least $1 billion in net sales in a year and was developed, in whole or in part, through federal investments in medical research, including a drug for which a patent contains information that relates to, or is based upon, federally-funded research.
 
Each fiscal year, HHS must publish a list of manufacturers that make payments, each manufacturer's covered blockbuster drugs, and payment amounts.
 
Payments are divided between the FDA and the NIH in proportion to the discretionary funding of those agencies, excluding FDA user fees. Payments are not disbursed if appropriations for the FDA or the NIH are lower than in the prior fiscal year.
 
The FDA's priority use for payments must include advancing regulatory science for medical products.
 
The NIH's priority use for payments must include supporting: (1) research that fosters radical innovation, (2) research that advances fundamental knowledge, (3) research related to diseases that disproportionately account for federal health care spending, and (4) early career scientists.
 A covered blockbuster drug for which a manufacturer has not made a required payment is considered misbranded and cannot be sold until payment is made.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S657-658)
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to revoke the charter of incorporation of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma at the request of that tribe, and for other purposes.

Bill: 114-s-321
Sponsor: Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK]
Introduced: 2015-01-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Federal-Indian relations
Federally chartered organizations
Oklahoma

Summary:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: 
Accepts the request of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to revoke the charter of incorporation issued to that tribe and ratified by its members on June 1, 1940. 

action_date: 2015-05-11
text: 
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
 
Accepts the request of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to revoke the charter of incorporation issued to that tribe and ratified by its members on June 1, 1940. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-11
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 80.
action_date: 2015-05-11
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Barrasso without amendment. With written report No. 114-40.
action_date: 2015-05-11
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Barrasso without amendment. With written report No. 114-40.
action_date: 2015-02-25
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Don't Tax Our Fallen Public Safety Heroes Act

Bill: 114-s-322
Sponsor: Sen. Ayotte, Kelly [R-NH]
Introduced: 2015-01-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Employee benefits and pensions
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Income tax exclusion
Law enforcement officers

Summary:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: 

Don't Tax Our Fallen Public Safety Heroes Act 

 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income, for income tax purposes, federal public safety officer death benefits or amounts paid under a state program to surviving dependents of a public safety officer who died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Responsible Use of Taxpayer Dollars for Portraits Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-323
Sponsor: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Introduced: 2015-01-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Art, artists, authorship
Congressional agencies
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal officials
Members of Congress
Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents

Summary:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: 

Responsible Use of Taxpayer Dollars for Portraits Act of 2015

 
 Prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for production of a portrait of: (1) a Member of Congress, (2) the head of an executive agency, or (3) the head of an agency or office of the legislative branch.
 
Authorizes up to $20,000 in federal funds to pay for production of a portrait of an individual in line of succession to the presidency.
 
Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the use of:
 
 
federal funds to publicly display a portrait of: (1) a Member of Congress, (2) the head of an executive agency, or (3) the head of an agency or office of the legislative branch; or
 
nonfederal funds to produce a portrait of such individual, including, in the case of a portrait of an individual in line of succession to the presidency, the use of nonfederal funds to pay the entire cost of producing it or the portion of the cost that exceeds $20,000, if any.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Introduced in Senate
SEAL Act

Bill: 114-s-324
Sponsor: Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY]
Introduced: 2015-01-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Consumer credit
Department of the Treasury
Employee benefits and pensions
Income tax exclusion

Summary:
action_date: 2015-01-30
text: 

Shrinking Emergency Account Losses Act of 2015 or the SEAL Act
 
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to loans made from a qualified employer pension plan, to: (1) extend the period for repayment of loans if a plan terminates or a plan participant becomes unemployed, and (2) prohibit plans from allowing the use of credit cards or similar arrangements to access loan amounts.
 
Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to modify regulations governing hardship distributions from qualified employer pension plans to allow participants to make additional contributions to a plan during the six month period following a hardship distribution.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-01-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-01-30
text: Introduced in Senate
All-Year Schools Support Act

Bill: 114-s-325
Sponsor: Sen. Kirk, Mark Steven [R-IL]
Introduced: 2015-01-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
School administration
Science and engineering education
Teaching, teachers, curricula
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2015-01-30
text: 

All Year Schools Support Act

 
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a multi-year pilot program awarding four grants to states, local educational agencies, or other public or private entities to establish or expand year-round education programs at public elementary or secondary schools.
 
Allows grantees to increase the salaries of teachers participating in the year-round education programs by not to exceed 100%.
 
Requires the Secretary to give priority to grant applicants that: (1) propose to carry out year-round education activities that emphasize science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and (2) target low-performing schools and areas with high populations of low-income individuals.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-01-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-01-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Stewardship End Result Contracting Improvement Act

Bill: 114-s-326
Sponsor: Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2015-01-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Forests, forestry, trees
Land use and conservation
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2015-01-30
text: 

Stewardship End Result Contracting Improvement Act

 
Amends the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to authorize the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to obligate funds to cover any potential cancellation or termination costs (cancellation ceiling) in stages that are economically or programmatically viable with respect to an agreement or contract for a stewardship end result contracting project. Requires the Forest Service and BLM to submit written notice to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget 30 days before entering into a multiyear agreement or contract that includes a cancellation ceiling exceeding $25 million if proposed funding for the costs of cancelling the agreement or contract up to the ceiling is not included. 
 
Allows the Forest Service and BLM, if the offset value of the forest products to be removed exceeds the value of the resource improvement treatments, to: (1) use the excess to satisfy any outstanding liabilities for cancelled agreements or contracts; or (2) if there are no such outstanding liabilities, apply the excess to other authorized stewardship projects. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-07-16
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 114-400.
action_date: 2015-01-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-01-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Audit the Pentagon Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-327
Sponsor: Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV]
Introduced: 2015-02-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Appropriations
Computers and information technology
Congressional oversight
Defense spending
Department of Defense
Department of the Treasury
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal officials
Military procurement, research, weapons development

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: 

Audit the Pentagon Act of 2015 

 
This bill establishes consequences if the Department of Defense (DOD) fails to obtain an audit with an unqualified opinion of its financial statements. The bill provides additional authorities and flexibility if DOD obtains an audit. 
 
If DOD obtains the audit, the bill provides that the financial statements are no longer covered by specified reporting requirements. The bill also authorizes DOD to transfer and reprogram specified funds. 
 
If DOD fails to obtains an audit for FY2016, the bill establishes additional qualifications for the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and other specified DOD financial management officials. The bill also permits the Deputy Secretary of Defense to prescribe additional duties and powers for the officials. 
 
If DOD does not obtain an audit for FY2018, the bill: (1) cancels the transfer authority provided by this Act, (2) establishes a Chief Management Officer to be responsible for the management and administration of DOD, and (3) transfers jurisdiction of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service from DOD to the Department of the Treasury. 
 
For failing to obtain an audit for fiscal years after FY2017, the bill cancels the reprogramming authority provided by this Act and prohibits DOD from using funds for certain weapons, weapons systems, or platforms being acquired as a major defense acquisition program. 
 
The bill requires DOD to amend acquisition guidance to place specified restrictions and limitations on the procurement of certain Enterprise Resource Planning business systems. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Trademark Act of 1946 to provide for the registration of marks consisting of a flag, coat of arms, or other insignia of the United States, or any State or local government, and for other purposes.

Bill: 114-s-328
Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
Introduced: 2015-02-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Intellectual property
National symbols

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: 
Amends trademark registration criteria under the Trademark Act of 1946 to allow the United States, or any state, municipality, county, political subdivision, or other governmental authority in the United States, to register with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office a trademark that consists of, or comprises, its own flag, coat of arms, or other official insignia. (Currently, an applicant's trademark registration is subject to refusal if the mark consists of, or comprises, the flag or coat of arms or other insignia of the United States, or of any state or municipality, or of any foreign nation.)


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Introduced in Senate
Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-330
Sponsor: Sen. Heller, Dean [R-NV]
Introduced: 2015-02-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Alaska
Alaska Natives and Hawaiians
Income tax deductions
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: 

Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2015
 
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the tax deduction for charitable contributions by individuals and corporations of real property interests for conservation purposes, and (2) allow Native Corporations an increased tax deduction for donations of conservation easements related to lands conveyed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Introduced in Senate
Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-332
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2015-02-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Hospital care
Medicare
Rural conditions and development

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: 

Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015

 
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to make permanent the Medicare-dependent, small rural subsection (d) hospital program and increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program.
 
 (Generally, a subsection [d] hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system [IPPS] when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.)

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Introduced in Senate
Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act

Bill: 114-s-333
Sponsor: Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH]
Introduced: 2015-02-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Budget deficits and national debt
Budget process
Executive agency funding and structure
Legislative rules and procedure
Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: 

Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act 

 
This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to issue a debt limit warning to Congress if Treasury determines that the United States will reach the statutory debt limit within 60 days. The warning must include a determination of when extraordinary measures may be necessary to prolong the funding of the United States government in the absence of a debt limit increase. 
 
Any formal Presidential request to increase the debt limit must include: (1) the amount of the proposed increase, and (2) proposed legislation to reduce spending over the sum of the current and following 10 years by at least the amount of the requested increase. 
 
The bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to create a point of order in the House and Senate against legislation increasing the debt limit, unless the legislation reduces spending over the sum of the current and following 10 years by at least the amount of the increase. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Introduced in Senate
End Government Shutdowns Act

Bill: 114-s-334
Sponsor: Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH]
Introduced: 2015-02-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Appropriations
Executive agency funding and structure
Legislative rules and procedure

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: 

End Government Shutdowns Act 

 
This bill provides specified continuing appropriations to prevent a government shutdown if any appropriations measure for a fiscal year has not been enacted before the beginning of the fiscal year or a joint resolution making continuing appropriations is not in effect. The appropriations are provided to continue to fund programs, projects, and activities for which funds were provided in the preceding fiscal year. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
action_date: 2015-02-02
text: Introduced in Senate