hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Essential National Security Authorities Act for Fiscal Year 2020

Bill: 116-s-2731
Sponsor: Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK]
Introduced: 2019-10-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Advanced technology and technological innovations
Afghanistan
Alliances
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Arms control and nonproliferation
Asia
Aviation and airports
Chemical and biological weapons
Collective security
Computer security and identity theft
Computers and information technology
Conflicts and wars
Congressional oversight
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
Defense spending
Department of Defense
Department of Energy
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Education programs funding
Electric power generation and transmission
Elementary and secondary education
Energy efficiency and conservation
Energy research
Europe
Executive agency funding and structure
Government buildings, facilities, and property
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Health facilities and institutions
Health personnel
Illinois
Iraq
Land transfers
Massachusetts
Middle East
Military command and structure
Military facilities and property
Military medicine
Military operations and strategy
Military personnel and dependents
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Military readiness
National Guard and reserves
New Mexico
New York State
Norway
Nuclear weapons
Pakistan
Public contracts and procurement
Research administration and funding
Special education
Syria
Texas
Transportation costs
Transportation safety and security
United Kingdom
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: 

Essential National Security Authorities Act for Fiscal Year 2020

 
This bill authorizes FY2020 appropriations and sets forth policies for Department of Defense programs and activities. The bill also authorizes appropriations and sets forth policies for Department of Energy national security programs. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-11-12
text: Indefinitely postponed by Senate by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2019-11-12
text: Introduced in the Senate and read twice and ordered held at desk by unanimous consent. (Actions considered to have occured on 10/29/19 pursuant to the order of 11/12/19).
action_date: 2019-11-12
text: Senate vitiated previous reporting by Unanimous Consent. (CR S6512)
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 279.
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: Committee on Armed Services. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Inhofe. Without written report. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S6246-6247)
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: Committee on Armed Services. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Inhofe. Without written report.(Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S6246-6247)
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: Introduced in Senate
ARPA–Terra Act of 2019

Bill: 116-s-2732
Sponsor: Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]
Introduced: 2019-10-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Advanced technology and technological innovations
Agricultural research
Agricultural trade
Atmospheric science and weather
Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
Congressional oversight
Department of Agriculture
Economic performance and conditions
Education programs funding
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal officials
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government trust funds
Higher education
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Intergovernmental relations
Public-private cooperation
Research administration and funding
Rural conditions and development
Technology transfer and commercialization

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: 

ARPA-Terra Act of 2019

 
This bill establishes within the Department of Agriculture the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Terra (ARPA-Terra) to (1) overcome the long-term and high-risk technological barriers in the development of agricultural technologies that enhance export competitiveness, environmental sustainability, and resilience to extreme weather and infectious disease; and (2) ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced agricultural technologies that increase economic opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.
 
 ARPA-Terra must award grants to institutions of higher education and other entities to achieve its goals, including to accelerate early-stage research on agricultural technologies. 
 
 ARPA-Terra must also implement agriculture technology projects that
 
 
 identify and promote revolutionary advances in fundamental sciences;
 
 translate scientific discoveries and cutting-edge inventions into technological innovations; and
 
 accelerate transformational technological advances in areas that, due to technical and financial uncertainty, industry is not likely to undertake without federal assistance.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: Introduced in Senate
TRUST Act

Bill: 116-s-2733
Sponsor: Sen. Romney, Mitt [R-UT]
Introduced: 2019-10-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Budget process
Congressional oversight
Government trust funds
Legislative rules and procedure

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: 

Time to Rescue United States Trusts Act or the TRUST Act 

 
This bill establishes congressional rescue committees to develop recommendations and legislation to improve critical social contract programs. 
 
A 
critical social contract program
 is a federal program 
 
 
 for which a federal trust fund is established (e.g., Social Security, Medicare, and federal highway programs), 
 
 with outlays of at least $20 billion during the year preceding the year in which this bill is enacted, and 
 
 for which the amount of dedicated federal funds and federal trust fund balances will be inadequate to meet the total amount of outlays of the program that would otherwise be made. 
 
 
Each rescue committee may develop recommendations and legislation to improve the program for which it was established, including by (1) increasing the duration of positive balances of the federal trust fund established for the program, and (2) providing for the solvency of the federal trust fund established for the program during a 75-year period. 
 
