hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act

Bill: 114-s-721
Sponsor: Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]
Introduced: 2015-03-11 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Firearms and explosives
Forests, forestry, trees
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Outdoor recreation
Solid waste and recycling
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: 

Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act 

 
 This bill amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to facilitate the construction and expansion of public target ranges by: (1) authorizing a state to pay up to 90% of the costs of acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range; (2) authorizing a state to elect to allocate 10% of a specified amount apportioned to it from the federal aid to wildlife restoration fund for those costs; (3) limiting the federal share of those costs under such Act to 90%; and (4) requiring amounts provided for those costs under such Act to remain available for expenditure and obligation for five fiscal years.
 
The bill urges the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to cooperate with state and local authorities and other entities to carry out waste removal and other activities on any federal land used as a public target range to encourage its continued use for target practice or marksmanship training.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to extend the date after which interest earned on obligations held in the wildlife restoration fund may be available for apportionment.

Bill: 114-s-722
Sponsor: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2015-03-11 in the Senate
Policy area: Animals
Subjects: Government trust funds
Interest, dividends, interest rates
Wetlands
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: 
This bill amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to delay by 10 years until 2026 the date after which interest from the wildlife conservation and restoration fund is available for apportionment.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2015-03-11
text: Introduced in Senate
Utility Energy Service Contracts Improvement Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-723
Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Energy efficiency and conservation
Government buildings, facilities, and property
Performance measurement
Public contracts and procurement
Public utilities and utility rates
Service industries
Water use and supply

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

Utility Energy Service Contracts Improvement Act of 2015 

 
 This bill amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to make explicit that utility energy service contracts (UESCs) may have a contract period of up to 25 years. UESCs are contracts that allow utilities to provide federal agencies with energy and water efficiency improvements and demand reduction services.
 
UESC conditions must include requirements for measurement, verification, and performance assurances or guarantees of the savings.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Protecting Kids from Candy-Flavored Drugs Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-724
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Child health
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Marketing and advertising
U.S. Sentencing Commission

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

Protecting Kids from Candy-Flavored Drugs Act of 2015

 
 Amends the Controlled Substances Act to prohibit any person from: (1) manufacturing, creating, distributing, dispensing, or possessing with intent to distribute a schedule I or II controlled substance that is combined with a candy or beverage product, marketed or packaged to appear similar to a candy or beverage product, or modified by flavoring or coloring to appear similar to a candy or beverage product; or (2) manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing, or possessing with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, a controlled substance knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the controlled substance will be distributed, dispensed, or sold to a person under 18 years of age. Imposes enhanced criminal penalties for violations.
 
 Exempts any controlled substance that: (1) has been approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under the drug approval process if the contents, marketing, and packaging of the controlled substance have not been altered from the form approved by the Secretary; or (2) has been altered at the direction of a practitioner who is acting for a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of professional practice.
 
Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to amend and review its guidelines and policy statements to ensure that the guidelines provide for a penalty enhancement of not less than two offense levels for a violation of this Act. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Community Financial Protection Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-726
Sponsor: Sen. Coats, Daniel [R-IN]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Banking and financial institutions regulation
Consumer credit
Financial services and investments
Government information and archives

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

Community Financial Protection Act of 2015

 
 Amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to require the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to request reports through the prudential regulator from a person that is either an insured depository institution or an insured credit union with total assets of $10 billion or less (persons).
 
Prohibits the Director from making such requests for an industry-wide report, or for a report pertaining to two or more such persons. 
 
Requires the Director, as a prerequisite to making such request, to make a showing to the prudential regulator that publicly available information pertaining to such person(s) is insufficient for the purposes of either: (1) supporting the role of the CFPB in implementing federal consumer financial laws; (2) supporting examination activities of the CFPB; or (3) risk assessment and detection concerning consumers and consumer financial markets.
 
Authorizes the prudential regulator to deny any request for a report or information made by the Director with respect to such persons.
 
Requires the prudential regulator who fulfills the Director's request for a report to do so with reports that have been furnished to a federal or state agency (or are required to have been furnished to a federal or state agency.
 
