hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Stand with Israel Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-633
Sponsor: Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Arab-Israeli relations
Conflicts and wars
Congressional oversight
Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
Foreign aid and international relief
Foreign loans and debt
Government lending and loan guarantees
Israel
Middle East
Palestinians
Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status
Terrorism

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 

Stand with Israel Act of 2015

 
Prohibits any direct U.S. assistance, loan guarantee, or debt relief to the Palestinian Authority (PA) or any affiliated governing entity or leadership organization. 
 
States that such prohibition shall have no effect for a fiscal year if the President certifies to Congress that the PA has: 
 
 
formally recognized Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state and publicly recognized the state of Israel, 
 
renounced terrorism and purged all individuals with terrorist ties from the security services, 
 
terminated funding of anti-American and anti-Israel incitement, 
 
publicly pledged to not engage in war with Israel, and 
 
honored previous diplomatic agreements.



Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Disaster Assistance Fairness and Accountability Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-634
Sponsor: Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Emergency Management
Subjects: Disaster relief and insurance
Government information and archives

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 

Disaster Assistance Fairness and Accountability Act of 2015

 
Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to prohibit the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from taking any actions to recoup from a recipient assistance provided in relation to a major disaster declared by the President on or after January 1, 2012, if: (1) the recipient's application was made in good faith and provided accurate information and the receipt of such assistance could reasonably have been expected by the recipient, or (2) the receipt of such assistance occurred more than three years before FEMA first notifies the recipient of FEMA's intent to recoup. 
 
Requires FEMA, in carrying out a recoupment of disaster assistance that is not prohibited under this Act, to provide documentation that demonstrates that the recipient did not apply in good faith with accurate information or could not reasonably have expected to receive such assistance.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Short Line Railroad Rehabilitation and Investment Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-637
Sponsor: Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Income tax credits
Railroads

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 

Short Line Railroad Rehabilitation and Investment Act of 2015

 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for railroad track maintenance, to: (1) expand the types of maintenance expenditures eligible for such credit, and (2) extend such credit through 2016.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Commonsense Legislative Exceptional Events Reforms Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-638
Sponsor: Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Air quality
Atmospheric science and weather
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental regulatory procedures

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 

Commonsense Legislative Exceptional Events Reforms Act of 2015

 
This bill amends the Clean Air Act to revise the requirements for regulations that govern the review and handling of air quality monitoring data influenced by exceptional events. (The Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] may exclude monitored exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards from consideration when designating an area as nonattainment, redesignating an area as nonattainment, or reclassifying an existing nonattainment area to a higher classification if a state demonstrates that an exceptional event caused the exceedances.)
 
 The criteria used to determine if an exceptional event was demonstrated must be specific in order to minimize the discretion of the EPA in approving or disapproving the demonstration.
 
 The EPA must make a determination within 90 days after the submission of a petition by a state of an exceptional event demonstration. The demonstration is approved if the EPA does not make a determination by that deadline.
 
 A determination must be based on a preponderance of the evidence and give substantial deference to the findings of the state exceptional event demonstration. An appeal process for reviewing a disapproval of a demonstration is established.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-03
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-47.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1253-1254)
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Agency PAYGO for Greenhouse Gases Act

Bill: 114-s-639
Sponsor: Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental regulatory procedures
Executive agency funding and structure

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 

Agency PAYGO for Greenhouse Gases Act

 
This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to include an offset in any proposed rule that limits greenhouse gas emissions and imposes increased costs on other agencies. The offset must be from funds available to the EPA and be for all projected increased costs imposed on other agencies. 
 
Agencies may not pass on the cost imposed by the rule on to any rate payer of the agencies.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
ORDEAL Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-640
Sponsor: Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Air quality
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental regulatory procedures

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 

Ozone Regulatory Delay and Extension of Assessment Length Act of 2015 or the ORDEAL Act of 2015

 
This bill amends the Clean Air Act to lengthen from 5 years to 10 years the intervals at which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to review and revise air quality criteria and primary and secondary national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). This bill eliminates the EPA's authority to review and revise criteria or promulgate new standards for ozone concentrations earlier or more frequently than required. The EPA may not review and revise NAAQS for ozone concentrations before February 1, 2018. The EPA must complete a thorough review of the NAAQS for ozone concentrations and make revisions no later December 31, 2018.
 
