hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Rebuilding and Renewing Rural America Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-3243
Sponsor: Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Rebuilding and Renewing Rural America Act of 2016 

 
This bill modifies: (1) tax and regulatory policies that affect certain rural communities, and (2) tax rules that apply to private foundations. 
 
The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to program-related investments made by private foundations for a charitable purpose, to: 
 
 
 modify the definition of and requirements for program-related investments; 
 
allow a declaratory judgment remedy to determine whether investments in any entity are program-related investments; 
 
 expand reporting requirements for for-profit entities that receive program-related investments; and 
 
 allow public inspection of petitions seeking a determination of program-related investment status and annual information returns. 
 
 
The bill also includes several tax provisions that apply to rural renewal communities, which are low-income communities that: (1) have a population of at least 200 people but not more than 25,000 people, and are not located in a metropolitan area which has a population of 200,000 or more; or (2) are entirely within an Indian reservation.
 
With respect to such communities, the bill: 
 
 
allows tax credits for a portion of the costs of reducing lead, radon, or asbestos hazards in rural commercial structures;
 
 expands the new markets tax credit; 
 
allows expensing of certain depreciable business assets; 
 
 reduces payroll taxes; and 
 
 allows tax-preferred rural renewal community business start-up savings accounts. 
 
 

Reducing Excessive Government in Rural America Act of 2016 

 
Congress must consider legislation to reduce the regulatory cost to rural America by at least 10% over 10 years by repealing certain regulations. The legislation must be considered using expedited legislative procedures specified in the bill. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
Aligning Children's Dental Coverage Act

Bill: 114-s-3244
Sponsor: Sen. Roberts, Pat [R-KS]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Health

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Aligning Children's Dental Coverage Act

 
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to ease restrictions on health insurance plans without pediatric dental benefits (an essential health benefit) to allow such insurance to be offered in any service area where a dental plan in the individual or small group market provides pediatric dental benefits, even if the dental plan is not offered on the health insurance exchange.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-3245
Sponsor: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Aging
Education programs funding
Health facilities and institutions
Health programs administration and funding
Medical education
Nursing
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2016

 
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to extend through FY2021 support for nursing workforce programs and grants.
 
Eligibility for advanced nursing education grants is expanded to include education programs for clinical nurse leaders and all combined registered nurse and graduate degree programs. (Clinical nurse leaders are advanced generalist clinicians who apply research and coordinate care in order to improve outcomes for patients.) To be eligible for these grants, clinical nurse specialist programs must provide registered nurses with full-time clinical nurse specialist education that qualifies the nurses to provide a full range of care.
 
Programs for loan repayment and scholarships for nurses, loans for nursing faculty, and geriatric care education are extended through FY2021. Grants for increasing nursing workforce diversity are also extended through FY2021.
 
Nurse education, practice, and quality grants are extended through FY2021 and eligibility is expanded to include nurse-managed health clinics.
 
Grants for nursing career ladder programs are expanded to: (1) promote career advancement for individuals to become registered nurses or advanced education nurses; and (2) support internships and residency programs to encourage mentoring and the development of specialties.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to extend authority for operation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Manila, the Republic of the Philippines.

Bill: 114-s-3246
Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 
This bill extends authority through September 30, 2017, for operation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Manila, the Republic of the Philippines.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
Ending Tax Breaks for Private Prisons Act

Bill: 114-s-3247
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Corporate finance and management
Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Financial services and investments
Income tax rates
Real estate business

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Ending Tax Breaks for Private Prisons Act 

 
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the definition of &quot;taxable REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) subsidiary&quot; any corporation which directly or indirectly: (1) operates or manages a prison facility or provides services at or in connection with a prison facility; or (2) provides to any other person (under a franchise, license, or otherwise) rights to any brand name under which any prison facility is operated, subject to specified exceptions. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-3248
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Agricultural conservation and pollution
Agricultural equipment and machinery
Alternative and renewable resources
Business investment and capital
Congressional oversight
Energy efficiency and conservation
Energy research
Energy storage, supplies, demand
Government studies and investigations
Income tax credits
Livestock
Oil and gas
Pipelines
Securities
Solid waste and recycling

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act of 2016 

 
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow energy tax credits through 2020 for investments in: (1) qualified biogas property, or (2) qualified manure resource recovery property. The bill also permits new clean renewable energy bonds to be used for such properties.
 