Instructs the Director to accept existing reports in formats consistent with those submitted to the prudential regulator and federal and state agencies if the prudential regulator has determined that they provide the information requested.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
BTU Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-727
Sponsor: Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Alternative and renewable resources
Energy efficiency and conservation
Income tax credits
Lighting and heating
Lighting, heating, cooling
Residential rehabilitation and home repair

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

Biomass Thermal Utilization Act of 2015 or the BTU Act of 2015

 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include 30% of qualified biomass fuel property expenditures made in taxable years beginning before 2021 in the residential energy efficient property tax credit. Defines &quot;qualified biomass fuel property expenditure&quot; as an expenditure for property which uses the burning of biomass fuel (a plant-derived fuel available on a renewable or recurring basis) to heat a dwelling used as a residence, or to heat water for use in such dwelling, and which has a thermal efficiency rating of at least 75%.
 
Allows: (1) a 15% energy tax credit until 2021 for investment in open-loop biomass heating property, and (2) a 30% credit for boilers or furnaces that operate at thermal output efficiencies of at least 80% and provide thermal energy. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
STOP Act

Bill: 114-s-728
Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Child health
Department of Health and Human Services
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Higher education
Marketing and advertising
Medical research
Performance measurement
Research administration and funding
Roads and highways
School athletics
State and local government operations
Television and film
Transportation safety and security

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Reauthorization Act or the STOP Act

 
Amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the program to reduce underage drinking for FY2016-FY2019.
 
Revises reporting requirements for state programs on underage drinking.
 
 Specifies additional requirements for the development of the national media campaign to prevent underage drinking.
 
Directs the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to make grants to professional pediatric provider organizations to increase effective practices, including the screening of children and adolescents for alcohol use, to reduce the prevalence of alcohol use among individuals under the age of 21, including college students.
 
Directs the Department of Health and Human Services to collect data and conduct or support new research on underage drinking that carries out and improves public health surveillance of alcohol use and alcohol-related conditions in states among individuals between age 18 and 20 by increasing the use of surveys, such as the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, to monitor binge and excessive drinking and related harms.
 
Amends the Federal Alcohol Administration Act to prohibit the manufacture, sale, distribution, or possession of powdered alcohol.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Fairness for Struggling Students Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-729
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Bankruptcy
Higher education
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

Fairness for Struggling Students Act of 2015

 
This bill amends federal bankruptcy law to make privately issued student loans dischargeable in bankruptcy. Under current law, student loans (whether issued privately or by a governmental unit) are dischargeable only if excepting the loans from dischargeability would impose undue hardship on the debtor and the debtor's dependents. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1497)
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Permanently Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-730
Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Housing finance and home ownership
Low- and moderate-income housing

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

Permanently Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2015

 
This bill amends the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 to repeal its sunset date December 31, 2014 (thus making the Act permanent). 
 
This bill restores and revives such Act, the provisions of law amended or repealed by it, and any regulations promulgated pursuant to it, as were in effect on December 31, 2014, as if the sunset had not taken effect.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Social Security Expansion Act

Bill: 114-s-731
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Social Welfare
Subjects: Aging
Employment taxes
Government trust funds
Inflation and prices
Interest, dividends, interest rates
Self-employed
Social security and elderly assistance
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

Social Security Expansion Act

 
 Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to:
 
 
increase the primary insurance amount for all eligible beneficiaries, beginning in 2021;
 
revise computation of cost-of-living adjustments to use the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers;
 
increase the special minimum primary insurance amount for lifetime low earners based on years in the workforce.
 
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) apply employment and self-employment taxes to remuneration up to the contribution and benefit base and to remuneration in excess of $250,000; and (2) increase the tax on investment gain from 3.8% to 10% of the lesser of net investment income for such taxable year or the excess (if any) of the modified adjusted gross income for such taxable year, over the threshold amount, with 62% of such tax allocated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and 9% allocated to the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Act of June 18, 1934, to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian tribes.

Bill: 114-s-732
Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Federal-Indian relations
Indian lands and resources rights

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 
Amends the Indian Reorganization Act to apply the Act to all federally recognized Indian tribes, regardless of when any tribe became recognized. (This effectively overrules the Supreme Court's decision in 
Carcieri v. Salazar, 
which held that the Secretary of the Interior could not take land into trust for a specified tribe because that tribe had not been under federal jurisdiction when the Act was enacted.)
 
