hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
A bill to extend whistleblower protections for defense contractor employees to employees of contractors of the elements of the intelligence community.

Bill: 114-s-794
Sponsor: Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO]
Introduced: 2015-03-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Defense spending
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Evidence and witnesses
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Government studies and investigations
Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-18
text: 
Extends whistleblower protections to employees of contractors, subcontractors, or grantees of elements of the intelligence community who disclose information regarding such an element, or its activities, if the employee complies with procedures to report urgent concerns to Congress by first submitting the information to an appropriate agency Inspector General under the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 or the Inspector General Act of 1978. (Currently, employees of contractors of the intelligence community are excluded from certain whistleblower protections that are provided to employees of contractors of the Department of Defense and other federal agencies.) 
 
Requires courts that receive a disclosure of information required by executive order to be kept classified (in the interests of national defense or the conduct of foreign affairs) to treat the information in a manner consistent with the interests of the national security of the United States, including through the use of summaries or ex parte submissions if the element of the intelligence community concerned advises the court that such procedures are warranted.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence.
action_date: 2015-03-18
text: Introduced in Senate
IN-STATE for Dreamers Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-796
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Administrative remedies
Citizenship and naturalization
Department of Homeland Security
Education programs funding
Higher education
Immigration status and procedures
Military personnel and dependents
Student aid and college costs
User charges and fees
Visas and passports

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 

Investing in States to Achieve Tuition Equality for Dreamers Act of 2015 or the IN-STATE for Dreamers Act of 2015

 
Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to allot grants to states to offer Dreamer students in-state tuition and expand their access to in-state financial aid.
 
Defines a "Dreamer student" as an individual who:
 
 
was under age 16 upon entering this country;
 
has provided a list of each secondary school the individual attended in this country; and
 
has earned a high school diploma or certain similar credentials, or is scheduled to complete the requirements for such a credential before the next academic year begins;
 
has acquired a degree from an institution of higher education (IHE) or has successfully completed at least 2 years of a program for a baccalaureate or higher degree in the United States and has made satisfactory academic progress; 
 
is a beneficiary of the Deferrred Action for Childhood Arrivals program; or
 
has served honorably in the uniformed services for at least 4 years. 
 
 
Directs the Secretary to provide for a hardship exception to either or both of the first two of such requirements.
 
Requires grant applicants to assure the Secretary that they: (1) will not discriminate against Dreamer students in awarding student aid or determining who is eligible for in-state tuition, if the student would otherwise be eligible for in-state financial aid as a state resident; and (2) will maintain, through FY 2025, at least their FY2013 level of support for their public IHEs, as adjusted for inflation.
 
Allots grants to each state based on its proportion of resident Dreamer students who are enrolled at least half-time in postsecondary education.
 
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to collect a specified fee from recipients of F-1 visas, provided to nonimmigrant full-time students.
 
Eliminates the prohibition on states offering unlawful aliens postsecondary benefits on the basis of their residence in the state that are more generous than those offered citizens or naturals of this country, without regard to their state residence.
 
Allows individuals who have served honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces to be naturalized without having been lawfully admitted to this country for permanent residence.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
Policyholder Protection Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-798
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Banking and financial institutions regulation
Bankruptcy
Federal Reserve System
Financial crises and stabilization
Insurance industry and regulation

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 

Policyholder Protection Act of 2015

 
 Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to declare that any regulation, order, or other action of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System that requires a bank holding company to provide funds or other assets to a subsidiary depository institution shall not be effective nor enforceable with respect to an entity that is a savings and loan holding company that is also an insurance company, an affiliate of an insured depository institution that is an insurance company, or any other company that is an insurance company and that directly or indirectly controls an insured depository institution if: (1) such funds or assets are to be provided by the entity, and (2) the state insurance authority for the insurance company determines that such an action would have a materially adverse effect on the entity's financial condition.

Declares that requiring a bank holding company that is an insurance company or such an entity to serve as a source of financial strength shall be deemed the kind of action of the Board to which this Act applies. 
 
Amends the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, with respect to systemic risk determination and the treatment of insurance companies and their subsidiaries, to authorize the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to stand in the place of the appropriate regulatory agency and file a judicial action to place such companies into orderly rehabilitation under state law if the appropriate regulatory agency has not done so.
 
Requires the FDIC, when funding the orderly liquidation of an insurance company or its subsidiary, to notify the relevant state insurance authority promptly of its intention to take a lien on the company's assets.
 
