zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
National Farm-to-School Act of 2010 - Expresses the sense of Congress regarding the benefits of farm-to-school programs and the federal role in furthering such programs. Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide competitive matching grants and technical assistance to schools, local educational agencies (LEAs), institutions of higher education, and certain governmental and nongovernmental entities to implement or expand farm-to-school programs. Authorizes such grants to come in the form of implementation grants, training and technical assistance grants, or planning grants. Defines farm-to-school programs as those that connect schools and small- and medium-sized agricultural operations to: (1) serve locally produced, healthy foods in school cafeterias; (2) improve student nutrition; (3) provide agriculture, health, and nutrition education opportunities to students; and (4) support local and regional agriculture and the growth of rural communities. Directs the Secretary to prepare, and provide Congress with, a list identifying all the programs of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) that with little or no modification can be used to facilitate the participation of small- and medium-sized agricultural operations in farm-to-school programs. Declares that the value-added agricultural product market development grant program may be accessed by small- and medium-sized agricultural operations and their associations to support farm-to-school programs. Directs the Secretary, through the USDA Economic Research Service, to conduct a nationwide assessment of, and report to Congress on, the economic impact of farm-to-school programs on small- and medium-sized agricultural operations and rural communities. Requires the Secretary to establish an Internet-based forum for sharing and exchanging information on farm-to-school programs nationwide.

Date: 2010-05-28
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Education
Improving Nutrition for America's Children Act - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to revise the school lunch and breakfast programs, the summer food service program, the child and adult care food program (CACFP), and the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC program). Reauthorizes appropriations for such programs through FY2015. Includes among such revisions: (1) encouraging the direct certification of children who receive other public assistance as eligible for free meals under the school lunch and breakfast programs; (2) establishing new mechanisms by which schools or local educational agencies (LEAs) with very high proportions of low-income children can receive federal reimbursement for free or reduced price meals under such programs without collecting individual paper applications from households; (3) establishing a program awarding competitive grants to states and, through them, competitive subgrants to LEAs to establish or expand the school breakfast program at low-income schools; (4) expanding the access of low-income rural areas to the summer food service program; (5) requiring updates to meal patterns and nutrition standards for the school lunch and breakfast programs based on recommendations made by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS); (6) requiring the establishment of science-based nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools outside the school lunch and breakfast programs; (7) requiring LEAs participating in the school lunch and breakfast programs to establish local school wellness policies for their schools that include goals for nutrition promotion and education, physical activity and education, and other school-based activities that promote student wellness; (8) requiring reimbursable meals and snacks provided under the CACFP to meet the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans and certain authoritative scientific recommendations; (9) encouraging WIC program participants to breastfeed; and (10) requiring WIC electronic benefit transfer (EBT) systems to be implemented nationwide by October 1, 2020.

Date: 2010-06-10
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Making Work and Marriage Pay Act of 2010 - Establishes the National Commission on Effective Marginal Tax Rates for Low-Income Families to study, report, and make recommendations on policy changes to mitigate the impact of the effective marginal tax rate and of phaseouts in federal benefits on low-income earners and their families.

Date: 2010-06-22
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for the Jobless Act of 2010 - Amends the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to provide that: (1) through September 30, 2011, eligibility for supplemental nutrition assistance program (formerly the food stamp program) benefits shall not be limited by certain work-related provisions unless an individual does not comply with specified state work program provisions; and (2) beginning on October 1, 2010, with respect to such work-related provisions, a state agency shall disregard any period during which an individual received supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits prior to October 1, 2011.

Date: 2010-06-30
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the rate of the rehabilitation tax credit for a supermarket building placed in service after December 31, 2010, and before January 1, 2013, in an underserved area (i.e., any enterprise community or empowerment zone and any renewal community); (2) increase by $1,000 the amount of wages paid to an employee of a supermarket in an underserved area that is eligible for the work opportunity tax credit; and (3) allow a business-related tax credit for 15% of the gross receipts from the retail sale of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables in a supermarket in an underserved area.

Date: 2010-07-01
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Taxation
Children First Act of 2010 - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) exclude child care assistance from the determination of the five-year limit on TANF assistance; and (2) increase funding for child care. Requires an eligible state's TANF plan to include a certification by the state's chief executive officer that procedures are in effect to ensure that any child care provider in the state that provides services funded through TANF expenditures or with qualified state expenditures complies with all applicable state or local health and safety requirements under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. Increases from 5 to 12 the maximum age of a child for which a single custodial parent who is unable to find child care for such child will not penalized with a reduction or termination of TANF assistance based on that individual's refusal to engage in required work in order to take care of the child. Subjects to the individual and case data reporting requirements of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 any TANF funds expended for child care, whether or not transferred to that Act, and exempts such funds from SSA reporting requirements.

Date: 2010-07-29
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to renew through FY2016 the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to authorize states to conduct child welfare program demonstration projects likely to promote the objectives of part B (Child and Family Services) or E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA). Includes among the demonstration projects that may be approved any designed to: (1) identify and address barriers that result in delays to kinship guardianship for children in foster care; (2) provide early intervention and crisis intervention services that safely reduce out-of-home placements and improve child outcomes; or (3) identify and address domestic violence that endangers children and results in the placement of children in foster care. Prohibits the Secretary from authorizing a demonstration project if the state fails to provide health insurance coverage to any child with special needs for whom there is in effect a kinship guardianship agreement between the state and the adoptive parent or parents. Requires the Secretary, in assessing a demonstration project application submitted by a state in which a court order is in effect which has determined that the state's child welfare program has failed to comply with part B or E of SSA title IV, or with the U.S. Constitution, to take into consideration the state's ability to implement an approved corrective action. Requires any demonstration project application to include: (1) an accounting of any additional federal, state, local, and private investments made during the two fiscal years preceding the application to provide project services; and (2) an assurance that the state will provide an accounting of the same spending for each year of an approved project. Requires the mandatory project evaluation by an independent contractor to use an approved evaluation design which provides for a comparison of the amounts of federal, state, local and private investments in the project services, by service type, with the amount of the investments during the period of the project. Requires the evaluation design also to compare the outcomes for all children and families under the project who come to the attention of the state's child welfare program, either through a report of abuse or neglect or through the provision of project services.

Date: 2010-09-16
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business-related tax credit for 10% of the infant formula rebates paid or incurred under the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children.

Date: 2010-09-22
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Taxation
Foster Children Self-Support Act - Amends titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to ban the use of Social Security or SSI benefits, paid to a state or local government agency serving as a representative payee on behalf of foster children, to reimburse the state for foster care maintenance payments or other payments made by the state or local government to cover any other cost or expense (not including a certain monthly service fee) for an individual who is in foster care under state responsibility. Specifies exceptions to this prohibition, including an exception for payments made by a representative payee to reimburse a state, but only to the extent that the payment is: (1) otherwise not prohibited; and (2) made available, distributed, and applied in accordance with this Act. Amends SSA title IV part E (Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) to require the state plan for foster care and adoption assistance to provide for screening of foster children for eligibility for Social Security and SSI benefits and assistance. Requires written notice to the attorney or guardian ad litem appointed to represent a foster child, and to the child too if at least age 14, of the Commissioner of Social Security's initial determination to certify payment of such benefits to a representative payee. Requires a state plan to require the appropriate state agency to develop a plan for each foster care child receiving Social Security or SSI benefits which is designed to best meet the individual's current and future needs and enable the child to achieve self-support after leaving foster care. Requires a representative payee to manage the benefits paid on behalf of such a foster child in accordance with the plan developed for the child. Excludes from the calculation of an individual's resources under the SSI program any assets managed on the individual's behalf in accordance with such plan. Disregards support and maintenance furnished in cash or in kind in determining the income of foster children under the SSI program. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), on the request of a state agency responsible for administering, or supervising the administration of, a state program authorized by part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of SSA title IV, to provide the agency with technical assistance in carrying out the amendments made by this Act.

Date: 2010-09-23
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Families
School Food Recovery Act - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to allow schools and local educational agencies participating in the school lunch program to donate any excess food under such program to tax-exempt food banks or charitable organizations in their localities.

Date: 2010-11-16
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Education
Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to make child care institutions ineligible for funding under the child and adult care food program if they employ a child care staff member who: (1) refuses to consent to a criminal background check that includes a search of specified databases; (2) makes a false statement in connection with such background check; (3) is or is required to be registered on a state sex offender registry or the National Sex Offender Registry; or (4) has been convicted of a specified felony. Lists those felonies as: (1) homicide; (2) child abuse or neglect; (3) crimes against children; (4) spousal abuse; (5) crimes involving rape or sexual assault; (6) kidnapping; (7) arson; and (8) physical assault, battery, or drug-related offenses, committed within the past five years.

