hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Federal Jobs Act

Bill: 116-s-4374
Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Congressional agencies
Congressional oversight
Employee hiring
Employment and training programs
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Minority employment
Public contracts and procurement
Small business
Women's employment

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

Federal Jobs Act

 
This bill requires federal agencies to develop plans to increase diversity in the workforce. 
 
Specifically, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must develop a plan to increase diversity in executive agencies that includes specified information, including strategies for agencies to remove barriers to equal employment opportunities. Each executive agency must develop an agency-specific plan to increase diversity, pursuant to OPM guidance, and annually publish specified data. The legislative and judicial branches of government must also implement these requirements to the greatest extent possible.
 
Additionally, each executive agency, and each prime contractor that is under contract with an executive agency, must annually report information relating to economically and socially disadvantaged businesses. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Telehealth Modernization Act

Bill: 116-s-4375
Sponsor: Sen. Alexander, Lamar [R-TN]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Digestive and metabolic diseases
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Health care coverage and access
Health facilities and institutions
Health personnel
Health technology, devices, supplies
Home and outpatient care
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Medicare
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

Telehealth Modernization Act

 
This bill modifies requirements relating to coverage of telehealth services under Medicare. 
 
Specifically, the bill extends certain flexibilities that were initially authorized during the public health emergency relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). Among other things, the bill allows (1) rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers to serve as the distant site (i.e., the location of the health care practitioner); (2) the home of a beneficiary to serve as the originating site (i.e., the location of the beneficiary) for all services (rather than for only certain services); and (3) all types of practitioners to furnish telehealth services, as determined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S4635-4636)
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
CREATE JOBS Act

Bill: 116-s-4376
Sponsor: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Business expenses
Income tax deductions
Real estate business
Research and development

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

Cost Recovery and Expensing Acceleration to Transform the Economy and Jumpstart Opportunities for Businesses and Startups Act of 2020 or the CREATE JOBS Act

 
This bill allows permanent expensing of qualified property (i.e., property with a recovery period of 20 years or less and that is computer software, water utility property, or film, television, or live theatrical production property). It also modifies depreciation provisions for residential rental property and nonresidential real property. 
 
The bill repeals provisions for the amortization of research and experimental expenditures, thus providing for direct expensing of such expenditures.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Protect our Children from COVID–19 Act

Bill: 116-s-4377
Sponsor: Sen. Braun, Mike [R-IN]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Child health
Congressional oversight
Disability and paralysis
Educational facilities and institutions
Elementary and secondary education
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Food assistance and relief
Government information and archives
Health promotion and preventive care
Homelessness and emergency shelter
Immunology and vaccination
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Medical research
Minority health
Research administration and funding
School administration
School athletics
Teaching, teachers, curricula
Worker safety and health

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

Protect our Children from COVID-19 Act

 
This bill requires the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in coordination with relevant federal and nonfederal experts, to support research on the role of children in transmitting the virus that causes COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019).
 
This research must address, among other topics, the transmissibility of the virus among children and adults and the vulnerability of children to COVID-19 while travelling to and from school, playing sports, and engaging in other extramural activities. It may also address the vulnerability to COVID-19 of adults who live with children and the types of personal protective equipment appropriate for students, teachers, and other staff in school buildings. In undertaking this research, the NIH must ensure that it takes into consideration certain demographic and other characteristics, such as race or ethnicity and health or economic status.
 
The NIH must, within six months, report findings on this research and disseminate best practices for protecting those in educational settings. The NIH must update its findings and best practices quarterly through the end of the declared COVID-19 emergency. 
 



Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2020

Bill: 116-s-4378
Sponsor: Sen. Romney, Mitt [R-UT]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Appropriations
Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Computers and information technology
Department of Labor
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Employee hiring
Executive agency funding and structure
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Government trust funds
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Performance measurement
Self-employed
State and local finance
State and local government operations
Temporary and part-time employment
Trade adjustment assistance
Unemployment
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2020

 
 This bill modifies and extends certain pandemic unemployment programs and establishes requirements for state unemployment systems to process unemployment claims, transmit information, and address fraud.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to extend the period of the temporary authority to extend contracts and leases under the ARMS Initiative.

Bill: 116-s-4379
Sponsor: Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Manufacturing
Military facilities and property
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 
This bill extends to November 25, 2025, the period of temporary authority for the Department of Defense (DOD) to extend contracts and leases under the Armament Retooling and Manufacturing Support Program (i.e., the ARMS initiative).


