lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2008-07-30 00:00:00

Disaster Response, Recovery and Mitigation Enhancement Act of 2008 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to: (1) require the President to award financial assistance under the pre-disaster hazard mitigation program on a competitive basis; and (2) authorize continuing appropriations for such program through FY2011.Requires: (1) the President, acting through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to modernize and implement the integrated U.S. public alert and warning system; and (2) the Administrator to establish an Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Advisory Committee.Makes temporary FEMA employees hired in the aftermath of a disaster eligible to enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan.Authorizes the President to transfer excess materials, supplies, or equipment acquired for response or recovery efforts in connection with a major disaster or emergency to a state, local government, or relief organization to assist victims of other major disasters, emergencies, or incidents. Directs the Administrator to: (1) continue to administer the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System; (2) provide for a national network of standardized search and rescue resources; (3) designate task forces to participate in the System and determine participation criteria; and (4) enter into annual preparedness cooperative agreements with sponsoring agencies.Provides for the establishment of a Disaster Relief Fund.Authorizes the President to: (1) increase disaster mitigation assistance to states that are actively enforcing approved building codes; and (2) provide temporary assistance in the form of mortgage or rental payments for individuals and families who, because of financial hardship caused by a major disaster, are at imminent risk of dispossession or eviction from a residence.Authorizes FEMA to rescue and shelter animals during disasters and emergencies.Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) continue to administer the Citizen Corps and the Community Emergency Response Team Program; and (2) make grants for implementation of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2008-07-30 00:00:00

Duncan Plaza Homeless Disaster Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an enhanced low-income housing tax credit for low-income housing projects providing temporary living accommodations for homeless individuals located in areas determined by the President to warrant public assistance due to an incident of national significance.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Education
Date: 2008-07-31 00:00:00

Midwest Schools Disaster Recovery Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make payments to Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin to enable such states to assist their local educational agencies (LEAs) in recovering from the severe storms and flooding that hit the Midwest during the months of May and June, 2008. Protects such LEAs, that serve major disaster areas due to those storms and floods, from experiencing a FY2009 reduction of school improvement funds under part A of title I (Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Authorizes the Secretary to waive or modify the application of maintenance of effort and cost-sharing conditions on the receipt of educational funding by entities in states affected by such disaster. Directs the Secretary to provide: (1) temporary emergency Impact Aid to states and, through them, to LEAs and Indian schools to enable such LEAs and schools to instruct students displaced by such disaster; and (2) assistance, consistent with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, to LEAs serving students rendered homeless by such disaster. Terminates this Act's programs on August 1, 2009.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2008-07-31 00:00:00

Whatever It Takes to Rebuild Act - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to: (1) authorize the President to make disaster loans to any state government that suffers a substantial loss of tax and other revenue as a result of a major disaster and demonstrates a need for financial assistance in order to perform its governmental functions; (2) repeal the $5 million cap for disaster loans; and (3) exempt a disaster loan made to a state or local government that suffers a substantial loss of revenues as a result of a major disaster the President determines to be a catastrophic event from the percentage of the annual state or local government operating budget limitations and from the payment of any interest or principal.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Housing and community development
Date: 2008-07-31 00:00:00

Gulf Coast Multifamily and Assisted Housing Recovery Act - Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to authorize additional appropriations to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide assistance to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives to expand the supply of supportive housing for low-income elderly persons meeting certain criteria relating to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to authorize additional appropriations to the Secretary to provide the same kind of assistance for low-income persons with disabilities. Authorizes appropriations for the redevelopment (rebuilding or replacement) of housing authorized under the Housing Act of 1959 which was damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and in the Parish of St. Bernard. Requires the Secretary to adjust the rent levels annually on a budget-based basis for eligible projects in a designated disaster area receiving rental assistance under the Housing Act of 1959 and the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act. Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the number of project-based assistance contracts and units which were terminated in the designated disaster area after September 30, 2005; and (2) the specific developer, project name, location, number of units, and project description for each such project-based assistance contract. Prohibits a project-based assistance payments contract for a covered assisted multifamily housing project from expiring or being terminated because of the damage or destruction of dwelling units in the project by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita. Deems the expiration date of such a contract to be the later of the date: (1) specified in the contract; or (2) that is not less than three months after the dwelling units in such project, or in a replacement project, are first made habitable. Requires the Secretary to develop and report to specified congressional committees on a written disaster response plan for federally assisted properties that receive assistance pursuant to such Acts.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2008-07-31 00:00:00

Homeowners Insurance and Mitigation Assistance Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax credits for: (1) 50% of the increases in homeowners insurance premiums for taxpayers whose principal residences are located in certain federally declared hurricane disaster areas or in states which border the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico, up to $500 annually; and (2) 25% of the qualified hurricane, earthquake, and tornado mitigation property expenditures of homeowners and businesses, up to $5,000 annually. Includes within the definition of "qualified hurricane, earthquake, and tornado mitigation expenditures" expenditures for property to improve the strength of a roof deck attachment, create a secondary water barrier, improve the durability of a roof covering, reinforce the connection between a roof and a supporting wall, and protect exterior doors and garages.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2008-08-01 00:00:00

Duncan Plaza Homeless Disaster Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an enhanced low-income housing tax credit for low-income housing projects providing temporary living accommodations for homeless individuals located in areas determined by the President to warrant individual or individual and public assistance due to a disaster declaration.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2008-09-09 00:00:00

Community Protection and Response Act of 2008 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to include a terrorist attack, dispersion of radioactive or other contaminants, dispersion of hazardous substances, or other catastrophic event as a "major disaster" eligible for relief under the Act. Includes as a "public facility" for purposes of damages coverage in a major disaster private for-profit telecommunications, phone services, and utilities when losses occur during a homeland security event and are not covered by insurance. Authorizes the President, at the request of a state governor, to declare that a major disaster constitutes a homeland security event and is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capacity of the affected state and local government. Provides specified federal assistance under the Act upon such a declaration, including reimbursement and grant assistance for lost compensation, sustained losses, and required repairs. Includes as critical services under the Act education systems, providers of counseling, and providers of assistance to the homeless.Removes the $5 million limit on community disaster loans provided under the Act. Requires or provides for: (1) standards for reporting information concerning disasters involving homeland security events; (2) a special commission to review air quality following a homeland security event; (3) guidelines concerning health risks associated with the release of materials following a homeland security event and associated monitoring and analysis; and (4) grants for data collection during public health emergencies, research on assisting victims, advance preparation for public health emergencies, and disaster relief for local educational agencies.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Education
Date: 2008-09-15 00:00:00

Amends the Hurricane Education Recovery Act, title IV of division B of the Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006, with respect to elementary and secondary education hurricane recovery relief. Extends through FY2009 the authority of the Secretary of Education, in providing any grant or other assistance to an entity in a state which in 2005 suffered a major disaster related to Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita, to waive or modify, in order to ease fiscal burdens, any elementary and secondary education assistance requirement relating to: (1) maintenance of effort; (2) use of federal funds to supplement, not supplant, non-federal funds; or (3) any non-federal share or capital contribution required to match federal funds. Protects local educational agencies that serve areas in which a major disaster has been declared in 2008 related to severe storms, tornadoes, or flooding in the Midwest or hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, from experiencing a FY2009 reduction of school improvement funds under part A of title I (Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Date: 2008-09-15 00:00:00

Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to allow federal disaster assistance to be provided to reimburse all or part of a deductible a person is required to pay as a condition for the receipt of benefits under an insurance policy the person obtained to protect against property loss. Makes this provision applicable to a major disaster or emergency declared by the President on or after September 1, 2008.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Date: 2008-09-16 00:00:00

Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the President to provide assistance to individuals and households that are required to evacuate their primary residences for a period of two or more days pursuant to a mandatory evacuation order issued by a state or local government as a result of a major disaster. Authorizes assistance in the form of reimbursement for subsistence expenses incurred during such an evacuation: (1) for up to seven days; and (2) in an amount not to exceed the federal employee per diem allowance established for the locality to which a person is evacuated.Provides that: (1) assistance authorized may be for expenses incurred before the date of the disaster's declaration; and (2) this Act shall apply to a major disaster declared by the President on or after September 1, 2008.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Date: 2008-09-18 00:00:00

Hurricane Ike Tax Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax benefits to individuals affected by Hurricane Ike.Makes specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, which currently apply only to residents of the Gulf Opportunity Zone and the Hurricane Katrina disaster area, applicable to the Hurricane Ike recovery area, including: (1) tax-exempt bond financing, the low-income housing tax credit, accelerated depreciation and increased expensing of business assets, an increase in the rehabilitation tax credit, extended carryback of net operating losses, and investment in tax credit bonds; (2) expensing of environmental remediation costs and demolition and cleanup costs; (3) tax incentives for employer-provided housing; (4) tax-free withdrawals from retirement accounts and recontributions for home purchases; (5) employer tax credits for retention of employees; and (6) suspension of limitations on tax deductions for charitable contributions and personal casualty losses. Extends through 2009 the additional tax exemption for housing displaced individuals in the Hurricane Ike recovery area.Extends through 2009 the enhanced tax deduction for charitable contributions of food inventories and of book inventories to public schools. Requires charitable organizations to provide the Secretary of the Treasury with specified information, on an annual basis, relating to their disaster relief activities.Makes the standard mileage rate used to determine the tax deduction for the use of a passenger automobile for charitable purposes equal to the standard mileage rate used for the tax deduction for medical and moving expenses.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2008-09-23 00:00:00

Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax relief in federally declared disaster areas.(Sec. 2) Waives the 10% adjusted gross income limitation on personal casualty losses for losses sustained from a federally declared disaster occurring after December 31, 2007, and before January 1, 2012. Defines "federally declared disaster" as any disaster determined by the President to warrant federal assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. Increases the standard tax deduction by a taxpayer's net disaster loss (i.e., personal casualty losses in a disaster area over personal casualty gains). Increases the threshold for deductible casualty losses from $100 to $500 for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008, and before January 1, 2012. (Sec. 3) Allows the expensing of business-related costs incurred due to a federally declared disaster for: (1) the abatement or control of hazardous substances; (2) removal of debris or demolition of damaged structures; or (3) repair of damaged property.(Sec. 4) Provides for a five-year carryback period for net operating losses attributable to a federally declared disaster. Allows such losses as a deduction in computing alternative minimum taxable income.(Sec. 5) Waives certain restrictions on mortgage revenue bond financing for principal residences destroyed due to a federally declared disaster occurring between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2011.(Sec. 6) Increases, until December 31, 2011, the standard mileage rate used to compute the tax deduction for the use of a passenger automobile for charitable purposes to the same rate used for deducting travel expenses related to medical care (currently, 27 cents per mile). (Sec. 7) Authorizes additional allocations to states (up to $190 million) of the low-income housing tax credit for federally declared disasters occurring between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2011. Prohibits allocations after December 31, 2012.(Sec. 8) Expands tax-exempt private activity bonds to include qualified disaster bonds used to finance the replacement, repair, reconstruction or renovation of depreciable property damaged or destroyed as a result of a federally declared disaster occurring between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2011. Grants priority in allocating bond amounts to business loss disaster areas (i.e., areas sustaining damages from a disaster of at least the lesser of $50 million or 5% of all business property in the disaster area). Requires all allocations to be made prior to December 31, 2012.(Sec. 9) Waives limitations on individual and corporate charitable contributions for qualified disaster contributions. Defines "qualified disaster contribution" as any charitable contribution paid prior to January 1, 2010, to a public charity for relief efforts related to a federally declared disaster.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2008-09-23 00:00:00

Low-Income Rate Payer Disaster Recovery Act of 2008 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the President to make contributions to the owner or operator of a private or investor-owned electric utility company serving low-income households for facilities damaged or destroyed by a major disaster only if the costs of repairing, restoring, reconstructing, or replacing such facilities exceed 10% of the facilities' total transmission and distribution rate base minus: (1) accumulated depreciation on the date of the disaster in the case of a single major disaster; or (2) accumulated depreciation on the date of the first major disaster in the case of an aggregation of major disasters during the preceding 12 months. Sets forth application deadlines.Prohibits the total amount of contributions made to an owner or operator from exceeding $50 million in any 12-month period. Authorizes the President, for any major disaster occurring after enactment of this Act, to waive the limit upon determining that the event is of an extraordinary nature. Requires the President to approve or disapprove applications within 30 days after receipt.Allows an owner or operator who determines that the public welfare would not best be served by repairing, restoring, reconstructing, or replacing a facility to elect to receive, in lieu of the cost-based contribution, 75% of the funding that would have been available.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Date: 2008-09-24 00:00:00

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer election to expense the cost of installing underground public utility property in the Hurricane Gustav disaster area. Terminates such expensing allowance after December 31, 2009.Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the electric grid failures in Louisiana following Hurricane Gustav.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2008-09-24 00:00:00

Applies to any individual or household adversely affected by a major disaster that occurred on or after January 1, 2006, the provision of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 that eliminates the maximum limit on financial assistance, adjusted for inflation, of: (1) $5,000 for repair of owner-occupied private residences, utilities, and residential infrastructure damaged by a major disaster; and (2) $10,000 for replacement of owner-occupied private residences damaged by a major disaster.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2008-09-24 00:00:00

Nursing Home Emergency Assistance Act - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to allow the President to provide reimbursement to private for-profit nursing homes for damages and expenses from a major disaster or declared emergency. Requires that such nursing homes: (1) be located within 30 miles of the disaster or emergency; and (2) have acted during the disaster or emergency in accordance with any relevant requirements applicable to private nonprofit nursing homes seeking reimbursement. Limits the amount of reimbursement to not greater than the amount available under such Act to a public or private nonprofit nursing home for similar damages or expenses after a disaster or emergency.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Date: 2008-09-25 00:00:00

Emergency Fueling Station Designation Act of 2008 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish a program to address the shortage of fuel along hurricane evacuation routes by providing funds to eligible states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia) to assist in the purchase and installation of transfer switches and generators at designated emergency fueling stations.Requires states applying for funds to provide: (1) identification of hurricane zones and evacuation routes; (2) the estimated number of designated and adjacent emergency fueling stations determined to be necessary by such state using population figures along hurricane evacuation routes as a guide in selecting stations; and (3) specified assurances, including that a fueling station will not be selected as a designated emergency fueling station unless it has not less than 10 fueling positions and is located within one mile of a hurricane evacuation route.Directs the Administrator to make available to an eligible state that applies for funds 50% of the cost for the purchase and installation of transfer switches and generators for designated emergency fueling stations, and 30% of that cost of adjacent emergency fueling stations, selected by the state.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Date: 2008-09-25 00:00:00

Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to establish an emergency management performance grants program to address domestic preparedness and collective response to a catastrophic incident. Limits the federal share of the cost of a program funded activity to 50%. Sets forth guidelines for the Administrator to apportion funds to carry out the program among the states on the basis of population. Revises the program providing grants to states for emergency operations centers to provide that such centers are to be equipped, upgraded, and constructed for domestic preparedness and collective response to a catastrophic incident.