lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2013-06-19 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on February 10, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

 National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2014 - Amends the National Integrated Drought Information System Act of 2006 to specify that the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Program's purpose shall be to better inform and provide for more timely decisionmaking to reduce drought related impacts and costs.

Revises NIDIS functions to require the NIDIS, among other things, to: (1) provide an effective drought early warning system consisting of certain information, forecasts, and assessments on both national and regional levels; (2) build upon existing forecasting and assessment programs and partnerships through designation of one or more cooperative institutes to assist with NIDIS functions; and (3) continue ongoing research and monitoring activities related to drought and the role of extreme weather events and climate variability in drought.

Requires the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (who is also the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA]) to report to Congress on the NIDIS Program.

Reauthorizes NIDIS through FY2018.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-07-10 00:00:00

Emergency Information Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to include public broadcasting facilities within the definition of a "private nonprofit facility" that provides essential services of a governmental nature to the general public, and to include broadcast and telecommunications within the definition of "critical services" provided by such a facility, for purposes of eligibility for certain disaster assistance.

Makes this Act applicable to a major disaster declared by the President under such Act on or after October 28, 2012.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2013-07-22 00:00:00

Hurricane and Tornado Mitigation Investment Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual and business taxpayers a tax credit for 25% of their qualified hurricane and tornado mitigation property expenditures up to $5,000 for any taxable year. Defines such expenditures as expenditures in a dwelling unit to improve the strength of a roof deck attachment, create a secondary water barrier, improve the durability of a roof covering, brace gable-end walls, reinforce the connections between a roof and supporting wall, protect against windborne debris, or protect exterior doors and garages.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-07-31 00:00:00

Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to include a condominium or housing cooperative association as an "individual" or "household" for purposes of the provision of federal disaster assistance (thus authorizing assistance for condominiums and housing cooperatives damaged by a major disaster).

Requires the President to determine the maximum amount of assistance that any such association may receive under such Act for a single disaster.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2013-08-01 00:00:00

Tornado Family Safety Act of 2013 - Amends the Small Business Act to allow Small Business Administration (SBA) physical disaster loans to be used for the construction of safe rooms or similar storm shelters designed to protect property and occupants from tornadoes or other natural disasters.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2013-08-02 00:00:00

Irene and Lee Tax Relief Storm Recovery Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an increase in 2013, 2014, and 2015 of the amount of the low-income housing tax credit that may be allocated in states containing counties covered by the natural disaster declaration of the Secretary of Agriculture in 2011 due to damage from Hurricane Irene or Tropical Storm Lee.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2013-09-19 00:00:00

Responsible Implementation of Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2013 - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to limit the requirements for flood insurance premium rate adjustments to reflect the current risk of flood only to property located in an area participating in the national flood insurance program for which the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has published in the Federal Register projected base flood elevations and designations of areas having specified flood hazards on or after December 31, 2013.

Increases by 20% annually the flood insurance risk premium rates for certain properties sold on or after enactment of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (July 6, 2012), and which are not subject to a specified 25% per year phase-in, until the average risk premium rate for such properties is equal to the average of the risk premium rates for properties within a specified single risk classification.

Directs FEMA to establish a means by which a state or local government may submit to FEMA payments to fully cover the cost of any premium for property within its jurisdiction.

Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to direct FEMA, in providing hazard mitigation assistance in connection with flooding, to ensure that not less than 25% of the estimated aggregate amount of such assistance is used by a grant recipient to elevate, acquire, or relocate eligible properties within the recipient's jurisdiction.

Prohibits FEMA, in determining whether a community has made adequate progress on the construction, reconstruction, or improvement of a flood protection system, from considering the level of federal funding or participation in such efforts.

Revises requirements for the availability of flood insurance in a community which FEMA has determined to be in the process of restoring flood protection afforded by a system previously accredited on a Flood Insurance Rate Map as providing 100-year frequency flood protection but no longer does so. Declares that such requirements shall apply without regard to the level of federal funding of or participation in the construction, reconstruction, or improvement of the flood protection system.

Prohibits FEMA from issuing a flood insurance rate map, or an update to one, unless: (1) the map or update adequately reflects the protection provided by any levee system in the area against the base flood, regardless of the system's accreditation status; or (2) the community in which any levee system is located elects not to provide the data necessary for FEMA to issue either a map or an update that adequately reflects the protection the system provides against the base flood.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-09-25 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to obligate any funds made available to implement federal-aid highway emergency relief for projects arising from damage caused by severe weather events in 2013, without any limitation on obligations for such projects resulting from a single natural disaster or catastrophic failure in a state.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-09-28 00:00:00

Flood Insurance Fairness Act of 2013 - Prohibits the taking effect of specified flood insurance premium changes under the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 and the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (which prohibit the estimating of flood insurance premium rates for severe repetitive loss and other specified properties or extending premium subsidies to new or lapsed flood insurance policies, and which also require certain flood insurance risk premium rate adjustments) until 180 days after both chambers of Congress have completed consideration of a qualified joint resolution providing for legislative changes to ensure that risk premium rates for flood insurance coverage under the national flood insurance program are substantially affordable for all homeowners.

Directs the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to submit to Congress and make publicly available a determination of whether the risk premium rates for flood insurance coverage under the national flood insurance program resulting from such legislative changes are substantially affordable for all homeowners.

Sets forth procedures for expedited congressional consideration of the proposed joint resolution.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-10-10 00:00:00

Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize appropriations for the predisaster hazard mitigation program for FY2014-FY2018.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2013-10-16 00:00:00

Disaster Savings Accounts Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish tax-exempt disaster savings accounts to pay the expenses of homeowners for equipment and materials for mitigating the effects of a natural disaster, (2) allow a deduction from gross income (above-the-line deduction) up to $5,000 (adjusted annually for inflation) in a taxable year for cash contributions to such accounts, and (3) set forth tax rules for account distributions and failure to report on disaster savings accounts.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-10-23 00:00:00

Homeowners Flood Insurance Relief Act of 2013 - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide certain policy holders the option of paying their premiums monthly (or annually or in more frequent installments, as under current law).

Declares the maximum annual chargeable premium rate for a property to be the total appraised value of all structures located on it at the time of its purchase by the current owner of the property divided by 30.

Sets forth a ten-year phase-in period for risk premium rate increases resulting from enactment of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, at the rate of 10% for each year following the effective date of such Act.

Directs FEMA to refund or provide credit to insureds for any flood insurance premiums collected in excess of the mandatory phase-in of rates prescribed by this Act.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2013-10-23 00:00:00

Agricultural Structures Building Act of 2013 - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to allow local variances for certain agricultural structures (such as any agricultural product processing facility, agricultural product storage facility, shed, farmhouse, barn, or other structure which has as its primary purpose supporting the agricultural industry).

Prohibits certain land use and control measures from being deemed inadequate or inconsistent with land management criteria for participation in the flood insurance program because such measures authorize granting a variance for an agricultural structure located in an area having special flood hazards.

Prohibits the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from either suspending a community from participation in the national flood insurance program, or placing it on probation, because its land use and control measures provide for such a variance.

Defines such variance as one granted by an appropriate official of the community from compliance with such land use and control measures and permits repair and restoration of such structure to its pre-damaged condition without elevation of the structure.

Requires the official to have made specified determinations as a prerequisite to granting such a variance, including that: (1) in the case of new construction, the agricultural structure is subject to base flood elevations of at least three feet; and (2) in the case of existing structures, it is not practicable to elevate the repaired or expanded structure to the base flood elevation.

Requires the chargeable flood insurance premium rates for an agricultural structure granted such a variance to be the rates that otherwise would apply to such structure if it had been repaired, expanded, or constructed before the establishment of the special flood hazard area.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-10-23 00:00:00

Wildfire Prevention Act of 2013 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the President to provide: (1) hazard mitigation assistance in any area in which fire management assistance was provided, whether or not a major disaster had been declared; and (2) fire management assistance in any area in which hazard mitigation assistance was provided.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-10-28 00:00:00

Disaster Assistance Transparency and Accountability Act of 2013 or the DATA Act of 2013 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit to Congress a report that specifies: (1) the amount obligated by the federal government for disaster assistance, by each agency and program thereof, for each of the preceding 10 fiscal years; and (2) the amount projected to be obligated for disaster assistance by each agency and program for the fiscal year in which the report is submitted.

Requires the Director to submit to Congress, in conjunction with the President's annual budget submission, a report that specifies: (1) the amount projected to be obligated in the upcoming fiscal year for disaster assistance by each federal agency and program, (2) the amount obligated during the most-recently concluded fiscal year for disaster assistance by each federal agency and program, and (3) any corrections to previous reports.

Directs the Comptroller General to report to the House and Senate appropriations and budget committees every two years on: (1) an evaluation of federal disaster assistance spending, including the identification of areas of potential duplication, waste, fraud, or abuse; (2) recommendations on how federal agencies can improve transparency in, and better account for, disaster assistance spending to ensure that funds are spent in an effective and efficient manner; and (3) an evaluation of the effectiveness and equity of the current system of cost-sharing with respect to disaster assistance spending, including the system's effectiveness in reducing the federal cost of disaster assistance and promoting non-federal investment in disaster recovery, mitigation, and preparedness.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-10-30 00:00:00

Prohibits the risk premium rates for flood insurance coverage made available under the National Flood Insurance Program from being increased from such rates in effect as of September 30, 2013, until: (1) the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) completes a first comprehensive review and updating of all flood insurance rate maps for such Program pursuant to the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, and (2) the Chief of Engineers reviews and certifies that such updated rate maps accurately reflect all flood mitigation and flood control projects completed within the affected watershed by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Directs the Administrator to refund to insureds any premiums for flood insurance coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program collected in excess of the rates required under this Act.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-11-20 00:00:00

Emergency Response Improvement Act - Requires the chief executive officer of a state, to be eligible for assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act on or after October 1, 2014, to maintain a State Office of Emergency Management to coordinate the state response to, and to request federal assistance with respect to, an emergency.

