hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Manufacturing Extension Partnership Improvement Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2779
Sponsor: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2016-04-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Advanced technology and technological innovations
Advisory bodies
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Employee hiring
Employment and training programs
Energy efficiency and conservation
Government lending and loan guarantees
Industrial policy and productivity
Manufacturing
Minority employment
Small business
Solid waste and recycling
Technology transfer and commercialization
Women's employment

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: 

Manufacturing Extension Partnership Improvement Act of 2016

 
This bill amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to direct the Department of Commerce, through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to convert the current program for creation and support of regional centers for the transfer of manufacturing technology into one for creation and support of manufacturing extension centers for the transfer of manufacturing technology and best business practices, to be known as the Hollings Manufacturing Extension (HME) Partnership, and reauthorized for FY2017-FY2020.
 
Each Hollings Manufacturing Extension Center may be affiliated with an institution of higher education or a state or local government, as well as with a U.S.-based nonprofit institution (or consortium of such institutions) as under current law.
 
Authorized Center activities that currently include selective, short-term loans of advanced manufacturing equipment to small manufacturing firms shall be replaced by facilitation of collaborations and partnerships between small and medium-sized manufacturing companies and community colleges and area career and technical education schools.
 
The bill repeals the current six-year limit on federal financial assistance to a Center, allowing open-ended assistance through a cooperative agreement.
 
Commerce shall appoint a panel to review and evaluate each Center receiving financial assistance during its third and eighth years of operation, but the Department shall review a Center directly during its fifth year of operation.
 
Each Center shall establish a board to oversee its operations.
 
The bill establishes a Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory Board.
 
The NIST shall establish within the HME Partnership:
 
 
a program of competitive awards for a participating Center, or a consortium of Centers, to develop projects to solve new or emerging manufacturing problems; and 
 
an innovation services initiative to assist small and medium-sized manufacturers in improving profitability through the reduction of energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental waste.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Protections Against Terrorist Transfer Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2780
Sponsor: Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]
Introduced: 2016-04-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Caribbean area
Cuba
Defense spending
Department of Defense
Detention of persons
Executive agency funding and structure
Latin America
Military facilities and property
Terrorism

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: 

Protections Against Terrorist Transfer Act of 2016

 
This bill amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 to prohibit the use of funds made available to the Department of Defense (DOD) or to any other U.S. government entity to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of any individual detained at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the custody or control of any foreign country or other foreign entity unless DOD certifies to Congress that the individual no longer poses a threat to the security of the United States, its citizens, and its interests.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Ensuring Children's Access to Specialty Care Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2782
Sponsor: Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO]
Introduced: 2016-04-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Child health
Health care coverage and access
Health facilities and institutions
Health personnel
Medical education
Mental health
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: 

Ensuring Children&rsquo;s Access to Specialty Care Act of 2016

 
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to include pediatric subspecialties in primary health services for purposes of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). Psychiatrists who are pediatric subspecialists are included in behavioral and mental health professionals. (These amendments make pediatric subspecialists, including psychiatrists, eligible for the NHSC fellowship program for the delivery of primary health services in health professional shortage areas, the NHSC Scholarship Program, and the NHSC Loan Repayment Program.)
 &ldquo;Health professional shortage area&rdquo; can mean an underserved population of children and adolescents.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1913)
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Rural Housing Preservation Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2783
Sponsor: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Introduced: 2016-04-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Government lending and loan guarantees
Housing and community development funding
Housing finance and home ownership
Housing for the elderly and disabled
Housing supply and affordability
Low- and moderate-income housing
Migrant, seasonal, agricultural labor
Rural conditions and development

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: 

Rural Housing Preservation Act of 2016

 
This bill amends the Housing Act of 1949 to direct the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to extend rural housing vouchers to any low-income household (including those not receiving rental assistance) residing in a property financed with a loan made or insured for housing and related facilities for elderly or other low-income persons and families which has been prepaid, or which has matured, after September 30, 2005.
 
No owner of a property financed with such a loan, whether outstanding or fully paid, may refuse to lease an available dwelling unit in the property to a household on behalf of whom a rural housing voucher assistance is provided, and enter into a voucher contract respecting that unit, if a proximate cause of that refusal is the current or prospective tenant's status as a holder of such a voucher.
 
USDA may contract to make, make, and renew annual assistance payments to owners of projects originally financed with such a loan that has matured on or after enactment of this bill, and at rental rates commensurate to income.
 
USDA shall establish uniform requirements, terms, and conditions for any sale or transfer of a property financed with such a loan to any entity, including a nonprofit organization, seeking to acquire it with a similar loan and any low-income housing tax credit under the Internal Revenue Code.
 