&quot;Qualified biogas property&quot; comprises a system that: (1) uses anaerobic digesters or other specified processes to convert biomass into a gas which is at least 52% methane, and (2) captures the gas for use as a fuel. The term includes property that cleans and conditions the gas for use as a fuel. 
 
&quot;Qualified manure resource recovery property&quot; comprises a system that uses specified processes to recover the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus from a non-treated digestate or animal manure by reducing or separating at least 50% of the nutrients, excluding any reductions during the incineration, storage, composting, or field application of the non-treated digestate or animal manure. The term also includes certain processing equipment. 
 
The Department of the Treasury must enter into an agreement with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for a study of biogas and report to Congress on the study. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
Keeping Our Commitment to Ending Veteran Homelessness Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-3249
Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Keeping Our Commitment to Ending Veteran Homelessness Act of 2016

 
This bill extends through FY2017 authority for the following Department of Veterans Affairs programs: 
 
 
homeless veterans reintegration programs; 
 
the homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children reintegration program;
 
referral and counseling services for certain veterans at risk of homelessness; 
 
treatment and rehabilitation services for seriously mentally ill and homeless veterans, including a program to provide homeless veterans with benefits and services at certain locations; 
 
housing assistance for homeless veterans; 
 
financial assistance for supportive services for very low-income veteran families in permanent housing; and 
 
the grant program for homeless veterans with special needs.
 
 
Extends through December 31, 2017, authority for the Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-3251
Sponsor: Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016 

 
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to exempt individuals with certain premium increases from the requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to maintain minimum essential health coverage. 
 
The exemption applies to any individual for any month during a year that the individual resides in a state in which the average premium for self-only or family coverage under the second lowest cost silver plans within the state has increased by more than 10% from the prior year. 
 
The bill also requires the cost of annual deductibles to be taken into account in applying the exemption for individuals who cannot afford coverage. 
 
The bill repeals provisions added to the IRC by PPACA that: (1) restrict payments from health savings accounts (HSAs), Archer medical savings accounts (MSAs), and health flexible spending and reimbursement arrangements for medications to prescription drugs and insulin only (thus allowing payments for over-the-counter medications); (2) impose a $2,500 limitation on salary reduction contributions to a health flexible spending arrangement under a cafeteria plan; and (3) impose an additional tax on HSA and Archer MSA distributions not used for qualified medical expenses. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-3252
Sponsor: Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Citizenship and naturalization
Civil actions and liability
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
Government information and archives
Immigration status and procedures
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2016

 
This bill requires the chief state election official of each state to establish and operate a system of automatic registration for the registration of eligible individuals to vote for elections for federal office in the state.
 
The chief state election official shall ensure that all individuals who are eligible to be, but are not currently, registered to vote in federal elections in the state is promptly registered to vote, unless the individual declines registration by providing appropriate notice.
 
Each contributing agency in a state, including the state motor vehicle authority, shall assist the state's chief election official in registering to vote all eligible individuals the agency serves.
 
For each individual already listed in a contributing agency's records, and for whom the agency retains specified personal information, the agency shall promptly transmit that information to the appropriate state election official.
 
 No individual shall be prosecuted under any federal law, or adversely affected in any civil adjudication concerning immigration status or naturalization, or by an allegation in any legal proceeding that an individual who is not a U.S. citizen is removable or inadmissible: 
 
for notifying an election official of the individual's automatic registration;
 
on the grounds that the individual is not an eligible voter and has been automatically registered to vote under this bill; or
 
because the individual has been automatically registered to vote at the incorrect address. 
 
The bill allows correction of registration information at the polling place.
 
Each state shall ensure that application for or any update to voter registration can be done online.
 
The Election Assistance Commission shall make grants to each eligible state to assist it in implementing this bill.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S5168-5169)
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
FARM Act

Bill: 114-s-3253
Sponsor: Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Agricultural conservation and pollution
Department of Labor
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Migrant, seasonal, agricultural labor
Retail and wholesale trades
Worker safety and health

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Fertilizer Access and Responsible Management Act or the FARM Act

 
This bill requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to withdraw its revised enforcement policy published on July 22, 2015, concerning the exemption of retail facilities from coverage of the process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals standard. (The standard contains requirements for managing hazards associated with processes using highly hazardous chemicals.) 
 