Congress must use specified expedited legislative procedures to consider legislation that is approved and submitted by the rescue committees. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-01-28
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Hearings held.
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Sandy Duplication of Benefits Fairness Act

Bill: 116-s-2734
Sponsor: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2019-10-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Emergency Management
Subjects: Disaster relief and insurance
Government lending and loan guarantees
Housing and community development funding
Housing finance and home ownership
Natural disasters
Residential rehabilitation and home repair
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: 

Sandy Duplication of Benefits Fairness Act

 
This bill expands the applicability of the waiver of the prohibition against duplication of benefits for disaster relief recipients following Superstorm Sandy. Under current law, the waiver period extends from January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2021. This bill begins that period on October 1, 2012, through December 31, 2021. This change would permit individuals who suffered losses resulting from Superstorm Sandy and who initially applied for and received federal benefits, including Small Business Administration disaster relief loans, to receive additional federal benefits, including funds under the Department of Housing and Urban Development Block Grant for Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR), without having to repay such additional benefits.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2019-10-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Advancing Youth Enrollment Act

Bill: 116-s-2735
Sponsor: Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Income tax credits
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 

Advancing Youth Enrollment Act

 
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the premium assistance tax credit for taxpayers with household members between the ages of 18-34. (The credit is available to eligible individuals and families to subsidize the purchase of health insurance on an exchange established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.) 
 
The bill allows an increased tax credit for the purchase of health insurance by reducing the maximum percentage of income that taxpayers under age 31 must pay for coverage by 2.5%, with reductions of .5% for each year for ages 31-34. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Fast Track To and Through College Act

Bill: 116-s-2736
Sponsor: Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Education programs funding
Educational guidance
Elementary and secondary education
Employee hiring
Employment and training programs
Higher education
Performance measurement
Public contracts and procurement
School administration
State and local finance
State and local government operations
Student aid and college costs
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 

Fast Track To and Through College Act

 
This bill provides grants for the establishment of fast track pathways that enable students to earn up to one year of college credits while still in high school.
 
Grant recipients (i.e., certain partnerships that include states' educational agencies) shall use awarded funds to support statewide implementation of early college fast track pathways and early high school graduation fast track pathways. Early college fast track pathways are programs of advanced coursework resulting in credit that (1) is equivalent to two semesters of full-time postsecondary enrollment, and (2) satisfies the requirements for a high school diploma. Early high school graduation fast track pathways are scholarships for students who graduate high school early, do not require remedial coursework in postsecondary education, and attend a public two- or four-year institution of higher education.
 
A grant recipient may also use grant funds to offer scholarships to students who graduate high school early, provide training or professional development for faculty who teach courses in an early college fast track pathway, or provide students with transportation to and from advanced courses in an early college fast track pathway.
 
The bill also makes certain high school students participating in an early college fast track pathway eligible to receive Pell Grants.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
SLAP Act

Bill: 116-s-2737
Sponsor: Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Bankruptcy
Corporate finance and management
Employee benefits and pensions
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 

Stop Looting American Pensions Act of 2019 or the SLAP Act 

 
This bill revises certain bankruptcy requirements, including by providing additional protections for employee pay and pensions in the event of a bankruptcy. 
 
Specifically, the bill 
 
 
revises the bankruptcy priority requirements of claims for wages and contributions to employee benefit plans, including by increasing the cap of these payments and by eliminating the time period limitation for which unpaid wages and contributions may be claimed;
 
 increases the bankruptcy priority of minimum funding contributions towards employee pension benefit plans and withdrawal liability and requires companies to continue making these payments during bankruptcy; 
 
expands restrictions on executive pay;
 
places restrictions on the sale of property in bankruptcy proceedings, including by requiring reasonable payment; and
 
extends look back periods regarding fraudulent transfers from two years to six years. 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Providing Real Opportunities for Growth to Rising Entrepreneurs for Sustained Success (PROGRESS) Act

Bill: 116-s-2738
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Business investment and capital
Business records
Department of the Treasury
Employment taxes
Financial services and investments
Income tax credits
Interest, dividends, interest rates
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 

Providing Real Opportunities for Growth to Rising Entrepreneurs for Sustained Success (PROGRESS) Act

 
This bill provides for a new angel investor tax credit to promote investment in start-up businesses and a first employee tax credit equal to 25% of employee wages, up to $10,000 in a taxable year. An employer may elect to apply the amount of the first employee tax credit to payroll tax liability. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Immigration Detainer Enforcement Act of 2019

Bill: 116-s-2739
Sponsor: Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Border security and unlawful immigration
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Criminal justice information and records
Department of Homeland Security
Detention of persons
Government information and archives
Immigration status and procedures
Intergovernmental relations
Law enforcement administration and funding
State and local finance
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 

Immigration Detainer Enforcement Act of 2019

 
This bill expands statutory provisions to authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to request a law enforcement agency to detain an individual who has been arrested for violating any law (if the individual is believed to be an unlawfully present alien), where current provisions only explicitly authorize detainer requests for individuals arrested for violating controlled substances laws. The bill also modifies other related provisions.
 
