hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-2144
Sponsor: Rep. Young, Todd [R-IN-9]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Advisory bodies
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal officials
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government studies and investigations
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Performance measurement

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 

Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act of 2015

 
Establishes as additional functions of the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements to:
 
 
adopt and oversee government-wide standards, policies, and guidelines for program and project management for executive agencies; 
 
 chair the Program Management Policy Council (established by this Act);
 
 issue regulations and establish standards and policies for executive agencies in accordance with nationally accredited standards for program and project management planning and delivery issues; 
 
 engage with the private sector; 
 
 conduct portfolio reviews to address programs identified as high risk by the Government Accountability Office;
 
 conduct portfolio reviews of agency programs at least annually; and 
 
 establish a five-year strategic plan for program and project management.
 
 
 Requires the head of each federal agency that is required to have a Chief Financial Officer to designate a Program Management Improvement Officer to implement agency program management policies and develop a written strategy for enhancing the role of program managers within the agency. 
 
Establishes the Program Management Policy Council within OMB to act as the principal interagency forum for improving agency practices related to program and project management.
 
Requires the Office of Personnel Management to issue regulations that: (1) identify key skills and competencies needed for an agency program and project manager, (2) establish a new job series for program and project management within an agency, and (3) establish a new career path for program and project managers. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
Physician Ambassadors Helping Veterans Act

Bill: 114-hr-2145
Sponsor: Rep. Culberson, John Abney [R-TX-7]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Department of Veterans Affairs
Executive agency funding and structure
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Health care coverage and access
Health personnel
Licensing and registrations
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 

Physician Ambassadors Helping Veterans Act

 
Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to use its authority to employ certain personnel without regard to civil service or classification laws, rules, or regulations to employ physicians on a without compensation basis in any practice area or specialty for which: (1) the average waiting time for veterans seeking an appointment with a physician exceeds the VA's waiting time goals, or (2) the VA medical facility where the physician will be employed has demonstrated staffing shortages.
 
Requires each VA medical facility to have a volunteer coordinator who: (1) seeks to establish relationships with medical associations serving the area, (2) recruits physicians for uncompensated employment at the facility, and (3) serves as the initial point of contact for physicians seeking uncompensated employment at the facility.
 
Conditions an uncompensated physician's receipt of a credential or privilege to practice medicine in a VA facility on the physician's commitment to serve at least 40 hours in the facility during the ensuing one-year period.
 
Requires the VA to decide whether to grant an uncompensated physician's request for a credential or privilege to practice medicine in the VA facility within 60 days.
 
Requires the director of a VA medical facility to approve, and accept the uncompensated services of, any physician who has made the requisite service commitment and receives a credential or privilege to practice medicine in such facility.
 
Requires the VA to submit annual reports on physicians employed on a without compensation basis. Prohibits any physician employed on such basis from being considered in determining whether there is a staffing shortage throughout the VA with respect to a particular occupation.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-26
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
Woman on the Twenty Act

Bill: 114-hr-2147
Sponsor: Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Art, artists, authorship
Congressional oversight
Currency
U.S. history
Women's rights

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 

Woman on the Twenty Act
 
 
This bill instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to convene a panel of private citizens to: (1) analyze public input regarding suggestions for the likeness of a woman to appear on the $20 Federal Reserve note; and (2) report to Congress the panel's recommendations and a determination as to whether the likeness of a woman shall appear on the $20 Federal Reserve note.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
Ensuring Quality in the Unemployment Insurance Program (EQUIP) Act

Bill: 114-hr-2148
Sponsor: Rep. Carter, Earl L. "Buddy" [R-GA-1]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Unemployment

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 

Ensuring Quality in the Unemployment Insurance Program (EQUIP) Act 

 
 Amends title III (Grants to States for Unemployment Compensation Administration) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to require state unemployment compensation (UC) laws to require, as a condition of UC eligibility for a benefit year, an applicant, before receiving any UC, to: (1) complete a substance abuse risk assessment; and (2) test negative for controlled substances within one week after the results of such assessment if the state determines that the applicant is a high-risk. Prescribes retesting requirements and UC payment suspensions for applicants who test positive.
 
