hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Head Start on Vaccinations Act

Bill: 114-s-486
Sponsor: Sen. Boxer, Barbara [D-CA]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Child health
Health information and medical records
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Immunology and vaccination
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Preschool education

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Head Start on Vaccinations Act

 
Amends the Head Start Act to prohibit the enrollment of a child in a Head Start or Early Head Start program unless the child's parent or guardian: (1) provides the program with information establishing that the child is vaccinated in accordance with the pediatric vaccine list; or (2) submits a signed agreement to provide such information and consents to the provision, by a program employee or other health care provider, of any vaccines on the pediatric vaccine list that the child has not yet received. Requires that information to be provided on an annual basis in order for a child to maintain enrollment in such program.
 
Requires any child who is not in compliance with such requirements to be removed from such program, but provides for the exemption of children for whom the administration of such vaccines is medically contraindicated.
 
Authorizes the director of a Head Start or Early Head Start agency to use program funds to: (1) administer the required vaccines to children, at the request of the parent or guardian; or (2) assist the parent or guardian in gaining access to the required vaccines.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Fire-Damaged Home Rebuilding Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-487
Sponsor: Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Disaster relief and insurance
Fires
Floods and storm protection
Land use and conservation
Residential rehabilitation and home repair
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Fire-Damaged Home Rebuilding Act of 2015

 
Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to allow local variances for certain residential structures substantially damaged by a fire or other disaster, not including a flood, in a covered area having special flood hazards.
 
Permits state or local authorities, upon making certain determinations, to grant a variance from compliance with certain mandatory adequate land use and control measures to allow repair and restoration of an eligible structure to its pre-damaged condition without elevation of the structure.
 
Includes among such determinations that: (1) the repaired and restored structure will be located on the same site as it was before being substantially damaged, and (2) the number of floors of the restored structure will not exceed the number of floors of the original structure. 
 
Restricts the maximum number of such variances to 10 for a covered area during any calendar year. 
 
Prohibits the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from either: (1) finding that land use and control measures are inadequate or inconsistent with the comprehensive criteria for land management and use because they permit granting the variances identified under this Act; or (2) suspending an area or subdivision from participation in the national flood insurance program, or placing it on probation, because its land use and control measures provide for such variances. 
 
Prohibits the chargeable flood insurance premium rate for a residential structure granted a variance under this Act from being lower than the rate that otherwise would apply if such structure had not been substantially damaged by a fire or other disaster (except a flood) and repaired and restored pursuant to the variance.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S986)
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to allow physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists to supervise cardiac, intensive cardiac, and pulmonary rehabilitation programs.

Bill: 114-s-488
Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Health personnel
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Medicare
Nursing

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists to supervise cardiac, intensive cardiac, and pulmonary rehabilitation programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Low Value Shipment Regulatory Modernization Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-489
Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Customs enforcement
Tariffs

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Low Value Shipment Regulatory Modernization Act of 2015

 
 Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States Trade Representative should encourage other countries, through bilateral, regional, and multilateral fora, to establish commercially meaningful de minimis values for express and postal shipments of articles that are exempt from customs duties and certain entry documentation requirements, as appropriate.
 
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to increase from $200 to $800 the aggregate retail value in the country of shipment of articles that may be imported duty-free into the United States by one person on one day.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Federal Land Freedom Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-490
Sponsor: Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Endangered and threatened species
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Historic sites and heritage areas
Intergovernmental relations
Licensing and registrations
Oil and gas
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Federal Land Freedom Act of 2015

 
This bill permits a state that has an established leasing, permitting, and regulatory program to: (1) declare to the Secretaries of the Interior, of Agriculture, and of Energy that it has either established or amended the program; and (2) seek to transfer to itself, and to implement, existing federal responsibilities for leasing, permitting, and regulating oil, natural gas, and other forms of energy development. 
 
Any state action to lease, permit, or regulate oil and gas exploration and development shall not be subject to, or considered, a federal action, a federal permit, or a federal license with respect to specified administrative and environmental laws and is therefore exempt from them. 
 
State-issued leases or permits must provide for: (1) the collection of royalties or other revenues in an amount equal to what would have been collected if the lease or permit had been federally issued, and (2) their deposit into the same federal account in which they would have been deposited if the lease or permit had been federally issued. 
 
A state may collect and retain lease or permit application processing fees. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Freedom to Export to Cuba Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-491
Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Agricultural trade
Caribbean area
Cuba
Foreign aid and international relief
Latin America
Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
Sanctions
Terrorism
Trade restrictions

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Freedom to Export to Cuba Act of 2015

 
This bill repeals or amends current laws restricting trade with Cuba. 
 
The prohibition on assistance to Cuba, and the President's authority for the embargo on Cuba, under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 are eliminated. 
 
The President's authority to continue direct restrictions on trade with Cuba under the Trading with the Enemy Act is eliminated, and any related regulations are no longer effective.
 
The Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 is amended to eliminate: 
 
 
presidential authority to impose sanctions against Cuban trading partners, 
 
restrictions on transactions between U.S.-owned or controlled firms and Cuba, 
 
limitations on direct shipping between Cuban and U.S. ports, and 
 
restrictions on remittances. 
 
 
 The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 is amended to eliminate: 
 
 
the enforcement of an economic embargo of Cuban provisions, and 
 
the prohibition on indirect financing of Cuba.
 
 
 The Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 is amended to: 
 
 
remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism subject to agricultural and medical export restrictions; and 
 
repeal the prohibition on the U.S. entry of merchandise that is of Cuban origin, is or has been located in or transported from or through Cuba, or is made or derived in whole or in part of any article which is the growth, produce, or manufacture of Cuba.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S986-987)
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Balanced Budget Accountability Act

Bill: 114-s-493
Sponsor: Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Budget deficits and national debt
Budget process
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Income tax rates
Legislative rules and procedure
Members of Congress

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Balanced Budget Accountability Act

 
 Requires each house of Congress to adopt a concurrent budget resolution for a fiscal year which provides that, for each fiscal year for which a budget is provided under the resolution (beginning by FY2025), total outlays do not exceed total receipts and are not more than 18% of the gross domestic product for such fiscal year.
 
Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), upon the adoption by a chamber of a concurrent budget resolution for a fiscal year, to transmit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the President pro Tempore of the Senate (as the case may be) a certification as to whether or not that chamber has met the requirements of this Act with respect to the resolution.
 
Requires the appropriate payroll administrator of each chamber to deposit in an escrow account all mandatory payments for compensation of Members of Congress serving in that chamber if CBO does not certify that it has adopted a concurrent budget resolution for FY2016 before April 16, 2015.
 
Requires deposits to begin on such date and to be released to appropriate Members on the earlier of:
 
 
 the day on which CBO certifies that the chamber has met the requirements of this Act with respect to FY2016, or
 
 the last day of the 114th Congress.
 
 
Sets forth the same requirements for FY2017 if CBO does not certify that a chamber has adopted a concurrent budget resolution for FY2017 before April 16, 2016.
 
Requires legislation in the House and Senate that increases revenue to be agreed upon only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of that chamber.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S988; text of measure as introduced: CR S988-989)
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to prohibit the use of any Federal funds to finalize, implement, or enforce the proposed rule entitled "Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption".

Bill: 114-s-496
Sponsor: Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Appropriations
Department of Health and Human Services
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Fruit and vegetables

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 
This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to finalize, implement, or enforce the proposed rule entitled &quot;Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption&quot; published by the Department of Health and Human Services on January 16, 2013, or any successor or substantially similar rule.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Healthy Families Act

Bill: 114-s-497
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Assault and harassment offenses
Civil actions and liability
Congressional agencies
Congressional officers and employees
Congressional oversight
Domestic violence and child abuse
Employee leave
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Government liability
Government studies and investigations
Library of Congress
Marriage and family status
Merit Systems Protection Board
Sex offenses
Small business
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Healthy Families Act

 
 Requires certain employers, who employ 15 or more employees for each working day during 20 or more workweeks a year, to permit each employee to earn at least 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.
 
Authorizes small employers with fewer than 15 employees to provide the same paid sick time, but allows them to opt out. Requires any small employer that opts out to provide at least 56 hours of unpaid sick time to each employee per calendar year.
 
Declares that an employer shall not be required to permit an employee to earn more than 56 hours of paid sick time in a calendar year, unless the employer chooses to set a higher limit.
 
Allows employees to use such time to: (1) meet their own medical needs; (2) care for the medical needs of certain family members (including a domestic partner or the domestic partner's parent or child); or (3) seek medical attention, assist a related person, take legal action, or engage in other specified activities relating to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
 
Prohibits an employer from interfering with an employee's exercise of such rights.
 
Directs the Secretary of Labor to exercise certain investigative and enforcement authority for employees covered by this Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991. Grants the same authority, for employees under their jurisdiction, to the Librarian of Congress, the Comptroller General, the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance, and the Merit Systems Protection Board.
 
Authorizes civil actions by employees, individuals, or their representatives for damages or equitable relief against employers who violate this Act.
 
Waives a state's sovereign immunity with respect to a suit brought by an employee of a federally-assisted state program or activity for relief authorized under this Act.
 
Requires the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to compile information annually on paid sick time and the Comptroller General to study related matters.
 
Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting or retaining more generous leave policies.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-498
Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Firearms and explosives
Intergovernmental relations
Licensing and registrations
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2015

 
 Amends the federal criminal code to authorize a person who is not prohibited from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm under federal law, who is entitled and not prohibited from carrying a concealed firearm in his or her state of residence or who is carrying a valid state license or permit to carry a concealed weapon, and who is carrying a government-issued photographic identification document, to carry a concealed handgun (which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, other than a machine gun or destructive device) in any state in accordance with the restrictions of that state.
 
Provides that in a state that allows the issuing authority for licenses or permits to carry concealed firearms to impose restrictions on the carrying of firearms by individual license or permit holders, an individual carrying a concealed handgun under this Act shall be permitted to carry it according to the same terms authorized by an unrestricted license or permit issued by such state.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S989-990)
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Social Security Disability Insurance and Unemployment Benefits Double Dip Elimination Act

Bill: 114-s-499
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Social Welfare
Subjects: Disability assistance
Social security and elderly assistance
Trade adjustment assistance
Unemployment

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Social Security Disability Insurance and Unemployment Benefits Double Dip Elimination Act

 
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to declare that for any week in whole or in part within a month that an individual is paid or determined to be eligible for unemployment compensation he or she shall be deemed to have engaged in substantial gainful activity and so be disqualified from receiving Social Security disability benefits after a certain period has elapsed.
 
States that, for purposes of determining services rendered by an individual during a period of trial work which will not disqualify the individual for disability benefits, the individual shall be deemed to have rendered services in a month if he or she is entitled to unemployment compensation or trade adjustment assistance for that month.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
State Mineral Revenue Protection Act

Bill: 114-s-500
Sponsor: Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Energy revenues and royalties
Intergovernmental relations
Mining
Oil and gas
State and local finance

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

State Mineral Revenue Protection Act

 
 Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior, on the request of a state (other than Alaska) and in lieu of any payments to the state under the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (FOGRMA), to convey to the state all right, title, and interest in and to the percentage specified in the FOGRMA for that state of all amounts otherwise required to be paid into the Treasury from sales, bonuses, royalties (including interest charges), and rentals for all public land or deposits located in the state. (Current law requires payment to a state of 50% of all money derived from such sales, bonuses, royalties, and rentals.)
 
Requires any person, after a conveyance under this Act, to pay directly to the state any amount the person owes for which the right, title, and interest has been conveyed to the state.
 
Requires the Secretary to provide prompt notice of any such conveyance, and the duty to make direct payments to the state involved, to each holder of a lease of public land to which this Act applies.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-502
Sponsor: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
Introduced: 2015-02-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Congressional oversight
Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Criminal justice information and records
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Government information and archives
Racial and ethnic relations
U.S. Sentencing Commission

Summary:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: 

Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015

 
Amends the federal criminal code to direct the court to impose a sentence for specified controlled substance offenses without regard to any statutory minimum sentence if the court finds that the criminal history category for the defendant is not higher than category two. (Currently, the court may disregard the statutory minimum if the defendant does not have more than one criminal history point.)
 
Authorizes a court that imposed a sentence for a crack cocaine possession or trafficking offense committed before August 3, 2010, on motion of the defendant, the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the government, or the court, to impose a reduced sentence as if provisions of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 were in effect at the time such offense was committed, provided such sentence was not previously imposed or reduced under such Act or such a motion wasn't previously denied.
 
Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (CSIEA) to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, possessing, importing, or exporting specified controlled substances and for such violations by a courier (defined as a person whose role was limited to transporting or storing drugs or money).
 
Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and amend its guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of such an offense under the CSA and CSIEA to ensure consistency with this Act and to consider specified factors, including: (1) its mandate to formulate guidelines to minimize the likelihood that the federal prison population will exceed federal prison capacity, and (2) the need to reduce and prevent racial disparities in sentencing.
 
Requires the Attorney General to: (1) report on how the reduced expenditures on federal corrections and cost savings resulting from this Act will be used to help reduce overcrowding in the Bureau of Prisons, increase investment in law enforcement and crime prevention, and reduce recidivism; (2) report a list of all criminal statutory offenses and the potential criminal penalty, the number of prosecutions brought by the Department of Justice each year for the previous 15 years, and the mens rea requirement for each offense; and (3) establish a publicly accessible index of each criminal statutory offense.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-02-12
text: Introduced in Senate