TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you are given text for US Congressional and California state bills, your task is to generate a summary for this bill.
PROBLEM: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bus Utility and Safety in School 
Transportation Opportunity and Purchasing Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) school transportation issues remain a concern for 
        parents, local educational agencies, lawmakers, the National 
        Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National 
        Transportation Safety Board, and the Environmental Protection 
        Agency;
            (2) millions of children face potential future health 
        problems because of exposure to noxious fumes emitted from 
        older school buses;
            (3) many rural local educational agencies are operating 
        outdated, unsafe school buses that are failing inspection, 
        resulting in a depletion of the school bus fleets of the local 
        educational agencies; and
            (4) many rural local educational agencies are unable to 
        afford newer and safer buses.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish within the 
Department of Education a Federal cost-sharing program to assist rural 
local educational agencies with older, unsafe school bus fleets in 
purchasing newer, safer school buses.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Rural local educational agency.--The term ``rural local 
        educational agency'' means a local educational agency, as 
        defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), with respect to which--
                    (A) each county in which a school served by the 
                local educational agency is located has a total 
                population density of fewer than 10 persons per square 
                mile;
                    (B) all schools served by the local educational 
                agency are designated with a school locale code of 7 or 
                8, as determined by the Secretary of Education; or
                    (C) all schools served by the local educational 
                agency have been designated, by official action taken 
                by the legislature of the State in which the local 
                educational agency is located, as rural schools for 
                purposes relating to the provision of educational 
                services to students in the State.
            (2) School bus.--The term ``school bus'' means a vehicle 
        the primary purpose of which is to transport students to and 
        from school or school activities.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.

SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--From amounts made available under subsection (e) 
for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall provide grants, on a competitive 
basis, to rural local educational agencies to pay the Federal share of 
the cost of purchasing new school buses.
    (b) Application.--
            (1) In general.--Each rural local educational agency that 
        seeks to receive a grant under this Act shall submit to the 
        Secretary for approval an application at such time, in such 
        manner, and accompanied by such information (in addition to 
        information required under paragraph (2)) as the Secretary may 
        require.
            (2) Contents.--Each application submitted under paragraph 
        (1) shall include--
                    (A) documentation that, of the total number of 
                school buses operated by the rural local educational 
                agency, not less than 50 percent of the school buses 
                are in need of repair or replacement;
                    (B) documentation of the number of miles that each 
                school bus operated by the rural local educational 
                agency traveled in the most recent 9-month academic 
                year;
                    (C) documentation that the rural local educational 
                agency is operating with a reduced fleet of school 
                buses;
                    (D) a certification from the rural local 
                educational agency that--
                            (i) authorizes the application of the rural 
                        local educational agency for a grant under this 
                        Act; and
                            (ii) describes the dedication of the rural 
                        local educational agency to school bus 
                        replacement programs and school transportation 
                        needs (including the number of new school buses 
                        needed by the rural local educational agency); 
                        and
                    (E) an assurance that the rural local educational 
                agency will pay the non-Federal share of the cost of 
                the purchase of new school buses under this Act from 
                non-Federal sources.
    (c) Priority.--
            (1) In general.--In providing grants under this Act, the 
        Secretary shall give priority to rural local educational 
        agencies that, as determined by the Secretary--
                    (A) are transporting students in a bus manufactured 
                before 1977;
                    (B) have a grossly depleted fleet of school buses; 
                or
                    (C) serve a school that is required, under section 
                1116(b)(9) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
                Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)(9)), to provide 
                transportation to students to enable the students to 
                transfer to another public school served by the rural 
                local educational agency.
    (d) Payments; Federal Share.--
            (1) Payments.--The Secretary shall pay to each rural local 
        educational agency having an application approved under this 
        section the Federal share described in paragraph (2) of the 
        cost of purchasing such number of new school buses as is 
        specified in the approved application.
            (2) Federal share.--The Federal share of the cost of 
        purchasing a new school bus under this Act shall be 75 percent.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act--
            (1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and
            (2) such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal years 
        2007 through 2011.