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Air America Act of 2020

Bill: 116-s-4380
Sponsor: Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Aviation and airports
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Government corporations and government-sponsored enterprises
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information
Transportation employees

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

Air America Act of 2020

 
This bill establishes the service of Air America employees as qualifying service for purposes of the Civil Service Retirement System. (Air America was a government-owned airline that provided air transport for certain covert operations in Southeast Asia, including Laos and Vietnam, between 1950 and 1976.)
 
The bill applies to U.S. citizens who were employees of Air America or another affiliated company, as specified, between January 1, 1950 and December 31, 1976. Benefit applications must be filed within two years of the date of enactment of this bill.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Coronavirus Assistance for American Families Act

Bill: 116-s-4381
Sponsor: Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Economic performance and conditions
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Government information and archives
Income tax credits
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
Tax treatment of families

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

Coronavirus Assistance for American Families Act

 
This bill allows individual taxpayers an additional 2020 recovery rebate in the amount of $1,000 ($2,000 for joint returns), plus $1,000 for each dependent of the taxpayer. The amount of such rebate is phased out for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 ($150,000 for joint returns). A
 recovery rebate 
is a stimulus payment for taxpayers and their dependents who are adversely affected by COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019).


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to direct the Joint Committee on the Library to replace the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol with a bust of Thurgood Marshall to be obtained by the Joint Committee on the Library and to remove certain statues from areas of the Capitol which are accessible to the public, to remove all statues of individuals who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America from display in the Capitol, and for other purposes.

Bill: 116-s-4382
Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Congress
Subjects: Arkansas
Art, artists, authorship
Conflicts and wars
Judges
Kentucky
Members of Congress
Military history
Monuments and memorials
Museums, exhibitions, cultural centers
North Carolina
Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
Racial and ethnic relations
Senate
Smithsonian Institution
South Carolina
State and local government operations
Supreme Court
U.S. Capitol
U.S. history

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 
This bill provides for the removal of certain statues and busts from display in the Capitol.
 
The bill directs the Joint Committee on the Library to remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court chamber of the Capitol and replace it with a bust of Thurgood Marshall.
 
The committee must remove the statues of Charles Brantley Aycock, John Caldwell Calhoun, and James Paul Clarke and the bust of John Cabell Breckinridge from areas of the Capitol accessible to the public. The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) must store the statues and bust until it arranges their return to the states that provided them.
 
Additionally, the bill
 
 
 prohibits the display of statues in National Statuary Hall of persons who served as officers or voluntarily with the Confederate States of America or of the military forces or government of a state while it was in rebellion against the United States;
 
requires the AOC to identify such statues and arrange for their transfer and delivery from the Capitol to the Smithsonian Institution;
 
 requires the Smithsonian to follow its preexisting policies and procedures regarding the storage and display of such transferred statues;
 
 requires each statue to be returned to the providing state, including its ownership, if the state requests and agrees to pay any transportation-related costs; and
 
 permits a state that has a statue removed to replace the statue.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
ACCESS Act

Bill: 116-s-4383
Sponsor: Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Child care and development
Department of Commerce
Economic development
Employment and training programs
Government lending and loan guarantees

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

Affordable Child Care for Economic Strategies and Success Act or the
 
ACCESS Act

 
This bill authorizes the Department of Commerce to provide grants for public works and economic development projects that will directly or indirectly increase the accessibility of affordable, quality child care, including grants for planning, and training, research, and technical assistance related to such projects.
 
Commerce must issue regulations to establish criteria for whether a project directly or indirectly increases the accessibility of affordable, quality child care. Such criteria shall consider (1) the availability, validity, and accessibility of timely data, (2) the extent to which a project contributes to a family's financial security, and (3) the extent to which a project addresses child care needs in child care deserts or areas otherwise recognized as experiencing a shortage. A child care desert is an area in which the number of children who are under age five is more than three times the number of slots provided by child care providers who are licensed or registered by the state involved, or a community that the state or tribal entity involved determines has a low supply of quality, affordable child care.
 
Commerce must also issue guidance on how to include the accessibility of affordable, quality child care in a comprehensive economic development strategy.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
K2 Veterans Advocacy Act of 2020

Bill: 116-s-4384
Sponsor: Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Asia
Cancer
Congressional oversight
Environmental health
Fires
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Health information and medical records
Medical research
Military facilities and property
Military medicine
Military personnel and dependents
Solid waste and recycling
Uzbekistan
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

K2 Veterans Advocacy Act of 2020

 
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into an agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to complete a study to identify and assess any causation or correlation between exposure to toxicants at the Karshi-Khanabad (K2) Air Base in Uzbekistan between October 7, 2001, and November 21, 2005, and incidents of cancer or other diseases in members of the Armed Forces.
 
The bill also expands the definition of an open burn pit, for purposes of the VA's open burn pit registry, to include burn pits located on land in Uzbekistan. A burn pit is an area used for burning solid waste in open air without equipment.

action_date: 2020-09-15
text: 

K2 Veterans Advocacy Act of 2020

 
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into an agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to complete a study to identify and assess any causation or correlation between exposure to toxicants at the Karshi-Khanabad (K2) Air Base in Uzbekistan between October 7, 2001, and November 21, 2005, and incidents of cancer or other diseases in members of the Armed Forces.
 
The bill also expands the definition of an open burn pit, for purposes of the VA's open burn pit registry, to include burn pits located on land in Uzbekistan. A burn pit is an area used for burning solid waste in open air without equipment.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-09-15
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 546.
action_date: 2020-09-15
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Reported by Senator Moran without amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2020-09-15
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Reported by Senator Moran without amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2020-08-05
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Stopping COVID Scams Act of 2020

Bill: 116-s-4385
Sponsor: Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Civil actions and liability
Consumer affairs
Economic performance and conditions
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Health promotion and preventive care
Health technology, devices, supplies
Income tax credits
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Marketing and advertising
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
State and local government operations
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
Unemployment

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

Stopping COVID Scams Act of 2020

 
 This bill provides the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) authority to prohibit unfair or deceptive commercial practices associated with the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency. In prohibiting such practices, the FTC must consider whether the practice (1) involves goods or services explicitly advertised as related to the COVID-19 emergency, (2) involves goods or services for which consumer demand significantly increased shortly before or during the emergency, or (3) relates to the federal or state response to the emergency. 
 
 The bill further specifies procedures for the FTC and the states to enforce such prohibitions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Substance Regulation and Safety Act of 2020

Bill: 116-s-4386
Sponsor: Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Department of Agriculture
Department of Justice
Department of Transportation
Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Government information and archives
Health promotion and preventive care
Law enforcement administration and funding
Medical research
Racial and ethnic relations
Research administration and funding
Retail and wholesale trades
Roads and highways
Trade restrictions
Transportation programs funding
Transportation safety and security

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

Substance Regulation and Safety Act of 2020

 
This bill decriminalizes cannabis and contains other related provisions.
 
Specifically, the bill removes marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols, commonly known as THC, from the schedule of controlled substances and removes references to such substances from various criminal provisions. Such changes related to decriminalization shall be retroactive to apply to cases from before this bill's enactment.
 
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shall regulate cannabis products in the same manner as the FDA's regulation of tobacco, including prohibiting any retailer from selling cannabis products to an individual younger than 21 years of age. The bill also requires the Department of Agriculture to promulgate regulations relating to the production and quality control of cannabis, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to prescribe regulations relating to the import and export of cannabis. 
 
The bill also requires each national research institute and national center to (1) evaluate each application for medical research related to cannabis on the same basis as it would any other application for medical research, and (2) not deny an application for financial assistance solely due to the fact that the research relates to cannabis.
 
In addition, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a national strategy to prevent youth use and abuse of cannabis. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall research and publicly report on methods for detecting cannabis-impaired driving. Both the strategy and the research shall address whether any proposed strategies or methods would have racially disparate impacts.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate
REO Act of 2020

Bill: 116-s-4387
Sponsor: Sen. Peters, Gary C. [D-MI]
Introduced: 2020-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Adult education and literacy
Community life and organization
Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Elementary and secondary education
Employment and training programs
Juvenile crime and gang violence
Vocational and technical education
Youth employment and child labor

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: 

REO Act of 2020 

 
This bill establishes the Reentry Employment Opportunities Program to make grants for the purpose of providing job training opportunities to formerly incarcerated adults, youths, and young adults who have dropped out of school. Grants are awarded to entities such as nonprofit organizations, organizations serving women or a minority population, and state and local governments to carry out projects related to apprenticeship programs, occupational skills education, on-the-job training, work experience, job referrals, basic skills remediation, educational services, and work readiness activities for such individuals. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2020-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate