hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
A bill to require the United States Postal Service to designate a single, unique ZIP code for particular communities.

Bill: 115-s-525
Sponsor: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2017-03-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: New York State
Postal service

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-02
text: 
This bill requires the U.S. Postal Service to designate a single, unique ZIP code for the communities of Flanders, Northampton, and Riverside in the Town of Southampton, New York.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2017-03-02
text: Introduced in Senate
Health Care Safety Net Enhancement Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-527
Sponsor: Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO]
Introduced: 2017-03-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Health care coverage and access
Health facilities and institutions
Health personnel

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-02
text: 

Health Care Safety Net Enhancement Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to deem a hospital or an emergency department and a physician or physician group of a hospital or emergency department to be an employee of the Public Health Service with liability protection provided by the United States for purposes of any civil action that may arise due to providing emergency or post-stabilization services on or after January 1, 2018.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-03-02
text: Introduced in Senate
Sarah Grace-Farley-Kluger Act

Bill: 115-s-528
Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Introduced: 2017-03-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Elementary and secondary education
Employee leave
Family relationships
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text:  
 

Parental Bereavement Act of 2017 or the Sarah Grace-Farley-Kluger Act

 
This bill amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to entitle an eligible employee to up to 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period because of the death of a son or daughter.
 
 Such an employee may substitute any available paid leave for any leave without pay.
 
The bill applies the same leave entitlement to federal employees.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Introduced in Senate
APPROVAL Act

Bill: 115-s-529
Sponsor: Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR]
Introduced: 2017-03-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Electric power generation and transmission
Federal-Indian relations
Intergovernmental relations
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: 

Assuring Private Property Rights Over Vast Access to Land Act or the APPROVAL Act

 
This bill amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to prohibit the Department of Energy and the Southwestern and Western Area Power Administrations from using the power of eminent domain to implement modernization of electricity transmission infrastructure, unless they have received explicit permission to do so by: (1) the state governor and the head of each applicable public utility commission or public service commission of the affected state, and (2) the head of the governing body of each Indian tribe whose land would be affected.
 
 An electricity transmission infrastructure project, to the greatest extent practicable, must be sited upon either an existing federal right-of-way or upon federal land managed by either: (1) the Bureau of Land Management, (2) the Forest Service, (3) the Bureau of Reclamation, or (4) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Vet Connect Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-530
Sponsor: Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV]
Introduced: 2017-03-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Digestive and metabolic diseases
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
HIV/AIDS
Health information and medical records
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: 

Vet Connect Act of 2017

 
This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to disclose to non-VA entities that provide hospital care or medical treatment to veterans (including private entities and other federal agencies) records of the identity, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment of any patient in connection with a program relating to drug abuse, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, or sickle cell anemia. Such an entity may not redisclose or use such record for a purpose other than that for which the disclosure was made.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to designate a portion of the Edward T. Breathitt Parkway as Interstate Route I-169.

Bill: 115-s-531
Sponsor: Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY]
Introduced: 2017-03-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Kentucky
Roads and highways

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: 
This bill amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to designate the Edward T. Breathitt (Pennyrile) Parkway from its intersection with Interstate Route 24 to its intersection with Interstate 69 and the Western Kentucky Parkway as: (1) a high priority corridor on the National Highway System, (2) a segment of the Interstate System, and (3) Interstate Route I-169.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Stop Arming Terrorists Act

Bill: 115-s-532
Sponsor: Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY]
Introduced: 2017-03-06 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Foreign aid and international relief
Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information
Iraq
Middle East
Military assistance, sales, and agreements
Military education and training
Political movements and philosophies
Syria
Terrorism

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: 

Stop Arming Terrorists Act

 
This bill prohibits the use of federal agency funds to provide covered assistance to: (1) Al Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or any individual or group that is affiliated with, associated with, cooperating with, or adherents to such groups; or (2) the government of any country that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) determines has, within the most recent 12 months, provided covered assistance to such a group or individual.
 
&quot;Covered assistance&quot; is defined as:
 
 
defense articles, defense services, training or logistical support, or any other military assistance provided by grant, loan, credit, transfer, or cash sales; 
 
 intelligence sharing; or 
 
 cash assistance. 
 
 
The ODNI shall:
 
 
 make, within 90 days after this bill's enactment, initial determinations about such countries and about whether an individual or group is, or has been within the most recent 12 months, affiliated with, associated with, cooperating with, or an adherent to Al Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, or ISIL;
 
review and make subsequent determinations regarding such countries, groups, or individuals every 6 months in consultation with specified congressional committees; 
 
 brief such committees on each determination; and
 
 brief such committees on any other country, individual, or group that the ODNI considered but did not make a determination that the the country provided covered assistance to, or that the group or individual is affiliated with, associated with, cooperating with, or an adherent to, Al Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, or ISIL.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-533
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2017-03-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Aviation and airports
Firearms and explosives
Transportation safety and security

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: 

Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act of 2017

 
 This bill amends the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 to revise what are prohibited firearms to include any firearm: (1) that, after removal of all parts other than major components is not as detectable by walk-through metal detectors as the Security Exemplar (an object fabricated for the testing and calibration of metal detectors); or (2) any major component of which, if subjected to inspection by the types of detection devices commonly used at airports for security screening, would not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of the component.
 
The bill modifies the definition of: (1) "major component" to include the barrel of a firearm only in the case of a rifle or shotgun, and (2) "Security Exemplar" to repeal the requirement that it be fabricated within 12 months after enactment of such Act.
 
The bill exempts from undetectable firearms provisions: (1) a prototype firearm for detectability testing; (2) any firearm received by, in the possession of, or under the control of the United States; or (3) the manufacture, importation, possession, transfer, receipt, shipment, or delivery of a firearm by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer pursuant to a contract with the United States. (This replaces the exemption of any firearm that has been certified by the Department of Defense or the Central Intelligence Agency as necessary for military or intelligence applications or that is manufactured and sold exclusively to U.S. military or intelligence agencies.)


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to make applicable to the State of South Dakota a provision relating to certain Bureau of Reclamation permit fees.

Bill: 115-s-535
Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced: 2017-03-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Outdoor recreation
South Dakota
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: 
This bill amends the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to temporarily prohibit the Department of the Interior from increasing the permit fee for a cabin or trailer on land in South Dakota administered by the Bureau of Reclamation's Dakotas Area Office by more than 33% of the fee amount that was in effect on January 1, 2016.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2017-03-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Cybersecurity Disclosure Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-536
Sponsor: Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI]
Introduced: 2017-03-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Computer security and identity theft
Financial services and investments
Government information and archives
Securities
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: 

Cybersecurity Disclosure Act of 2017

 
This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue final rules requiring a registered issuer to:
 
 
disclose in its mandatory annual report or annual proxy statement whether any member of its governing body has expertise or experience in cybersecurity, including details necessary to describe fully the nature of that expertise or experience; and 
 
if no member has such expertise or experience, describe what other company cybersecurity steps were taken into account by the persons responsible for identifying and evaluating nominees for the governing body. 

 
The SEC shall, in coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, define what constitutes expertise or experience in cybersecurity. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2018-06-28
text: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-406.
action_date: 2018-05-24
text: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held.
action_date: 2017-09-12
text: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-95.
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1641-1642)
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Arbitration Fairness Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-537
Sponsor: Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN]
Introduced: 2017-03-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration
Competition and antitrust
Consumer affairs
Contracts and agency
Labor-management relations

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: 

Arbitration Fairness Act of
 
2017

 
This bill prohibits a predispute arbitration agreement from being valid or enforceable if it requires arbitration of an employment, consumer, antitrust, or civil rights dispute.
 
The validity and enforceability of an agreement to arbitrate shall be determined by a court, under federal law, rather than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration agreement specifically or in conjunction with other terms of the contract containing such agreement.
 
Nothing in this bill applies to arbitration provisions in a contract between an employer and a labor organization or between labor organizations, except that no such arbitration provision shall have the effect of waiving the right of an employee to seek judicial enforcement of a right arising under the U.S. Constitution, a state constitution, a federal or state statute, or related public policy.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Timber Innovation Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-538
Sponsor: Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI]
Introduced: 2017-03-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Advanced technology and technological innovations
Building construction
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Forests, forestry, trees
Manufacturing
Research administration and funding
Research and development
Technology transfer and commercialization
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: 

Timber Innovation Act of 2017

 
This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA), acting through the Research and Development and the State and Private Forestry deputy areas of the Forest Service, to conduct performance-driven research and development, education, and technical assistance to facilitate the use of innovative wood products in wood building construction in the United States. Such activities shall give priority to: (1) improving the commercialization of such products, (2) analyzing the safety of tall wood building materials, (3) calculating and reducing the life cycle environmental footprint of tall wood building construction, and (4) analyzing the potential implications of the use of innovative wood products in building construction on wildlife.
 
&quot;Tall wood building&quot; means a building designed to be over 85 feet high and constructed with large panelized wood construction, including cross-laminated timber, nail laminated timber, glue laminated timber, laminated strand lumber, and laminated veneer lumber.
 
