zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Grace Period Restoration Act of 2015

Amends federal patent law to revise the one-year grace period under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) that prohibits certain pre-filing disclosures made during the year preceding the effective filing date of a claimed invention from being considered prior art that would make the claim ineligible for a patent based on lack of novelty or obvious subject matter grounds. (A disclosure that is prior art generally means that a patent cannot be issued for a claimed invention because the invention was already patented, described in a printed publication, in public use, on sale, available to the public, or described in an issued patent or a previously filed application.)

Prohibits an inventor's or any other person's pre-filing disclosure from barring the patentability of certain claims based on lack of novelty or obvious subject matter grounds if, before such disclosure and within the one-year period before the filing date, the claimed invention was already publicly disclosed in a printed publication by the inventor, a joint inventor, or another who obtained the claimed invention from the inventor or a joint inventor. Allows an inventor who discloses an invention in a printed publication in such a manner in the year before filing a patent claim for the invention to remain entitled to the patent, regardless of any subsequent disclosures by third parties.

Excludes certain disclosures from being considered prior art under the revised grace period.

Requires the amendments made by this Act to take effect as if enacted as part of the AIA.

Date: 2015-04-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Innovation Protection Act

Establishes in the Treasury the United States Patent and Trademark Office Public Enterprise Fund (Public Enterprise Fund) to be used as a revolving fund by the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) without fiscal year limitation.

Requires to be credited to or deposited in the Public Enterprise Fund: (1) appropriations for defraying the costs of USPTO activities; (2) fees collected under federal patent and trademark laws; and (3) any unobligated balances remaining in the Patent and Trademark Office Appropriation Account and in the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund. (Thus, replaces the Patent and Trademark Office Appropriation Account, eliminates the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund, and provides a source of permanent funding for the USPTO.)

Requires fees collected by the Director to remain available to the Director until expended.

Makes the Public Enterprise Fund available to cover: (1) ordinary and reasonable administrative, operating, and other expenses incurred by the Director for the continued operation of USPTO services, programs, activities, and duties relating to patents and trademarks; and (2) expenses incurred pursuant to obligations, representations, or other commitments of the USPTO.

Requires the Director, on an annual basis, to: (1) report to Congress with operation and spending plans, including financial details and staff levels broken down by each major activity; (2) provide for an independent audit of USPTO financial statements; and (3) submit a budget to the President.

Date: 2015-04-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
American Royalties Too Act of 2015

Expands copyright owners' exclusive rights, in the case of a work of visual art, to include the right to collect or authorize the collection of a royalty if the work is sold by a person other than the author for at least $5,000 in an auction.

Defines "auction" as a public sale of visual art to the highest bidder run by an entity that sold at least $1 million of works of visual art during the previous year.

Revises the term "work of visual art" to make requirements for photographs consistent with requirements for paintings, drawings, and prints. (Currently, a photograph must be a still photographic image produced for exhibition purposes only.)

Limits the amount of such a royalty to the lesser of: (1) 5% of the purchase price; or (2) $35,000, subject to cost-of-living adjustments.

Directs entities conducting such auctions to collect and pay the royalties to a visual artists' copyright collecting society. Requires the collecting society, at least four times each year, to distribute the appropriate royalties (minus administrative expenses) to authors or successor copyright owners.

Requires an author of a work of visual art, in order to be eligible to receive such a royalty, to: (1) be a citizen of, or domiciled in, the United States or a country that provides resale royalty rights; or (2) have first created the work in the United States or a country that provides such royalty rights.

Establishes a copyright infringement offense for the failure to pay such a royalty. Subjects infringers to: (1) statutory damages, and (2) liability for the full royalty.

Prohibits the sale, assignment, or waiver of the right to collect such a royalty, subject to exceptions for works made for hire and transfers of copyright ownership.

Directs the Register of Copyrights to issue regulations governing visual artists' copyright collecting societies.

Date: 2015-04-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Breaking Down Barriers to Innovation Act of 2015

Revises procedures established under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for the Librarian of Congress to conduct an administrative rulemaking every three years to determine whether to exempt certain noninfringing uses of a copyrighted work from the statutory prohibition on circumventing a technological measure controlling access to a particular class of work.