Date: 2010-12-01
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Education
Reducing American Hunger Act - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (the Food Stamp Act of 1977 as renamed by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008) to provide that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (formerly, food stamp benefits) shall be: (1) redeemable by the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) at face value increased by an amount equal to 100% of benefits used to purchase produce; and (2) used to purchase produce at 50% of the prevailing produce prices in participating retail food stores. States that fingerprinting or other forms of biometric testing of household members shall not be required for SNAP participation. Directs the Secretary to require appropriate states to: (1) submit to the Secretary reports identifying SNAP participation in the 25 largest U.S. cities; and (2) implement practices to increase program participation in cities where eligible household participation is less than 85%. Increases funding for grants to increase program participation. Directs the Secretary to carry out a program to support the use of electronic benefits transfers for federal nutrition programs at farmers' markets.

Date: 2010-12-16
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Bonus TEFAP Assistance Act of 2009 - Amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance for the costs of intrastate transportation, storage, and distribution of bonus commodities provided to states and food assistance agencies under the emergency food assistance program.

Date: 2009-01-09
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Taxpayer Abuse Prevention Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that advance payments of the earned income tax credit are not transferable or assignable or subject to the claims of any creditors, except outstanding claims of the federal government.Prohibits: (1) the collection of a debt from a debtor's federal tax refund by means of a refund anticipation loan; and (2) mandatory arbitration as a condition of providing a refund anticipation loan.Terminates the Department of the Treasury Debt Indicator Program. Allows earned income tax credit benefits to be paid through electronic transfer accounts. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) develop and implement a program to encourage the greater use of the advance earned income tax credit; and (2) enter into cooperative agreements with federally insured depository institutions to provide low- and moderate-income taxpayers with the option of establishing low-cost direct deposit accounts using appropriate tax forms.

Date: 2009-03-12
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Taxation
Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2009 - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish science-based nutrition standards for foods served in schools other than foods served under the school lunch or breakfast programs. Applies such standards to all food sold outside such programs anywhere on school campuses during the school day, with the possible limited exemption of food sold at school fundraisers. Requires the Secretary to: (1) consider the recommendations of authoritative scientific organizations and evidence concerning the relationship between diet and health when establishing the standards; and (2) review the standards as soon as practicable after the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services publish a new edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Date: 2009-04-30
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Education
Afterschool Flexibility to Expand Reimbursement for School Meals Act of 2009 or the AFTERSchool Meals Act of 2009 - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to make institutions in any state eligible for reimbursement for meals provided to at-risk school children under programs organized primarily to provide care to at-risk school children during after-school hours, weekends, or holidays during the regular school year. (Currently, reimbursement is limited to institutions in 10 states.) Assists states in providing meals and meal supplements to children participating in after-school programs in elementary and secondary schools. (Currently, assistance is provided for meal supplements.) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to award grants to states to encourage institutions and schools to participate in these expanded programs.

Date: 2009-05-06
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Education
Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act of 2009 or the SOAR Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award five-year grants on a competitive basis to nonprofit organizations to carry out activities to provide expanded school choice opportunities to students who are DC residents and who come from households: (1) receiving assistance under the supplemental nutrition assistance program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008; and (2) with incomes not exceeding 185% of the poverty line, except in certain grandfathered circumstances. Prescribes requirements for schools participating in such grant programs, including administering nationally norm-referenced standardized tests in reading and mathematics to participating students. Repeals the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 (title III of division C of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004). Deems this Act as the reauthorization of the opportunity scholarship program under such Act.

Date: 2009-07-30
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Education
Expand School Meals Act of 2009 - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to expand eligibility for free meals under the school lunch and breakfast programs to children whose family income falls at or below 185% of the federal poverty guidelines. Phases-in this eligibility expansion by increasing the income eligibility level in annual increments until it reaches 185% of the federal poverty guidelines for the school year beginning on July 1, 2013. (This will make all children who are eligible for reduced price meals eligible for free meals on such date.)