The intervals at which an independent scientific review committee is required to review air quality criteria and NAAQS and recommend any new standards or revisions to existing criteria and standards are lengthened from 5 years to 10 years. The bill delays the review by an independent scientific review committee of NAAQS for ozone concentrations until February 1, 2018. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-03
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-47.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Military Reserve Small Business Jobs Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-641
Sponsor: Sen. Peters, Gary C. [D-MI]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Income tax credits
Military personnel and dependents
Small business
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 

Military Reserve Small Business Jobs Act of 2015

 
 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2019 the tax credit for differential wage payments made by a small business employer on behalf of employees who are active duty members of the uniformed services. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Human Trafficking Survivors Relief and Empowerment Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-642
Sponsor: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Crime victims
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Criminal justice information and records
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Human trafficking
Immigration status and procedures
Judicial procedure and administration
Law enforcement administration and funding
Right of privacy

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 

Human Trafficking Survivors Relief and Empowerment Act of 2015

 
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to direct the Attorney General to give preferential consideration for a public safety and community policing grant to an applicant in a state that has in effect a law that:
 
 
 provides a process by which an individual who is a human trafficking survivor can move to vacate any arrest or conviction records for prostitution or any other non-violent offense committed as a direct result of human trafficking; 
 
 establishes a rebuttable presumption that any arrest or conviction of an individual for an offense associated with human trafficking is a result of being trafficked, if the individual has been granted nonimmigrant status as a victim of severe form of human trafficking, is the subject of a certification by the Secretary of Health and Human Services as willing to assist in an investigation and prosecution of severe forms of trafficking in persons, or has other similar documentation of trafficking issued by a federal agency;
 
protects the identity of individuals who are human trafficking survivors in public and court records; and 
 
does not require an individual who is a human trafficking survivor to provide official documentation as described in this Act in order to receive protection under the law.
 
 
Authorizes the Legal Services Corporation and the recipients of its funding to provide legal services on behalf a human trafficking survivor applying for a motion to vacate under such a state law.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Continuum of Learning Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-643
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Child care and development
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Licensing and registrations
Preschool education
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 
Continuum of Learning Act of 2015
 
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to coordinate school improvement and professional development activities with early childhood development and education programs.
 
Amends the school improvement program under part A of title I of the ESEA to require states to create or revise early learning guidelines for preschool age children and early learning standards for children in kindergarten through grade three. 
 
Requires the guidelines and standards to be developmentally appropriate and cover all domains of child development and learning.
 
Requires states to encourage local educational agencies (LEAs) and elementary schools to use school improvement funds to offer early childhood education programs from birth to school entry.
 
Requires LEAs to: (1) ensure, to the extent feasible, starting with the 2017-2018 school year, that teachers placed in the early elementary school grades have a specialized early childhood education teaching license, credential, or endorsement; and (2) work with early childhood education programs to establish a continuity of curricular objectives and developmental expectations that support children's transition to school.
 
Limits the use of child assessments for children from birth through grade two.
 
Amends part A (Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund) of title II of the ESEA to require states to incorporate knowledge regarding early childhood development and learning into teacher and principal certification or licensing requirements.
 
Requires professional development activities to include: (1) training in early child development and learning, and (2) joint training for elementary school staff and early childhood education program staff.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to resolve title issues involving real property and equipment acquired using funds provided under the Alaska Kiln Drying Grant Program.

Bill: 114-s-644
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agricultural equipment and machinery
Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
Alaska
Forests, forestry, trees
Government buildings, facilities, and property
Land transfers

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 
 Vests title to real property and equipment acquired using funds provided under the Alaska Kiln Drying Grant Program in the grant recipient in accordance with the compensation provisions in this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Prepare All Kids Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-645
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Child care and development
Education programs funding
Government trust funds
Preschool education
School administration
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 

Prepare All Kids Act of 2015

 
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to establish a Prekindergarten Incentive Fund from which matching grants shall be awarded to states and, through them, subgrants to qualified prekindergarten providers to establish, expand, or enhance voluntary high quality full-day prekindergarten programs serving children ages three through five.
 
Directs state grantees to set aside: (1) at least 15% of their grant for quality early childhood development programs for children from birth through age three, and (2) at least 10% of their grant to extend the hours of early childhood development programs to create extended day and year programs.
 
Requires prekindergarten subgrantees to: (1) maintain a maximum class size of 20 children, with at least 1 prekindergarten teacher per classroom; and (2) ensure that the ratio of children to prekindergarten teachers and teacher aides does not exceed 10 to 1.
 