Requires the Librarian, when evaluating whether to allow an administrative exemption, to consider the impact of the circumvention prohibition on: (1) any reduction in the availability for use of copyrighted works; (2) repairs, recycling, or other fair uses when applied to copyrighted works, as well as access to information not subject to copyright protection; (3) accessibility of works and technologies for persons with disabilities; and (4) security research.

Prohibits the Librarian from placing the burden of proof on the proponent of an exemption. Requires consideration of the totality of the evidence.

Allows the Librarian to make administrative exemption determinations through rulemaking proceedings outside of the three-year review process if it is substantially likely that users of a copyrighted work are, or are likely to be in the succeeding three-year period, adversely affected by virtue of the prohibition in their ability to make noninfringing uses.

Requires the Librarian to automatically renew for an ensuing three-year period any exemptions granted under a rulemaking unless, as a result of changed circumstances, it is unlikely that users are adversely affected by the prohibition.

Establishes a presumption that users are likely to be adversely affected if a technological measure inhibits noninfringing uses that improve accessibility of works or technologies for persons with disabilities.

Expands existing statutory exceptions by removing certain restrictions and conditions that apply to permissible circumventions for:

 reverse engineering to achieve interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs; encryption research on copies, phonorecords, performances, or displays of a published work; activities to prevent the collection or dissemination of personally identifying information about a natural person; or authorized security testing on computer systems or networks.

Date: 2015-04-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Technological Innovation through Modernizing Enforcement Act or the TIME Act

This bill amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to require any consent order entered into by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to include a termination clause providing for the order to expire not later than eight years after it is entered into, unless it relates to alleged fraud by an entity subject to the order and requires a longer time limit. In determining the time limit, the FTC must consider: (1) the impact of technological progress on the order's continuing relevance; and (2) whether an entity, without a consent order beyond eight years, would engage in activities that violate laws against unfair methods of competition, or against unfair or deceptive acts or practices, in or affecting commerce.

A consent order longer than five years that is unrelated to alleged fraud by the entity must include a clause providing for the FTC to review the order five years after it is entered into. The bill also allows entities subject to a consent order that is unrelated to alleged fraud and has been effective for at least five years to petition the FTC to terminate the order. If the FTC determines that such a consent order no longer serves its purposes, the FTC shall terminate the order.

Date: 2016-04-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Statement on Unfairness Reinforcement and Emphasis Act or the SURE Act

This bill amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to provide additional factors for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to consider before it may declare acts or practices to be unlawful on the ground that they are unfair and likely to cause substantial injury to consumers.

Trivial or merely speculative injury or harm must be considered unlikely to cause substantial injury. But the FTC may consider substantial: (1) an injury that does small harm to a large number of people, or (2) a significant risk of concrete harm.

In determining the likelihood of substantial injury to consumers, the FTC must consider whether the act or practice results in: (1) monetary harm, (2) unwarranted health or safety risks, or (3) only emotional or other more subjective harm.

The FTC must also find an act or practice to be injurious in its net effects before it may be considered unfair. In determining the net effects, the FTC must consider: (1) remedy costs; and (2) burdens on society in general, such as increased paperwork or regulatory burdens or reduced incentives for innovation and capital formation.

The FTC may not second-guess consumer decisions, but may consider whether an act or practice unreasonably creates or takes advantage of an obstacle to the free exercise of consumer decisionmaking.

Date: 2016-04-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Freeing Responsible and Effective Exchanges Act or the FREE Act

This bill amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to permit a bipartisan majority of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioners to hold a nonpublic meeting to discuss official business if: (1) no votes or actions are taken, (2) each person at the meeting is an FTC commissioner or employee, and (3) an attorney from the FTC's Office of General Counsel is present.

"Bipartisan majority" means a group of at least three commissioners that includes, for each political party of which any commissioner is a member, at least one commissioner who is a member of such political party and, if any commissioner has no political party affiliation, at least one unaffiliated commissioner.

Within two business days after such a nonpublic meeting, the FTC must disclose on its website: (1) a list of persons who attended such meeting; and (2) a summary of discussed matters, except for matters that are classified or otherwise exempt from disclosure.