 USDA shall carry out an annual competition for FY2017-FY2021 for a tall wood building design, or other innovative wood product demonstration, in accordance with the requirements for prize competitions carried out under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980. 
 
The Forest Service, in carrying out a wood innovation grant program, may make grants to advance the use of innovative wood products, with priority to grant proposals that include the use or retrofitting of existing sawmill facilities in counties where the average annual unemployment rate exceeded the national average by more than 1% in the previous year. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to designate the area between the intersections of 16th Street, Northwest and Fuller Street, Northwest and 16th Street, Northwest and Euclid Street, Northwest in Washington, District of Columbia, as "Oswaldo Paya Way".

Bill: 115-s-539
Sponsor: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
Introduced: 2017-03-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Caribbean area
Congressional tributes
Cuba
District of Columbia
Government buildings, facilities, and property
Human rights
Latin America
Protest and dissent
Roads and highways

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: 
This bill designates the area between the intersections of 16th Street, NW and Fuller Street, NW and 16th Street, NW and Euclid Street, NW in Washington, DC as &quot;Oswaldo Paya Way.&quot; 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-540
Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced: 2017-03-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Employment taxes
Intergovernmental relations
State and local taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: 

Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 201

7

 
This bill prohibits the wages or other remuneration earned by an employee who performs employment duties in more than one state from being subject to income tax in any state other than: (1) the state of the employee's residence, and (2) the state within which the employee is present and performing employment duties for more than 30 days during the calendar year. 
 
The bill exempts employers from state income tax withholding and information reporting requirements for employees not subject to income tax in the state under this bill. For the purposes of determining penalties related to an employer's state income tax withholding or reporting requirements, an employer may rely on an employee's annual determination of the time expected to be spent working in a state in the absence of fraud or collusion by such employee.
 
For the purposes of this bill, the term &quot;employee&quot; excludes: professional athletes; professional entertainers; production employees who perform services in connection with certain film, television, or other commercial video productions; and public figures who are persons of prominence who perform services for wages or other remuneration on a per-event basis. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-06-14
text: Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-101.
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Macadamia Tree Health Initiative Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-541
Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2017-03-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agricultural research
Animal and plant health
Forests, forestry, trees
Insects
Pest management
Research administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: 

Macadamia Tree Health Initiative Act 

of 2017

 
This bill amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to authorize the Department of Agriculture to provide competitive research and extension grants for a macadamia tree health initiative to: (1) develop and disseminate science-based tools and treatments to combat the insect known as the macadamia felted coccid (Eriococcus ironsidei); and (2) establish an area-wide integrated pest management program in areas affected, or at risk of being affected by, the insect. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Safety Over Arbitration Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-542
Sponsor: Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI]
Introduced: 2017-03-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration
Contracts and agency
Environmental health
Environmental regulatory procedures
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Health promotion and preventive care

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: 

Safety Over Arbitration Act of 2017

 
This bill prohibits the use of arbitration whenever a contract between an individual and another party requires arbitration to resolve a claim or controversy alleging facts relevant to a hazard to public health or safety unless all parties to the controversy consent in writing after the controversy arises.
 
If arbitration is elected with the consent of all parties, the arbitrator must provide the parties to such contract with a written explanation of the factual and legal basis for any award or other outcome, which shall not be made under seal by the arbitrator or a court.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Performance Accountability and Contractor Transparency Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-543
Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Introduced: 2017-03-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Department of Veterans Affairs
Government information and archives
Performance measurement
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: 

Performance Accountability and Contractor Transparency Act of 2017

 
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that each VA contract for services includes:
 
 
measurable metrics on the cost, schedule, and fulfillment of contract requirements;
 
a plan of action and milestones for the provision of the service, including a description of the resources the provider will assign to provide the service;
 
safeguards, including authority to levy financial penalties, to ensure that the service provided meets a minimum threshold of quality; and 
 
measurable metrics on the use of award or incentive fees. 
 
 
In each case of a contract that would result in the VA incurring an obligation exceeding $100 million, the VA must:
 
 
 ensure that the contract requires the service provider to document its work through VA information technology systems so that the VA can review and validate the quality of the service provided using the metrics set forth in the contract;
 
use the appropriate VA project management accountability system to ensure that the contract provides an adequate return on investment;
 
 report on any failure of the service provider to meet contractual obligations, the effect of such failure, and the actions taken by the VA and by the contractor to address it;
 
 report the details of any modifications made to the contract and a justification for such modifications; and 
 
 publish information about the contract and any modifications on its website.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-17
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-299.
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Introduced in Senate