Prohibits the FDIC from taking such a lien if the state insurance authority informs it that doing so would have a materially adverse effect upon the insurance company's policyholders.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-04-30
text: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
Representation Fairness Restoration Act

Bill: 114-s-801
Sponsor: Sen. Isakson, Johnny [R-GA]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Labor-management relations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 

Representation Fairness Restoration Act

 
 Amends the National Labor Relations Act to revise requirements for determination by the National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) of an appropriate bargaining unit before an election of collective bargaining representation. (In effect reverses the NLRB's August 26, 2011, decision in 
Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation of Mobile
 and its June 22, 2011, rulemaking regarding proposed changes to procedures involving the election of collective bargaining representation.)
 
Replaces the current restriction in the meaning of collective bargaining unit to employer unit, craft unit, plant unit, or subdivision. Requires the NLRB, instead, to determine a unit as appropriate for collective bargaining if it consists of employees that share a sufficient community of interest. Specifies factors the NLRB must consider when making such determinations.
 
Prohibits exclusion of employees from the unit unless the group's interests are sufficiently distinct from those of other employees to warrant the establishment of a separate unit. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
Medicare CGM Access Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-804
Sponsor: Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Department of Health and Human Services
Digestive and metabolic diseases
Health technology, devices, supplies
Medicare

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 
Medicare CGM Access Act of 2015 - This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare coverage of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices furnished to a CGM qualified individual. 
 
The Department of Health and Human Services must establish a fee schedule and ensure that CGM qualified individuals are furnished with appropriate device components.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1663-1664)
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
PRISM Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-805
Sponsor: Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Education programs funding
Higher education
Historic sites and heritage areas
Minority education

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 

Preservation Research at Institutions Serving Minorities Act of 2015 or the PRISM Act of 2015

 
Makes Hispanic-serving institutions eligible for technical and financial assistance from the Secretary of the Interior to establish preservation training and degree programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
Fair BEER Act

Bill: 114-s-807
Sponsor: Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Alcoholic beverages
Sales and excise taxes

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 

Fair Brewers Excise and Economic Relief Act or the Fair BEER Act 

 
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the excise tax on beer brewed or produced, and removed for consumption or sale, within the United States or imported into the United States. The revised tax ranges from $0 for an amount not exceeding 7,143 barrels to $18 per barrel on an amount exceeding 2 million barrels. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
Educational Opportunities Act

Bill: 114-s-809
Sponsor: Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Charitable contributions
Elementary and secondary education
Income tax credits
Sales and excise taxes
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 

Educational Opportunities Act

 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers a tax credit for charitable contributions to a scholarship granting organization. Allows a maximum credit amount of $4,500 ($2,250 for a married individual filing a separate return). Defines "scholarship granting organization" as a tax-exempt entity whose exclusive purpose is to provide scholarships for the tuition and other expenses of elementary and secondary school students from low income households (i.e., household income not exceeding 250% of federal poverty guidelines).
 
Allows corporate taxpayers a tax credit, up to $100,000, for contributions to a scholarship granting organization. 
 
Imposes a penalty on scholarship granting organizations that fail to distribute at least 90% of their total receipts for elementary and secondary school expenses in a taxable year.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-810
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Child health
Congressional oversight
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health care quality
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Health promotion and preventive care
Health technology, devices, supplies
Medicaid
Medical research
Medicare
Minority health
Performance measurement
Poverty and welfare assistance
Right of privacy
Rural conditions and development
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 

SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015

 
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to: (1) remove sustainable growth rate (SGR) methodology from the determination of annual conversion factors in the formula for payment for physicians' services, and (2) revise the update in rates for 2015 and subsequent years.
 
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Merit-based Incentive Payment (MIP) system under which eligible professionals (including physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and certified registered nurse anesthetists) shall receive annual payment increases or decreases based on their performance.
 
Requires specified incentive payments to eligible participants in an alternative payment model.
 
Requires the Secretary to: (1) draft a plan for development of quality measures to assess professionals, including non-patient-facing professionals; and (2) make payments for chronic care management services.
 
Expands the kinds of uses of Medicare data available to qualified entities. Directs the Secretary to provide Medicare data to qualified clinical data registries to facilitate quality improvement or patient safety.
 
Declares it a national objective to achieve widespread exchange of health information through interoperable certified electronic health records technology nationwide by December 31, 2018.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
CLEAR Relief Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-812
Sponsor: Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Banking and financial institutions regulation
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Consumer credit
Credit and credit markets
Housing finance and home ownership

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 

Community Lending Enhancement and Regulatory Relief Act of 2015 or the CLEAR Relief Act of 2015

 
 Amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to exempt from its rules regarding management assessment of internal controls the following institutions which, as of the end of the preceding fiscal year, had total consolidated assets of $1 billion or less (adjusted annually according to a certain formula): (1) a bank holding company, (2) a savings and loan holding company, or (3) an insured depository institution.
 