Date: 2016-04-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Protecting Consumers in Commerce Act of 2016

This bill amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to authorize the Federal Trade Commission to regulate common carriers subject to the Communications Act of 1934.

Date: 2016-05-13
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
This bill amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to provide the Federal Trade Commission with enforcement authority against certain tax-exempt nonprofit charitable organizations.

Date: 2016-05-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Amends trademark registration criteria under the Trademark Act of 1946 to allow the United States, or any state, municipality, county, political subdivision, or other governmental authority in the United States, to register with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office a trademark that consists of, or comprises, its own flag, coat of arms, or other official insignia. (Currently, an applicant's trademark registration is subject to refusal if the mark consists of, or comprises, the flag or coat of arms or other insignia of the United States, or of any state or municipality, or of any foreign nation.)

Date: 2015-02-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act

Amends the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 to prohibit U.S. courts from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any assertion of rights by an individual (under current law, by a designated Cuban national) of a mark, trade name, or commercial name that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated by the Cuban government unless the original owner of such mark or name, or such owner's bona fide successor, has expressly consented. Applies such prohibition only if the individual asserting the rights knew or had reason to know at the time of acquiring the rights asserted that the mark or name was the same or substantially similar to the mark or name used in connection with the business or assets that were confiscated.

Date: 2015-03-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Law
Simon Wiesenthal Holocaust Education Assistance Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to educational organizations to carry out educational programs about the Holocaust.

Date: 2007-02-15
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Education
Expand and Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a nonrefundable tax credit to holders of school construction bonds. Sets forth requirements for issues of school construction bonds, including that: (1) 95% of the proceeds of such bonds must be used to construct new elementary and secondary school facilities and provide equipment for such schools; (2) local education agencies must require private business contributions of not less than 10% of the proceeds of an issue; and (3) bonds must be used for schools which meet specified criteria relating to curriculum, the alleviation of classroom overcrowding, and student-teacher ratios. Provides for a national school construction bond limitation of $400 million in 2008 and 2009.

Date: 2007-04-16
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Taxation
Every Student Counts Act - Requires states, local educational agencies (LEAs), and high schools annually to calculate and report, as part of the report cards required under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), the percentage of high school students: (1) graduating in four years and in five years with a regular high school diploma from each cohort graduating class; and (2) the percentage of students in each grade, except the graduating grade, prepared to advance to the next grade. Requires such data to be reported in the aggregate and disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, migrant status, English proficiency, and status as economically disadvantaged. Directs states that lack a statewide longitudinal data system with individual student identifiers to make certain interim graduation rate calculations, but requires all states to make the four and five-year adjusted cohort graduation rate calculations by 2012. Requires the use of such rates in determining the success of each high school and LEA in making adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards under the ESEA. Requires schools and LEAs whose four and five-year adjusted cohort graduation rates fall below 90% overall or for any low-income, minority, disabled, migrant, or limited English proficient student subgroup, to make specified yearly progress in improving such rates or be deemed as failing to make AYP.

Date: 2007-07-10
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Education
School Emergency Notification Deployment Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish competitively neutral rules to permit universal service support to public and nonprofit elementary and secondary schools to be used for a communications service or system that can be used by school administrators and other public officials to deliver emergency messages to students and their parents, faculty, and staff, and their designated emergency contacts, via messages carried over telecommunications and information services, including those transmitted by providers of commercial mobile service.

Date: 2008-04-15
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Pledge Language is English Declaration and Government Endorsement Act of 2008 - Prohibits state or local educational agencies from requiring or permitting the Pledge of Allegiance or national anthem to be recited or sung in any language other than English in any elementary or secondary school under their jurisdiction. Withholds federal funds from state or local educational agencies that violate such prohibition, unless the funds are specifically appropriated to such agencies after they have been found to be violating the prohibition. Establishes a private right of action for persons injured by violations of such prohibition.

Date: 2008-08-01
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Education
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require that a nonimmigrant foreign student seeking to enter the United States to study at a language training program enroll in a program recognized as accredited by the Secretary of Education. Provides for a specified three-year exception to such requirement.

Date: 2008-09-25
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Immigration
Simon Wiesenthal Holocaust Education Assistance Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to educational organizations to carry out educational programs about the Holocaust.

Date: 2007-03-22
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Education
Mentoring for All Act of 2009 - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to direct the Corporation for National and Community Service to award competitive, matching, three-year grants to nonpartisan, collaborative, public-private partnerships at the state and local level for efforts to grow and strengthen direct-service youth mentoring programs in all forms and settings in their service areas. Requires partnership grantees to use at least 80% of their grant for competitive subgrants to mentoring programs: (1) operated by or being created by, nonprofit organizations, schools, or local governments; or (2) operated by local collaboratives that each include at least two experienced youth mentoring organizations and at least one entity that provides volunteer mentors. Allows partnership grantees to give subgrant priority to collaboratives. Requires each partnership grantee to participate in a collaborative national network of mentoring partnerships. Directs the Corporation to award competitive, matching, three-year grants to entities or collaboratives of entities enabling the entities or collaboratives to: (1) build the necessary infrastructure to create a state mentoring partnership; or (2) implement national mentoring projects. Requires the Corporation to evaluate this Act's programs and provide training and technical assistance to grant fund recipients that is based on support from the national network of mentoring partnerships.

Date: 2009-02-25
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
National Foundation on Physical Fitness and Sports Establishment Act - Establishes the National Foundation on Physical Fitness and Sports as a charitable, nonprofit corporation to promote participation by private organizations in the activities of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Subjects any person who uses the Council's or Foundation's official seal or any trademark, trade name, sign, symbol, or insignia falsely representing association with, or authorization by, the Council or Foundation for the purpose of trade, to induce the sale of any goods or services, or to promote any theatrical exhibition, athletic performance, or competition without the Foundation's consent to a civil action for remedies provided in the Trademark Act of 1946. Allows the Foundation, in conjunction with the Council, to authorize contributors and suppliers of goods or services to use such trade name, trademark, seal, symbol, insignia, or emblem in advertising under specified conditions.

Date: 2009-12-15
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Sports and recreation
Open College Textbook Act of 2010 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive one-year grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs), professors from IHEs, and producers of open textbooks to create or update open textbooks, or adapt textbooks into open formats, for postsecondary coursework. (Open textbooks are defined as college textbooks or course materials in electronic format that are licensed under an open license, which is an irrevocable intellectual property license that grants the public the right to access, customize, and distribute copyrighted material.) Requires such textbooks to be posted on an easily accessible and interoperable website and made available to the public free of charge. Directs the Secretary to develop a peer review and evaluation process to ensure that these textbooks are of the highest quality, accurate in content, and meet or exceed market quality and accessibility standards. Requires all elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educational materials created through federal grants to be licensed under an open license, posted on an easily accessible and interoperable website, and made available to the public free of charge. Expresses the sense of Congress that IHEs should encourage professors to consider open textbooks within the generally accepted principles of academic freedom which give faculty the right and responsibility to select pedagogically appropriate coursework.

Date: 2010-02-02
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Education
Home School Opportunities Make Education Sound Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow all taxpayers, including taxpayers who do not itemize their deductions, a tax deduction for expenses relating to the home schooling of their children at the elementary or secondary school level.

Date: 2009-01-06
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Taxation
National Foundation on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition Establishment Act - Establishes the National Foundation on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition as a charitable, nonprofit corporation: (1) to develop, in conjunction with the Office of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, a list and description of activities which would further the purposes and functions outlined in Executive Order 13265 (established the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports) and with respect to which combined private and governmental efforts would be beneficial; (2) to promote private organization participation in, and private gifts to support, those activities; and (3) in consultation with such Office, to undertake and support activities to further the purposes and functions of such Executive Order. Prohibits the Foundation from accepting any federal funds.

Date: 2009-06-16
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Sports and recreation
National Guard Youth Challenge Enhancement Act - Amends the National Guard Youth Challenge Program (a training program to improve life skills and employment potential of civilian youth participants) to increase the authorized Department of Defense (DOD) share of expenses to 100% of operating costs for the first three years of a state program of the Program.

Date: 2010-03-18
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Healthy Media for Youth Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to nonprofit organizations to provide for the establishment, operation, coordination, and evaluation of programs to: (1) increase the media literacy of girls and boys, and (2) support the empowerment of girls or boys in a variety of ways. Permits giving priority to grant applicants providing non-federal matching funds. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and in coordination with the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, to review, synthesize, and conduct or support research on the role and impact of depictions of girls and women in the media on the psychological, sexual, physical, and interpersonal development of youth. Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to convene a task force, to be known as the National Task Force on Girls and Women in the Media, to develop voluntary steps and goals for promoting healthy and positive depictions of girls and women in the media for the benefit of all youth.

Date: 2010-09-28
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to educational organizations to carry out proposed or existing Holocaust education programs. Prohibits such grants from being used to supplant nonfederal funds the grantees would otherwise have used for Holocaust education programs.

Date: 2011-05-05
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Education
Lifelong Learning Accounts Act of 2011 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish tax-exempt lifelong learning accounts to pay certain educational expenses, including tuition, fees, books, supplies, and information technology devices required for the education of, or courses of instruction of, the account beneficiary; (2) allow individuals between ages 18 and 71 an income-based tax credit for cash contributions to their lifelong learning accounts; (3) exclude from employee gross income employer contributions to a lifelong learning account; and (4) allow employers a tax credit for contributions made to the lifelong learning accounts of their employees and for administrative costs associated with small employer lifelong learning accounts.

Date: 2011-05-12
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Taxation
Investing for Tomorrow's Schools Act of 2012 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into cooperative agreements with states to establish state and multistate infrastructure banks that make loans to local educational agencies, public libraries, and charter schools or their developers to construct or renovate public elementary or secondary schools and public libraries. Grants congressional consent to states for interstate compacts to establish multistate infrastructure banks. Directs the Secretary to make grants to such banks to provide initial capital for such loans. Requires states to contribute from nonfederal sources at least 25% of the amount of each federal capitalization grant made to the state and contributed to the bank. Lists types of projects eligible for such bank loans. Requires borrowers to use, to the maximum extent practicable, green construction or renovation practices that are consistent with: (1) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating standards, (2) Energy Star standards, (3) Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) criteria, (4) Green Building Initiative environmental design and rating standards (Green Globes), or (5) equivalent standards adopted by the entities that have jurisdiction over them.

Date: 2012-01-18
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Education
National Program for Arts and Technology Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Education to establish and implement a national program for arts and technology that addresses the complex needs of the poor and undereducated by awarding competitive grants to qualified centers (private, nonprofit educational entities) and interested communities to provide: (1) financial support to establish new qualified centers, and (2) management expertise to guide such centers and communities.

Prohibits federal funds received under this Act from being used for capital expenditures or endowment gifts.

Requires a qualified center or an interested community to match federal contributions.

Date: 2013-05-23
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Labor and employment
Prohibits funds from being used to carry out the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation or any other program that provides grants for cultural preservation outside the United States.

Date: 2013-06-04
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: International affairs
Declares that no federal agency may obligate or expend funds appropriated to such agency for a fiscal year to provide technical assistance to any nongovernment entity for the production of any motion picture, television show, documentary, music video, commercial advertisement, CD-ROM game, or other audiovisual program.

Date: 2014-02-21
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Government operations and politics
National Jazz Preservation, Education, and Promulgation Act of 2014 - Establishes a National Jazz Preservation Program, to be carried out by the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution through the Director of the National Museum of American History and in collaboration with other Smithsonian museums, to preserve knowledge and promote education about jazz.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) record audio and video interviews with leading jazz artists; (2) acquire, preserve, and interpret jazz artifacts; (3) continue to recognize Jazz Appreciation Month; (4) establish collaborative agreements with specified entities for the sharing of such artifacts; and (5) encourage, consult with, and engage in capacity building with community-based and regional organizations with the potential to establish jazz archival collections.

Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow certain funds to be made available under the Act for programs to promote jazz education, which may include: (1) a Jazz Artists in the Schools program; (2) a program for the development of lesson plans and other educational materials about jazz, the distribution of such materials, and teacher training on jazz education; and (3) an Ambassadors of Jazz program.

