lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-01-18 00:00:00

Small Business Disaster Loan Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends the Small Business Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), in determining whether a person is eligible for a loan under the SBA's disaster loan program with respect to a catastrophic incident, or in determining the amount of such loan, to consider the extent to which: (1) the loss or injury of the person is compensated for by insurance or otherwise; or (2) the person paid insurance proceeds to a recorded lienholder. Deems the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma, and Rita as catastrophic incidents for purposes of this Act.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-01-22 00:00:00

Volunteer Emergency Responder Fair Mileage Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) exclude from the gross income of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical responders reimbursements of automobile operating expenses incurred for the benefit of a volunteer fire department; and (2) allow such volunteers to deduct such automobile operating expenses using the higher business mileage rate instead of the standard rate.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-01-23 00:00:00

Amends the Small Business Act to include as a HUBZone (historically underutilized business zone) any area in which the President has declared a major disaster as a result of the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina or Rita. Amends the Small Business Competitive Demonstration Program Act of 1988 to make the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program (to test innovative small business procurement methods and procedures) inapplicable to any contract related to relief or reconstruction from Hurricanes Katrina or Rita.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-01-23 00:00:00

Sets forth a special rule for the tax treatment of amounts received by a taxpayer from the Louisiana Recovery Authority or the Mississippi Development Authority for the repair or reconstruction of such taxpayer's primary residence due to hurricane damage in 2005.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2007-01-24 00:00:00

Amends the Community Disaster Loan Act of 2005 to repeal the prohibition against cancelling of certain disaster loans authorized under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to assist local governments in providing essential services.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2007-01-30 00:00:00

Amends the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 to authorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide funds to a state or local government to pay for utility costs resulting from the provision of temporary housing to evacuees from hurricanes of the 2005 season if such governmental entities have previously arranged to pay for those utilities on behalf of the evacuees for certain leases contracted by or prior to February 7, 2008 (currently February 7, 2006).
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2007-01-31 00:00:00

Disaster Recovery Act of 2007 - Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to pay an eligible disaster relief applicant 50% of the federal share of assistance for which the applicant is eligible under specified sections of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, within 60 days after the applicant files a claim for such assistance. Requires authorized reimbursement for clearing and removing debris to include reimbursement for clearing, removing, and disposing of debris from any emergency access road. Authorizes federal assistance for removing, clearing, and disposing of debris from private property.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2007-02-06 00:00:00

Emergency and Disaster Assistance Fraud Penalty Enhancement Act of 2007 - Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) set forth criminal penalties for fraud in the provision of benefits or the procurement of property or services in connection with a major disaster or emergency declared under the Disaster Relief Act of 1974; and (2) increase criminal penalties for engaging in wire, radio, television, or mail fraud during and in relation to a presidentially declared major disaster or emergency. Directs the U. S. Sentencing Commission to promulgate or amend sentencing guidelines to provide for increased penalties for persons convicted of fraud or theft offenses in connection with a declared emergency or major disaster.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2007-02-06 00:00:00

Amends the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 to extend the authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide funds to state and local governments for utility costs resulting from the provision of temporary housing units to evacuees from Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes of the 2005 season where the state or local government has previously arranged to pay for such utilities on behalf of the evacuees, to cover the term of any leases for up to 24 months (currently, 12 months) contracted by or prior to February 7, 2006.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2007-02-06 00:00:00

Improving Communications Interoperability Grant Program Act - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Director of the Office of Grants and Training, to establish the Improve Communications for Emergency Response Grant Program to make grants to states and regions for initiatives to improve interoperable emergency communications for first responders for domestic preparedness and the collective response to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters, including initiatives to achieve solutions to statewide, regional, national, and international interoperability.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-02-08 00:00:00

Hurricane and Tornado Mitigation Investment Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual and business taxpayers in certain states 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: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2007-02-08 00:00:00

Multiple Peril Insurance Act of 2007 - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to require the national flood insurance program to enable the purchase of optional insurance against loss resulting from physical damage to or loss of real or related personal property located in the United States arising from any flood or windstorm (any hurricane, tornado, cyclone, typhoon, or other wind event). Restricts multiperil coverage to areas (or their subdivisions) where an appropriate public body has adopted adequate land use and control measures, including effective enforcement provisions, which the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) finds are consistent with certain statutory criteria for land management and use relating to windstorms. Prohibits provision of multiperil coverage to any structure (or related personal property ) covered, at any time, by flood insurance under the Act. Prescribes the nature and terms of coverage, and actuarial rates. Prohibits new multiperil coverage for property declared by a duly constituted governmental authority to be in violation of state or local laws, regulations, or ordinances intended to reduce windstorm damage.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2007-02-08 00:00:00

Flood Insurance Community Outreach Grant Program Act of 2007 - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to authorize the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to make grants to local governmental agencies responsible for floodplain management activities in communities that participate in the national flood insurance program for: (1) outreach activities to encourage and facilitate the purchase of flood insurance protection by owners and renters of properties in such communities; and (2) educational activities that increase awareness of flood risk reduction. Permits grant funds to be used to: (1) identify such property owners and renters; (2) notify them when their properties become included in, or are excluded from, an area having special flood hazards about the effect of such inclusion or exclusion on the applicability of the mandatory flood insurance purchase requirement; (3) educate them regarding the flood risk and reduction of risk in their community and regarding the benefits and costs of flood insurance; and (4) encourage them to maintain or acquire coverage. Sets forth requirements regarding cost-sharing and limits on administrative costs. Requires the Director to provide for such agencies to submit applications for grants and for competitive selection, based on criteria established by the Director. Lists selection considerations. Authorizes the Director to use up to 50% of amounts available for grants in each fiscal year in areas determined to have the most immediate need for such activities.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2007-02-08 00:00:00

National Flood Insurance Program Participation Evaluation Act of 2007 - Directs the Comptroller General to analyze and report to Congress on potential methods, practices, and incentives that would increase the extent to which low-income families that own residential properties located within areas having special flood hazards purchase flood insurance coverage for such properties under the national flood insurance program.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2007-02-15 00:00:00

Disaster Assistance Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 2007 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to prohibit the termination or demotion of, or other discrimination in the terms and conditions of employment against, an employee who, when activated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a disaster assistance employee reservist, is absent from or late to work for up to 90 days (or longer if the Secretary of Homeland Security publishes a determination that an extension is appropriate due to a national emergency). Allows an employer to: (1) charge against the employee's regular pay any time that an employee loses from employment because of such activation; and (2) request the employee to provide written verification from FEMA of the time and dates of such activation. Requires any such employee to make a reasonable effort to notify his or her employer of such absences or lateness. Authorizes a person who has been terminated, demoted, or otherwise discriminated against in violation of this Act to bring a civil action in U.S. district court if the action is commenced within one year after the violation.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2007-02-16 00:00:00

Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma Federal Match Relief Act of 2007 - Sets the federal share of assistance, including direct federal assistance, provided for Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Florida in connection with Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma for essential assistance, repair, restoration, and replacement of damaged facilities, debris removal, and federal assistance to individuals and households under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act at 100% of eligible costs. Makes the federal share applicable to disaster assistance provided before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act, but limits such federal share of essential assistance, repair, restoration, and replacement of damaged facilities, and debris removal to assistance provided for projects for which project worksheets have been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) before that date.Amends the Community Disaster Loan Act of 2005 and the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 to repeal provisions that prohibit the cancellation of loans under the Community Disaster Loan Program, effective as of the date of enactment of each such Act.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-02-27 00:00:00

Catastrophic Disaster Recovery Improvements Act of 2007 - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), in providing SBA disaster relief assistance, to waive the prohibition on the duplication of benefits, including whether damage or destruction has been compensated for, credit is available from, or funds have been made available from any other source. Applies such amendment to any SBA assistance provided on or after August 29, 2005 (thereby ensuring applicability and retroactivity for victims of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma).
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-02-28 00:00:00

Gulf Coast Back to Business Act of 2007 - Authorizes appropriations for the Economic Development Administration of the Department of Commerce for grants to appropriate state government agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi for small businesses located in disaster areas caused by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita. Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to defer for a conditional period the payment of principal and interest on disaster loans made to small businesses affected by such hurricanes in the case of loans made before December 31, 2006. Prohibits an increased collateral requirement with respect to the deferred loans. Includes as a HUBZone (historically underutilized business zone) any area in which the President has declared a major disaster as a result of such hurricanes. Amends the Small Business Competitive Demonstration Program Act of 1988 to make the small business competitive demonstration program (to test innovative small business procurement methods and procedures) inapplicable, for a conditional period, to any contract related to relief or reconstruction from such hurricanes.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Families
Date: 2007-03-08 00:00:00

Emergency Child Care for the Gulf Coast Region Act of 2007 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish grant programs for: (1) businesses and consortia in the Gulf Coast Region to pay start-up costs and to provide additional child care services for employees; (2) nonprofit business organizations in the Region to provide technical assistance to such businesses for child care services; (3) entities to develop distance learning child care training technology infrastructures and model technology-based training courses for child care providers and workers in the Region; and (4) child care providers in the Region to improve the qualifications and promote the retention of such providers. Defines "Gulf Coast Region" to mean the area declared by the President to be a major disaster as a consequence of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make scholarship grants to child care providers to improve their educational qualifications to provide services.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-03-09 00:00:00

Tax Free Road Home Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income payments to individual taxpayers from the Louisiana Road Home program for rebuilding or renewing a personal residence.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-03-15 00:00:00

College and University Hurricane Revitalization Act of 2007 - Provides for calculating the allotments of grants under title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which provides institutional aid to schools serving high percentages of minority and low-income students, to institutions of higher education located in parishes or counties for which a major disaster was declared owing to Hurricane Katrina or Rita. Requires the Secretary of Education to consider school data from the school year immediately preceding the school year which included August, 29, 2005, rather than current school year data, in calculating 2007-2012 grant allotments. Requires each institution to submit a written request to the Secretary for such consideration.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-03-19 00:00:00

Katrina Housing Tax Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) qualify certain buildings in the Gulf Opportunity Zone, the Rita Go Zone, and the Wilma GO Zone (GO Zones) placed in service before 2011 for the housing tax credit without regard to certain otherwise applicable restrictions if such buildings receive (or received) a state or local housing credit allocation in 2006, 2007, or 2008; (2) extend through 2010 the treatment of such Go Zones as difficult development areas for purposes of the increased housing tax credit; (3) exclude certain assistance provided under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (e.g., community development block grants), the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2006, or the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006, in determining whether Go Zone buildings eligible for the housing tax credit are federally subsidized and therefore subject to limitations on such tax credit; and (4) treat qualified GO Zone repair and reconstruction loans provided prior to January 1, 2011, as qualified rehabilitation loans for purposes of the tax exemption for exempt facility and mortgage bonds.Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee on state and local practices in allocating and utilizing tax incentives provided by this Act. Requires such committees to hold public hearings if the report includes findings of significant fraud, waste or abuse.Denies a pre-levy hearing to taxpayers upon whom the Secretary of the Treasury has served a disqualified employment tax levy. Defines a "disqualified employment tax levy" as any levy in connection with the collection of employment taxes if: (1) the person subject to the levy requested a hearing with respect to unpaid employment taxes arising in the most recent two-year period before the beginning of the taxable period with respect to which the levy is served; and (2) such levy is served before February 29, 2016.Amends the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 to increase from 106.25% to 106.45% the estimated tax rate in the third quarter of 2012 for corporations with assets of not less than $1 billion.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2007-03-20 00:00:00

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Environmental Justice Act of 2007 - Defines "environmental justice" to mean the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and socioeconomic groups with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of laws and policies affecting the environment.Requires the heads of federal agencies to make achieving environmental justice part of their missions by identifying and addressing disproportionately high and adverse effects of their programs on minority, low-income populations in the area affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Requires agencies to conduct programs in a manner to prevent discrimination.Establishes the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice (Working Group). Requires federal agencies to develop agency-wide environmental justice strategies that identify and address disproportionately high and adverse effects or disproportionately low benefits of their programs with respect to minority, low-income populations. Requires such strategies to identify programs that should be revised to: (1) promote enforcement of all health and environmental statutes in areas with such populations; (2) ensure greater public participation; (3) improve research and data collection; and (4) identify differential patterns of use of natural resources among such populations.Establishes the Federal Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Environmental Justice Advisory Committee to provide independent advice and recommendations to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Working Group on areas relating to environmental justice.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2007-03-26 00:00:00

American National Red Cross Governance Modernization Act of 2007 - (Sec. 2) Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) charitable organizations are an indispensable part of American society; (2) such organizations must maintain the trust of the American public by fostering effective governance and transparency; (3) the American National Red Cross (ANRC) is and will remain a federally chartered instrumentality of the United States; and (4) the ANRC should maintain appropriate communications with state regulators of charitable organizations and cooperate with such regulators.(Sec. 3) Amends the charter of the ANRC to designate the ANRC as a federally chartered instrumentality of the United States and authorize it to conduct its business and affairs as the American Red Cross in any jurisdiction and to conduct other activities consistent with its traditional purposes.(Sec. 5) Authorizes the ANRC corporation (corporation), rather than its board of directors, to prescribe policies and regulations relating to ANRC chapters. Provides for the selection of delegates to the annual meeting of the ANRC, instead of its national convention.(Sec. 6) Modifies provisions relating to the ANRC board of governors to restate the role of the board as the governing body of the corporation and to revise provisions relating to its size, composition, and relationship with management. Establishes an Advisory Council to advise, report to, and meet with the board of governors.(Sec. 7) Authorizes the corporation to adopt policies in lieu of bylaws. (Sec. 8) Defines the annual meeting of the corporation as the annual meeting of the delegates of the chapters (instead of the national convention). Designates the time and place of the annual meeting and determines the voting guidelines and requirements for such meeting. (Sec. 9) Eliminates the requirement that the number of trustees overseeing the ANRC endowment fund be nine. Grants the corporation, rather than the board of governors, the authority to prescribe policies and regulations on terms and tenure of office, accountability, and expenses of the board of trustees. (Sec. 10) Requires the corporation to submit a report to the Secretary of Defense on the activities of the corporation during the preceding fiscal year, including a complete, itemized report of all receipts and expenditures. (Sec. 11) Authorizes the Comptroller General to review the corporation's involvement in any federal program or activity. Requires the corporation to establish an Office of the Ombudsman. Requires such Office to submit an annual report to specified congressional committees on trends and systemic matters that the Office has identified as confronting the corporation.