hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-243
Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced: 2017-01-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Congressional oversight
Department of Health and Human Services
Health care coverage and access
Health care quality
Health personnel
Home and outpatient care
Hospital care
Medicare
Rural conditions and development

Summary:
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: 

Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act of 2017

 
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to permanently extend the application by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of an instruction against the enforcement of certain physician supervision requirements with respect to outpatient therapeutic services in critical access hospitals and small rural hospitals.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Davis-Bacon Repeal Act

Bill: 115-s-244
Sponsor: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
Introduced: 2017-01-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Building construction
Government buildings, facilities, and property
Labor standards
Public contracts and procurement
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: 

Davis-Bacon Repeal Act

 
 This bill repeals the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works).
 
References in any law to a requirement under the Davis-Bacon Act shall be null and void. 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Campus Fire Safety Education Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-246
Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2017-01-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Disability and paralysis
Education programs funding
Educational facilities and institutions
Emergency Management
Emergency planning and evacuation
Fires
Higher education

Summary:
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: 

Campus Fire Safety Education Act of 2017

 
 This bill directs the Department of Education (ED) to establish a program to award grants, on a competitive basis, to institutions of higher education or consortiums of such institutions, in a collaborative partnership with a nonprofit organization or a public safety department (eligible entity), for: (1) initiating, expanding, or improving fire safety education programs; and (2) increasing fire safety awareness among enrolled students. 
 
ED shall give priority to institutions that plan to use funds to initiate, expand, or improve fire safety education programs that include educational material specifically prepared for students with physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities. The bill sets forth provisions regarding grant periods and matching and other requirements. An eligible entity may not be awarded more than $250,000 per fiscal year under this bill.
 
An eligible entity shall use grant funds to initiate, expand, or improve a fire safety education program that: 
 
 
reaches all enrolled students (for an institution of higher education); 
 
ensures maximum exposure to, increases awareness of, and effectuates change in behavior regarding, fire safety by students through conducting outreach to students a minimum of twice per academic year and through measures that provide fire safety information to any student upon request; 
 
includes minimum instruction regarding fire behavior, fire injury and death, ignition scenarios, fire safety systems and equipment, the importance of means of egress, fire prevention techniques, and actions to be taken if a fire occurs to minimize the potential for death, injury, and property damage; and 
 
includes a mechanism for carrying out evaluations of program effectiveness. 
 
 
ED shall publish a report of best practices for initiating, expanding, or improving fire safety education programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Bring Jobs Home Act

Bill: 115-s-247
Sponsor: Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI]
Introduced: 2017-01-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Business investment and capital
Employee hiring
Foreign and international corporations
Income tax credits
Income tax deductions
Taxation of foreign income
U.S. territories and protectorates

Summary:
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: 

Bring Jobs Home Act 

 
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) grant business taxpayers a tax credit for up to 20% of insourcing expenses incurred for eliminating a business located outside the United States and relocating it within the United States, and (2) deny a tax deduction for outsourcing expenses incurred in relocating a U.S. business outside the United States. The bill requires an increase in the taxpayer's employment of full-time employees in the United States in order to claim the tax credit for insourcing expenses.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to block implementation of the Executive order that restricts individuals from certain countries from entering the United States.

Bill: 115-s-248
Sponsor: Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT]
Introduced: 2017-01-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Africa
Border security and unlawful immigration
Department of Homeland Security
Executive agency funding and structure
Immigration status and procedures
Iran
Iraq
Libya
Middle East
Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
Refugees, asylum, displaced persons
Religion
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Travel and tourism
Visas and passports
Yemen

Summary:
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: 
This bill prohibits any federal agency funds, resources, or fees from being used to implement or enforce Executive Order 13769, entitled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States." Among the order's major provisions are restrictions on the entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants from seven countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen) and additional limitations on refugee admissions to the United States.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-01-30
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to prohibit any hiring freeze from affecting any Department of Defense position at, or in support of, a public shipyard.