Establishes a National Jazz Appreciation Program to be carried by the Secretary through the Director of the National Museum of American History and in collaboration with other Smithsonian museums and affiliates, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), to further the appreciation of jazz music throughout the nation.

Requires the Secretary to establish a series of jazz performances at Smithsonian affiliates throughout the nation that provides broad geographic access to jazz and supports public appreciation for the diversity of jazz music.

Date: 2014-03-21
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Arts, culture, religion
Proprietary Education Oversight Coordination Improvement Act - Establishes the Proprietary Education Oversight Coordination Committee to:

 coordinate federal oversight of proprietary institutions of higher education (IHEs); coordinate federal activities to protect students from unfair, deceptive, abusive, unethical, fraudulent, or predatory practices, policies, or procedures of proprietary IHEs; encourage information sharing among federal agencies regarding federal investigations, audits, or inquiries of such IHEs; increase coordination and cooperation between federal and state agencies to improve oversight and accountability of proprietary IHEs; and develop best practices and consistency among federal and state agencies in the dissemination of consumer information regarding such IHEs. Requires the Committee to: (1) meet at least once each quarter of each fiscal year; and (2) meet at least once each fiscal year, and otherwise interact regularly, with state attorneys general, state approval agencies, veterans service organizations, and consumer advocates.

Directs the Committee to submit, and make publicly available, an annual report to Congress that includes: (1) recommendations for legislative and administrative actions the Committees deems necessary to improve the enforcement of applicable federal laws, increase the accountability of proprietary IHEs to students and taxpayers, and ensure the promotion of quality education programs; and (2) specified financial and consumer information regarding such IHEs.

Requires the Committee, each academic year, to publish the For-Profit College Warning List for Parents and Students, which is to be comprised of proprietary IHEs:

 that have engaged in illegal activity during the previous academic year as determined by a federal or state court; that have entered into a settlement resulting in a monetary payment; that have had any higher education program withdrawn or suspended; or for which the Committee has sufficient evidence of widespread or systemic unfair, deceptive, abusive, unethical, fraudulent, or predatory practices, policies, or procedures that threaten the academic success, financial security, or general best interest of students.

Date: 2014-04-03
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Education
Investing for Tomorrow's Schools Act of 2014 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into cooperative agreements with states to establish state and multistate infrastructure banks that make loans to local educational agencies, public libraries, and charter schools or their developers to construct or renovate public elementary or secondary schools and public libraries. Requires loans also to community learning centers to connect and improve broadband services.

Grants congressional consent to states for interstate compacts to establish multistate infrastructure banks.

Directs the Secretary to make grants to such banks to provide initial capital for such loans.

Requires states to contribute from nonfederal sources at least 25% of the amount of each federal capitalization grant made to the state and contributed to the bank.

Lists types of projects eligible for such bank loans.

Requires borrowers to use, to the maximum extent practicable, green construction or renovation practices that are consistent with: (1) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating standards, (2) Energy Star standards, (3) Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) criteria, (4) Green Building Initiative environmental design and rating standards (Green Globes), or (5) equivalent standards adopted by the entities that have jurisdiction over them.

Date: 2014-07-30
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Education
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

John F. Kennedy Center Reauthorization Act of 2014 - Amends the John F. Kennedy Center Act to authorize appropriations to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for FY2015-FY2019 for maintenance, repair, and security, and for capital projects.

Date: 2014-09-11
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Arts, culture, religion
Support Theaters in America Growth and Expansion Act or the STAGE Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the expensing of the costs of qualified film and television productions, to: (1) extend through 2015 provisions allowing such expensing, (2) allow such expensing for the costs of certain live theatrical productions, and (3) provide for the tax treatment of dispositions of an interest in a live theatrical production as a passive activity.

Date: 2014-03-27
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Taxation
United States Library Trust Fund Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish in the Treasury the United States Library Trust Fund, and (2) allow taxpayers to designate a portion of any tax overpayment (not less than $1) to the Fund. Authorizes public libraries or public school libraries to receive grants from the Fund.