Amends SSAct title XVIII (Medicare) and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide funding for such substance abuse testing out of current funds appropriated for the Independent Payment Advisory Board and, after application of those funds, for the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-18
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Human Resources.
action_date: 2015-05-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
Equal Access to Quality Education Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-2149
Sponsor: Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-27]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Disability and paralysis
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Higher education
Licensing and registrations
Minority education
Performance measurement
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 

Equal Access to Quality Education Act of 2015

 
This bill requires the Department of Education to award competitive matching grants to partnerships between high-need local educational agencies (LEAs) and institutions of higher education (IHEs) to establish or support: (1) teacher preparation programs, and (2) teacher induction and retention programs.
 
Teacher preparation programs must: (1) require participants to complete at least one year of residency followed by at least three years of teaching at the LEA's high-need schools, and (2) award participants a teaching credential or degree that meets state requirements for a teaching license or certification upon completion of the program.
 
Teacher induction and retention programs must use high-quality mentoring, teacher collaboration, and research-based instructional practices to: (1) support and advance the retention of beginning teachers and principals, and (2) promote effective teaching and leadership skills. Grants may be used for certain other activities designed to improve the quality of education in high-need areas.
 
Grant priority is given to partnerships that: (1) use a valid and reliable teacher performance assessment and have a plan to recruit teachers from among minority and local candidates and the disabled; or (2) use that assessment and include an IHE that is eligible to participate in the TEACH Grant program, a Tribal College or University, an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution, a Hispanic-serving institution, or a historically Black college and university. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-11-16
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
Raise the Wage Act

Bill: 114-hr-2150
Sponsor: Rep. Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [D-VA-3]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Government information and archives
Labor standards
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 

Raise the Wage Act

 
This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage for employees to: (1) $8.00 an hour on January 1, 2016, or, if later, on the first day of the third month after enactment of this Act; (2) $9.00 an hour after one year; (3) $10.00 an hour after two years; (4) $11.00 an hour after three years; (5) $12.00 an hour after four years; and (6) the amount the Department of Labor determines (based on increases in the median hourly wage of all employees) after five years, and annually thereafter.
 
The federal minimum wage for tipped employees shall increase to $3.15 an hour for one year on January 1, 2016, or the first day of the third month after enactment of this Act, whichever is later. Subsequent annual adjustments of the wage increase, according to a specified formula, shall ensure that it remains equal to the wage in effect under FLSA for other employees.
 
Employers must notify their employees of the right to retain any received tips.
 
The separate minimum wage requirements for tipped employees shall end, effective one day after the hourly wage established for them under this Act takes effect.
 
The Department must publish any increase in the minimum wage in the Federal Register and on the Department's website 60 days before it takes effect.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-11-16
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
Improving Oversight and Accountability in Medicaid Non-DSH Supplemental Payments Act

Bill: 114-hr-2151
Sponsor: Rep. Collins, Chris [R-NY-27]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Intergovernmental relations
Medicaid
State and local finance
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 

Improving Oversight and Accountability in Medicaid Non-DSH Supplemental Payments Act 

 
This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) issue guidance to states that identifies permissible methods for calculation of non-DSH (disproportionate share) supplemental payments to providers, (2) establish annual reporting requirements for states making non-DSH supplemental payments, and (3) establish requirements for states making non-DSH supplemental payments to conduct and submit to the Secretary an annual independent certified audit.
 