Date: 2009-10-01
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Education
Access to Nutritious Meals for Young Children Act of 2009 - Amends the the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to increase reimbursement rates for free, reduced price, and paid meals and snacks served under the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) at nonresidential child care centers and family or group day care homes. Allows such providers to be reimbursed for the service of three meals and a snack. (Currently, reimbursement is provided for two meals and a snack.) Lowers the percentage of children or school children in an area that must be eligible for free or reduced price meals under the school lunch or breakfast programs to make family or group day care homes in the area eligible for higher CACFP reimbursement rates as tier I homes. Increases the maximum monthly administrative payment per home provided to sponsors of family or group day care homes. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to improve the ability of the CACFP to reach low-income families by streamlining program and paperwork requirements.

Date: 2009-11-06
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Job Preservation for Parents in Poverty Act - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to revise and extend the Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Programs (Emergency Contingency Fund) at current levels through the first quarter of FY2011. Places a certain amount of appropriations in reserve for use in FY2012. Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from making a grant from the Emergency Contingency Fund for a fiscal year after FY2012. Limits expenditures for subsidized employment to employment for: (1) a member of a needy family (without regard to whether the family is receiving assistance under the state TANF program); or (2) a member of a needy family who has exhausted (or, within 60 days, will exhaust) all rights to receive unemployment compensation under federal and state law. Reduces the funding level of the (regular) Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs for FY2012 and FY2013 (to offset appropriations for this Act).

Date: 2010-09-28
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
School Food Recovery Act - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to allow schools and local educational agencies participating in the school lunch program to donate any excess food under such program to tax-exempt food banks or charitable organizations in their localities.

Date: 2011-01-06
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Education
Anti-hunger Empowerment Act of 2011 - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (formerly known as the Food Stamp Act of 1977) to replace current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) administrative cost provisions with provisions authorizing 75% reimbursement for specified state activities to increase program access. States that fingerprinting shall not be required for program participation. Beyond the Soup Kitchen Grants Program Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a Beyond the Soup Kitchen pilot program to provide grants: (1) to a primary community-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger group in each designated pilot community to allocate subgrants to other nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger groups in such community, and (2) for technical assistance grants.

Date: 2011-01-19
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Food Assistance to Improve Reintegration Act of 2011 - Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to repeal the denial of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) eligibility for a person convicted of a felony which has as an element the possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance.

Date: 2011-01-20
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Poverty Impact Trigger Act of 2011 - Amends Rule XXI (Restrictions on Certain Bills) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to make it out of order to consider a public bill or joint resolution authorizing an appropriation of $10 million or more, unless: (1) the accompanying committee report includes a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Poverty Impact Division impact statement, or (2) the chair of the committee reporting the legislation submits such statement for publication in the Congressional Record before consideration of the measure. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish the CBO Poverty Impact Division to prepare and submit poverty impact statements to the chair of House committees.

Date: 2011-01-20
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Congress
Worker Eligibility Fairness Act of 2011 - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to eliminate the provision making a federal, state, or local government employee who is dismissed for participating in a strike against the federal government, the state, or a political subdivision of the state ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps).

Date: 2011-02-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Amends title IV (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act to reestablish for FY2011-FY2018 the Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Programs for the purpose of grants to states by the Secretary of the Treasury related to: (1) increases in TANF caseloads, and (2) increased expenditures for non-recurrent short term benefits.

Date: 2011-02-10
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Access to Books for Children Act - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to local agencies to provide vouchers to women participating in the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC) for the purchase of educational books for their infants and children. Limits to one $5 voucher the maximum amount any one woman may receive, regardless of the number of her infants or children.

Date: 2011-03-03
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Education
Welfare Reform Act of 2011 - Welfare Reform Restoration Act - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to revise the TANF program by: (1) eliminating the temporary modification of the caseload reduction credit, and (2) reducing funding of state family assistance grants. Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to: (1) restore its former name, the Food Stamp Act of 1977, and restore its text as if the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 had not been enacted; (2) rename supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits as the food stamp program; (3) revise work requirements for the food stamp program; and (4) require able-bodied work eligible adult members of a family unit to participate in a work activation program during a full month of participation in the food stamp program, fulfilling specified levels of work activity during that month. (Work activation means, not employment, but supervised job search, community service activities, education and job training, workfare, or drug and alcohol treatment.) Specifies a financial reward for any state that reduces its food stamp caseload below calendar 2006 levels. Requires the President to include means-tested welfare spending in every budget submission. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to define and establish an aggregate cap for means-tested welfare spending. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide grants to states to reward reductions in poverty and government dependence and increases in self-sufficiency. Prohibits the expenditure for abortions, with certain exceptions, of any funds authorized or appropriated by federal law, and funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated by federal law. Prohibits funding for health benefits plans that cover abortion. Prohibits the allowance of any tax credit with respect to amounts paid or incurred for an abortion or with respect to amounts paid or incurred for a health benefits plan (including premium assistance) that includes coverage of abortion.

Date: 2011-03-16
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Welfare Reform Act of 2011 - Welfare Reform Restoration Act - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to revise the TANF program by: (1) eliminating the temporary modification of the caseload reduction credit, and (2) reducing funding of state family assistance grants. Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to: (1) restore its former name, the Food Stamp Act of 1977, and restore its text as if the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 had not been enacted; (2) rename supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits as the food stamp program; (3) revise work requirements for the food stamp program; and (4) require able-bodied work eligible adult members of a family unit to participate in a work activation program during a full month of participation in the food stamp program, fulfilling specified levels of work activity during that month. (Work activation means, not employment, but supervised job search, community service activities, education and job training, workfare, or drug and alcohol treatment.) Specifies a financial reward for any state that reduces its food stamp caseload below calendar 2006 levels. Requires the President to include means-tested welfare spending in every budget submission. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to define and establish an aggregate cap for means-tested welfare spending. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide grants to states to reward reductions in poverty and government dependence and increases in self-sufficiency. Prohibits the expenditure for abortions, with certain exceptions, of any funds authorized or appropriated by federal law, and funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated by federal law. Prohibits funding for health benefits plans that cover abortion. Prohibits the allowance of any tax credit with respect to amounts paid or incurred for an abortion or with respect to amounts paid or incurred for a health benefits plan (including premium assistance) that includes coverage of abortion.

Date: 2011-03-17
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to renew through FY2016 the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to authorize states to conduct child welfare program demonstration projects likely to promote the objectives of part B (Child and Family Services) or E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA). Includes among the demonstration projects that may be approved any designed to: (1) identify and address barriers that result in delays to kinship guardianship for children in foster care, (2) provide early intervention and crisis intervention services that safely reduce out-of-home placements and improve child outcomes, or (3) identify and address domestic violence that endangers children and results in the placement of children in foster care. Prohibits the Secretary from authorizing a demonstration project if the state fails to provide health insurance coverage to any child with special needs for whom there is in effect a kinship guardianship agreement between the state and the adoptive parent or parents. Requires the Secretary, in assessing a demonstration project application submitted by a state in which a court order is in effect which has determined that the state's child welfare program has failed to comply with part B or E of SSA title IV, or with the U.S. Constitution, to take into consideration the state's ability to implement an approved corrective action. Requires any demonstration project application to include: (1) an accounting of any additional federal, state, local, and private investments made during the two fiscal years preceding the application to provide project services; and (2) an assurance that the state will provide an accounting of the same spending for each year of an approved project. Requires the mandatory project evaluation by an independent contractor to use an approved evaluation design which provides for a comparison of the amounts of federal, state, local and private investments in the project services, by service type, with the amount of the investments during the period of the project. Requires the evaluation design also to compare the outcomes for all children and families under the project who come to the attention of the state's child welfare program, either through a report of abuse or neglect or through the provision of project services.

Date: 2011-03-17
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
White House Conference on Food and Nutrition Act - Directs: (1) the President to call the White House Conference on Food and Nutrition to be convened in order to make fundamental policy recommendations on ways to end hunger and to improve nutrition in the United States; and (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), and the Secretary of the Treasury to plan and conduct the Conference. Sets forth Conference provisions.

Date: 2011-04-06
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Stephanie Tubbs Jones Assets for Independence Reauthorization Act of 2011 - Amends the Assets for Independence Act, which provides for demonstration projects designed to provide individuals and families of limited means with an incentive to save a portion of their earned income and thereby accumulate assets, increase their economic self-sufficiency, and stabilize such families and the communities in which they live. Expresses the sense of Congress that a qualified entity conducting a demonstration project under the Act should, to the maximum extent practicable, increase: (1) the rate at which it matches contributions by participating individuals, or (2) the number of such participating individuals. States that multiple households may share a single residence. Specifies public housing agencies and tribally designated housing entities as entities qualified to participate in a demonstration project. Repeals the requirement that state or local government or other public agencies apply jointly with a tax-exempt not-for-profit charitable organization or collaborate with certain kinds of local community-based organizations. Includes among postsecondary educational expenses any expenses for preparatory courses, room and board, and transportation. Revises requirements for: (1) applications for new and renewals of existing projects; (2) limitations on uses of the Reserve Fund; and (3) the adjusted gross household income eligibility test, requiring regulations for transfers from one project to another for individuals who move because of major disasters or emergencies, to find employment, or to a community where no project is available. Revises requirements for deposits by qualified entities in the individual development accounts (IDAs) of participating individuals to: (1) increase maximum deposits per individual and per household; (2) facilitate withdrawal of funds from an IDA, with formal approval, during the year following the end of a demonstration project; and (3) require disposal of funds remaining in an IDA at the end of that year. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Director of Community Services, to make every effort, 90 days after terminating the authority of one qualified entity to operate a demonstration project, to identify another qualified entity (or entities), in the same or a different community, willing and able to conduct one or more demonstration projects. Specifies criteria for giving priority consideration to candidate entities. Revises requirements for contracting with independent research organizations to evaluate demonstration projects. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) use certain funds to cover the necessary costs of training for a qualified entity conducting a demonstration project, including costs of travel, accommodations, and meals; and (2) waive any requirement of the Act in certain circumstances.

Date: 2011-04-15
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Eat Local Foods Act - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to states, by the beginning of each school year (starting with the 2012-2013 school year), for use in providing school food authorities with local food credits that represent up to 10% of the total value of the commodity assistance (or cash payments in lieu thereof) that the authority would be eligible to receive for the school year. Subtracts the value of the food credit from the amount of commodity assistance (or cash payments in lieu thereof) that a school food authority would otherwise receive. Requires school food authorities to use their credits to purchase locally or regionally produced agricultural food products to serve in the school lunch program.

Date: 2011-05-04
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Education
Drug Free Families Act of 2011 - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require state TANF programs to implement a program to test TANF applicants and recipients for illegal drug use. Requires state TANF programs to deny assistance to individuals who test positive for illegal drugs and individuals convicted of drug-related crimes.

Date: 2011-05-05
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to establish a Community Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Matching Grant Program (VITA grant program) for the development, expansion, or continuation of volunteer tax preparation programs to assist low-income taxpayers and members of underserved populations. Establishes the National Center to Promote Quality, Excellence, and Evaluation in Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. Requires such Center to: (1) promote the adoption of a universally accessible volunteer training platform for the preparation of federal income tax returns, (2) provide technical assistance to tax return preparation program managers, (3) identify and disseminate best practices related to tax site management, (4) support outreach and marketing efforts, and (5) provide evaluation of programs and activities funded under this Act.

Date: 2011-06-13
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Taxation
Broadband Affordability Act of 2011 - Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a broadband lifeline program enabling qualifying low-income customers residing in urban and rural areas to purchase broadband service at reduced charges by reimbursing providers for each such customer served. Requires that the program: (1) be similar in structure to the Lifeline program for basic telephone service, (2) prevent awarding duplicative subsidies for an individual eligible household, and (3) promote competition from broadband service providers by using neutral technology. Requires a broadband service provider that is not an eligible telecommunications carrier to obtain FCC authorization to participate in the program.

Date: 2011-06-14
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
TANF Supplemental Grants Extension Act - Makes appropriations through FY2011, at the same level as provided through the fourth quarter of FY2010, for supplemental grants for population increases in qualifying states under title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act.

Date: 2011-06-22
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Women and Workforce Investment for Nontraditional Jobs or Women WIN Jobs - Requires the Secretary of Labor, in any fiscal year in which the total authorization of appropriations to carry out this Act exceeds $50 million, to allocate grants to states with approved state plans to provide funding to eligible entities (partnerships) to increase low-income women's participation in high-wage, high-demand occupations in which women make up less than 25% of the current workforce. Authorizes states to use grants for statewide activities, including to: (1) provide technical assistance to eligible entities and to state registered apprenticeship programs and sponsors and joint apprenticeship training councils in meeting their enrollment goal for low-income women in nontraditional occupations, (2) develop policies and protocols that set goals for hiring specific percentages of women into registered apprenticeships and permanent employment openings in publicly assisted projects, and (3) engage in outreach activities and provide training to overcome stereotypes about women in nontraditional occupations as well as gender inequity among employers. Authorizes the allocation of grant funds to eligible entities to support the recruitment, training, placement, and retention of low-income women in nontraditional occupations. Directs the Secretary to convene a national commission to examine and make recommendations for improving the status of women in high-demand, high-wage nontraditional occupations. Directs the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to collect data on the status of women's participation in underrepresented sectors of the economy, and examine the status of women in relation to that of men. Directs the Secretary to establish a national clearinghouse to collect and distribute best practices.

Date: 2011-06-23
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Labor and employment
Making Work and Marriage Pay Act of 2011- Establishes the National Commission on Effective Marginal Tax Rates for Low-Income Families to study, report, and make recommendations on policy changes to mitigate the impact of the effective marginal tax rate and of phaseouts in federal benefits on low-income earners and their families.

Date: 2011-07-12
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Children First Act of 2011 - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) exclude child care assistance from the determination of the five-year limit on assistance under TANF, and (2) increase funding for child care. Requires the plans submitted to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) by eligible states to contain provisions for certification of procedures to ensure that child care providers comply with applicable state or local health and safety standards. Increases from 6 to 13 the maximum age allowed of a child under the care of a single custodial parent or other individual with custody who will not be subject to a reduction or termination of TANF assistance as a result of a refusal of the individual to engage in work. Subjects to the individual and case data reporting requirements of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 any TANF funds expended for child care, whether or not transferred to that Act, and exempts such funds from SSA reporting requirements.

Date: 2011-07-28
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Child and Family Services Extension and Enhancement Act - Amends title IV part B (Child and Family Services) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise and extend the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program. Requires each state plan for oversight and coordination of health care services for any child in a foster care placement to include an outline of: (1) the monitoring and treatment of emotional trauma associated with a child's maltreatment and removal from home, and (2) protocols for the appropriate use and monitoring of psychotropic medications. Requires each state plan for child welfare services also to describe state activities to: (1) reduce the length of time children under age 5 are without a permanent family placement, and (2) address the developmental needs of such children who receive Program benefits or services. Revises requirements for child visitations by caseworkers. Replaces the current requirement for certain action by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) with one that requires each state to take necessary steps to ensure that the total number of monthly caseworker visits to children in foster care under state responsibility during a fiscal year is at least 90% of the total number of such visits that would occur if each such child were so visited once every month while in such care. Revises and extends through FY2016 the program to promote safe and stable families. Requires the annual compilation of state reports to include the individual state reports and tables that synthesize state information into national totals for each element required to be included in the reports, including planned and actual spending by service category for the program. Requires the Secretary to publish the compilation on the HHS website in a location easily accessible by the public. Revises requirements for grants to assist children affected by a parent's or caretaker's methamphetamine or other substance abuse to: (1) remove the specification of methamphetamine, and (2) apply the grant program generally to children affected by a parent's or caretaker's substance abuse. Repeals the Secretary's authority to enter a cooperative agreement to conduct a service delivery demonstration project relating to the mentoring of children of prisoners. Directs the Secretary, in order to improve data matching, to designate nonproprietary and interoperable standard data elements for any category of information required to be reported. Amends SSA title IV part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) to direct the Secretary to study the recruitment of and support for families caring for children served by any program funded under part E, including foster parents, adoptive parents, and kin guardians.

Date: 2011-08-02
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Short-Term TANF Extension Act - Continues through December 31, 2011, and make appropriations through the first quarter of FY2012 for, grants to states, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa for programs under part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF]) of title IV of the Social Security Act. Excludes from this extension: (1) supplemental grants for population increases in certain states, or (2) activities related to the Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs. Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF]) of title IV of the Social Security Act to continue through FY2013 the authority for administrative penalties for a state's failure during the immediately preceding fiscal year to maintain qualified TANF expenditures at the applicable percentage of historic state expenditures (maintenance of effort).

Date: 2011-09-15
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Social welfare
Tax Relief for Victims of Disasters Act of 2011 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend disaster-related tax provisions relating to the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit, losses, and the individual tax exemption to a qualified federally declared disaster individual (defined to mean, with respect to a federally declared disaster after December 31, 2010, and before January 1, 2013, any individual whose principal place of abode was located in the disaster area, who was displaced by the disaster, and who was performing employment services in the disaster area).

Date: 2011-09-23
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), beginning in FY2013 and for each subsequent fiscal year, to allocate not less than 30 percent of the amount appropriated for the fiscal year for home energy grants to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to provide supplementary funds on the basis of need among such areas.

Date: 2011-09-23
Topic: Social Welfare (Other)
Subject: Energy