Date: 2015-02-04
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Taxation
Proprietary Education Oversight Coordination Improvement Act

Establishes the Proprietary Education Oversight Coordination Committee to:

 coordinate federal oversight of proprietary institutions of higher education (IHEs); coordinate federal activities to protect students from unfair, deceptive, abusive, unethical, fraudulent, or predatory practices, policies, or procedures of proprietary IHEs; encourage information sharing among federal agencies regarding federal investigations, audits, or inquiries of such IHEs; increase coordination and cooperation between federal and state agencies to improve oversight and accountability of proprietary IHEs; and develop best practices and consistency among federal and state agencies in the dissemination of consumer information regarding such IHEs. Requires the Committee to: (1) meet at least once each quarter of each fiscal year; and (2) meet at least once each fiscal year, and otherwise interact regularly, with state attorneys general, state approval agencies, veterans service organizations, and consumer advocates.

Directs the Committee to submit, and make publicly available, an annual report to Congress that includes: (1) recommendations for legislative and administrative actions the Committees deems necessary to improve the enforcement of applicable federal laws, increase the accountability of proprietary IHEs to students and taxpayers, and ensure the promotion of quality education programs; and (2) specified financial and consumer information regarding such IHEs.

Requires the Committee, each academic year, to publish the For-Profit College Warning List for Parents and Students, which is to be comprised of proprietary IHEs:

 that have engaged in illegal activity during the previous academic year as determined by a federal or state court; that have entered into a settlement resulting in a monetary payment; that have had any higher education program withdrawn or suspended; or for which the Committee has sufficient evidence of widespread or systemic unfair, deceptive, abusive, unethical, fraudulent, or predatory practices, policies, or procedures that threaten the academic success, financial security, or general best interest of students.

Date: 2015-02-05
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Education
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

John F. Kennedy Center Reauthorization Act of 2015

 Amends the John F. Kennedy Center Act to reauthorize appropriations for FY2016-FY2020 for maintenance, repair, and security, and capital projects for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Arts, culture, religion
National Jazz Preservation, Education, and Promulgation Act of 2015 

 Establishes a National Jazz Preservation Program and a National Jazz Appreciation Program, to be carried out by the Smithsonian Institution through the National Museum of American History, to: (1) preserve knowledge and promote education about jazz, and (2) further the appreciation of jazz music throughout the nation.

Requires the Smithsonian Institution to: (1) record audio and video interviews with leading jazz artists; (2) acquire, preserve, and interpret jazz artifacts; (3) continue to recognize Jazz Appreciation Month; (4) establish collaborative agreements with specified entities for the sharing of such artifacts; and (5) encourage, consult with, and engage in capacity building with community-based and regional organizations with the potential to establish jazz archival collections.

Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow certain funds to be made available under the Act for programs to promote jazz education, which may include: (1) a Jazz Artists in the Schools program; (2) a program for the development of lesson plans and other educational materials about jazz, the distribution of such materials, and teacher training on jazz education; and (3) an Ambassadors of Jazz program.

Requires the Smithsonian Institution to establish a series of jazz performances at Smithsonian affiliates throughout the nation that provides broad geographic access to jazz and supports public appreciation for the diversity of jazz music.

Date: 2015-03-26
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Arts, culture, religion
Facilitating Investments in Local Markets Act or the FILM Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the expensing of the costs of qualified film and television productions, to: (1) extend through 2016 provisions allowing such expensing, and (2) allow such expensing for the costs of certain live theatrical productions.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Taxation
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2016 the expensing rules for the costs of certain film and television productions.

Date: 2015-05-21
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Taxation
History Is Learned from the Living Act

 This bill establishes the History Is Learned from the Living grant program.

The Department of the Interior shall make one-year grants to community groups, organizations, or institutions to carry out projects through which the community may learn about historical movements in the United States in the past century through the oral histories of community members who participated in those movements.

Date: 2015-07-23
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Social sciences and history
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

(Sec. 1) This bill amends the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 to reauthorize through FY2026 the national sound recording preservation program of the Library of Congress and the National Recording Preservation Foundation.

The number of members of the Board of Directors of the National Recording Preservation Foundation is increased from 9 to 12, at least 8 of whom (currently, at least 6) must be knowledgeable or experienced in sound recording production, distribution, preservation, or restoration.