No federal payment under Medicaid may be made to a state for any expenditures to make non-DSH supplemental payments unless the state complies with the reporting and auditing requirements of this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
Safe Chicken and Meat for Children Act

Bill: 114-hr-2152
Sponsor: Rep. DeLauro, Rosa L. [D-CT-3]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Adult day care
Agricultural trade
Asia
Child care and development
Child health
China
Elementary and secondary education
Food assistance and relief
Meat
Nutrition and diet

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 

Safe Chicken and Meat for Children Act 

 
This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit poultry or meat that is processed or produced in China from being used in the Department of Agriculture's National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and Summer Food Service Program. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-11-16
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-2154
Sponsor: Rep. Engel, Eliot L. [D-NY-16]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Government studies and investigations
Research administration and funding
Roads and highways
Telephone and wireless communication
Transportation programs funding
Transportation safety and security

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 

Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2015

 
The Department of Transportation (DOT) shall award distracted driving grants to states that enact and enforce a statute that:
 
 
prohibits a driver from using a hand-held personal wireless communications device (such as a cell phone or smart phone) to call while driving,
 
allows the use of a hands-free device by a driver (other than under age 18) to call,
 
makes violation of the law a primary offense, and
 
establishes certain minimum penalties for first violations and increased penalties for repeat violations.
 
 
The DOT shall establish a research program to study distracted driving by motor vehicle drivers.
 
The Federal Communications Commission shall report to Congress on existing and developing wireless communications technology that may be used to reduce problems associated with distracted driving.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
action_date: 2015-05-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
Community STEM Learning Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-2155
Sponsor: Rep. Fudge, Marcia L. [D-OH-11]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Higher education
Minority education
Science and engineering education
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 

Community STEM Learning Act of 2015

 
This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Department of Education to award grants to national and regional intermediaries and, through them, subgrants to their community-based affiliates to operate in-school, after school, summer, and weekend programs that focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.
 
A &quot;national intermediary&quot; is a national private nonprofit organization that has: (1) a network comprising community-based affiliates in at least 50 urban communities, (2) expertise in overseeing programs to help middle and secondary school students succeed, and (3) operated in at least 25 states continuously for at least 20 years.
 
A &quot;regional intermediary&quot; is a private nonprofit community-based organization that has: (1) a network comprising community-based affiliates in a prescribed region, and (2) expertise in extending educational services to middle and secondary school students.
 
The STEM programs must primarily serve students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM field careers and include project-based learning opportunities and individualized instruction.
 
Each subgrantee must collaborate with an institution of higher education in providing such services.
 
The bill requires grantees to direct at least: (1) 50% of their grant to community-based affiliates that are successfully operating STEM programs so that they can expand them to reach more students traditionally underrepresented in STEM field careers, and (2) 25% of their grant to the development of STEM programs by community-based affiliates not currently operating any.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-11-16
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-2156
Sponsor: Rep. Graves, Sam [R-MO-6]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Debt collection
Hospital care
Medicare
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 

Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015

 
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) with respect to the practices of recovery audit contractors (RACs) under the Medicare program fin identifying underpayments and overpayments and recouping overpayments.
 
Incentive payments to a RAC for recovery activities are prohibited for FY2015 and subsequent fiscal years.
 
Payments for recovery activities shall be reduced, according to a sliding scale established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to any RAC with a complex audit denial rate at the end of a fiscal year, determined pursuant to a specified formula, that is .1% or greater.
 
The one-year timely filing limit for certain rebilled SSAct title XVIII part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) claims is eliminated, extending the deadline for the rebill to 180 days after final denial of the claim.
 
A determination of whether inpatient hospital services or inpatient critical access hospital services furnished to an individual are reasonable and necessary shall now be based solely on information available to the admitting physician at the time of the inpatient admission of the individual for such services, as documented in the medical record.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-18
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2015-05-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend for one year tax-free distributions from individual retirement plans for charitable purposes.

Bill: 114-hr-2157
Sponsor: Rep. Grayson, Alan [D-FL-9]
Introduced: 2015-04-30 in the House
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Charitable contributions
Employee benefits and pensions
Income tax exclusion
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2015 the exclusion from gross income, for income tax purposes, of distributions from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for charitable purposes. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Introduced in House