Bill: 115-s-250
Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI]
Introduced: 2017-02-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Defense spending
Department of Defense
Employee hiring
Executive agency funding and structure
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Military facilities and property
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents

Summary:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: 
This bill declares that the memorandum titled &quot;Presidential Memorandum Regarding the Hiring Freeze&quot; published on January 23, 2017, or any other action by the President to prevent a department or agency from filling vacant civilian employee positions or creating new such positions, shall have no force or effect with respect to any Department of Defense (DOD) civilian position under which an employee performs a DOD function at a public shipyard or a DOD function that directly supports a public shipyard.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Introduced in Senate
Protecting Medicare from Executive Action Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-251
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2017-02-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Executive agency funding and structure
Health programs administration and funding
Medicare

Summary:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: 

Protecting Medicare from Executive Action Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to terminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Under PPACA, the IPAB is tasked with developing proposals to reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Introduced in Senate
Medicare Drug Savings Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-252
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2017-02-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Government information and archives
Health care costs and insurance
Inflation and prices
Medicaid
Medicare
Prescription drugs
Public contracts and procurement
Retail and wholesale trades

Summary:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: 

Medicare Drug Savings Act of 2017

 
This bill requires drug manufacturers to issue rebates to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for prescription drugs dispensed to eligible low-income individuals under the Medicare prescription drug benefit or a Medicare Advantage (MA) prescription drug plan (PDP).
 
Subject to civil monetary penalties, a Medicare or MA PDP sponsor must report, both to drug manufacturers and to the CMS, specified information related to the determination and payment of such rebates.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Introduced in Senate
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-253
Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2017-02-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Home and outpatient care
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Medicare

Summary:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: 

Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2017

 
This bill repeals existing caps on Medicare payment for certain outpatient physical-therapy services and speech-language pathology services. Under current law, annual payment for such services is capped at $1,980 in 2017, with specified percentage increases to that limit in subsequent years.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S596-597; text of measure as introduced: CR S597)
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Introduced in Senate
FAIR Act

Bill: 115-s-255
Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI]
Introduced: 2017-02-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Inflation and prices

Summary:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: 

Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act of 2017 or the FAIR Act

 
This bill increases by 3.2% in FY2018 the rate of basic pay for federal employees under the statutory pay systems (relating to the General Schedule, the U.S. Foreign Service, and the Veterans Health Administration) and for prevailing rate employees. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Introduced in Senate
SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-256
Sponsor: Sen. Heitkamp, Heidi [D-ND]
Introduced: 2017-02-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Crime victims
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Criminal justice information and records
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Health facilities and institutions
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Human trafficking
Medical education

Summary:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: 

SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2017

 
This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to replace the existing Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training (or SOAR to Health and Wellness Training) program with a pilot program that includes the same functions and additional initiatives. The pilot program must train health care providers and other related providers to: (1) identify potential human trafficking victims, (2) work with law enforcement to report and facilitate communication with such victims, (3) refer victims to social or victims service agencies or organizations, and (4) provide such victims with coordinated care tailored to their circumstances.
 
HHS must report on the number of facilities operating under the pilot program, the number of providers trained through the pilot program, and these numbers for the program operating before the pilot program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Introduced in Senate
Acadia National Park Boundary Clarification Act

Bill: 115-s-257
Sponsor: Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]
Introduced: 2017-02-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Maine
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Parks, recreation areas, trails
Solid waste and recycling

Summary:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: 

Acadia National Park Boundary Clarification Act

 
This bill confirms that the boundary of Acadia National Park in Maine includes approximately 1,441 acres of land and interests in the Schoodic Peninsula. 
 
The bill ratifies and approves:
 
 
 the acquisition by the United States of such land and interests, effective as of September 26, 2013, and
 
any alteration of such land or interests held or claimed by the United States that occurred after such date.
 
 
 The Department of the Interior may only acquire land or interests in land within or outside of the boundaries of the park in Hancock or Knox Counties, Maine, in accordance with the statute that established the park's boundaries, except that Interior may conduct exchanges for lands and interests in accordance with the provisions relating to conveyances of certain property and interests in property acquired by Interior that are within units of the National Park System or related areas. 
 
Interior shall contribute a specified amount to a regional consortium composed of units of local government on or in the vicinity of Mount Desert Island that was established to improve the management of the disposal and recycling of solid waste. 
 
 Interior shall reestablish and appoint members to the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission. 
 