(Sec. 2) The bill amends the National Film Preservation Act of 1996 to reauthorize through FY2026 the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress and the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Date: 2015-11-19
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Arts, culture, religion
Youth Exchange Support Act of 2015

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $50 to $400 per month the amount of the charitable contribution tax deduction for taxpayers who provide housing and support to a student enrolled in an educational program. This increased amount is adjusted for inflation for taxable years beginning after 2016.

Date: 2015-12-18
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Taxation
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House reported version is repeated here.)

Gold Star Families Voices Act

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Veterans' Oral History Project Act to require the veterans oral history program to include the collection of video and audio recordings of biographical histories by immediate family members of members of the Armed Forces who became missing in action or who died as a result of their wartime service.

Date: 2016-02-09
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
National Memorial to Fallen Educators Act

This bill designates as the "National Memorial to Fallen Educators" an existing memorial located at the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas. The memorial is not a unit of the National Park System, and its designation shall not require or allow federal funds to be expended for any purpose related to it.

Date: 2016-06-24
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Education
Support Theaters in America Growth and Expansion Act or the STAGE Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the expensing of the costs of qualified film and television productions, to: (1) extend through 2016 provisions allowing such expensing, (2) allow such expensing for the costs of certain live theatrical productions, and (3) provide for the tax treatment of dispositions of an interest in a live theatrical production as a passive activity.

Date: 2015-02-04
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Taxation
Artist-Museum Partnership Act 

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers who create literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly compositions or similar property a fair market value (determined at the time of contribution) tax deduction for contributions of such properties, the copyrights thereon, or both, to certain tax-exempt organizations, if such properties are properly appraised and are donated no less than 18 months after their creation. Limits the amount of such deduction based upon the donor's artistic adjusted gross income, as defined by this Act.

Date: 2015-04-14
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Taxation
Arts Require Timely Service Act of 2016 or the ARTS Act of 2016

 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to adjudicate O and P visa petitions (nonimmigrant visas for aliens with extraordinary ability or achievement, and artists and entertainers) within 14 days after receiving such petitions and related documents.

The bill grants premium visa processing without charge to a petitioner that is a nonprofits arts organization if DHS does not meet the deadline for adjudicating a visa petition.

Date: 2016-02-08
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Immigration
Protecting Continuing Physical Education and Patient Care Act

 This bill amends title XI (General Provisions, Peer Review, Administrative Simplification) of the Social Security Act to exempt from required manufacturer transparency reporting to the Department of Health and Human Services any transfer of value to a covered recipient of peer-reviewed journals, journal reprints, journal supplements, conference reports, and medical textbooks that directly benefit patients or are intended for patient use.

The bill also excludes from such mandatory reporting any indirect payment or transfer of value to a covered recipient who is a physician:

 for speaking at, or preparing educational materials for, an educational event for physicians or other health care professionals that does not commercially promote a covered drug, device, biological, or medical supply; or that serves the sole purpose of providing the physician with medical education, such as the tuition required to attend an educational event or any materials given physicians at such an event.

Date: 2016-05-25
Topic: Education (Other)
Subject: Health
Environmental Justice Act of 2007 - Authorizes and directs the President to execute, administer, and enforce as a matter of federal law the provisions of Executive Order 12898, dated February 11, 1994, (Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice In Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations) with modifications: (1) defining "environmental justice" and "fair treatment"; and (2) providing that the provisions concerning judicial review shall not apply.Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to carry out specified recommendations set forth in the following reports: (1) the EPA Inspector General's report number 2006-P-00034 entitled "EPA needs to conduct environmental justice reviews of its programs, policies and activities"; (2) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report numbered GAO-05-289 entitled "EPA Should Devote More Attention to Environmental Justice when Developing Clean Air Rules"; and (3) the Inspector General's report number 2004-P-00007 entitled "EPA Needs to Consistently Implement the Intent of the Executive Order on Environmental Justice."Requires the Administrator to report semiannually to Congress on the implementation of such recommendations as well as progress on modifying emergency management procedures to incorporate environmental justice in the agency's Incident Command Structure in accordance with the December 18, 2006, letter from the Deputy Administrator to the Acting Inspector General).

Date: 2007-02-15
Topic: Environment (General)
Subject: Environmental protection