Directs the President, if one or more federal agencies provides assistance to a state in response to an emergency, to designate an individual from one such agency to serve as the federal incident commander for that emergency. Requires such commander to meet with representatives of federal, state, and local entities involved in the response and assist such representatives in: (1) creating a response plan that specifies the responsibilities of each entity, (2) designating an individual to lead the response, and (3) drafting and executing a memorandum of understanding with respect to such plan.

Requires the federal incident commander, in the absence of such a memorandum of understanding, to report to the President and recommend if, and to what extent, the relevant federal agencies should be involved in the response.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-12-11 00:00:00

Flood Insurance Relief and Transparency Act of 2013 - Delays until March 1, 2015, the effective date of specified changes in risk premium rates for flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Directs the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to make publicly available all data affecting any changes in such risk premium rates.

Amends the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 to remove the $750,000 restriction from the maximum amount of funds available to FEMA for the study of participation in and affordability of NFIP for certain flood insurance policyholders.

Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to require FEMA to provide policyholders with the option of paying chargeable risk premiums for flood insurance coverage on an annual (as under current law) or a monthly basis. Sets forth criteria for policyholder eligibility to exercise the monthly option.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2014-01-09 00:00:00

Flood Safe Basements Act - Directs the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to rate a covered structure using the elevation difference between the floodproofed elevation and the adjusted base flood elevation of such structure.

Defines "covered structure" as a residential structure: (1) located in a community that has adopted flood plain management measures approved by FEMA and satisfying requirements for an exception for floodproofed residential basements, and (2) built in compliance with the applicable flood plain management measures.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2014-01-17 00:00:00

Helping Owners Mitigate Effectively Act of 2014 or the HOME Act of 2014 - Delays any change in risk premium rates for flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program resulting from amendments made by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (Biggert-Waters Act) until five years after the enactment date of such Act.

Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to provide that the maximum annual chargeable flood insurance premium rate for a property shall be the appraised value of the property when purchased by its current owner divided by 30.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit of up to $7,500 for flood mitigation expenses in a taxable year for policy holders of flood insurance coverage and small businesses. Terminates such credit after December 31, 2022

Amends the Biggert-Waters Act to authorize the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to use any other amounts available to the Administrator to carry out the the study of participation in the National Flood Insurance Program and of the affordability of risk-based premiums under such Program.

Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize increased appropriations for predisaster hazard mitigation for FY2014-FY2018.  Authorizes appropriations for flood risk mitigation assistance for FY2014-FY2018.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2014-01-21 00:00:00

Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act of 2014 - Requires the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to amend the rules concerning the factors FEMA considers when evaluating a governor's request for a major disaster declaration to provide that, with respect to the evaluation of the need for public assistance: (1) specific weighted valuations shall be assigned to the estimated cost of the assistance (10%), localized impacts (40%), insurance coverage in force (10%), hazard mitigation (10%), recent multiple disasters (10%), programs of other federal assistance (10%), and economic circumstances (10%); and (2) FEMA shall consider the economic circumstances of both the local economy of the affected area (including the local assessable tax base and local sales tax, median income, and poverty rate) and the state economy (including the unemployment rate).

Requires such rules to provide that, with respect to the evaluation of the severity, magnitude, and impact of the disaster and the evaluation of the need for assistance to individuals: (1) specific weighted valuations shall be assigned to concentration of damages (20%), trauma (20%), special populations (20%), voluntary agency assistance (10%), insurance (20%), average amount of individual assistance by state (5%), and economic considerations (5%); and (2) FEMA shall consider the economic circumstances of the affected area (including the local assessable tax base and local sales tax, median income, and poverty rate).

Makes such rules applicable to any major disaster declared on or after January 1, 2013.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2014-02-04 00:00:00

Disaster Savings Accounts Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish tax-exempt disaster savings accounts to pay the expenses of homeowners for disaster mitigation and recovery expenses, (2) allow a deduction from gross income (above-the-line deduction) up to $5,000 (adjusted annually for inflation) in a taxable year for cash contributions to such accounts, (3) exclude from gross income distributions from such accounts to pay disaster mitigation and recovery expenses; and (4) set forth tax rules and penalties for excess contributions to disaster savings accounts and for failure to file required reports on such accounts.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2014-02-21 00:00:00

Flood Insurance Flexibility Act of 2014 - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to make available, at the option of the insured, flood insurance coverage for properties with premiums and deductibles which have an annual loss-deductible for damage to the covered property of at least $10,000.

Authorizes FEMA to make coverage available with higher loss-deductible amounts that it considers feasible and appropriate.

Requires such flood insurance coverage to have a chargeable risk premium rate that, as determined by FEMA, accurately reflects both the current risk of flood to the property and the deductible.