A law enforcement agency that has received a detainer request may hold the targeted individual for up to 48 hours. DHS may enter into agreements with law enforcement agencies to indemnify such agencies against claims for wrongful detention resulting from a detainer request. 
 
No provision of federal, state, or local law may restrict any government entity from (1) providing DHS with access to databases with information relating to issued detainers, or (2) holding an individual subject to a detainer. 
 
DHS shall periodically certify to Congress as to which state or local entities have not complied with a detainer request. Such entities shall be ineligible for compensation for costs related to honoring detainer requests.
 
State and local entities that comply with DHS detainer requests shall have prioritized access to (1) certain law enforcement-related grants, and (2) certain excess federal property.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
CONNECT for Health Act of 2019

Bill: 116-s-2741
Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Congressional oversight
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health care quality
Health facilities and institutions
Health personnel
Health programs administration and funding
Health technology, devices, supplies
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Medicare
Mental health
Minority health
Rural conditions and development
Telephone and wireless communication

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 

Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies for Health Act of 2019 or the CONNECT for Health Act of 2019

 
This bill expands coverage of telehealth services under Medicare. 
 
Among other things, the bill
 
 
allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to waive certain restrictions, such as geographic restrictions, for services provided in high-need health professional shortage areas;
 
excludes mental health and emergency medical services, as well as services provided at rural health clinics, federally qualified health centers, and Indian Health Service facilities, from such geographic restrictions; and
 
allows the CMS to generally waive coverage restrictions during national emergencies. 
 
 
Additionally, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission must report on information relating to the access of Medicare beneficiaries to telehealth services at home. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation may also test alternative payment models relating to expanded telehealth services. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Federal Prisons Accountability Act of 2019

Bill: 116-s-2742
Sponsor: Sen. McConnell, Mitch [R-KY]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Department of Justice
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal officials

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 
 

Federal Prisons Accountability Act of 2019
 
This bill modifies the appointment procedures and term of service for the Director of the Bureau of Prisons. 
Currently, the Director is appointed by the Attorney General. This bill requires the Director to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
 
The bill also limits the Director to a single term of 10 years. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S6303)
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to establish the China Censorship Monitor and Action Group, and for other purposes.

Bill: 116-s-2743
Sponsor: Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Asia
China
Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
Congressional oversight
Corporate finance and management
Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
Executive agency funding and structure
First Amendment rights
Government information and archives
Protest and dissent

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 
This bill establishes the interagency China Censorship Monitor and Action Group. The group shall compile and maintain a public database of instances of China's government punishing a U.S. company for the company's exercise of free speech. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
U.S. Beef Integrity Act

Bill: 116-s-2744
Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agricultural trade
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Livestock
Meat

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 

U.S. Beef Integrity Act

 
This bill modifies label requirements for meat food products of cattle.
 
Specifically, the bill prohibits the label of cattle meat or a meat food product of cattle from bearing the phrase 
Product of U.S.A.
 unless such meat or meat food product is exclusively derived from one or more cattle born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States.
 
The requirement does not apply to cattle meat or a meat food product of cattle that is intended and offered for export to a foreign country.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Down Syndrome Discrimination by Abortion Prohibition Act

Bill: 116-s-2745
Sponsor: Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Abortion
Birth defects
Civil actions and liability
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Disability and health-based discrimination
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Right of privacy

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 

Down Syndrome Discrimination by Abortion Prohibition Act

 
 This bill creates new federal crimes related to the performance of an abortion on an unborn child who has Down syndrome.
 
It subjects a violator to criminal penalties&#8212;a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both.
 
It also authorizes civil remedies, including damages and injunctive relief.
 
A woman who undergoes such an abortion may not be prosecuted or held civilly liable.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act of 2019

Bill: 116-s-2747
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Allied health services
Disability and paralysis
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Health personnel
Health programs administration and funding
Hearing, speech, and vision care
Higher education
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Medical education
Minority education
Minority employment
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 

Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act of 2019

This bill allows the Department of Health and Human Services to provide grants to accredited education programs to increase diversity in the physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, and speech-language pathology professions. Grants may be used to provide scholarships or to support recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented groups. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate
Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act of 2019

Bill: 116-s-2748
Sponsor: Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2019-10-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Emergency communications systems
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Licensing and registrations
Radio spectrum allocation
Telephone and wireless communication

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: 

Don't Break Up the T-Band Act of 2019

 
This bill repeals the requirement for the Federal Communications Commission to reallocate and auction the 470-512 MHz band (referred to as the "T-Band spectrum"). The T-Band spectrum is a frequency range currently utilized by public-safety entities in certain urban areas. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2019-10-30
text: Introduced in Senate