USDA may also establish a Multifamily Housing Revitalization Program for the preservation and revitalization of multifamily housing projects funded with such loans, as well as with loans for housing and related facilities for domestic farm labor, to ensure that those projects have sufficient resources to provide safe and affordable housing for low-income residents and farm laborers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Introduced in Senate
STEM Opportunities Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2784
Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2016-04-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Disability and paralysis
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Government studies and investigations
Higher education
Minority education
Minority employment
National Science Foundation
Research administration and funding
Science and engineering education
Scientific communication
Teaching, teachers, curricula
Women's education
Women's employment

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: 

STEM Opportunities Act of 2016

 
This bill directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy to establish a STEM Inclusion Interagency Working Group which shall focus on the creation of a more diverse and inclusive STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce. 
 
The National Science Foundation (NSF) shall strengthen the goals and activities of the ADVANCE (Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers) program to focus on increasing the recruitment, retention, and success of all women in STEM, including minorities and persons with disabilities. 
 
The NSF shall:
 
 
award a grant for the establishment of at least one Center for Excellence for Inclusion in STEM;
 
collect institution-level data on the demographics of STEM faculty at different types of institutions of higher education;
 
award grants to institutions of higher education (or their consortia) to implement or expand evidence-based reforms for recruiting, retaining, and advancing students, fellows, trainees, and faculty from underrepresented groups in STEM; and
 
administer three specified Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring to recognize annually outstanding mentoring in STEM fields in primary, secondary, and higher education. 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1913-1915)
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Tribal Youth and Community Protection Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2785
Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Introduced: 2016-04-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Child care and development
Congressional oversight
Crimes against children
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Domestic violence and child abuse
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Judicial procedure and administration
Law enforcement administration and funding
Violent crime

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: 

Tribal Youth and Community Protection Act of 2016

 
This bill reauthorizes through FY2020, and revises, provisions of the Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1986 and other laws that: (1) support efforts to combat alcohol and substance abuse among tribal members, and (2) authorize the Department of Justice to award grants to enhance the criminal justice systems of tribal governments. The bill also expands and modifies tribal jurisdiction over certain crimes.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-06-22
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.
action_date: 2016-05-18
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-347.
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
action_date: 2016-04-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Rural Access to Hospice Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2786
Sponsor: Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV]
Introduced: 2016-04-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Health facilities and institutions
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Medicare
Rural conditions and development

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: 

Rural Access to Hospice Act of 2016

 
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow payment under Medicare for certain services furnished to hospice patients by rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs).
 
With respect to a patient who elects to receive hospice care under Medicare, current law generally limits payment for services that are either duplicative of such care or related to the treatment of the individual's terminal illness. However, current law exempts from this limitation: (1) physicians' services furnished by the individual's attending physician, if not an employee of the hospice program; and (2) services provided or arranged by the hospice program.
 
The bill expands this exemption with regard to rural health clinic and FQHC services. Specifically, the Medicare payment limitation shall not apply to such services that: (1) would otherwise be physicians' services if furnished by an individual unaffiliated with a rural health clinic or FQHC; and (2) are either arranged by the hospice program or furnished by the individual's attending physician, if not an employee of the hospice program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Introduced in Senate
States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2787
Sponsor: Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]
Introduced: 2016-04-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Medicaid
State and local finance

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: 

States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act of 2016

 
This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide the enhanced federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) to every state that expands Medicaid coverage for individuals who are newly eligible under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, regardless of when such expansion takes place. 
 
Under current law, the enhanced FMAP is equivalent to 100% in 2014 through 2016, 95% in 2017, 94% in 2018, 93% in 2019, and 90% thereafter. The bill retains this enhanced FMAP, but bases it on a term of years rather than on specific dates.
 
The bill applies retroactively.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to prohibit closure of United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to prohibit the transfer or release of detainees at that Naval Station to the United States, and for other purposes.

Bill: 114-s-2788
Sponsor: Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK]
Introduced: 2016-04-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Caribbean area
Cuba
Detention of persons
Government information and archives
International law and treaties
Latin America
Military facilities and property
Terrorism

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: 
This bill prohibits the use of any amounts authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for any federal department or agency to: (1) close or abandon U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; (2) relinquish control of Guantanamo to Cuba; (3) implement a material modification to the 1934 Treaty Between the United States of America and Cuba that constructively closes Guantanamo; or (4) transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release to or within the United States, its territories, or possessions of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other detainee who is or was held by the Department of Defense (DOD) at Guantanamo on or after January 20, 2009, and who is not a U.S. citizen or a member of the U.S. Armed Forces.
 