 Certain land in the park that was conveyed by Interior to the town of Tremont, Maine, shall no longer be used exclusively for school purposes, but for public purposes, subject to the conditions that: (1) use of such land shall not degrade or adversely impact the park's resources or values; and (2) such land shall remain in public ownership for recreational, educational, or similar public purposes. 
 
 Interior shall permit the harvesting of the marine organisms within the park according to the laws of the state of Maine and its local governments in order to allow for the continuation of traditional harvesting and aquaculture of clams, worms, mussels, periwinkles, and other marine organisms within intertidal areas in the park. 
 
Interior shall convey to the town of Bar Harbor a specified .29-acre parcel of land within the park to be used for a solid waste transfer facility. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-07-19
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Senate Subcommittee on National Parks. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 115-417.
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Introduced in Senate
Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-258
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2017-02-01 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Employee benefits and pensions
Europe
Germany
Insurance industry and regulation
Interest, dividends, interest rates
Life, casualty, property insurance
Switzerland
War crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity

Summary:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: 

Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2017

 
This bill allows a beneficiary of a Holocaust-era life, dowry, education, annuity, property, or other insurance policy to bring a civil action in a U.S. district court against the insurer for the covered policy to recover proceeds due or, otherwise, to enforce any rights under the policy. 
 
 The bill covers any policy that was: (1) in effect at any time from January 31, 1933, to December 31, 1945; and (2) issued to a policy holder domiciled in any area that was occupied or controlled by Nazi Germany, an ally or friendly government, or the territorial jurisdiction of Switzerland.
 
 The bill requires the award: (1) to a prevailing beneficiary of the amount of the proceeds due under the policy, plus prejudgment interest at 6% per year, compounded annually, calculated from the date the amount was originally due; and (2) of treble damages against any insurer that acted in bad faith. 
 
 A civil action under this bill must be filed within 10 years after enactment of this bill.
 
 A prior judgment or release entered for any claim arising under a covered policy in any civil action in a federal or state court shall not impair a claim brought under this bill.
 
Any executive agreement between the United States and a foreign government or any executive foreign policy of the U.S. government shall not supercede or preempt any state law or compromise, settle, extinguish, waive, preclude, bar, or foreclose any claim brought under this bill.
 
 A claim brought under state law within 10 years after enactment of this billshall not be deemed untimely on the basis of any state or federal statute of limitations or on the basis of any other legal or equitable rule or doctrine governing timeliness. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Introduced in Senate
No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act

Bill: 115-s-259
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2017-02-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Caribbean area
Civil actions and liability
Cuba
Evidence and witnesses
Intellectual property
Jurisdiction and venue
Latin America
Property rights

Summary:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: 

No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act

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


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Introduced in Senate
Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-260
Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Introduced: 2017-02-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Health care costs and insurance
Medicare

Summary:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: 

Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to terminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Under PPACA, the IPAB is tasked with developing proposals to reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (Text of measure as introduced: CR S597)
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Introduced in Senate
Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-261
Sponsor: Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO]
Introduced: 2017-02-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Consumer affairs
Department of Health and Human Services
Food industry and services
Nutrition and diet
Retail and wholesale trades

Summary:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: 

Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise the nutritional information that restaurants and retail food establishments must disclose. The nutrient content disclosure statement on the menu or menu board must include: (1) the number of calories contained in the whole menu item; (2) the number of servings and number of calories per serving; or (3) the number of calories per common unit of the item, such as for a multi-serving item that is typically divided before presentation to the consumer. Nutritional information may be provided solely by a remote-access menu (e.g., an Internet menu) for food establishments where the majority of orders are placed by customers who are off-premises.
 
Establishments with self-serve food may comply with the requirements for restaurants or place signs with nutritional information adjacent to each food item.
 
An establishment's nutrient content disclosures may vary from actual nutrient content if the disclosures comply with current standards for reasonable basis.
 
Establishments with standard menu items that come in different flavors, varieties, or combinations, that are listed as a single menu item can determine and disclose nutritional information using specified methods or methods allowed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
 
Regulations pursuant to this bill or the clause amended by this bill cannot take effect earlier than two years after final regulations are promulgated.
 
The FDA may not exempt states from nutrition labeling requirements.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-02-01
text: Introduced in Senate