Amends the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to exempt from requirements governing escrow or impound accounts affecting certain consumer credit transactions any loans secured by a first lien on the principal dwelling of a consumer, if such loans are held by an insured depository institution having assets of $10 billion or less.
 
Includes as a qualified mortgage, with respect to the presumption that a qualified residential mortgage loan meets certain minimum standards, any mortgage loan originated and retained in portfolio for at least three years by a depository institution having less than $10 billion in total assets.
 
Requires the CFPB (which currently is merely authorized) to provide by regulation that a &quot;qualified mortgage&quot; includes a balloon loan extended by an insured depository institution that: (1) originates and retains balloon loans in portfolio for at least three years, and (2) together with its affiliates has less than $10 billion in total consolidated assets.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-04-16
text: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
Military Sequester Flexibility Act

Bill: 114-s-813
Sponsor: Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Budget deficits and national debt
Congressional oversight
Defense spending
Department of Defense
Executive agency funding and structure

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 

Military Sequester Flexibility Act 

 
This bill permits the Department of Defense (DOD) to transfer authorizations of funds made available to DOD. DOD may transfer amounts between authorizations for the same fiscal year if: (1) the transfer is necessary to mitigate the effects of spending reductions due to a reduction in the discretionary spending limit or a sequestration under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, and (2) it is in the national interest. 
 
Transfers in a fiscal year are limited to a total of $50 billion, excluding transfers between military personnel authorizations. The transfers must be used for higher priority items, may not be used for an item that has been denied an authorization by Congress, and may not reduce an authorization by more than 50%. 
 
DOD must notify Congress of each proposed transfer, and Congress may prohibit a transfer by enacting a joint resolution disapproving the transfer within 30 days of notification. The transfer authority expires on September 30, 2023. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
Oregon Coastal Land Act

Bill: 114-s-814
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Federal-Indian relations
Gambling
Indian lands and resources rights
Land transfers
Oregon

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 

Oregon Coastal Land Act

 
 Requires all interest of the United States in approximately 14,408 acres of land (Oregon Coastal land) to be held in trust for, and to be part of the reservation of, the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (Tribes). 
 
Applies federal law relating to the export of unprocessed logs harvested from federal land to any unprocessed logs harvested from such land. Prohibits gaming on such land. Requires commercial forestry activity on such land to be managed in accordance with applicable federal laws. Exempts such land from the land use planning requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. 
 
Directs the Tribes to consult with the Department of the Interior and other parties to develop agreements to provide for access to such land that provide for: (1) honoring existing reciprocal right-of-way agreements, (2) administrative access by the Bureau of Land Management, and (3) management of any such land acquired or developed under the Land and Water Conservation Fund. 
 
Directs the Department of Agriculture and Interior to identify any land conveyed under this Act that is Oregon and California Railroad grant land. 
 
Directs Interior to: (1) identify public domain land in Oregon that is approximately equal in acreage and condition to such Oregon and California Railroad grant land, and (2) reclassify the public domain land as Oregon and California Railroad grant land. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-21
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 114-380.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1664; text of measure as introduced: CR S1664-1665)
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Coquille Restoration Act to clarify certain provisions relating to the management of the Coquille Forest.

Bill: 114-s-816
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Forests, forestry, trees
Indian lands and resources rights
Land transfers
Oregon

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 
 Amends the Coquille Restoration Act to require the Department of the Interior to manage the Coquille Forest in accordance with the laws pertaining to the management of Indian trust land. (Currently, Interior is also required to manage the Forest under applicable state and federal forestry and environmental protection laws, and subject to critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species Act and the standards and guidelines of federal forest plans on adjacent or nearby federal lands.) 
 
Continues to apply: (1) federal law relating to the export of unprocessed logs harvested from federal land to any unprocessed logs that are harvested from the Forest, and (2) competitive bidding requirements to sales of timber from the Forest. 
 
Removes a provision: (1) giving the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon jurisdiction over certain actions concerning the placement of lands in Coos County and Curry County, Oregon, into trust for the Coquille Tribe and the management of the Coquille Forest; and (2) limiting available remedies to equitable relief, unless otherwise provided for by law.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1664; text of measure as introduced: CR S1665-1666)
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-820
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2015-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Child care and development
Income tax credits
Inflation and prices

Summary:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: 

Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act of 2015

 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for employment-related expenses incurred for the care of a taxpayer's dependent, to: (1) increase to $120,000, the adjusted gross income threshold level above which such credit is incrementally reduced; (2) increase the dollar limit on the allowable amount of such credit; (3) allow an inflation adjustment to the threshold amount and the maximum credit amounts, beginning after 2016; and (4) make such credit refundable. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate