hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Crowdfunding Enhancement Act

Bill: 115-s-1031
Sponsor: Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT]
Introduced: 2017-05-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Business investment and capital
Financial services and investments
Securities

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: 

Crowdfunding Enhancement Act

 
This bill amends the Securities Act of 1933 to allow a crowdfunding issuer to sell shares through a crowdfunding vehicle. (Crowdfunding is a method of capital formation in which groups of people pool money either to invest in a company or to support an effort by others to accomplish a specific goal.)
 
A "crowdfunding vehicle" is a company that:
 
 
has purposes limited to acquiring, holding, and disposing securities issued by a single company; 
 
issues only one class of securities; 
 
receives no compensation for such acquisition, holding, or disposition of securities; and 
 
meets other specified requirements, including those related to disclosure obligations and the use of investment advisers. 

 
The bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the conditions upon which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shall exempt securities issued in crowdfunding transactions from SEC registration requirements.
 
Under current law, holders of crowdfunded shares do not count toward the shareholder threshold beyond which an issuer is required to register its securities with the SEC, provided that the issuer: (1) is current in its annual reporting obligations, (2) retains the services of a registered transfer agent, and (3) has less than $25 million in assets. The bill maintains this exemption but removes and replaces the conditions upon which it applies. Specifically, holders of crowdfunded shares shall not count toward the shareholder threshold if the issuer has: (1) a public float of less than $75 million, and (2) annual revenues of less than $50 million.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Introduced in Senate
National Forest Good Neighbor Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-1032
Sponsor: Sen. Roberts, Pat [R-KS]
Introduced: 2017-05-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Fires
Forests, forestry, trees
Intergovernmental relations
Land use and conservation
Pest management
State and local government operations
Water quality
Watersheds
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: 

National Forest Good Neighbor Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enter into good neighbor agreements with states to carry out specified similar and complementary forest, rangeland, and watershed restoration services on certain National Forest System (NFS) lands. 
 
The bill makes requirements under the National Forest Management Act of 1976 regarding the advertisement of timber sales on NFS lands and the designation and supervision of the harvesting of trees, portions of trees, or forest products on NFS lands inapplicable to the restoration services authorized by this bill. 
 
USDA shall provide or approve all silviculture prescriptions and marking guides to be applied on NSF land in any timber sales project conducted pursuant to this bill. 
 
Any decision required to be made by USDA under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 concerning any such services shall not be delegated to any state. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for stewardship contracting projects, and for other purposes.

Bill: 115-s-1033
Sponsor: Sen. Roberts, Pat [R-KS]
Introduced: 2017-05-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Ecology
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Fires
Forests, forestry, trees
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Parks, recreation areas, trails
Pest management
Public contracts and procurement
Roads and highways
Rural conditions and development
Water quality
Watersheds
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: 
 This bill amends the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to authorize the Forest Service to enter into stewardship contracting projects with private persons or other public entities to perform services to achieve land management goals for the National Forest System that meet local and rural community needs. 
 
 The bill states that the land management goals of a project may include: (1) road and trail maintenance or obliteration to restore or maintain water quality; (2) soil productivity, habitat for wildlife and fisheries, or other resource values; (3) setting of prescribed fires to improve the composition, structure, condition, and health of stands or to improve wildlife habitat; (4) removing vegetation or other activities to promote healthy forest stands, reduce fire hazards, or achieve other land management objectives; (5) watershed restoration and maintenance; (6) restoration and maintenance of wildlife and fish; or (7) control of noxious and exotic weeds and reestablishing native plant species. 
 
The Forest Service shall establish and participate in a multiparty monitoring and evaluation process that assesses the projects conducted pursuant to this bill. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-1034
Sponsor: Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Introduced: 2017-05-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Border security and unlawful immigration
Congressional oversight
Foreign labor
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Immigration status and procedures
Migrant, seasonal, agricultural labor
Social security and elderly assistance
Travel and tourism

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: 

Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2017

 
This bill authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to confer blue card status upon an alien who: (1) has performed specified periods of U.S. agricultural employment or is a qualifying alien's spouse or child, (2) has been physically present in the United States for a qualifying period, (3) applied for such status during the application period, (4) is not ineligible under specified grounds for such status, (5) has passed security and law enforcement clearances, and (6) has paid the required fees and penalties.
 
Blue card status is limited to eight years.
 
A blue card alien (individual) may: (1) work in the United States, and (2) travel from and return to the United States, including commuting to the United States from a foreign residence.
 
DHS shall adjust an individual's blue card status to lawful permanent resident status if the individual: (1) performs a specified period of qualifying agricultural employment, (2) applies before the expiration of his or her blue card status, and (3) pays a required fine and satisfies any federal tax liability. The bill also provides for status adjustment of such an individual's qualifying spouse and child.
 
The bill enumerates: (1) grounds for revocation of blue card status or denial of permanent resident status, (2) protections for aliens apprehended before or during the application period or in removal proceedings, and (3) employer protections.
 
 Such an individual: (1) is ineligible for any federal means-tested benefit, and (2) may correct certain social security records.
 
DHS shall report to Congress, after six months and annually for the next eight years, on the blue card program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Introduced in Senate
PROSPERS Act

Bill: 115-s-1035
Sponsor: Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
Introduced: 2017-05-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Employee benefits and pensions
Financial services and investments
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: 

Preserve Rights Of States and Political subdivisions to Encourage Retirement Savings Act or the PROSPERS Act 

 
This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to specify that states and certain political subdivisions may establish and administer voluntary payroll deduction retirement savings programs for private sector employees that are not considered employee pension benefit plans or pension plans covered by ERISA if the plans meet certain requirements. 
 
The bill requires the plans to be established, implemented, and administered by states or political subdivisions. The plans must also be voluntary for employees and meet other specified requirements, including restrictions on the involvement of employers and obligations to enforce the rights of employees. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Introduced in Senate
Marine Energy Act

Bill: 115-s-1036
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2017-05-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Alternative and renewable resources
Electric power generation and transmission
Energy efficiency and conservation
Energy research
Energy storage, supplies, demand
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental technology
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Research and development
Technology transfer and commercialization

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: 

Marine Energy Act

 
This bill amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to revise and reauthorize through FY2022 the program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application to accelerate the introduction of marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy production. The program must give priority to fostering accelerated research, development, and commercialization of technology.
 
The meaning of "marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy&quot; is expanded to include all forms of energy, not just electricity, from: (1) waves, tides, and currents in oceans, estuaries, and tidal areas; (2) free flowing water in rivers, lakes, and streams; (3) free flowing water in man-made channels; and (4) differentials in ocean temperature (ocean thermal energy conversion).
 
National Marine Renewable Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Centers must support in-water testing and demonstration of marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy technologies, including facilities capable of testing: (1) marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy systems of various technology readiness levels and scales, (2) a variety of technologies in multiple test berths at a single location, and (3) arrays of technology devices. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2017-05-03
text: Introduced in Senate
FAIR Fees Act

Bill: 115-s-1037
Sponsor: Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2017-05-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Aviation and airports
Department of Transportation
Transportation costs

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: 

Forbid Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous Fees Act of 2017 or the FAIR Fees Act

 
This bill directs the Department of Transportation to prescribe regulations: (1) prohibiting an air carrier from imposing any specified fees relating to a flight in interstate air transportation that are unreasonable or disproportional to the costs it incurs, and (2) establishing standards for assessing whether such fees are reasonable and proportional to those costs. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to indemnify local law enforcement entities for complying with valid detainers issued by immigration officers.

Bill: 115-s-1039
Sponsor: Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2017-05-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Border security and unlawful immigration
Detention of persons
Government liability
Intergovernmental relations
Law enforcement administration and funding
Law enforcement officers
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: 

 
Subject to available appropriations, the Department of Homeland Security shall be responsible to pay the costs of any legally-cognizable injuries to third parties by any state or local law enforcement officer resulting from a request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to temporarily detain an alien or transport the alien to a federal detention center.
 
Nothing in this bill shall be construed to preclude a legal cause of action.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S2776)
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Introduced in Senate
State Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-1040
Sponsor: Sen. Johnson, Ron [R-WI]
Introduced: 2017-05-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Business investment and capital
Economic development
Employment taxes
Foreign labor
Immigration status and procedures
Intergovernmental relations
State and local government operations
User charges and fees
Visas and passports

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: 

State Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a three-year renewable nonimmigrant W-visa for state-sponsored aliens (and their spouses and children) coming temporarily to the United States to reside in a state to perform services, provide capital investment, direct an enterprise, or otherwise contribute to the state's economic development.
 
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall approve an application for a state sponsored program that: (1) is approved by the state legislature, (2) regulates the employment and residence of state-sponsored nonimmigrants, (3) implements procedures to inform DHS of an individual's failure to comply with the program when the state is made aware of such failure, (4) allows individuals to change employers within a sponsoring state, and (5) implements procedures to annually inform DHS of the address and employment of all such individuals residing in the state. 
 
DHS shall terminate the period of authorized status if: (1) the individual resides or works outside the sponsoring state or states, (2) the individual fails to follow state rules, or (3) the state requests such termination, unless another state sponsors the individual.
 
The bill: (1) provides employment authorization for such individuals, (2) allows states to enter into multi-state compacts for joint program implementation or administration, (3) allows states to enforce program rules and regulations against employers, and (4) sets forth compliance and penalty provisions.
 
DHS and the Department of Justice shall jointly develop a visa application fraud prevention program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Introduced in Senate
Florida Shores Protection and Fairness Act

Bill: 115-s-1041
Sponsor: Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL]
Introduced: 2017-05-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Energy revenues and royalties
Florida
Gulf of Mexico
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Oil and gas

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: 

Florida Shores Protection and Fairness Act

 
This bill amends the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to include Florida in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf revenue sharing program.(Currently, only Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas are included in the program.)
 
Additionally, the bill extends the moratorium on oil and gas leasing to June 30, 2027, in certain areas of the Gulf of Mexico.
 

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Introduced in Senate
Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Enhancement Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-1042
Sponsor: Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]
Introduced: 2017-05-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Higher education
Income tax exclusion
National and community service
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: 

Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Enhancement Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any AmeriCorps educational awards provided under the National and Community Service Act of 1990. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Introduced in Senate
Pay for Student Success Act

Bill: 115-s-1043
Sponsor: Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]
Introduced: 2017-05-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Higher education
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: 

Pay for Student Success Act

 
This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Department of Education (ED) to contract with eligible entities for pay-for-success projects that develop, implement, evaluate, and promote innovative strategies for increasing the postsecondary education retention and completion rates of students who receive Pell Grants and first-generation postsecondary students.
 
Each entity that receives a contract must provide 90% of the project costs up front. ED may reimburse an entity for no more than 75% of the total project costs if ED determines, based on an independent evaluation, that the project is successful.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Introduced in Senate
Ensuring Seniors Access to Local Pharmacies Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-1044
Sponsor: Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV]
Introduced: 2017-05-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Health care costs and insurance
Medicare
Prescription drugs
Retail and wholesale trades

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: 

Ensuring Seniors Access to Local Pharmacies Act of 2017

 
This bill modifies requirements regarding access to preferred pharmacies (i.e., pharmacies that provide reduced enrollee cost sharing for prescription drugs) under a Medicare prescription drug plan (PDP).
 
Specifically, if a Medicare PDP has, in its pharmacy network, one or more preferred pharmacies located in a health shortage or medically underserved area, then the PDP sponsor must allow any pharmacy in the health shortage or medically underserved area to join the preferred pharmacy network under comparable terms and conditions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Introduced in Senate
Save Women's Preventive Care Act

Bill: 115-s-1045
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2017-05-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Cancer
Child health
Digestive and metabolic diseases
Disability and health-based discrimination
Domestic violence and child abuse
Family planning and birth control
HIV/AIDS
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health promotion and preventive care
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Racial and ethnic relations
Sex and reproductive health
Sexually transmitted diseases
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: 

Save Women's Preventive Care Act

 
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to expand preventive care and screening coverage for women under a group health plan.
 
Under current law, a group health plan must provide preventive care and screening coverage for women as prescribed for in the comprehensive guidelines by the Health Resources and Services Administration. The bill repeals that condition, and instead, specifies the following preventive care and screenings must be covered under a group health plan:
 
 
comprehensive lactation support services; 
 
screening for adolescents and women for interpersonal and domestic violence; 
 
screening for gestational diabetes mellitus; 
 
screening for cervical cancer; 
 
directed behavioral counseling for sexually transmitted infections; 
 
prevention education, risk assessment, and screening for HIV; 
 
contraceptive care; 
 
screening for breast cancer; and 

 
well-woman preventive care visits.
 
 
The bill authorizes states to require group health plans to provide more generous coverage.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Introduced in Senate
Lumbee Recognition Act

Bill: 115-s-1047
Sponsor: Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]
Introduced: 2017-05-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Federal-Indian relations
Gambling
Indian lands and resources rights
North Carolina

Summary:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: 

Lumbee Recognition Act

 
This bill amends the Act of June 7, 1956, to extend federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and make its members eligible for the services and benefits provided to members of federally recognized tribes. 
 
Members of the tribe residing in Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke, and Scotland Counties in North Carolina are deemed to be within the delivery area for such services.
 
The Deparment of Health and Human Services must develop, in consultation with the tribe, a determination of needs to provide the services for which members of the tribe are eligible.
 
The Department of the Interior may take land into trust for the tribe.
 
Gaming is allowed on land taken into trust for the tribe.
 
North Carolina must exercise jurisdiction over all criminal offenses committed, and all civil actions that arise, on North Carolina lands owned by, or held in trust for, the Lumbee Tribe or any dependent Indian community of the tribe unless jurisdiction is transferred to the United States pursuant to an agreement between the tribe and the state.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
action_date: 2017-05-04
text: Introduced in Senate