Prohibits the use of program funds for assessments of children in prekindergarten or early childhood development programs if: (1) the assessments are used to reward or sanction individual children, teachers, programs, or schools; or (2) a single assessment is used as the primary or sole method for assessing program effectiveness.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Medical Evaluation Parity for Servicemembers Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-646
Sponsor: Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Health information and medical records
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Mental health
Military medicine
Military personnel and dependents
Neurological disorders
Right of privacy

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 

Medical Evaluation Parity for Servicemembers Act of 2015

 
Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to: (1) provide an individual with a mental health screening before such individual enlists or is commissioned as an officer in the Armed Forces, and (2) use such results as a baseline for any subsequent mental health examinations. 
 
Prohibits the Secretary from considering the results of such screening in determining the promotion of a member of the Armed Forces.
 
Directs the Secretary to treat a screening in the same manner as medical records with respect to laws and regulations relating to the privacy of information.
 
Requires the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health to submit to Congress and the Department of Defense (DOD) a report on preliminary mental health screenings of members of the Armed Forces, including recommendations regarding: (1) establishing preliminary mental health screenings to establish parity with physical screenings; and (2) the composition of the mental health screening, evidenced-based best practices, and how to track changes relating to traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other conditions. 
 
Directs DOD and the Government Accountability Office to report on the efficacy of preliminary mental health screenings. Requires DOD to report on the efficacy of the mental health components of the physical examinations to members of the Armed Forces who are separated from active duty.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Health Care Choice Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-647
Sponsor: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
Introduced: 2015-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Comprehensive health care
Congressional oversight
Government information and archives
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Insurance industry and regulation
Intergovernmental relations
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: 

Health Care Choice Act of 2015

 
Repeals the health insurance and health coverage expansion requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and related requirements of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Restores provisions of law amended or repealed by those provisions. 
 
Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide that the laws of the state designated by a health insurance issuer (primary state) apply to individual health insurance coverage offered by that issuer in the primary state and in any other state (secondary state), but only if the coverage and issuer comply with the conditions of this Act.
 
Exempts issuers from any secondary state's laws that would prohibit or regulate the operation of the issuer in that state, subject to certain restrictions imposed by that state.
 
 
Gives sole jurisdiction to the primary state to enforce the primary state's covered laws in the primary state and any secondary state. 
 
Requires the Government Accountability Office to study the effect of this Act on specified health insurance issues.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Medicare Formulary Improvement Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-648
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2015-03-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Drug therapy
Medicare
Prescription drugs

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-04
text: 

Medicare Formulary Improvement Act of 2015

 
This bill amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require a sponsor offering a prescription drug plan (PDP) to include all covered part D drugs in the following categories and classes of drugs in the formulary: (1) anticonvulsants, (2) antidepressants, (3) antineoplastics, (4) antipsychotics, (5) antiretrovirals, and (6) immunosuppressants for the treatment of transplant rejection. Currently the Secretary of Health and Human Services is required to identify categories and classes of drugs of clinical concern.
 
The Secretary is required, however, to establish any exceptions that permit a PDP sponsor to exclude from its formulary a particular covered part D drug only through promulgation of a regulation, including a public notice and comment period. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-04
text: Introduced in Senate
Higher Education Reform and Opportunity Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-649
Sponsor: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
Introduced: 2015-03-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Education programs funding
Employment and training programs
Government lending and loan guarantees
Higher education
Licensing and registrations
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-04
text: 

Higher Education Reform and Opportunity Act of 2015

 
Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make the following entities, programs, and courses eligible for funding under title IV if they are accredited by an authorized accreditation authority in a state that has an alternative accreditation agreement with the Secretary of Education: 
 
 
 institutions that provide postsecondary courses; 
 
 postsecondary apprenticeship programs; and 
 
 postsecondary education courses or programs provided by institutions of postsecondary education, nonprofit organizations, or for-profit organizations or businesses.
 
 
Lists the items to be included in a state's alternative accreditation agreement with the Secretary, including the standards those entities, programs, and courses must meet to receive and maintain their accreditation.
 
Requires that agreement to include the state's assurance that only entities, programs, and courses that provide credits toward a postsecondary certification, credential, or degree (as defined by the state in the agreement) will be accredited.
 
Establishes the formula for determining the administrative cost allowance for: (1) the entities, programs, and courses that are accredited through the alternative accreditation system and that administer the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant programs in accordance with the agreement; and (2) states that will administer those programs for such entities, programs, and courses in accordance with the agreement.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-03-04
text: Introduced in Senate