SOLUTION: Bus Utility and Safety in School Transportation Opportunity and Purchasing Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Education to provide grants, on a competitive basis, to rural local educational agencies (LEAs) to pay the federal share (75%) of costs of purchasing new school buses. Requires the Secretary, in providing such grants, to give priority to rural LEAs that: (1) are transporting students in a bus manufactured before 1977; (2) have a grossly depleted fleet of school buses; or (3) serve a school required by law to provide transportation to students to enable them to transfer to another public school served by the rural LEA.

PROBLEM: SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) It is in the national interest that all citizens, 
        including active-duty service members, be allowed to vote in 
        Federal elections.
            (2) Since 1977, active-duty service members serving 
        overseas or on the United States mainland have been excluded 
        from fully participating and voting in both general and runoff 
        Federal elections in American Samoa due to several factors, 
        including local law that requires active duty military members 
        to register in person, limited air and mail service between the 
        U.S. mainland and American Samoa, and delays in the preparation 
        of new ballots in the case of runoff elections.
            (3) American Samoa law requiring uniformed service voters 
        to register to vote in person is contrary to the Uniformed and 
        Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff et 
        seq.).
            (4) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 
        has been in effect for over 15 years, and American Samoa has 
        not addressed this discrepancy between Federal and territorial 
        law, despite notice that the discrepancy exists.
            (5) It is necessary to take additional action to ensure 
        that the votes of uniformed voters are counted in Federal 
        elections conducted in American Samoa and that active duty 
        service members (including reservists called to active duty) do 
        not need to appear in person to register to vote.
            (6) It is necessary to state that the Uniformed and 
        Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act supersedes American Samoa 
        law and American Samoa must comply with this Federal law.
            (7) It is also in the national interest that, to the extent 
        possible, Members of the United States House of Representatives 
        and non-voting Delegates be elected in the first week of 
        November in even-numbered years.
            (8) Since 1980, when the first election for the 
        Congressional Delegate from American Samoa was held, there have 
        been several general elections at which there was no final 
        resolution of who was elected as the Delegate for the next 
        Congress, and run-off elections were required.
            (9) When the outcome of the Delegate election is not 
        resolved until a runoff election is held, a final determination 
        of who the Delegate will be is not made known until late 
        November.
            (10) A delayed outcome may place a newly elected Delegate 
        in a more junior position to other Members of Congress elected 
        on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November in an 
        election year.
            (11) When more than 2 candidates file to run for election 
        for the office of Delegate, holding a primary election to 
        reduce the number of candidates to 2 will greatly increase the 
        likelihood that the general election will produce a candidate 
        who receives a majority of the votes cast.

SEC. 2. PRIMARY ELECTION REQUIRED.

    Section 2(a) of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide that the 
Territory of American Samoa be represented by a nonvoting Delegate to 
the United States House of Representatives, and for other purposes'', 
approved October 31, 1978 (48 U.S.C. 1732(a)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(a)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
    ``(2) In any general election year when 3 or more eligible 
individuals file by the first Tuesday of July as candidates for the 
office of Delegate, a primary election shall be held on the first 
Tuesday of August of that general election year. If the primary 
election results in 1 candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the 
votes cast, then that candidate shall be the only candidate on the 
ballot for the general election for Delegate that year. If the primary 
election results in no candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the 
votes cast, then the 2 candidates receiving the most votes cast shall 
be on the ballot for the general election year. If there is a tie for 
the 2 candidates receiving the most votes, the names of the 2 
candidates shall be listed on the ballot for that general election 
year.
    ``(3) Candidates for the office of Delegate to the United States 
House of Representatives must file their candidacy not later than the 
first Tuesday of July each year that a general election referred to in 
paragraph (1) is scheduled to be held.''.

SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    Section 4 of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide that the 
Territory of American Samoa be represented by a nonvoting Delegate to 
the United States House of Representatives, and for other purposes'', 
approved October 31, 1978 (48 U.S.C. 1734), is amended by inserting 
``in a general Federal election'' after ``ties between candidates''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on January 1, 
2003.