Ratifies and confirms any action taken by the Secretary pursuant to such Act for any Indian tribe that was federally recognized on the date of that action.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-733
Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Asia
Citizenship and naturalization
Conflicts and wars
Family relationships
Immigration status and procedures
Philippines
Visas and passports

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act of 2015

 
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt from worldwide or numerical limitations on immigrant visas the sons and daughters of Filipino World War II veterans who were naturalized under the Immigration Act of 1990 or other specified federal law.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
USF Equitable Distribution Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-734
Sponsor: Sen. Ayotte, Kelly [R-NH]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Rural conditions and development
Telecommunication rates and fees
Telephone and wireless communication

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

USF Equitable Distribution Act of 2015

 
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require at least 75% of all amounts collected by interstate telecommunications providers from consumers in a rural state for the purpose of making certain contributions to universal service funds established by the Federal Communications Commission to be allocated to consumers in that rural state.
 
Defines "rural state" as a state in which the total population density is not more than 200 people per square mile, as determined by the latest available decennial census. 
 
Prohibits this Act from being construed to require an increase in amounts collected by interstate telecommunications providers from consumers for the purpose of making such contributions. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
State, Tribal, and Local Species Transparency and Recovery Act

Bill: 114-s-736
Sponsor: Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Endangered and threatened species
Government information and archives
Intergovernmental relations
Land transfers
State and local government operations
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

State, Tribal, and Local Species Transparency and Recovery Act

 
This bill amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require the Department of the Interior or the Department of Commerce, as appropriate, to provide to affected states all data that is used as the basis of a determination on whether a species is an endangered species or a threatened species before making a determination.
 
The appropriate Department must use data submitted by a state, tribal, or county government in making such a determination.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Ensuring Access to Primary Care for Women & Children Act

Bill: 114-s-737
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Child health
Congressional oversight
Disability and paralysis
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Government studies and investigations
Health care quality
Health personnel
Medicaid
Medicare
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

Ensuring Access to Primary Care for Women & Children Act

 
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to require that the primary care services furnished in the two years after enactment of this Act by a physician with a primary specialty designation of family medicine, general internal medicine, or pediatric medicine be paid at a rate that is not less than 100% of the payment rate that applies under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), but only if the physician self-attests as being Board certified in those areas.
 
Extends this 100% of Medicare payment floor, subject to certain conditions, to the following providers: (1) physicians with a primary specialty designation of obstetrics and gynecology, and self-attesting they are Board certified; (2) advanced practice clinicians; (3) rural health clinics, federally-qualified health centers, or other specified health clinics; and (4) nurse practitioners, physician assistants, or certified nurse-midwives. 
 
Excludes from coverage of primary care services any such services provided in an emergency department of a hospital.
 
Prescribes additional requirements for any contract between a state and a Medicaid managed care organization.
 
Directs the Government Accountability Office to examine the use of alternative payment models in state Medicaid programs and identify opportunities for disseminating successful payment models among them.
 
Amends SSAct title XI to: (1) extend funding for development of adult health quality measures; and (2) direct the Administrator for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicaid Services and the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to develop such measures specific to adult individuals with disabilities and include them in the Medicaid Quality Measurement Program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Genetically Engineered Salmon Risk Reduction Act

Bill: 114-s-738
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2015-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Alaska
California
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Fishes
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Genetics
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Oregon
Seafood
Washington State

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: 

Genetically Engineered Salmon Risk Reduction Act 

 
This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require food that contains genetically engineered (commonly called a &quot;genetically modified organism&quot; or &quot;GMO&quot;) salmon to bear a label stating that fact.
 
The bill requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 before approving a new animal drug application for GMO salmon intended for human consumption. (Currently, the FDA regulates GMO animals under the new animal drug provisions of that Act. If the FDA finalizes its environmental assessment and the Finding of No Significant Impact, it would not be required to prepare an EIS for that salmon.) The EIS prepared pursuant to this bill must focus on the coast along California to Alaska and GMO fish, including salmon, other anadromous fish (fish that migrate from the salt water of the sea to spawn in the fresh water of rivers), or marine fish. The EIS must include: 
 
 
an environmental risk analysis that assesses the potential impacts from escapement of the GMO fish on wild and cultured fish stocks and environments,
 
 a failure mode and effects analysis that assesses the best- and worst-case probabilities of failure of each confinement technique,
 
 an assessment of the costs of control or eradication of escaped GMO fish, and 
 
 an assessment of the potential economic damage to relevant wild and cultured fish stocks and environments from the escapement of GMO fish.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate