lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-12-07 00:00:00

Food Recovery Act of 2015 

This bill amends the following to provide funding, expand tax deductions, and establish requirements to reduce food waste: the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act; the Internal Revenue Code; the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act; and several agricultural laws.

The bill expands and establishes federal grant and loan programs to:

 improve the nutritional health of children and raise awareness about food waste, improve cooperation between agricultural producers and emergency feeding organizations, assist schools in using food from farms that would otherwise go to waste and providing farms with compostable materials, and install facilities that include composting or anaerobic digesters that use food or crop waste to produce energy. Recipients of grants to install anaerobic digesters that use waste to produce energy must meet specified requirements regarding environmental laws and the distribution of certain food to hunger-serving organizations.

USDA must: (1) establish an Office of Food Recovery to coordinate federal programs to measure and reduce food waste, and (2) study techniques for decreasing food waste and estimating the amount of food wasted by farms.

The bill provides that composting is a conservation practice eligible for support under USDA's conservation programs.

The bill extends and expands tax deductions for the donation of food to charitable organizations.

"Sell-by" dates included on food labeling must indicate that the dates are only the manufacturer's suggestion and use uniform language.

Companies that receive food service contracts with the federal government must donate surplus food to nonprofit organizations that assist food-insecure people.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-02-01 00:00:00

No Welfare for Terrorists Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to make convicted terrorists ineligible to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program).
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-02-11 00:00:00

SNAP Empowerment and Accountability Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to permit states to use drug test results for determining eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program). The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration must award grants to states to treat individuals who test positive.

The bill increases from $20 to $50 the amount of annual benefits received under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 or a similar energy assistance program which qualifies a SNAP applicant to use a standard utility allowance to document heating and cooling costs for calculating benefits.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-02-25 00:00:00

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require a school food authority that purchases fish or fish products for a school lunch or breakfast program to purchase, to the maximum extent practicable, fish harvested within U.S. waters or tuna harvested by a U.S.-flag vessel.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-01-07 00:00:00

Food Stamp Fraud Prevention and Accountability Act 

Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to disqualify from the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) any person who has been found to have intentionally used an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card issued to a household of which the person is not a member.

Requires an EBT card to include a list of the members of a household eligible to use the card, if a state agency does not require the card to include a photograph. Requires a member of a household using an EBT card to show photographic identification at the point of sale.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-02-24 00:00:00

School Food Modernization Act

Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue loan guarantees to local educational agencies (LEAs) or school food authorities administering or operating a school lunch program, tribal organizations, or consortia of such entities to finance the construction, remodeling, or expansion of infrastructure or the purchase of durable equipment that will facilitate their provision of healthy meals through the school lunch program.

 Requires USDA to give a preference to applicants that demonstrate a substantial or disproportionate need for food service infrastructure or durable equipment. Prohibits a loan guarantee from covering more than 80% of a loan's principal.

Requires USDA to establish fees for the loan guarantee program that: (1) are sufficient to cover the federal government's administrative costs in operating the program, and (2) may be based on the risk premium associated with the particular loan or loan guarantee.

Directs USDA to award competitive matching grants to assist LEAs or school food authorities administering or operating a school lunch program, tribal organizations, or consortia of such entities in purchasing the durable equipment and infrastructure they need to serve healthier meals and improve food safety.

Requires USDA to give grant priority to applicants that: (1) have identified and are reasonably expected to meet an unmet local or community need, and (2) are located in states that have enacted funding measures to assist them with such purchases.

Prohibits such a grant from covering more than 80% of the total cost of the durable equipment and infrastructure.

Directs USDA to award competitive matching grants to experienced third-party training institutions to provide school food service personnel with the training and technical assistance they need to: (1) meet school lunch program nutrition standards, and (2) improve the efficacy and efficiency of the school lunch and breakfast programs.

