lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-04-15 00:00:00

Food Bank Assistance Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 and the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide additional funding to the Department of Agriculture for carrying out the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

(TEFAP helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans, including the elderly, by providing them with emergency food and nutrition assistance. The program provides food and administrative funds to states to supplement the diets of these groups.)
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-04-20 00:00:00

Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to reauthorize and modify: (1) child nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and other institutional food service programs; and (2) the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

The bill extends the authorizations for:

 the Summer Food Service Program, WIC, the WIC Farmer's Market Nutrition Program, and State Administrative Expenses. (Under current law, several programs such as the NSLP and the School Breakfast Program are permanently authorized.)

For the child nutrition programs, the bill makes policy changes that:

 establish a demonstration project to permit up to three states to receive a block grant instead of open-ended funding currently provided by several child nutrition programs; require the Department of Agriculture to review school meal regulations every three years and make any necessary revisions; increase reimbursement rates for the School Breakfast Program; increase the eligibility threshold for participation in the Community Eligibility Provision that permits schools in high poverty areas to serve all meals free of charge; permit states to provide summer meals away from a congregate site (specific sites where children come to eat and are supervised) in rural or low-income areas without access to summer service; and revise application verification requirements for the school meal programs. For WIC, the bill:

 authorizes appropriations at the current FY2016 level for the next five years, permits commercial availability and participant demand to be considered when amending the list of supplemental foods, and modifies the competitive bidding and contract award process for infant formula and infant foods.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-04-21 00:00:00

Protecting School Meals from Fines Act 

This bill prohibits the implementation of proposed Department of Agriculture regulations to establish criteria for imposing fines on school funding authorities, schools, and state agencies that are administering federal child nutrition programs and have: (1) failed to correct severe mismanagement of any program, (2) failed to correct repeated violations of program requirements, or (3) disregarded a requirement of which they have been informed.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Social welfare
Date: 2016-05-06 00:00:00

What Works to Move Welfare Recipients into Jobs Act

This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title VI of the Social Security Act to revise requirements for research by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the benefits, effects, and costs of operating different state programs funded under part A and any other state program funded with qualified state expenditures.

(Sec. 2) Such research shall focus on the effect of these programs as well as of healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood grants on employment, self-sufficiency, child well-being, unmarried births, marriage, poverty, economic mobility, and other factors determined by HHS.

A state's contribution to the cost of a state-initiated evaluation of its program, from non-federal sources, shall increase from at least 10% to at least 25% of the cost of the proposed evaluation.

The Bureau of the Census shall implement or enhance household surveys of program participation to allow for assessment of the outcomes of continued welfare reform on the economic and child well-being of low-income families with children, including those who received assistance or services from a state program funded under TANF or any other state program funded with qualified state expenditures.

Research and evaluation designed to determine the effects of a program or policy (other than Census Bureau research) shall use experimental designs using random assignment or other reliable, evidence-based research methodologies that allow for the strongest possible casual inferences when random assignment is not feasible. HHS shall develop a database of the projects that used a proven or a promising approach in moving welfare recipients into work, which shall be called the What Works Clearinghouse of Proven and Promising Projects to Move Welfare Recipients into Work.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Social welfare
Date: 2016-05-12 00:00:00

Children's Savings Accounts Offer Parents Plenty of Reasons to Understand and Invest in Tuition Yearly Act or the CSA OPPORTUNITY Act 

This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to direct a state receiving a TANF grant to disregard the value of any interest in, or distribution from, a qualified tuition program, as well as the value of a child's savings account, in determining individual or family TANF eligibility or the amount or type of assistance.

SSAct title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) is amended to exclude from an individual's resources for SSI eligibility or benefit purposes the value of any interest in, or distribution from, a qualified tuition program as well as the value of a child's savings account.

 The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 is amended to direct the Department of Agriculture to exclude any child's savings accounts from resources for eligibility and benefit purposes under the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly the food stamp program).

 The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 is amended to exclude from household income any child's savings accounts from resources for eligibility and benefit purposes under the low-income home energy assistance program.

 The bill prescribes penalties for noncompliance.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-05-12 00:00:00

Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to revise the requirements for calculating Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) benefits.

The bill increases the minimum SNAP benefit and requires benefits to be calculated using a low-cost food plan. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must determine the requirements for the low-cost food plan, which is the diet required to feed a family of four, consisting of:

 a man and a woman 19-50 years of age, a child 6-8 years of age, and a child 9-11 years of age. USDA must make adjustments to the plan to account for household size, changes in the cost of the diet, and the costs of food in specified areas.

The bill revises the amounts authorized for nutrition assistance block grants for Puerto Rico and American Samoa and requires the amounts to be modified based on adjustments to the low-cost food plan.

The bill modifies the requirements for calculating household income to determine SNAP eligibility by: (1) authorizing a standard medical expense deduction for households containing an elderly or disabled member, and (2) eliminating the cap on the deduction for excess shelter expenses.

The bill exempts from SNAP work requirements able-bodied adults without dependents who are not offered a position in a SNAP Employment and Training Program.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Social welfare
Date: 2016-05-26 00:00:00

Improving Supports for Kinship Caregivers Act of 2016

This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to require a state receiving a family assistance grant to ensure that the state agency administering the TANF program: employs a primary kinship resource employee trained to give legal custody and guardianship guidance to a relative caregiver of a TANF-receiving minor child; and notifies the relative caregiver of options to participate in the child's care and placement. The Department of Health and Human Services shall prescribe regulations to improve the reporting of data on the economic well-being and circumstances of families with relative caregivers of minor children.

A state may not reduce or terminate TANF assistance based on the refusal of an individual age 60 or over (senior) to engage in required work.

The five-year limitation on TANF assistance shall not apply to seniors, nor may a state receiving a TANF grant impose any asset test in determining the eligibility of a senior for assistance.

The amount of cash assistance given a family under a state TANF program for a child must equal the amount of cash assistance given for any other child in the family.

SSAct title IV part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) is amended to require the state plan for foster care and adoption assistance to require the administering state agency to employ a primary kinship resource employee to do what such an employee must do under the state TANF plan.

SSAct title IV part B (Child and Family Services) is amended to reauthorize family connection grants through FY2018.

A state with a foster care and adoption assistance plan shall:

 study its foster family home licensing standards in comparison with the National Association for Regulatory Administration Model Family Foster Home Licensing Standards; and review and update them every three years, as well as amounts of foster care maintenance payments and adoption assistance. SSAct title IV part B is amended to require the state plans for child welfare services to make certain assurances regarding relative caregiver families applying for foster care assistance.

The bill reauthorizes family support services at increased levels through FY2020.

SSA title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) is amended to require a state plan for child and spousal support to describe the process for determining whether an assistance recipient is cooperating in good faith with the state in establishing paternity or in establishing, modifying, or enforcing a support order.

SSA title IV part E is amended regarding state plans for foster care and adoption assistance to apply the requirement that all steps be taken to secure an assignment to the state of any support rights on behalf of all children in foster care, not just those receiving foster care maintenance payments.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Social welfare
Date: 2016-05-26 00:00:00

Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act

This bill requires the President to include in the annual budget proposal the total level of means-tested welfare spending by the federal, state, and local governments for the most recent fiscal year for which such data is available, and estimated levels for the current and 10 ensuing fiscal years.

For each of FY2018-FY2028 each state that receives means-tested welfare spending by the federal government shall report annually to the Congressional Budget Office on the total amount of such spending by the state for the fiscal year.

The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended to define means-tested welfare spending as spending for any federal program designed specifically to give assistance or benefits exclusively to low-income Americans, including certain targeted community and economic development programs, unless they:

 are based on earned eligibility, are not need-based, are designed exclusively or primarily for veterans of military service, or offer universal or near universal eligibility to the working population and their dependents. The bill specifies federal cash assistance, medical, food, housing, energy, education training, child care, services, and community development programs deemed means-tested welfare spending, as well as federal programs that are not so deemed, including Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, unemployment insurance, Social Security retirement and survivor benefits, and military service veterans programs.

The refundable portion of certain tax credits shall also be means-tested welfare spending, as well as the refundable portion of the premium and out-of-pocket health care subsidies to be paid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act.

The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 is amended to specify, as an additional purpose for the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), promoting prosperous self-sufficiency, which means the ability of households to maintain an income above the poverty-level without services and benefits from the federal government.

The bill revises work eligibility requirements under SNAP

As a condition of receiving SNAP funds, a state agency shall operate a work activation program for adults with dependent children.

Part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act is amended to create the work preparation program for TANF families.

The bill eliminates separate participation rate requirements for two-parent families.

A family with a child under age 6 shall be deemed to meet work participation requirements if any parent is engaged in work for at least 20 hours per week.

No federal funds shall be made available to carry out any means-tested housing program, but states may receive grants to fund their own housing programs.

The bill prohibits funding for abortions and for health benefits that cover abortion, including certain tax credits, except where the pregnancy results from rape or incest or in certain other health cases.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Social welfare
Date: 2016-05-26 00:00:00

All Kids Matter Act

This bill amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to revise state plan requirements to require:

 the state to identify and provide appropriate prevention, intervention, and support services before placing a child in foster care as part of its reasonable efforts to preserve and reunify families; that all at-risk children, children in foster care, and children who have left foster care to return home through reunification or reinstatement of parental rights, or for kinship guardianship or adoption, be provided with a standard array of child welfare services; the state to submit, update, and revise as necessary a description of its activities and delivery mechanisms for achieving increased permanency for all infants, children, and youth. Payments to states shall incorporate: (1) an amount equal to the federal medical assistance percentage for the state under SSAct title XIX (Medicaid), and (2) a performance achievement payment.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall establish criteria for assessing state performance in order to award performance achievement payments to the states.

States may elect an alternative allotment for specified administrative costs.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children eligibility under SSAct title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) is removed from eligibility requirements under the Foster Care Maintenance Program.

States may provide services to an individual age 18-21 who is pursing legal permanency through family reunification, permanent placement with a planned permanent living arrangement, or such other pathways to permanency as the state, in consultation with HHS, may specify.

Eligibility for John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program services and education and training vouchers shall extend to youth who return home after attaining age 16.

HHS, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Education shall jointly develop and disseminate to states permanency-supportive housing options.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2016-05-27 00:00:00

Bring Small Businesses Back Tax Reform Act 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish new maximum individual tax rates for qualified business income that does not exceed $1 million (i.e., small business income). The maximum rates are: (1) 10% of such income not exceeding $150,000, and (2) 20% for income that exceeds $150,000 and is not more than $1 million.

The rates apply to up to $1 million of qualified business income that is: (1) gross earnings derived by an individual from any active trade or business carried on by the individual, excluding deductions attributable to the trade or business; and (2) the taxpayer's distributive or pro rata share of pass-through income from entities such as a partnership or S corporation. Qualified business income does not include capital gains, interest, dividends, or royalties.

For taxpayers that are not a corporation or a partnership with a corporation as a partner, the bill repeals the annual limitation on the election to deduct certain depreciable business assets.

The bill also permits certain small businesses whose average gross receipts do not exceed $25 million (currently, $5 million) to use the cash accounting method without limitations and exempts such businesses from inventory rules.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-06-09 00:00:00

SNAP Healthy Incentives Act of 2016

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide a financial incentive for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) participants to purchase fruits and vegetables.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-07-21 00:00:00

Food Stamp Integrity Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to revise the rules for disqualifying individuals from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program).

The bill permanently disqualifies individuals who have been found guilty of offenses or misconduct, including:

 fraud or misrepresentation with respect to SNAP; the trading of a controlled substance, firearms, ammunition, or explosives for benefits; terrorism; defrauding the federal government, a state, or a unit of local government; obtaining cash by destroying food purchased with benefits and collecting deposits for containers; or selling food purchased with benefits. An individual who is delinquent in paying child support may not receive benefits unless a court allowed a payment delay or the individual is complying with a payment plan.

If a household requests a third replacement Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card in a one-year period, a state may: (1) require the head of the household to appear in person for an interview before issuing an additional card, and (2) terminate participation of the household for one year if a fifth card is requested in a one-year period.

The bill modifies the work requirements and eliminates certain exemptions and waivers from the requirements. If an able-bodied adult without dependents fails to meet the work requirements for three months in a 48-month period (36 months under current law), they are ineligible for SNAP for the remainder of the 48-month period, or until they comply.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-09-22 00:00:00

Choices in Education Act of 2016

This bill repeals the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and limits the authority of the Department of Education (ED) such that ED is authorized only to award block grants to qualified states.

The bill establishes an education voucher program, through which each state shall distribute block grant funds among local educational agencies (LEAs) based on the number of eligible children within each LEA's geographical area. From these amounts, each LEA shall: (1) distribute a portion of funds to parents who elect to enroll their child in a private school or to home-school their child, and (2) do so in a manner that ensures that such payments will be used for appropriate educational expenses.

To be eligible to receive a block grant, a state must: (1) comply with education voucher program requirements, and (2) make it lawful for parents of an eligible child to elect to enroll their child in any public or private elementary or secondary school in the state or to home-school their child.

No Hungry Kids Act

The bill repeals a specified rule that established certain nutrition standards for the national school lunch and breakfast programs. (In general, the rule requires schools to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat or fat free milk in school meals; reduce the levels of sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat in school meals; and meet children's nutritional needs within their caloric requirements.)
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Social welfare
Date: 2016-09-22 00:00:00

Federal Benefits Fairness and Restoration Act of 2016

This bill amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to repeal the denial of assistance and benefits for certain drug-related convictions.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-09-26 00:00:00

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to eliminate the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to waive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) work requirements for individuals who reside in areas with an unemployment rate above 10% or an insufficient number of jobs.
Topic: Social Welfare — Low-Income Assistance
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2016-11-14 00:00:00

American Food for American Schools Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require school food authorities (SFAs) to request a waiver from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to purchase foreign commodities or products for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

(Under current law, Buy American provisions require SFAs to purchase, to the maximum extent practicable, domestic commodities or products for the NSLP. There are limited exceptions which permit the purchase of non-domestic products in circumstances when using domestic products is truly not practicable. If an SFA uses an exception, there is no requirement to request a waiver to purchase a foreign product or commodity, but the SFA must keep documentation justifying the exception.)

USDA may not grant a waiver for an SFA to purchase foreign commodities or products unless: (1) the commodities or products are not produced or manufactured domestically in sufficient amounts or of satisfactory quality, (2) the domestic commodities or products would be significantly higher in price than foreign commodities or products, and (3) the SFA agrees to make the waiver publicly available on its website and meet other specified notification requirements.