OSHA, when promulgating a rule relating to the exemption of retail facilities from coverage of the standards, must provide an opportunity for the public to submit comments as specified by the bill and invite meaningful public input in the rulemaking.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
Spearfish Canyon and Bismarck Lake Land Exchange Act

Bill: 114-s-3254
Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Forests, forestry, trees
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Outdoor recreation
South Dakota

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Spearfish Canyon and Bismarck Lake Land Exchange Act

 
This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA), if South Dakota conveys to it four parcels of specified nonfederal lands, comprising 1,954 acres, to convey to South Dakota in exchange 1,468 acres known as the &quot;Spearfish Canyon Area&quot; and 524 acres known as the &quot;Bismarck Lake Area&quot; in the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota.
 
The values of the federal and nonfederal lands to be exchanged shall be equal.
 
USDA shall complete any environmental analyses required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 regarding the land exchange carried out under this bill. 
 
The nonfederal lands acquired by USDA shall be added to and administered as part of the forest.
 
The federal lands acquired by South Dakota shall be managed by it for public recreation uses and the conservation of natural resources. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-09-22
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-509.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
Blocking Deadly Fentanyl Imports Act

Bill: 114-s-3255
Sponsor: Sen. Toomey, Patrick [R-PA]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Foreign aid and international relief
Licensing and registrations
Trade restrictions

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Blocking Deadly Fentanyl Imports Act

 
This bill amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include in the definition of &quot;major illicit drug producing country&quot; a country that is a significant source of illicit fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, or fentanyl precursor chemicals. (Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid analgesic typically used to relieve pain.) 
 
 The bill requires the international narcotics control strategy report to: 
 
 
identify countries that are the most significant exporters of illicit fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and fentanyl precursor chemicals; 
 
identify countries that are the most significant sources of the diversion of such chemical for illicit uses; and 
 
describe the extent to which an identified country has cooperated with the United States to prevent the export of such chemical to the United States.
 
 
The bill requires the withholding of bilateral and multilateral assistance from an identified country. 
 
The Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 is amended to require the President, as part of the report identifying major drug transit countries, to designate each country that: 
 
 
does not utilize specified emergency scheduling procedures for new illicit drugs and other synthetics that are comparable to the procedures used for controlled substances schedules,
 
is incapable of prosecuting criminals for the manufacture or distribution of controlled substance analogues in the same manner that applies to controlled substances, and 
 
does not require specified registration of tableting or encapsulating machines. 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
Education for All Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-3256
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Education for All Act of 2016

 
This bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) it is in the U.S. national security interest to promote universal basic education that includes gender parity in developing countries; and (2) education lays the foundation for increased civic participation, democratic governance, sustained economic growth, and more stable societies.
 
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended to state that it is U.S. policy to work with partner countries, multilateral institutions, the private sector, and nongovernmental and civil society organizations to promote sustainable, quality basic education by: (1) aligning with the needs and capacities of developing countries to strengthen educational systems, improve teacher skills, and support parental engagement in their children's education; and (2) promoting education as the foundation for economic development. 
 
The President shall ensure that assistance provided to support programs and activities pursuant to such policy is aligned with U.S. diplomatic, economic, and national security interests and that priority is given to developing countries in which: (1) there is the greatest need and opportunity to expand access to basic education, including for marginalized and vulnerable groups, particularly women and girls, or populations affected by conflict or crisis; and (2) such assistance can substantially impact children and educational systems. 
 
The President shall develop a comprehensive U.S. strategy to promote quality basic education in partner countries.
 
 The bill establishes within the U.S. Agency for International Development a Senior Coordinator of United States International Basic Education Assistance, who shall have primary responsibility for the oversight and coordination of all U.S. government resources and activities relating to the promotion of international basic education programs and activities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate
Municipal Bond Market Support Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-3257
Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2016-07-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: 

Municipal Bond Market Support Act of 2016 

 
This bill amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the small issuer exemption from interest expense allocation rules for financial institutions to: (1) permanently increase from $10 million to $30 million the annual limit on the amount of tax-exempt obligations that a small issuer may issue, and (2) allow an inflation adjustment to such increased limit amount after 2016. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Introduced in Senate