Prohibits such a grant from covering more than 80% of the total cost of the training and technical assistance.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-02-27 00:00:00

Summer Meals Act of 2015

Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to redefine "areas in which poor economic conditions exist," where the summer food service program for children may operate, as areas in which at least 40% (currently, 50%) of the children have been determined to be eligible for free or reduced price school meals under the school lunch and breakfast programs.

Reimburses service institutions (other than school food authorities) for up to one meal and one snack per child each day during after-school hours, weekends, and school holidays during the regular school calendar. (Currently, such institutions are reimbursed for meals and snacks served to children over the summer months or to children who are on vacation under a continuous school calendar.)

Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to award competitive grants to service institutions to increase participation in the summer food service program for children at congregate feeding sites through innovative approaches to limited transportation and mobile meal trucks.

Allows service institutions that are participating in the summer food service program for children to serve up to three meals, or two meals and one snack, during each day of operation. (Currently, this option is reserved for camps and service institutions that serve meals primarily to migrant children.)
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-04-14 00:00:00

Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Extension Act of 2015

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) modify the tax deduction for charitable contributions of food inventory by limiting the reduction in such deduction to the amount by which the fair market valuation of the contributed food exceeds twice the basis of such food, and (2) make such deduction permanent.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-04-30 00:00:00

Healthy School Meals Flexibility Act

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from implementing any regulation that would require a reduction in the quantity of sodium contained in federally reimbursed meals, foods, and snacks sold in schools below specified July 2014 maximum levels allowed in school breakfasts for school year 2014-2015.

With respect to grain contents, USDA shall only require that half of all grains in such food items are whole grain-rich. School food authorities must comply with the applicable grain component or standard with respect to the school lunch or school breakfast program in effect before July 1, 2014.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-07-16 00:00:00

Wise Investment in our Children Act of 2015 or the WIC Act 

This bill amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and title XIX of the Social Security Act (Medicaid) to permit the age limit for children participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to be increased from five to six if a state agency determines it is necessary to accommodate the unique circumstances of an individual child. The bill also permits states to certify infants (under one year of age) participating in the program for a period of up to two years.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-07-21 00:00:00

School Lunch Price Protection Act of 2015

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to alter the formula that school food authorities are required to use to establish the price for a paid lunch (a lunch provided to children who are not eligible for free or reduced price meals). Specifically, the bill makes the formula applicable only to school food authorities that had a negative balance in their nonprofit school food service account for the previous school year.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-07-22 00:00:00

Access to Healthy Food for Young Children Act

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to modify the food program for child and adult care institutions and family or group day care homes.

The bill increases the payment rate for program meals relative to the national average payment rate for meals served in schools. However, an eligible child care center operating a free-of-charge program in a high-poverty area may elect to instead receive special payments calculated using a blended per-meal rate.

Additionally, the bill: (1) increases the reimbursement factor for meals and supplements served by a family or group day care home; (2) raises the per-child limit on the number of meals and supplements for which such a home may receive reimbursement; and (3) reduces the percentage of area children who must come from low-income households in order for a day care home in that area to be excused from specified documentation requirements.

With respect to administrative expenses, the bill increases the reimbursement factor for each day care home and prohibits negative adjustments to reimbursement levels. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must develop procedures under which up a specified percentage of funds reserved by the sponsoring organization of a day care home for administrative expenses may remain available in the succeeding fiscal year.

USDA must also: (1) provide state agencies with funding to implement the revised food program, as specified by the bill; and (2) complete a study on reducing paperwork and improving program administration.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-08-04 00:00:00

Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act of 2015

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Act to allow an Indian tribe to assume, from a nearby local educational agency (LEA) and in lieu of a state, responsibility for administration of the school breakfast program, the school lunch program, the child and adult care food program, or the summer food service program for children. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must identify, for optional use in LEAs on or near Indian reservations, alternatives to current program requirements related to the daily counting of meals by category, the use of annual applications to determine program eligibility, and the use of universal meal service. USDA may implement such alternatives, as limited by the bill, as well as further test them in demonstration projects.

