hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Veterans Access to Extended Care Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-739
Sponsor: Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND]
Introduced: 2015-03-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Adult day care
Health care quality
Health personnel
Labor standards
Licensing and registrations
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Public contracts and procurement
Veterans' medical care
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: 

Veterans Access to Extended Care Act of 2015

 
This bill modifies the treatment of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) agreements with service providers to furnish veterans with nursing home care, adult day health care, or other extended care services. 
 
Any such agreement shall: 
 
 
not be treated as a federal contract for the acquisition of goods or services and shall be not subject to any provision of law governing federal contracts for the acquisition of goods or services, and 
 
include specified requirements (such as for medical licensing and VA review of staff and facilities) to ensure the safety and quality of care furnished to veterans pursuant to such agreement.
 
 
The failure of a provider to comply with a provision of the agreement may result in VA termination of the agreement.
 
Such agreements are exempted from the application of certain public contract labor laws.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Geospatial Data Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-740
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2015-03-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Executive agency funding and structure
Geography and mapping
Government information and archives
International scientific cooperation
Scientific communication

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: 

Geospatial Data Act of 2015

 
Establishes in the executive branch: (1) the Federal Geographic Data Committee, which shall be the lead entity for the development, implementation, and review of policies, practices, and standards relating to geospatial data; and (2) the National Geospatial Advisory Committee to provide advice and recommendations to the committee. 
 
Requires the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (as defined in this Act) to ensure that geospatial data from multiple sources is available and easily integrated to enhance the understanding of the physical and cultural world. Requires the committee to prepare a strategic plan for the implementation of the infrastructure consistent with national security, national defense, national intelligence, and emergency preparedness program policies regarding data accessibility. 
 
Requires the committee to operate GeoPlatform, an electronic service that provides access to geospatial data and metadata for geospatial data. 
 
Directs agencies whose functions involve geospatial data to implement a strategy for advancing geographic information and related geospatial data activities appropriate to that agency's mission in support of the strategic plan for the infrastructure. Requires such agencies to disclose each contract, cooperative agreement, grant, or other transaction that deals with geospatial data. 
 
Prohibits, four years after enactment of this Act, federal funding from being made available for the collection, production, acquisition, maintenance, or dissemination of geospatial data that does not comply with applicable standards established by the committee. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-741
Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2015-03-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Alternative and renewable resources
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Energy efficiency and conservation
Floods and storm protection
Hydrology and hydrography
Infrastructure development
Labor standards
Land use and conservation
Public contracts and procurement
Wages and earnings
Water quality
Water resources funding
Water storage
Water use and supply
Watersheds

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: 

Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2015

 
This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish the Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Program to provide grants in each of FY2015-FY2019 for programs or projects to increase the resiliency or adaptability of water systems to any ongoing or forecasted changes to the hydrologic conditions of a U.S. region. A water system is a community water system, a treatment works, a decentralized wastewater treatment system for domestic sewage, a groundwater storage and replenishment system, a system for transport and delivery of water for irrigation or conservation, or a natural or engineered system that manages floodwater.
 
The EPA must give priority to owners or operators of water systems that are at the greatest and most immediate risk of facing significant negative impacts due to changing hydrologic conditions.
 
The EPA must ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that the list of grant applications funded includes a substantial number that propose to use innovative approaches that meet at least one of these goals: 
 
 
promote more efficient water use, conservation, reuse, or recycling; 
 
use decentralized, low-impact development technologies and nonstructural approaches; 
 
reduce stormwater runoff or flooding by protecting or enhancing natural ecosystem functions; 
 
modify, upgrade, enhance, or replace existing water system infrastructure in response to changing hydrologic conditions; 
 
improve water quality or quantity for agricultural and municipal uses; and 
 
provide multiple benefits, including water supply enhancement or demand reduction, water quality protection or improvement, increased flood protection, and ecosystem protection or improvement. 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1530; text of measure as introduced: CR S1530-1531)
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Stop Wasteful Federal Bonuses Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-742
Sponsor: Sen. Ayotte, Kelly [R-NH]
Introduced: 2015-03-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Congressional oversight
Employee performance
Executive agency funding and structure
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Government studies and investigations
Merit Systems Protection Board

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: 

Stop Wasteful Federal Bonuses Act of 2015

 
Prohibits a federal agency from awarding a bonus to any employee for five years after the end of a fiscal year in which the Inspector General of the agency or another senior ethics official or the Comptroller General makes an adverse finding relating to the employee. Requires repayment of a bonus awarded in any year in which an adverse finding is made. 

action_date: 2016-03-14
text: 

Stop Wasteful Federal Bonuses Act of 2015

 
(Sec. 2) This bill prohibits a federal agency from awarding a bonus to any employee for five years after the end of a fiscal year in which the agency makes an adverse finding relating to the employee. An &quot;adverse finding&quot; is a determination that an employee's conduct violated: (1) a policy of the agency for which the employee may be removed or suspended for at least 14 days, or (2) a law for which the employee may be imprisoned for more than one year.
 
 The bill requires an agency to issue an order directing an employee to repay a bonus awarded in any year in which such a finding is made. As a condition of receiving a bonus awarded after this Act's enactment, an employee must certify that he or she shall repay the bonus in accordance with such an order. 
 
An employee deemed to be ineligible for a bonus or against whom a repayment order is issued may appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-03-14
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 386.
action_date: 2016-03-14
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-226.
action_date: 2016-03-14
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-226.
action_date: 2015-06-24
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Honor America's Guard-Reserve Retirees Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-743
Sponsor: Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR]
Introduced: 2015-03-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: National Guard and reserves
Veterans' pensions and compensation

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: 

Honor America's Guard-Reserve Retirees Act of 2015

 
Honors as a veteran any person who is entitled to retired pay for nonregular (reserve) service or who would be so entitled, but for age.
 
Provides that such person shall not be entitled to any benefit by reason of such recognition.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Introduced in Senate
REFUND Act

Bill: 114-s-744
Sponsor: Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL]
Introduced: 2015-03-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Appropriations
Budget deficits and national debt
Intergovernmental relations
State and local finance

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: 

Returned Exclusively For Unpaid National Debt Act or the REFUND Act 

 
This bill rescinds federal funds identified by a state as unwanted and requires the funds to be used for debt reduction. The bill applies to federal funds required to be allocated by formula among all states that agree to use the funds for a specified purpose. To identify the funds as unwanted, a state legislature must pass a concurrent resolution, and the state must then notify the head of the federal agency responsible for allocating the funds. The Department of the Treasury must deposit the rescinded funds in the Gifts to the United States for Reduction of the Public Debt account, use the funds to reduce the debt, and submit an annual report to Congress identifying funds received. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Introduced in Senate
National Debt and Taxation Transparency Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-745
Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Introduced: 2015-03-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Budget deficits and national debt
Employment taxes
Government information and archives
Income tax rates
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: 

National Debt and Taxation Transparency Act of 2015

 
This bill directs the Department of the Treasury, beginning not later than October 1, 2017, to provide each individual who has a valid social security number, who received a Form W-2 in the previous taxable year, and who has filed a tax return in any previous taxable year (eligible individual) with a taxpayer account statement. An initial statement must be provided to each eligible individual with a current mailing address not later than September 30, 2020. 
 
The taxpayer account statement shall include: (1) a summary of the most recent Financial Report of the U.S. government, including the Statement of Long Term Fiscal Projections; (2) a calculation by Treasury of the eligible individual's share of the total obligations of the federal government; and (3) a 30-year calculation of the proportional increase in the federal income tax rates necessary to entirely finance the current fiscal path of the federal government, assuming there are no changes in current fiscal policy and no budget deficit. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-746
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2015-03-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Cancer
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Medical research
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: 

Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act of 2015

 
Establishes the Commission to Accelerate the End of Breast Cancer to help end breast cancer by January 1, 2020.
 
Directs the Commission to identify, recommend, and promote initiatives, partnerships, and research that can be turned into strategies to prevent breast cancer and breast cancer metastasis while giving priority to those that are: (1) not prioritized in the public sector, and (2) unlikely to be achieved by the private sector due to technical and financial uncertainty.
 
Requires the Commission to: (1) submit within six months to the President and to the relevant congressional committees a description of the Commission's strategic plan; (2) submit an annual report to the President, Congress, and the public; and (3) ensure that its activities are coordinated with, and not duplicative of, programs and laboratories of other government agencies.
 
Directs the President to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine to evaluate the Commission's progress.
 
Terminates the Commission on June 1, 2020.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Introduced in Senate
American Innovation Act

Bill: 114-s-747
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2015-03-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Appropriations
Budget deficits and national debt
Defense spending
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense
Department of Energy
Energy research
Executive agency funding and structure
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Science Foundation
Research administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: 

American Innovation Act 

 
This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require certain adjustments to discretionary spending limits in FY2016-FY2021 to accommodate increases in appropriations for agencies that perform basic science research. 
 
Adjustments are required for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy Office of Science, Department of Defense science and technology programs, National Institute of Standards and Technology Scientific and Technical Research and Services, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate. 
 
The bill also requires annual appropriations for each of the programs and agencies referenced in this bill to be at least the amount appropriated in FY2015. 
 
The bill exempts appropriations provided pursuant to this bill from sequestration. Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1531-1532)
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Amnesty Bonuses Elimination Act

Bill: 114-s-748
Sponsor: Sen. Sasse, Ben [R-NE]
Introduced: 2015-03-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Social Welfare
Subjects: Border security and unlawful immigration
Immigration status and procedures
Social security and elderly assistance

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: 

Amnesty Bonuses Elimination Act

 
This bill amends the Social Security Act to prohibit the Social Security Administration from issuing a Social Security account number to any alien granted deferred action pursuant to specified deferred action policies of the Department of Homeland Security.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Honest Scoring Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-749
Sponsor: Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH]
Introduced: 2015-03-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Budget process
Congressional oversight
Economic performance and conditions
Legislative rules and procedure
Senate

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: 

The Honest Scoring Act of 2015
 
 
This bill requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) to provide estimates of the macroeconomic effects of major legislation. These estimates are frequently referred to as dynamic scoring and include estimates of the budgetary effects from changes in economic output, employment, capital stock, interest rates, and other macroeconomic variables resulting from the legislation. 
 
The CBO and the JCT must provide the estimates for legislation that has a budgetary effect exceeding $15 billion in any fiscal year before incorporating macroeconomic effects, or is designated as major legislation by either the Chairman of the House Budget Committee or the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. The CBO and the JCT must also continue to provide estimates of budgetary effects without macroeconomic effects. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Introduced in Senate
CASE Act

Bill: 114-s-751
Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced: 2015-03-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Air quality
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental regulatory procedures

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: 
 
Clean Air, Strong Economies Act or the Case Act

 
This bill prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from lowering its national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone until at least 85% of counties that are in nonattainment areas (counties that are exceeding the limit) have attained the standard.
 
In promulgating a primary or secondary NAAQS for ozone, the EPA must: 
 
 
 only consider a county to be a nonattainment area on the basis of direct air quality monitoring (rather than modeling); 
 
 take into consideration feasibility and cost; and 
 
 include in the regulatory impact analysis for the proposed and final rule at least one analysis that does not include any calculation of benefits resulting from reducing emissions of any pollutant other than ozone.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-03
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-47.
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to establish a scorekeeping rule to ensure that increases in guarantee fees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shall not be used to offset provisions that increase the deficit.

Bill: 114-s-752
Sponsor: Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID]
Introduced: 2015-03-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Budget deficits and national debt
Budget process
Government corporations and government-sponsored enterprises
Government lending and loan guarantees
Housing finance and home ownership
Legislative rules and procedure
Senate
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: 
This bill prohibits increases in Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) guarantee fees from being used in the Senate to determine the budgetary impact for evaluating budget points of order. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase mortgages and charge the fees to guarantee the payment of principal and interest. This bill prevents the fee increases from being used to offset provisions that increase the deficit in determining whether a budget point of order applies to legislation. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Social Security and Marriage Equality Act

Bill: 114-s-753
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2015-03-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Social Welfare
Subjects: Marriage and family status
Social security and elderly assistance

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: 

Social Security and Marriage Equality Act 

 
 Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act with respect to the determination of a valid marriage to account for marriages in jurisdictions other than a state.
 
Authorizes the courts of any state to find that an OASDI benefit applicant and an insured individual were validly married in a jurisdiction other than a state at the time the applicant files a benefit application or, if the insured individual is dead, at the time the individual died.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Tennessee Wilderness Act

Bill: 114-s-755
Sponsor: Sen. Alexander, Lamar [R-TN]
Introduced: 2015-03-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Forests, forestry, trees
Tennessee
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: 

Tennessee Wilderness Act

 
 Designates specified federal lands in Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee as wilderness and as additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-07-16
text: Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Introduced in Senate
No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act

Bill: 114-s-757
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2015-03-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Caribbean area
Civil actions and liability
Cuba
Evidence and witnesses
Intellectual property
Jurisdiction and venue
Latin America
Property rights

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: 

No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act

 
Amends the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 to prohibit U.S. courts from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any assertion of rights by an individual (under current law, by a designated Cuban national) of a mark, trade name, or commercial name that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated by the Cuban government unless the original owner of such mark or name, or such owner's bona fide successor, has expressly consented. Applies such prohibition only if the individual asserting the rights knew or had reason to know at the time of acquiring the rights asserted that the mark or name was the same or substantially similar to the mark or name used in connection with the business or assets that were confiscated. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-03-17
text: Introduced in Senate