SOLUTION: Declares that it is necessary to state that the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act supersedes American Samoa law and American Samoa must comply with it.Requires a primary election to be held in American Samoa on the first Tuesday of August of any general election year when three or more eligible individuals have filed by the first Tuesday of July as candidates for the office of Delegate representing American Samoa in the U.S. House of Representatives.

PROBLEM: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Liability Reform Act 
of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the defects in the United States civil justice system 
        have a direct and undesirable effect on interstate commerce by 
        decreasing the availability of goods and services in commerce;
            (2) the spiraling costs of litigation and the magnitude and 
        unpredictability of punitive damage awards and noneconomic 
        damage awards have continued unabated for at least the past 30 
        years;
            (3) the Supreme Court of the United States has recognized 
        that a punitive damage award can be unconstitutional if the 
        award is grossly excessive in relation to the legitimate 
        interest of the government in the punishment and deterrence of 
        unlawful conduct;
            (4) just as punitive damage awards can be grossly 
        excessive, so can it be grossly excessive in some circumstances 
        for a party to be held responsible under the doctrine of joint 
        and several liability for damages that party did not cause;
            (5) as a result of joint and several liability, entities 
        including small businesses are often brought into litigation 
        despite the fact that their conduct may have little or nothing 
        to do with the accident or transaction giving rise to the 
        lawsuit, and may therefore face increased and unjust costs due 
        to the possibility or result of unfair and disproportionate 
        damage awards;
            (6) due to high liability costs and unwarranted litigation 
        costs, small businesses face higher costs in purchasing 
        insurance through interstate insurance markets to cover their 
        activities; and
            (7) legislation to address these concerns is an appropriate 
        exercise of the powers of Congress under clauses 3, 9, and 18 
        of section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the United 
        States, and the 14th amendment to the Constitution of the 
        United States.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Crime of violence.--The term ``crime of violence'' has 
        the same meaning as in section 16 of title 18, United States 
        Code.
            (2) Drug.--The term ``drug'' means any controlled substance 
        (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 
        U.S.C. 802)) that was not legally prescribed for use by the 
        defendant or that was taken by the defendant other than in 
        accordance with the terms of a lawfully issued prescription.
            (3) Economic loss.--The term ``economic loss'' means any 
        pecuniary loss resulting from harm (including the loss of 
        earnings or other benefits related to employment, medical 
        expense loss, replacement services loss, loss due to death, 
        burial costs, and loss of business or employment opportunities) 
        to the extent recovery for such loss is allowed under 
        applicable State law.
            (4) Harm.--The term ``harm'' means any physical injury, 
        illness, disease, or death or damage to property.
            (5) International terrorism.--The term ``international 
        terrorism'' has the same meaning as in section 2331 of title 
        18, United States Code.
            (6) Noneconomic loss.--The term ``noneconomic loss'' means 
        loss for physical or emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, 
        physical impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of 
        enjoyment of life, loss of society and companionship, loss of 
        consortium (other than loss of domestic service), injury to 
        reputation, or any other nonpecuniary loss of any kind or 
        nature.
            (7) Person.--The term ``person'' means any individual, 
        corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, 
        joint stock company, or any other entity (including any 
        governmental entity).
            (8) Punitive damages.--The term ``punitive damages'' means 
        damages awarded against any person or entity to punish or deter 
        such person, entity, or others from engaging in similar 
        behavior in the future. Such term does not include any civil 
        penalties, fines, or treble damages that are assessed or 
        enforced by an agency of State or Federal government pursuant 
        to a State or Federal statute.
            (9) Small business.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``small business'' means 
                any unincorporated business, or any partnership, 
                corporation, association, unit of local government, or 
                organization that has fewer than 50 full-time employees 
                as determined on the date the civil action involving 
                the small business is filed.
                    (B) Calculation of number of employees.--For 
                purposes of subparagraph (A), the number of employees 
                of a subsidiary of a wholly owned corporation includes 
                the employees of--
                            (i) a parent corporation; and
                            (ii) any other subsidiary corporation of 
                        that parent corporation.
            (10) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern 
        Mariana Islands, any other territory or possession of the 
        United States, or any political subdivision of any such State, 
        commonwealth, territory, or possession.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON PUNITIVE DAMAGES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.

    Except as provided in section 6, in any civil action against a 
small business, punitive damages may, to the extent permitted by 
applicable Federal or State law, be awarded against the small business 
only if the claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that 
conduct carried out by that defendant with a conscious, flagrant 
indifference to the rights or safety of others was the proximate cause 
of the harm that is the subject of the action.

SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY FOR NONECONOMIC LOSS 
              FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.

    (a) General Rule.--Except as provided in section 6, in any civil 
action against a small business, the liability of each defendant that 
is a small business, or the agent of a small business, for noneconomic 
loss shall be determined in accordance with subsection (b).
    (b) Amount of Liability.--
            (1) In general.--In any civil action described in 
        subsection (a)--
                    (A) each defendant described in that subsection 
                shall be liable only for the amount of noneconomic loss 
                allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to the 
                percentage of responsibility of that defendant 
                (determined in accordance with paragraph (2)) for the 
                harm to the claimant with respect to which that 
                defendant is liable; and
                    (B) the court shall render a separate judgment 
                against each defendant described in that subsection in 
                an amount determined under subparagraph (A).
            (2) Percentage of responsibility.--For purposes of 
        determining the amount of noneconomic loss allocated to a 
        defendant under this section, the trier of fact shall determine 
        the percentage of responsibility of each person responsible for 
        the harm to the claimant, regardless of whether or not the 
        person is a party to the action.

SEC. 6. EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY.

    The limitations on liability under sections 4 and 5 do not apply--
            (1) to any defendant whose misconduct--
                    (A) constitutes--
                            (i) a crime of violence; or
                            (ii) an act of international terrorism;
                    (B) results in liability for damages relating to 
                the injury to, destruction of, loss of, or loss of use 
                of, natural resources described in--
                            (i) section 1002(b)(2)(A) of the Oil 
                        Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 
                        2702(b)(2)(A)); or
                            (ii) section 107(a)(4)(C) of the 
                        Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
                        Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 
                        U.S.C. 9607(a)(4)(C));
                    (C) involves--
                            (i) a sexual offense, as defined by 
                        applicable State law; or
                            (ii) a violation of a Federal or State 
                        civil rights law;
                    (D) occurred at the time the defendant was under 
                the influence (as determined under applicable State 
                law) of intoxicating alcohol or a drug, and the fact 
                that the defendant was under the influence was the 
                cause of any harm alleged by the plaintiff in the 
                subject action; or
            (2) to any cause of action which is brought under the 
        provisions of title 31, United States Code, relating to false 
        claims (31 U.S.C. 3729-3733) or to any other cause of action 
        brought by the United States relating to fraud or false 
        statements.

SEC. 7. PREEMPTION AND ELECTION OF STATE NONAPPLICABILITY.

    (a) Preemption.--Subject to subsection (b), this title preempts the 
laws of any State to the extent that State laws are inconsistent with 
this title.
    (b) Election of State Regarding Nonapplicability.--This title does 
not apply to any action in a State court against a small business in 
which all parties are citizens of the State, if the State enacts a 
statute--
            (1) citing the authority of this subsection;
            (2) declaring the election of such State that this title 
        does not apply as of a date certain to such actions in the 
        State; and
            (3) containing no other provision.

SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect with respect to any civil action 
commenced after the date of the enactment of this Act without regard to 
whether the harm that is the subject of the action occurred before such 
date.

SOLUTION:
Small Business Liability Reform Act of 2007 - Allows punitive damages against a small business only if the claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that conduct carried out by the defendant with a conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of others was the proximate cause of the harm that is the subject of the action.

States that in any civil action against a small business: (1) each defendant shall be liable only for the amount of noneconomic loss allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to the percentage of responsibility of that defendant for the harm caused to the plaintiff; and (2) the court shall render a separate judgment against each defendant describing such percentage of responsibility.

Excepts from such liability limitations specified misconduct of a defendant.