zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Retirement Security Act of 2015

 Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) prescribe final regulations to permit employers to participate in multiple employer pension benefit plans, (2) promulgate regulations or other guidance to simplify and clarify rules relating to the timing of participant notices required under tax-preferred pension plans and the automatic escalation rules, and (3) modify the 1040EZ tax return form to allow taxpayers to claim the tax credit for retirement savings (saver's credit) on such form.

Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to employer pension benefit plans, to: (1) allow employers to maintain a tax-exempt multiple employer pension benefit plan even if the employers sponsoring the plan share no common interest, (2) modify requirements for secure deferral arrangements with respect to nondiscrimination and employer matching contributions, and (3) allow employers with not more than 100 employees a business-related tax credit to cover increased matching contributions required by this Act.

Date: 2015-01-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Foreign Earnings Reinvestment Act 

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend the election allowed to a domestic corporation to deduct current and accumulated dividends received from a controlled foreign corporation to the corporation's last taxable year beginning before the enactment of this Act or the first taxable year which begins during the one-year period beginning on such enactment date, (2) reduce tax rates on foreign earnings of domestic corporations that reinvest such earnings in the United States and that expand their payrolls over 2014 levels, and (3) increase the taxable income of domestic corporations that fail to maintain employment levels in the 23-month period after receiving a reduction in tax rates under this Act.

Date: 2015-02-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Encouraging Employee Ownership Act

Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise regulations to require an issuer to furnish investors with additional specified disclosures regarding compensatory benefit plans if the aggregate sales price or amount of securities sold during any consecutive 12-month period exceeds $10 million (currently $5 million), indexed for inflation every five years.

Date: 2015-02-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Stop Illegal Insider Trading Act 

This bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 governing manipulative and deceptive devices to make it unlawful for any person to: (1) purchase, sell, or cause the purchase or sale of any security on the basis of material information that the person knows or has reason to know is not publicly available; or (2) knowingly or recklessly communicate material information that the person knows or has reason to know is not publicly available to any other person under circumstances in which it is reasonably foreseeable that the communication is likely to result in a violation of this prohibition.

Excludes from the definition of "not publicly available" any information a person has developed independently from publicly available sources.

 The Securities and Exchange Commission is permitted to exempt, by rule, any person, transaction, communication, or any class of persons, transactions, or communications from the prohibitions of this Act, if it determines that the exemption is necessary or appropriate in the public interest and consistent with the protection of investors.

Date: 2015-03-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Amends the Commodity Exchange Act and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the treatment of affiliate transactions that may be exempt from clearing requirements to authorize such an exemption only if the affiliate enters into the swap to hedge or mitigate the commercial risk of the person that is not a financial entity (as under current law), provided that an appropriate credit support measure or other mechanism must be used if the hedge or mitigation of commercial risk is addressed by entering into a swap with either: (1) a swap dealer or major swap participant, or (2) a security-based swap with a security-based swap dealer or major security-based swap participant.

Date: 2015-03-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Real Estate Investment and Jobs Act of 2015 

(Sec. 2) This section increases from 5% to 10% the stock ownership threshold in a real estate investment trust (REIT) for exempting such stock as a U.S. real property interest on disposition.

(Sec. 3) This section provides for an increase from 10% to 15% of the rate of withholding of tax on dispositions of U.S. real property interests.

(Sec. 4) This section requires any corporation that is a U.S. real property holding company during a specified period to disclose such status to the Internal Revenue Service, the corporation's shareholders, and the public. The corporation is subject to penalties for failure to make such a disclosure.

(Sec. 5) This section requires a broker to deduct and withhold a tax equal to 15% of the amount realized on the disposition of stock of a U.S. real property holding company by a foreign person.

(Sec. 6) This provision exempts regulated investment companies (RICs) and REITs from tax rules governing the treatment of stock of a domestic corporation as a U.S. real property holding company.

(Sec. 7) This section provides that neither RICs nor REITs shall not be treated as domestic corporations for purposes of determining whether dividends from a foreign corporation are eligible for the tax deduction for the U.S-sourced portion of such dividends.

(Sec. 8) This section increases from 30% to 35% the rate of the continuous levy on payments made after 180 days after the enactment of this Act to Medicare providers and suppliers for unpaid taxes.

Date: 2015-04-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Helping Angels Lead Our Startups Act or the HALOS Act

 Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to amend Regulation D (governing the limited offer and sale of securities without registration under the Securities Act of 1933) to make the prohibition against general solicitation or general advertising inapplicable to events with specified kinds of sponsors (including angel investor groups not connected to broker-dealers or investment advisers) where:

 presentations or communications are made by or on behalf of an issuer, the advertising does not refer to any specific offering of securities by the issuer, the sponsor does not engage in certain activities (such as offering investment recommendations or advice to attendees), and no specific information regarding a securities offering is communicated (other than that the issuer is in the process of offering or planning to offer securities, including the type and amount of securities being offered).

Date: 2015-04-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act of 2015

 Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to exempt from its registration requirements certain merger and acquisition brokers and associated persons.

Denies such registration exemption, however, to brokers who: (1) receive, hold, transmit, or have custody of any funds or securities to be exchanged by parties to a transfer of ownership of an eligible privately held company; (2) engage on behalf of an issuer in a public offering of securities that are either subject to mandatory registration, or with respect to which the issuer must file periodic information, documents, and reports; (3) engage on behalf of any party in a transaction involving a public shell company; or (4) are subject to suspension or revocation of registration, or to certain statutory disqualifications, or to certain final orders.

Prohibits this Act from being construed to limit any other authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission to exempt any person, or any class of persons, from any provision of this Act, including any related rule or regulation.

Date: 2015-04-20
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Move America Act of 2015

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the issuance of Move America Bonds as tax-exempt private facility bonds and describes a Move America Bond as a bond issued as part of an issuance that requires 95% or more of its net proceeds to be used for infrastructure projects, including: (1) airports; (2) docks and wharves; (3) mass commuting facilities; (4) railroads; (5) any surface transportation project eligible for federal assistance, a project for an international bridge or tunnel, or a facility for the transfer of freight from truck to rail or rail to truck; (6) flood diversions; or (7) inland waterways.

The bill also allows a tax credit for 10% of the value of a Move America credit certificate that is issued to a taxpayer by a state or project sponsor for infrastructure investment.

Date: 2015-05-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2015

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend to all domestic corporations, including S corporations, provisions allowing deferral of tax on gain from the sale of employer securities to an S corporation-sponsored employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

Directs the Department of the Treasury to establish the S Corporation Employee Ownership Assistance Office to foster increased employee ownership of S corporations.

Amends the Small Business Act to define "ESOP business concern" and allow such a concern to continue to qualify for loans, preferences, and other programs under such Act.

Date: 2015-05-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Inclusive Prosperity Act of 2015

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) impose an excise tax on the transfer of ownership in certain securities (covered transaction), including any share of stock in a corporation, any partnership or beneficial interest in a partnership or trust, any note, bond, debenture, or other evidence of indebtedness (excluding tax-exempt municipal bonds), or derivative financial instruments; (2) impose a penalty on taxpayers who fail to include a covered transaction on their tax return or information statement; and (3) allow an individual taxpayer whose modified adjusted gross income does not exceed $50,000 ($75,000 for married taxpayers filing joint returns) a tax credit for the amount of tax paid on covered transactions.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Bolstering Our Nation's Deficient Structures Act of 2015 or the BONDS Act 

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to build America bonds, to: (1) make permanent the issuance authority for such bonds and the authority for payments to bond issuers, (2) make phased reductions in the credit percentage to bondholders and in the percentage of payments to issuers of such bonds, (3) make federal wage rate and other grant requirements applicable to such bonds, (4) allow refundings of currently-issued bonds, and (5) allow the use of such bonds to fund capital expenditures for levees and flood control projects.

Provides for an increase in payments to issuers of build America bonds to compensate for reductions in the amount of such payments due to sequestration.

Date: 2015-06-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
This bill amends the Commodity Exchange Act to declare that any rules or regulations requiring a futures commission merchant (FCM) to maintain a residual interest in accounts held for the benefit of customers in amounts at least sufficient to exceed the sum of all the customers' uncollected margin deficits shall require an FCM to meet its residual interest requirement as of the end of each business day calculated as of the close of business on the previous business day.

The bill repeals the prerequisite to sharing by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with a specified entity of information on swaps cleared by derivatives clearing organizations that the entity agree to indemnify the CFTC for any expenses arising from litigation relating to that information.

The bill also: repeals a similar prerequisite for information-sharing by a swap data repository, and makes a similar and conforming amendment to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with respect to a securities-based swap data repository. States that this Act takes effect as if enacted as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act on July 21, 2010.

Date: 2015-06-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Carried Interest Fairness Act of 2015 

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) set forth a special rule for the inclusion in gross income of partnership interests transferred in connection with the performance of services, (2) treat as ordinary income the net capital gain with respect to an investment services partnership interest except to the extent such gain is attributable to a partner's qualified capital interest, (3) exempt income from investment services partnership interests from treatment as qualifying income of a publicly traded partnership, (4) exempt certain family partnerships from the application of this Act; (5) increase the penalty for underpayments of tax resulting from failure to treat income from an investment services partnership interest as ordinary income, and (6) include income and loss from an investment services partnership interest for purposes of determining net earnings from self-employment and applicable self-employment taxes.

Defines "investment services partnership interest" as any interest in a partnership held by a person who provides services to a partnership by: (1) advising the partnership about investing in, purchasing, or selling specified assets; (2) managing, acquiring, or disposing of specified assets; or (3) arranging financing with respect to acquiring specified assets.

Date: 2015-06-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Stronger Enforcement of Civil Penalties Act of 2015

 Amends the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to increase the money penalties in administrative and civil actions involving securities laws violations.

Prescribes a fourth tier penalty of triple monetary penalties for noncompliance with certain enforcement actions if the violator, within the five-year period preceding the prohibited act, was criminally convicted for securities fraud or became subject to a judgment or order imposing monetary, equitable, or administrative relief in any Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) action alleging fraud by such violator.

Applies the treatment as a separate offense each day that a violation of an SEC cease-and-desist order is committed through continuing noncompliance to violation of any action to enforce a federal court injunction or certain SEC orders that bar, suspend, place limitations on the activities or functions of, or prohibit the activities of, a person.

Date: 2015-07-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Consumer Financial Choice and Capital Markets Protection Act of 2015

This bill amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to authorize any open-end investment company to elect, in its registration statement, to be a money market fund and to compute the current price per share, for purposes of distribution or redemption and repurchase, of any redeemable security issued by the company using the amortized cost method of valuation or the penny-rounding method of pricing, regardless of whether its shareholders are limited to natural persons, if:

 the company's objective is the generation of income and preservation of capital through investment in short-term, high-quality debt securities; the company elects to maintain a stable net asset value per share or stable price per share, by virtue of such methods, and the board of directors of the company has determined in good faith that it is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders to do so and that the money market fund will continue to use such method(s) only as long as the board believes that the resulting share price fairly reflects the market-based net asset value per share of the company; and the company agrees to comply with such quality, maturity, diversification, and liquidity requirements as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prescribes as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors, if consistent with this Act. The bill prohibits covered federal assistance from being provided directly to any money market fund. The bill defines: (1) "covered federal assistance " as federal assistance used for the purpose of making any loan to, or purchasing any stock, equity interest, or debt obligation of, any money market fund, guaranteeing any loan or debt issuance of any money market fund, or entering into any assistance arrangement, loss sharing, or profit sharing with any money market fund; and (2) "federal assistance" as insurance or guarantees by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, transactions involving the Secretary of the Treasury, or the use of any advances from any Federal Reserve credit facility or discount window that is not part of a program or facility with broad-based eligibility established in unusual or exigent circumstances.

No principal underwriter of a redeemable security issued by a money market fund nor any dealer shall offer or sell any such security to any person unless the prospectus of the money market fund and any advertising or sales literature for such fund prominently discloses such prohibition against direct covered federal assistance.

 A company that elects to be a money market fund shall remain subject to the provisions of this Act and SEC rules and regulations that would otherwise apply to a registered open-end company, if consistent with this Act.

Date: 2015-07-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent a recognition period of 5 years (currently, 10 years) of the built-in gains of an S corporation beginning on the date that such corporation qualifies as an S corporation.

Date: 2015-07-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
State Licensing Efficiency Act of 2015

This bill amends the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 to direct the Attorney General to provide appropriate state officials responsible for regulating financial service providers (in addition to state officials responsible for regulating state-licensed loan originators) with access to criminal history information to the extent that criminal history background checks are required under state law for the licensing of such parties.

Date: 2015-08-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to establish a 10-year statute of limitations governing an action or proceeding by the Securities and Exchange Commission for a civil monetary penalty.

Tolls this statute of limitations any time an alleged violator is either absent from the United States or has no reasonably ascertainable place of abode or work within it.

Date: 2015-08-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Retail Investor Protection Act

 This bill prohibits the Secretary of Labor from prescribing any regulation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) defining the circumstances under which an individual shall be considered a fiduciary until 60 days after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issues a final rule governing standards of conduct for brokers and dealers under specified law.

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is amended to prohibit the SEC from promulgating a rule establishing an investment adviser standard of conduct as the standard of conduct of brokers and dealers before it reports to certain congressional committees whether:

 retail investors and other customers are being harmed by brokers or dealers operating under different standards of conduct than those applicable to investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940; alternative remedies will reduce any confusion or harm to retail investors due to brokers or dealers operating under such different standards of conduct; adoption of a uniform fiduciary standard of conduct for brokers, dealers, and investment advisers would adversely impact their commissions and the availability of proprietary products offered by brokers and dealers, as well as the ability of brokers and dealers to engage in principal transactions with customers; and adoption of a uniform fiduciary standard of conduct for brokers or dealers and investment advisers would adversely impact retail investor access to personalized, cost-effective investment advice and recommendations. The SEC shall: (1) publish in the Federal Register formal findings that such rule would reduce retail customer confusion or harm due to different standards of conduct applicable to brokers, dealers, and investment advisers; and (2) consider, when proposing rules, the differences in the registration, supervision, and examination requirements applicable to brokers, dealers, and investment advisers.

Date: 2016-02-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Whistleblower Augmented Reward and Nonretaliation Act of 2016 or the WARN Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Financial Institutions Anti-Fraud Enforcement Act of 1990 governing the rights of a private person (declarant) who files a declaration of a violation giving rise to a federal action for civil penalties with respect to fraud crimes involving federally insured financial institutions.

The bill revises the minimum and maximum percentage of a declarant's entitlement to share in the recovery by the United States from a judgment, order, or settlement that was based in whole or in part on the information contained in a valid declaration, and allows a 30-day window in which to appeal any award determination.

The bill prescribes specified relief in a civil action intended to protect declarants from employer reprisals including reinstatement with the same seniority status.

The Department of Justice shall require employers to provide education and training to employees regarding declarant rights and remedies.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Act is amended to extend similar protections to employees of banking agencies, together with the same minimum and maximum rewards for information leading to recoveries or civil penalties.

Both the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Commodity Exchange Act are amended to: (1) remove the definition of whistleblower, and (2) prohibit the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commissions) from denying eligibility for an award if the information basic to the award is submitted within 90 days after obtaining knowledge of the disclosed misconduct.

The Commissions shall presume that reports are timely and shall not reduce an award due to delay, unless disclosure was deliberately postponed either because of culpability, interference with internal investigative processes, or attempts at self-enrichment.

The prohibition against employer retaliation shall cover acts by the whistleblower in: (1) objecting to, or refusing to participate in, any activity, policy, practice which the whistleblower reasonably believed to be in violation of Commission-enforceable law, rule, order, standard, or prohibition; or (2) providing information relating to any violation within Commission jurisdiction.

Relief for an individual prevailing in an enforcement action shall include compensatory damages and up to $250,000 in punitive damages.

The bill prohibits employers from: (1) taking specified actions to impede an individual who undertakes a protected activity, or (2) engaging in any other discrimination that would chill the exercise of a protected activity.

Date: 2016-02-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Brokaw Act

This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to amend specified regulations to reflect a revision the bill makes to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 reducing from 10 to 2 business days the deadline for disclosing to the SEC any acquisition of a direct or indirect short interest in an equity security of a certain kind of voting class that results in a direct or indirect short interest representing more than 5% of that class.

The mandatory disclosures of short interests shall apply to:

 any class of equity security which must be registered, certain equity securities of an insurance company, and any equity security issued by a closed-end investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The bill deems a person as having a "short interest in a security" if the person has the opportunity, either directly or indirectly, to profit from, or share in any profit derived from any decrease in the value of the security (including a derivative instrument, or a performance-related fee).

The bill deems a person to have a short interest in a security if the person creates or uses certain instruments, including a trust, proxy, power of attorney, pooling arrangement, or any other contract, arrangement, or device, to divest the person of a short interest in a security or to prevent the vesting of a short interest as part of a plan to evade the reporting requirements of the Act.

The bill declares that, with specified exceptions, in calculating the number of shares in which a person has a short interest, regardless of the form of the short interest, all securities of the same class shall be aggregated.

Date: 2016-03-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Fair Access to Investment Research Act of 2016

This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to revise a specified regulation to create a safe harbor for certain publications or distributions of research reports by brokers or dealers distributing securities.

The revised regulation shall declare that a published or distributed investment fund research report shall not be deemed to constitute an offer for sale or an offer to sell a security that is the subject of the offering pursuant to an effective registration statement, even if the broker or dealer is participating or will participate in the registered offering of the covered investment fund's securities.

The covered investment fund research report shall indeed be deemed to satisfy the regulation's requirements as well as those of any self-regulatory organization.

The SEC shall not impose specified conditions and requirements when implementing the safe harbor.

Until the SEC has adopted such safe harbor revisions, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has revised a related rule, a covered investment fund shall be deemed to be a security listed on a national securities exchange that is not subject to a certain filing requirement of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Date: 2016-06-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Derivatives Oversight and Taxpayer Protection Act

This bill amends the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) to require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to collect fees to recover the costs of its regulatory services and its annual appropriation from Congress.

The bill increases penalties for CEA violations, removes the Department of the Treasury's authority to exempt foreign exchange swaps or forwards from CFTC regulation, and requires collection of margin on inter-affiliate swaps.

Swaps requirements enacted by the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010 that ordinarily do not apply to activities outside the United States are made applicable to swaps transactions in which a financial entity domiciled or organized in the United States bears swaps-related risks. But the CFTC may allow a swaps transaction involving a subsidiary entity that is majority owned or controlled by a financial entity domiciled or organized in the United States to be conducted under a foreign jurisdiction's rules and oversight if the foreign rules are no less stringent than U.S. rules.

The CFTC must: (1) make data concerning swap data repository registrations available to other financial regulatory agencies, and (2) revoke the license of swap dealers that the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission have found are not providing accurate data in standardized formats that allow aggregated analysis by regulators.

The bill repeals a safe harbor provision under federal bankruptcy law that protects a contractual right to liquidate the amount due on a swap agreement because of a debtor's bankruptcy case. The removal of this safe harbor subjects swap agreements to the regular bankruptcy procedures that automatically stay claims against a debtor.

The bill amends the Financial Stability Act of 2010 to require Federal Reserve Board (FRB) risk-based capital requirements and leverage limits for nonbank financial companies supervised by the FRB and bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more to include the fair value and potential future exposure of derivatives exposures, without recognizing the benefits of netting arrangements. Exceptions are provided for certain formal netting agreements with counterparties or with clearing organizations that meet financial standards approved by the FRB and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

The CFTC, the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, and the FRB must report on the ability of clearinghouses to endure systemic stress events.

Date: 2016-06-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Commodity Checkoff Program Improvement Act of 2016 

This bill establishes restrictions and requirements for checkoff programs, which are programs overseen by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to promote and provide research and information for a particular agricultural commodity without reference to specific producers or brands.

The bill prohibits boards established to carry out a checkoff program or a USDA order issued under a checkoff program from entering into a contract or agreement to carry out program activities with a party that engages in activities to influence any government policy or action that relates to agriculture.

The bill also prohibits a board or its employees or agents acting in their official capacity from engaging in: (1) any act that involves a conflict of interest; and (2) any anticompetitive activity, unfair or deceptive act or practice, or any act that may be disparaging to another agricultural commodity or product.

The board must meet specified requirements regarding the publication of budgets and disbursements of funds.

The USDA Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office must conduct specified audits regarding checkoff programs.

Date: 2016-07-13
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Crowdfunding Enhancement Act

This bill amends the Securities Act of 1933 to allow a crowdfunding issuer to sell shares through a crowdfunding vehicle.

(Crowdfunding is a method of capital formation in which groups of people pool money, typically composed of small individual contributions, and often via Internet platforms, either to invest in a company or to support an effort by others to accomplish a specific goal.)

A "crowdfunding vehicle" is a company that:

 has purposes limited to acquiring, holding, and disposing securities issued by a single company in one or more transactions and made pursuant to crowdfunding exemption transaction requirements; issues only one class of securities; receives no compensation for such acquisition, holding, or disposition of securities; is a co-issuer with the company whose securities it holds; and meets specified requirements related to disclosure obligations and the use of investment advisers. The bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the conditions upon which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shall exempt securities issued in crowdfunding transactions from SEC registration requirements.

 Under current law, holders of crowdfunded shares do not count toward the shareholder threshold beyond which an issuer is required to register its securities with the SEC, provided that the issuer: (1) is current in its annual reporting obligations, (2) retains the services of a registered transfer agent, and (3) has less than $25 million in assets. The bill maintains this exemption but removes and replaces the conditions upon which it applies. Specifically, holders of crowdfunded shares shall not count toward the shareholder threshold if the issuer has: (1) a public float of less than $75 million, and (2) annual revenues of less than $50 million.

Date: 2016-09-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Securities and Exchange Commission Overpayment Credit Act

This bill instructs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offset, by a prescribed amount, future fees and assessments due by a national securities exchange or a national securities association that has paid fees and assessments to the SEC in an amount exceeding the amount of transaction fees required under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 if, within 10 years of paying such excess amount, the exchange or association informs the SEC about payment of that amount.

Date: 2016-09-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefields Commemorative Coin Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Authorizes the President to award a gold medal to each of the seven crew members who perished aboard the space shuttle Columbia: Rick D. Husband; Michael P. Anderson; Laurel Clark; David M. Brown; William C. McCool; Kapana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon.

Date: 2007-01-05
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
District of Columbia and United States Territories Circulating Quarter Dollar Program Act - (Sec. 2) Requires quarter dollar coins issued during 2009 to have designs on the reverse side which are emblematic of the District of Columbia and the territories. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to issue during 2009 redesigned quarter dollars commemorating the District of Columbia and the U.S. Territories, including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Requires the design on the reverse side of each quarter dollar issued during 2009 to be emblematic of one of the following: The District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Prohibits inclusion in the design of any quarter dollar any head and shoulders portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, including any portrait of a living person. Sets forth a timing and order of issuance in equal sequential intervals.

Date: 2007-01-10
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Alice Paul Women's Suffrage Congressional Gold Medal Act - Requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the presentation of a congressional gold medal in commemoration of Alice Paul, to recognize her role in the women's suffrage movement and in advancing equal rights for women. Requires that the medal be presented jointly to representatives of the Alice Paul Institute and the Sewall-Belmont House, to be shared equally and displayed as appropriate. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell duplicates in bronze of such medal. Requires proceeds from the sale of such medals to be deposited into the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

Date: 2007-01-11
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Requires the metal content of the Medal of Honor, awarded by the President to members of the Armed Forces and Coast Guard, to be 90 percent gold and ten percent alloy.

Date: 2007-01-12
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Shirley Chisholm Congressional Gold Medal Act - Authorizes the posthumous award of a congressional gold medal in commemoration of Shirley Chisholm, in recognition of her activism, independence, and ground-breaking achievements in politics, her election as the first African-American woman in Congress, and her campaign to be the first African-American to gain the nomination of a major political party for President of the United States.

Date: 2007-01-22
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $1 silver coins emblematic of the service of our disabled veterans who, having survived the ordeal of war, made enormous personal sacrifices defending the principles of our democracy. Expresses the sense of Congress that, to the greatest extent possible, the coins should be struck at the U.S. Mint at West Point, New York. Limits the period for coin issuance to the calendar year beginning on January 1, 2010. Imposes a $10 surcharge per coin, to be distributed to the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation for the purpose of establishing an endowment to support the construction of American Veterans' Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C. Prohibits a surcharge with respect to the issuance under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, at the time of issuance, it would result in more than the statuory maximum of two commemorative coin programs per year.

Date: 2007-01-23
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Edward William Brooke III Congressional Gold Medal Act - Awards a congressional gold medal to Edward William Brooke III, the first African American elected by popular vote to the U.S. Senate, in recognition of his unprecedented and enduring service to our Nation.

Date: 2007-02-12
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Michael Ellis DeBakey, M.D. (who performed the first successful coronary bypass, pioneered the field of telemedicine, was elected the first President of Baylor College of Medicine, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction and the National Medal of Science) in recognition of his many outstanding contributions to the nation.

Date: 2007-02-16
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Provides for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Tiger Woods in recognition of his service to the nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship and in breaking barriers with grace and dignity by showing that golf is a sport for all people.

Date: 2007-03-07
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Stevie Wonder Congressional Gold Medal Act - Provides for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Stevie Wonder in recognition of his ground-breaking musical achievements, activism, and contributions to the music industry.

Date: 2007-03-19
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal in recognition of Constantino Brumidi's contributions to the Nation as a designer and decorator of the U.S. Capitol. Requires the Architect of the Capitol to arrange for the gold medal to be displayed in the Capitol Visitor Center as part of an exhibit honoring Constantino Brumidi.

Date: 2007-03-20
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Model T Ford Automobile Commemorative Coin Act - Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Model T Ford Automobile, up to 500,000 $1 coins emblematic of the Model T Ford and the assembly line. Subjects coin sales to a surcharge of $10 per coin. Requires specified distributions of surcharges to: (1) the Automobile National Heritage Area Partnership Inc. for creating an endowment for national Model T educational programs; and (2) the Edison Institute (also known as "The Henry Ford"), in Dearborn, Michigan, a National Historic Landmark, for creating an endowment for educational programs associated with the Model T Ford Automobile.

Date: 2007-03-21
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design in honor of the passengers and crew members, collectively, on board United Airlines Flight 93 in recognition of their heroic service to the Nation. Requires the gold medal, after such award, to be given to the Flight 93 National Memorial located in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, in Pennsylvania, to be displayed as appropriate and made available for research.

Date: 2007-03-23
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
William H. Frist Gift of Life Congressional Medal Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to design and strike a bronze medal to commemorate organ donors and their families. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to direct the entity holding the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to contract to establish an application procedure and determine eligibility. Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services or the Network contractor to provide duplicates of the medal to any recipient. Allows the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement with the Network contractor to collect funds to offset expenditures relating to the issuance of medals, which the Secretary shall deposit in the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund.

Date: 2007-03-29
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation on behalf of Congress of a gold medal of appropriate design to Dr. Muhammad Yunus in recognition of his many enduring contributions to the fight against global poverty.

Date: 2007-03-29
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Catherine Skivers Currency for All Act - Amends the Federal Reserve Act to require each federal reserve note whose denomination is $50 or less to be trimmed in a prescribed manner so as to make the denomination recognizable to an individual who is blind.

Date: 2007-04-18
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Civil Rights Act of 1964 Commemorative Coin Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue, during 2014, up to 350,000 one-dollar coins designed to be emblematic of the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its contribution to civil rights in America. Permits the Secretary to initiate sales of such coins, without issuance, before 2014. Terminates such minting authority after December 31, 2014. Requires sales to include a $10 surcharge per coin, which shall be paid to the United Negro College Fund. Subjects the Fund to certain federal audit requirements and a specified issuance limitation.

Date: 2007-04-25
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Mother's Day Centennial Commemorative Coin Act - Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 400,000 $1 coins emblematic of the 100th anniversary of President Wilson's proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. Authorizes the Secretary to issue such coins beginning January 1, 2014, except that the Secretary may initiate sales of such coins, without issuance, before such date.Terminates such minting authority after December 31, 2014. Requires coin sales to include a $10 surcharge per coin, with distribution of such surcharges to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Osteoporosis Foundation for the purpose of furthering research. Prohibits any surcharge if the coin's issuance would cause the number of commemorative coin programs issued during the year to exceed the annual two commemorative coin program issuance limitation.

Date: 2007-05-10
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations
Native American $1 Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $1 coins in commemoration of Native Americans and important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the development and history of the United States.Requires, effective beginning January 1, 2008, that such coins have designs: (1) on the obverse bearing the " Sacagawea design;" and (2) on the reverse bearing images celebrating important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the history and development of the United States.States that, if the date of the enactment of this Act is after August 25, 2007, such design shall be implemented beginning January 1, 2009. Requires edge-incusing of the inscriptions "E Pluribus Unum" and "In God We Trust" in a manner that preserves the distinctive coin edge so that its denomination is readily discernible, including by individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Requires the number of $1 coins minted and issued in a year with the Sacagawea-design on the obverse to be not less than 20% of the total number of $1 coins minted and issued in such year.Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to carry out an aggressive, cost-effective, continuing campaign to encourage commercial enterprises to accept and dispense $1 coins that have the so-called "Sacagawea design."

Date: 2007-05-17
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
American Bald Eagle Commemorative Coin Program Amendments of 2007 - Amends the American Bald Eagle Recovery and National Emblem Commemorative Coin Act to revise the distribution of surcharges from coin sales as follows: (1) 1/3 to the American Eagle Foundation of Tennessee in the United States to further its works; (2) 1/3 to the American Bald Eagle Foundation of Haines, Alaska; and (3) 1/3 to the Peregrine Fund of Boise, Idaho, to further its works.

Date: 2007-05-17
Topic: Government Operations (Currency)
Subject: Commemorations