Prior to the transfer or release of any such individual, DOD shall make available to the public a specified notice of such intended action.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Introduced in Senate
Tax Filing Simplification Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2789
Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA]
Introduced: 2016-04-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Computers and information technology
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Public contracts and procurement
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: 

Tax Filing Simplification Act of 2016 

 
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to establish and operate the following programs free of charge: 
 
 
 online tax preparation and filing software, 
 
a program for taxpayers to download third-party provided return information relating to individual income tax returns, and
 
 a program to permit individuals with simplified tax situations to elect to have the IRS prepare their returns. 
 
 
The IRS may not enter into any agreement which restricts its legal right to provide tax return preparation services, software, or tax return filing services. An individual participating in the programs established by this bill must verify their identity to the satisfaction of the IRS. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Introduced in Senate
Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act

Bill: 114-s-2791
Sponsor: Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN]
Introduced: 2016-04-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Cancer
Marshall Islands
Nuclear weapons
Radiation
Veterans' pensions and compensation

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: 

Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act

 
This bill includes veterans who participated in the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands during the period January 1, 1977-December 31, 1980, as radiation exposed veterans for purposes of the Department of Veterans Affairs presumption of service-connection for specified cancers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-06-29
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-707.
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Introduced in Senate
Rapid Innovation Fund Enhancement Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2792
Sponsor: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Introduced: 2016-04-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Advanced technology and technological innovations
Congressional oversight
Defense spending
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Research and development
Small business
Technology transfer and commercialization

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: 

Rapid Innovation Fund Enhancement Act of 2016

 
This bill amends the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 to require that the Defense Research and Development Rapid Innovation program be coordinated with the senior acquisition executives of the departments, agencies, and components of the Department of Defense (DOD).
 
For FY2017 and each fiscal year thereafter, DOD shall obligate for eligible program technologies a minimum of 1% of the aggregate DOD research, development, test, and evaluation budget available for projects and activities at the level of Advanced Component Development Prototypes and above. 
 
DOD shall: (1) provide Congress with annual project briefings, and (2) issue additional program operations guidelines.
 
&quot;Eligible technology&quot; means: 
 
 
a technology that has received a phase II award under the Small Business Innovation Research program or the Small Business Technology Transfer program, 
 
a technology developed by a nontraditional defense contractor, 
 
a technology developed by the defense laboratories, or 
 
any other innovative technology as determined by DOD. 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Introduced in Senate
SBIR and STTR Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2793
Sponsor: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Introduced: 2016-04-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Advanced technology and technological innovations
Business investment and capital
Congressional oversight
Government studies and investigations
Inflation and prices
Intellectual property
Public contracts and procurement
Research administration and funding
Research and development
Small business
Technology transfer and commercialization

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: 

SBIR and STTR Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2016

 
This bill amends the Small Business Act to reauthorize and make permanent the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
 
The bill specifies budget amounts for the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to obligate for expenditure with small business concerns under the SBIR and STTR programs.
 
The Small Business Administration (SBA) shall modify certain policy directives to eliminate automatic annual inflation adjustments to awards under Phases I and II of the SBIR program.
 
The bill makes the Commercialization Development Awards pilot program permanent.
 
The national small business goal for federal agency research and development programs shall be at least 10% for FY2018 and ensuing fiscal years.
 
Annual reports to Congress on the SBIR and STTR programs shall include information regarding awards under the Rapid Innovation Program under the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011.
 
An SBIR or STTR award may cover the indirect cost of seeking protection for intellectual property created through work performed under it.
 
The Government Accountability Office shall audit annually federal government compliance with SBIR and STTR goals and incentives.
 
Federal agencies and prime contractors shall issue Phase III awards relating to technology, including sole source awards, to the SBIR and STTR award recipients that developed the technology.
 
The SBA shall establish a Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot Program.
 
The bill reauthorizes the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program through FY2021.
 
The bill establishes an SBIR and STTR Interagency Policy Committee to:
 
 
determine how to collect data on achievements by small business concerns in each phase of the programs; and
 
establish a uniform baseline for metrics that support improving the solicitation, contracting, funding, and execution of program management.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Introduced in Senate
American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2794
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2016-04-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
Congressional oversight
Consumer affairs
Economic performance and conditions
Government information and archives
Legislative rules and procedure
Manufacturing
Tariffs
U.S. International Trade Commission

Summary:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: 

American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016

 
This bill declares the sense of Congress that it should consider a miscellaneous tariff bill.
 
The U.S. International Trade Commission shall:
 
 
conduct a process, meeting specified requirements, for the submission and consideration of petitions for duty suspensions and reductions; and
 
report to Congress on the effects of duty suspensions and reductions enacted pursuant to this Act on producers, purchasers, and consumers in the United States.
 
 
The bill prescribes requirements for publication by specified congressional committees of a list of limited tariff benefits contained in a miscellaneous tariff bill.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2016-04-13
text: Introduced in Senate