The bill also amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require USDA to increase the amount of administrative funds paid to an Indian tribe that agrees to assume responsibility for the administration of one of the aforementioned food programs.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-08-05 00:00:00

Hunger Free Summer for Kids Act of 2015

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish electronic benefit (EBT) cards and off-site consumption as two alternative delivery options for schools and service institutions in the summer food service program for children.

These options shall be available to a child only if the child lives either in a rural area or outside of an area in which poor economic conditions exist, or, in the case of off-site consumption, if the summer program is available to the child at a congregate feeding site but the site is inaccessible, as specified by the bill. A state may not operate the EBT card option and the off-site consumption option simultaneously in the same area.

Each state desiring to participate in the summer food service program shall include in its annual management and administration plan the state's plans for using one or both of these alternative delivery options.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Social welfare
Date: 2015-09-28 00:00:00

Social Security Earned Benefits Payment Act

This bill amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to require allocations to the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund equal to: (1) 2.65% of the amount of wages and self-employment income paid between December 31, 2015, and January 1, 2021; and (2) 1.80% of wages and self-employment income paid after December 31, 2020.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-11-05 00:00:00

Fruit and Vegetables Access for Children Act

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to allow federal grant-funded fresh fruit and vegetable programs carried out by states to include canned, dried, frozen, or pureed fruits and vegetables.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2015-12-17 00:00:00

SNAP Work Opportunities and Veteran Protection Act of 2015 

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to exempt Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) beneficiaries from work requirements if they are not offered a position in a state job training or workfare program.

The bill also exempts from work requirements veterans who are participating in certain programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs or a state to further employment or rehabilitation goals. The bill permits the Department of Agriculture to allocate specified funds to states for the employment programs.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-01-19 00:00:00

This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to study and report to Congress on state administrative expense funds, including:

 the use of the funds by state agencies; policies, practices, and training methods being implemented using the funds; factors that interfere with the ability of a state agency to use the funds effectively; and ways the funds are being used to encourage the implementation of effective and consistent school nutrition workforce training and technical assistance. USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion must study and report to Congress on the effectiveness and level of coordination between nutrition education in the child nutrition programs and other federal programs that include nutrition education.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-02-10 00:00:00

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require a school food authority that purchases fish or fish products for a school lunch or breakfast program to purchase, to the maximum extent practicable, fish harvested within U.S. waters or tuna harvested by a U.S.-flag vessel.
Topic: Social Welfare — Other
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2016-11-17 00:00:00

Poverty Measurement Improvement Act

This bill requires the Bureau of the Census, for each of FY2017-FY2027, in order to more accurately determine the extent of poverty in the United States and the anti-poverty effectiveness of federal means-tested benefit and tax programs, to conduct a new survey of income and poverty in the United States and supplement and verify the information obtained using data from the most recent available Current Population Survey (CPS), data furnished by state and federal agencies that administer such benefits, and income tax data.

The Bureau shall produce tables and graphs showing for each year the poverty rates and related data calculated using the survey responses and other data collected, including:

 the total family income for survey respondents (the sum of all money income and federal means-tested benefits minus state and federal income and payroll taxes of household members); a breakdown of the amount of income taxes and payroll taxes paid by survey respondents; and for 2018 and subsequent years, poverty rates calculated using updated poverty thresholds. For 2018 and subsequent years, the Bureau shall adjust the poverty thresholds for determining poverty rates by using the personal consumer expenditure price index.

The Bureau shall create a database that contains data from the survey, data from the most recent available CPS, and data furnished by administering agencies. The bill applies specified security, disclosure, and confidentiality restrictions to personally identifiable information obtained under this bill and makes data contained in a response to a survey conducted pursuant to this bill inadmissible as evidence in any court or agency proceeding.

The bill requires: (1) state administering agencies to report to federal administering agencies on federal means-tested benefits received by each household, (2) the Bureau to provide summary statistics comparing income levels to consumption habits of respondents to the Consumer Expenditure Survey, and (3) the Government Accountability Office to submit a report comparing the income measure created under this bill to the income measure used by the Bureau for calculating the supplemental poverty measure.
Topic: Government Operations — Branch Relations
Subject: Congress
Date: 2007-01-04 00:00:00

Requires the Architect of the Capitol to establish and display in a prominent location within the Capitol Visitor Center suitable exhibits which: (1) depict the congressional careers, accomplishments, and contributions of the 22 African-American Members of Congress who served during the Reconstruction and Post-Reconstruction Eras, including the two African-American Senators, beginning with Congressman Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina (1870-1879) and ending with Congressman George H. White of North Carolina (1897-1901); and (2) acknowledge the use of slave labor in the construction of the U.S. Capitol.
Topic: Government Operations — Branch Relations
Subject: Congress
Date: 2007-01-05 00:00:00

Congressional Lawmaking Authority Protection Act of 2007 - Prohibits the use of funds made available to the Executive Office of the President, or to any executive agency, to produce, publish, or disseminate any presidential statement made contemporaneously with the signing of any legislation by him (signing statement). Applies this prohibition only to signing statements that contradict, or are inconsistent with, the intent of Congress in enacting a measure or that otherwise encroach upon the congressional prerogative to make laws. Prohibits a governmental entity from taking into consideration any presidential signing statement for purposes of construing or applying any Act of Congress.
Topic: Government Operations — Branch Relations
Subject: Congress
Date: 2007-01-11 00:00:00

Establishes as an independent office within the legislative branch the Office of Public Integrity to: (1) oversee financial disclosure and other reports filed by Members of Congress, congressional officers and employees, and registered lobbyists; (2) investigate alleged violations of any applicable rule or other standard of conduct; (3) present a case of probable ethics violations to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct or the Senate Select Committee on Ethics (ethics committees); and (4) make recommendations about reporting to the appropriate federal or state authorities any substantial evidence of a violation. Amends Rule XI (Procedures of Committees and Unfinished Business) and Rule X (Organization of Committees) of the Rules of the House of Representatives, as well as the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EGA of 1978), the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, and the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA), to conform to this Act.
Topic: Government Operations — Branch Relations
Subject: Congress
Date: 2007-01-16 00:00:00

House Page Board Revision Act of 2007 - Amends House Resolution 611, 97th Congress, agreed to November 30, 1982, as enacted into permanent law, to increase from one to two the number of Members of the House appointed to the House Page Board by the House minority leader. Requires the one-year (renewable) appointment to the Page Board, jointly by the Speaker and the minority leader, of: (1) one individual who, at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of his or her appointment, is or was a parent of a page participating in the program; and (2) one individual who is a former page of the House, but who is not a Member of the House or the parent of a page. Requires a vacancy in the position held by such Member to be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. Requires the individual appointed to fill a vacancy to serve for the remainder of the original term. Permits such individual to be reappointed in accordance with this Act. Authorizes per diem travel payments to such individuals for attending Board meetings away from home or business. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Page Board to meet regularly, in accordance with a schedule established jointly by the Speaker and minority leader.
Topic: Government Operations — Branch Relations
Subject: Congress
Date: 2007-01-16 00:00:00

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 - Provides that, if there is a deficit in a fiscal year, then: (1) any pay adjustment (including a cost of living adjustment) for Members of Congress scheduled to take effect in the succeeding calendar year shall be null and void; and (2) rates of pay for Members shall be reduced by a specified percentage, but not below zero. Specifies the mandatory pay rate reduction at: (1) 5%, for the first year; or (2) 10%, for any consecutive subsequent year that expenditures exceed revenues. Specifies conditions for restoration of the original pay rate, together with otherwise scheduled adjustments. Vests authority in the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to make determinations of whether or not a deficit exists in any fiscal year. States that, in making any such determination, the Director shall exclude any budget outlays which directly relate to a military conflict that lasts over 30 days or that is in direct response to a terrorist attack on the United States.