zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Strengthening Student Aid for All Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase the maximum annual and aggregate unsubsidized Stafford loan amounts that may be provided to undergraduate students under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. Allows parents of dependent students to defer PLUS FFEL principal repayment until such students cease to be enrolled as undergraduates on at least a half-time basis. Directs the Secretary of Education to act as the secondary market of last resort for FFELs, until July 2009, by purchasing such loans from lenders who cannot sell them in the private financial markets and thereby raise the capital needed to make new loans. Permits the Secretary to act in such capacity after such date if economic conditions threaten timely, uninterrupted access to student loans. Changes title IV need analyses by allowing the calculation of a negative expected family contribution. Increases the Pell Grant available to students whose expected family contribution is a negative number. Allows institutions of higher education (IHEs) to participate in the FFEL lender-of-last-resort program, thereby requiring guaranty agencies serving as lenders of last resort to make FFELs to students of such IHEs regardless of their ability to otherwise obtain such loans. Authorizes the Secretary to advance needed funds to guaranty agencies acting as lenders of last resort in such situations.

Date: 2008-04-03
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Emergency Student Loan Market Liquidity Act - Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to allow federal home loan banks to: (1) invest surplus funds in student loan securities; (2) accept student loans and student loan-related securities as collateral; and (3) provide secured long-term advances to member banks so that they can finance the origination of student loans or purchase or finance student loan-related securities. Limits the application of this Act to Federal Family Education Loans (FFELs) made under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Makes the banks' authority effective for investments and advances made between February 1, 2008, and two years after this Act's enactment.

Date: 2008-04-10
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Amendments of 2008 - Amends the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to declare that nothing in the Act prohibits a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other healthcare professional or paraprofessional from consulting with or disclosing treatment records on a student who is 18 years old or older or who is attending a postsecondary educational institution to a healthcare professional or paraprofessional outside the educational institution in connection with the provision of treatment to the student. Prohibits deeming the release by an educational institution of education records or related personally identifiable information, in the good faith belief that such release is necessary to protect against a threat to the health or safety of the student or other persons, to be a failure to comply with the Act regardless of whether it is subsequently determined that the specified conditions for such release did not exist. Allows the release of education records to appropriate persons in an emergency if the knowledge of that information is necessary, according to the good faith belief of the educational institution or persons to whom the disclosure is made, to protect the health or safety of the student or other persons.

Date: 2008-04-15
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Reserve Education Assistance Program (REAP) Enhancement Act of 2008 - Recodifies and revises under federal veterans' benefits law a current chapter under federal armed forces law concerning educational assistance for reserve personnel supporting contingency operations and certain other operations. Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary) to carry out such assistance program. Directs the Secretary of each military department, and the Secretary of Homeland Security when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, to provide notice to individuals who meet program eligibility requirements. Revises educational assistance allowance rates based on periods of active duty service. Provides a ten-year limit after separation for the use of such assistance for a member of the Selected Reserve who completes a required period of service under other than dishonorable conditions. Requires the Secretary of Defense to transfer to the Secretary, by the beginning of FY2010, amounts provided or remaining in the Department of Defense Education Benefits Fund that are attributable to the reserve educational assistance program.

Date: 2008-04-16
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
PLUS Loan Borrower Protection Act of 2008 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965, with respect to eligibility for a PLUS Federal Family Education Loan, to specify an extenuating circumstance for purposes of determining if a borrower has an adverse credit history on the basis of a mortgage loan delinquency or foreclosure. Declares that an extenuating circumstance exists if, at any time from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2112, the borrower is 90 or more days delinquent on mortgage loan payments, or foreclosure proceedings have been initiated, with respect to the borrower's primary residence.

Date: 2008-04-21
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Amends the Higher Education Extension Act of 2005 to extend the programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965 through May 31, 2008. Provides that this extension shall take effect as if enacted on April 30, 2008.

Date: 2008-04-29
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Coaching Our Adolescents for College Heights Act or the COACH Act - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to direct the Corporation for National and Community Service to award a contract to a nonprofit organization to establish a seven-year pilot program under which recent college graduates commit to two terms of service as coaches to high-achieving, low- or middle-income high school students in exchange for national service awards for each term of service. Requires such coaches, which are to total 100 and operate in no more than five school districts, to: (1) build a strong college-going culture for all students in high schools with historically low college attendance rates; and (2) provide limited cohorts of high-achieving, low- or middle-income students with guidance in studies suited to college-bound students, and support during the college search and application processes. Requires the nonprofit organization to raise $3 of nonfederal funds for every $1 of federal funds provided under the contract. Directs the Corporation to contract with an independent agency to study the effects of the pilot program on the achievement of participating students and students in participating high schools. Requires the Corporation to plan an expansion of such program if it is shown to be effective in improving student achievement.

Date: 2008-05-15
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include among those aliens not subject to worldwide numerical immigrant limitations persons who have earned a master's or higher degree from a U.S. institution of higher education in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics and who have an employment offer from a U.S. employer in a field related to such degree.

Date: 2008-06-05
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Immigration
Vietnam Education Foundation Amendments Act of 2008 - Amends the Vietnam Education Foundation Act of 2000 to establish the Vietnam Education Foundation within the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State. (Current law establishes the Foundation as an independent establishment in the executive branch.) Transfers all functions and assets of the Foundation to the Bureau. Replaces the existing Board of Directors with a Vietnam Education Foundation Advisory Committee. Revises fellowship provisions to provide: (1) fellowships for post-secondary studies at U.S. institutions of higher education (current law provides fellowships for graduate and postgraduate levels); and (2) fellowship priority for students studying the basic sciences. Authorizes the Secretary of State, through the Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, to award grants to institutions of higher education for a partnership with the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to establish an American Research College in Vietnam for undergraduate studies.

Date: 2008-06-06
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: International affairs
Preventing Student Loan Discrimination Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit lenders under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program from receiving special allowance payments (made to such lenders to compensate them for the difference between FFEL interest rates and market rates) if they deny FFELs to eligible borrowers because of their race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability status, income, attendance at a particular school participating in the FFEL program, education program length, or academic year in school.

Date: 2008-06-17
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to authorize the governor of Virginia to petition the Secretary of the Interior for authorization to conduct natural gas exploration and extraction activities in any area that is at least 50 miles beyond the state's coastal zone. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit into a Clean Energy Fund of 50% of all rentals, royalties, bonus bids, and other sums due and payable to the United States from leases entered into under this Act for natural gas exploration and extraction activities. Requires deposit of the other 50% into a special account in the Treasury from which the Secretary shall disburse: (1) 75% to the state; (2) 12.5% to provide financial assistance to states in accordance with the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965; and (3) 12.5% to a reserve fund to be used to mitigate for any environmental damage that occur as a result of extraction activities authorized under this Act.

Date: 2008-06-18
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Energy
National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2008 - (Sec. 4) Amends the National Sea Grant College Program Act to: (1) substitute "management" for "utilization" in the definition of "field related to ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources"; (2) substitute "extension services" for "advisory services" in the definition of "project"; and (3) add a definition for "regional research and information plan." (Sec. 5) Adds regional and national projects as elements of the national sea grant college program. Removes a reference to the sea grant review panel from provisions relating to the administration of the program. Refers to regional or national (under current law, national) strategic investments being developed with the approval of sea grant colleges and the sea grant institutes (under current law, with the approval of the sea grant review panel and the colleges and institutes). Revises the program director's duties. Requires that sea grants or contracts be responsive to the needs or problems of the nation, as well as to individual states and regions. (Sec. 6) Limits the special grant and graduate fellowship amounts that may be provided to 5% (under current law, 1%) of the amount appropriated for the National Sea Grant College Program. (Sec. 7) Requires that sea grant colleges provide extension (under current law, advisory) services. (Sec. 8) Exempts marine policy fellowships from federal cost sharing requirements. (Sec. 9) Redesignates the sea grant review panel as the National Sea Grant Advisory Board and modifies it's duties and powers and various administrative matters. (Sec. 10) Authorizes appropriations to carry out the Act. Allows any appropriated amounts exceeding the amounts appropriated for FY2003 to be distributed (among other places) to certain regional or national (under current law, national) strategic investments. (Sec. 11) Repeals a National Sea Grant College Program Act Amendments of 2002 provision requiring an annual report to the House Committee on Resources and Science and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on coordination of oceans and coastal research activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including the Coastal Ocean Program and the National Sea Grant College Program, and the National Science Foundation.

Date: 2008-06-19
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow payment of home school expenses from Coverdell education savings accounts.

Date: 2008-07-10
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow: (1) payment of home school expenses from Coverdell education savings accounts; and (2) an annual inflation adjustment after 2008 to the contribution limit amount for such accounts.Makes permanent provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 relating to Coverdell education savings accounts, including an increase in the contribution limit amount for such accounts.

Date: 2008-07-10
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Taxation
Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow Congressional Gold Medal Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the presentation of a congressional gold medal in commemoration of Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow to recognize his especially meritorious role as a warrior of the Crow Tribe, Army Soldier in World War II, tribal historian, and author.

Date: 2008-07-17
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Commemorations
Pathways to College Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive five-year grants to local educational agencies that serve mostly high-need secondary schools for programs to increase the number of students from low-income families who attend college. Defines "high-need secondary schools" as those where at least one-half of the students are from low-income families.Requires grantees to use such funds to: (1) train teachers and counselors to provide students with advice concerning postsecondary education; (2) ensure that each student receives postsecondary information and planning assistance before the end of their first semester of secondary school; (3) inform students and parents regarding the benefits, expenses, and financing of higher education; and (4) ensure that their schools develop comprehensive, school-wide plans of action to strengthen their college-going culture.Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance to grantees in calculating and analyzing their college-going rates and adopting best practices for elevating such rates.Requires grantees to measure externally verified school-wide college enrollment, track data that leads to increased college-going, and evaluate the success of their grant activities.

Date: 2008-07-24
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
GI Bill Fairness Act - Revises the amount payable to veterans for pursuit of a program of education under the post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance program to make such amount the highest amount charged by an institution of higher education in the appropriate state for tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students for full-time pursuit of such programs of education. Provides a monthly housing stipend for an individual pursuing a program of education through distance learning equal to the basic allowance for housing for a member residing in military housing in that area.

Date: 2008-07-31
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2008 - Directs the Attorney General to designate a Deputy Chief in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Makes the Deputy Chief responsible for investigating and prosecuting violations of criminal civil rights statutes in which the alleged violation occurred before January 1, 1970 and resulted in death. Directs the Attorney General to designate a Supervisory Special Agent in the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the DOJ to investigate violations of criminal civil rights statutes that occurred before January 1, 1970, and resulted in a death. Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to state or local law enforcement agencies for the investigation and prosecution of such cases. Amends the Crime Control Act of 1990 to authorize staff of an Inspector General to assist the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by conducting reviews of inactive case files to develop recommendations for further investigations and engaging in similar activities.

Date: 2008-08-01
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Promoting Innovations to 21st Century Careers Act - Authorizes the Director of the National Academic and Career Innovation Center to award certain planning, implementation, transitional, and supplemental grants to eligible state partnerships to carry out activities that will create and enhance the educational and career pathways for high school students to postsecondary schools (including registered apprenticeship programs) and to 21st century careers, particularly in high skill, high demand industries. Establishes the National Academic and Career Innovation Center. Authorizes the Director to evaluate and conduct research to determine the effectiveness of the career pathway initiatives under this Act.

Date: 2008-09-25
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Labor and employment
Great Lakes Conservation Education Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to: (1) award grants to educational or nonprofit nongovernmental entities to conduct activities in states adjacent to a Great Lake to increase knowledge about, raise awareness of, or provide education regarding the importance of conservation of the Great Lakes; and (2) require grant recipients to submit reports on their activities under the grant program.

Date: 2008-09-26
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Water resources development
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require that an alien seeking to enter the United States as a nonimmigrant foreign student (F visa) to study at a language training program enroll at a program that is accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the Secretary of Education. Authorizes, during the three-year period after enactment of this Act, the granting of an F visa to an alien seeking to enter the United States to pursue a course of study at a language training program which has not been accredited or denied accreditation by such an accrediting entity but that has been certified by the Secretary of Homeland Security. Prohibits the granting of such visa if the language training program's sponsoring institution does not: (1) apply for program accreditation to an accrediting agency recognized by the Secretary of Education within one year after the date of the enactment of this Act; and (2) comply with the applicable accrediting requirements.

Date: 2008-09-30
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Immigration
Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to revise the limitation on the Secretary of the Treasury's authority to purchase troubled assets through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Changes the Joint Resolution of Disapproval, regarding authority to purchase troubled assets, to a Joint Resolution of Approval. Prohibits the Secretary, that is, from exercising any authority to make any such purchases with regard to any TARP amount authorized, and unobligated as of November 14, 2008, unless within 15 calendar days after Congress receives a report of the Secretary's plan to exercise such authority, a joint resolution approving the plan is enacted into law.

Date: 2008-11-17
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
High-Speed Rail for America Act of 2008 - Establishes within the Federal Railroad Administration the Office of High-Speed Passenger Rail (HSPR Office) , headed by the Associate Administrator for High-Speed Rail. Requires the HSPR Office to: (1) assume responsibility for all high-speed rail activities currently carried out by the Office of Railroad Development; and (2) consult with the Secretary of Transportation to assist eligible entities to finance certain qualified high-speed intercity rail facility projects through the issuance of private activity bonds. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise requirements for income tax-exempt qualified high-speed intercity rail facility bonds. Allows an income tax credit to holders of certain rail bonds that finance qualified super high-speed intercity rail facility projects and qualified rail infrastructure projects. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to Congress on the use of excise taxes to fund high-speed rail projects.

Date: 2008-11-19
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Bipartisan Electronic Voting Reform Act of 2008 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require any voting system other than one using paper ballots personally marked by the voter to permit independent verification of cast ballots by various specified means, including paper or electronic. Requires each state to conduct an audit of every federal election to ensure that each certificate of election is justified by the vote totals. Directs the Federal Election Commission to establish an Audit Guidelines Development Task Force to assist the Commission in developing model audit guidelines. Prescribes election security requirements for voting systems, including: (1) chain of custody protocols; (2) disclosure of election-dedicated software; and (3) minimum state standards to ensure the integrity of the voting process and education and training of poll workers. Directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to establish a Voting System Software Review Committee which, upon request by the Commission or a state's chief election official, shall review voting system software that has not been certified by the Commission. Establishes accreditation requirements for laboratories involved in testing of voting system hardware and software. Directs the Commission to establish the Election Assistance Commission Voting System Testing Revolving Fund for payments to accredited laboratories for testing of such hardware and software. Requires the Commission to make grants for: (1) development and testing of new voting systems, technologies, and innovations to meet independent verification requirements under this Act; and (2) pilot programs for such testing. Directs the Commission to establish a task force to study and develop recommendations regarding the appropriate level of funding for requirements payments. Amends the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to prohibit state refusal to accept voter registration and absentee ballot applications and federal write-in absentee ballots for failure to meet nonessential requirements.

Date: 2008-12-08
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Derivatives and Hedge Fund Regulatory Improvement Act of 2008 - Directs the appropriate federal banking agencies, with respect to the entities under their respective jurisdictions that engage in transactions involving unregistered hedge funds or over-the-counter derivatives, to initiate a coordinated rulemaking to: (1) extend to unregistered hedge funds the requirements governing the safety and soundness of the financial system applicable to mutual funds; (2) provide for the regulation of over-the-counter derivatives that are not traded on a national securities exchange or by a registered securities association (including credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, currency swaps, mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, and collateralized debt obligations); and (3) prohibit insured depository institutions from trading derivatives for their own accounts. Requires the appropriate federal banking agencies and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to promulgate rules designed to: (1) avoid systemic risks to the financial markets; (2) ensure safe and sound operation of banks, including mandatory maintenance of sufficient capital levels and limits on aggregate leverage, and restrictions on buying, selling, or entering into derivatives by an insured depository institution for its own account; and (3) provide means to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, or manipulative practices.

Date: 2008-12-11
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Teacher Education Assistance Creating Hope for Our Future Act of 2009 or TEACH for Our Future Act of 2009 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand the loan forgiveness available to public elementary and secondary school teachers under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and Direct Loan (DL) programs. Makes inapplicable to public school teachers the requirements limiting loan forgiveness to: (1) new borrowers on or after October 1, 1998; and (2) highly qualified teachers in certain schools that serve a high proportion of disadvantaged students. Maintains the requirement that such teachers teach full-time for five consecutive complete school years before becoming eligible for loan forgiveness. Raises to $25,000 the amount of the FFEL or DL outstanding that may be forgiven after a public school teacher's fifth complete school year of teaching. Maintains current loan forgiveness eligibility requirements for private elementary and secondary school teachers.

Date: 2009-01-06
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Teacher Tax Reduction Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $250 to $500 the dollar limit on the tax deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers and to extend such deduction through 2011.

Date: 2009-01-06
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Taxation
401Kids Family Savings Act of 2009 - Amends the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 to extend through 2015 provisions allowing increased annual contributions to Coverdell education savings accounts. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow tax-free distributions from a Coverdell education savings account for first-time homebuyer expenses; (2) permit rollovers from Coverdell education savings accounts to Roth individual retirement accounts (Roth IRAs); and (3) rename Coverdell education savings accounts as 401Kids Savings Accounts.

Date: 2009-01-06
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Taxation
Considers five specified Illinois school districts to be local educational agencies (LEAs) for purposes of the Impact Aid program, which compensates LEAs for the financial burden of federal activities affecting their school districts. Considers federally connected students in such districts to be attending schools in one such district, North Chicago Community Unit School District 187, for the purpose of making that district eligible for Impact Aid. Conditions such treatment on the agreement of the five school districts to apportion such assistance equitably among all five of them, and to use it only for direct educational services.

Date: 2009-01-06
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Helping Our Students Communicate Act of 2009 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to assume or cancel loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan or the Direct Loan programs to individuals who have been employed for five consecutive complete school years as full-time speech-language pathologists: (1) principally at elementary and secondary schools whose enrollment of disadvantaged students exceeds 30%; and (2) have at least a graduate degree in speech-language pathology, or communication sciences and disorders. Caps loan forgiveness at $17,500. Limits the benefits of this Act to new borrowers on or after the date that is 90 days after the date of this Act's enactment.

Date: 2009-01-06
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Cybersecurity Education Enhancement Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Assistant Secretary of Cybersecurity, to establish, in conjunction with the National Science Foundation, a program to award grants to institutions of higher education for: (1) cybersecurity professional development programs; (2) associate degree programs in cybersecurity; and (3) the purchase of equipment to provide training in cybersecurity for either professional development or degree programs. Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation to operate the program. Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary to establish an E-Security Fellows program to bring state, local, tribal, and private sector officials to participate in the work of the National Cybersecurity Division in order to become familiar with Department of Homeland Security cybersecurity missions and capabilities.

Date: 2009-01-07
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
College Learning Access Simplicity and Savings Act of 2009 or the CLASS Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to replace the Hope Scholarship tax credit with the College Affordability Credit, which shall allow: (1) a partially refundable tax credit of up to $1,200 for qualified tuition and related expenses (including required course materials) at an institution of higher education; and (2) an additional 50% tax credit for such expenses exceeding $1,200 but not exceeding $4,800. Repeals the tax deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses.

Date: 2009-01-09
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Taxation
Shirley A. Chisholm United States-Caribbean Educational Exchange Act of 2009 - Authorizes the Secretary of State to establish the Shirley Chisholm United States-Caribbean Educational Exchange Program under which scholars and secondary, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students from certain Caribbean countries would attend U.S. schools and participate in activities designed to promote a greater understanding of U.S. values and culture. Authorizes the Secretary, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to establish a program to improve primary and secondary education in such countries by enhancing teacher training, strengthening curriculum and instructional materials, and assisting improvements in school management and public administration of education.

Date: 2009-01-09
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: International affairs
10,000 Trained by 2010 Act - Requires the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award competitive grants for basic research on innovative approaches to improve health care information systems, as well as for scientific and engineering activities to improve education in the health care information fields. Requires the award of NSF grants also to institutions of higher education to: (1) establish multidisciplinary Centers for Informatics Research for conducting cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research to generate innovative approaches in health care information; and (2) establish or improve undergraduate and master's degree health care information programs, attract students to such programs, and provide them with experience in government or industry related to their studies.

Date: 2009-01-13
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Middle Class College Tuition Tax Credit Expansion Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to replace the Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning tax credits with a tax credit for 50% of qualified tuition and related expenses (including required books), up to $10,000, for attendance at an institution of higher education.

Date: 2009-01-14
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Taxation
Education Savings Modernization Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase from $2,000 to $4,000 the annual contribution limit to Coverdell education savings accounts; and (2) adjust such contribution limit for inflation after 2009.Makes permanent provisions enacted by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 relating to Coverdell education savings accounts and qualified tuition programs.

Date: 2009-01-14
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Taxation
Achievement Through Technology and Innovation Act of 2009 - Amends title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to reauthorize part D (Enhancing Education through Technology) through FY2015. Alters the current program to require states to use a portion of their allotted funds to develop challenging academic content and achievement standards to ensure that students are technologically literate before the end of grade eight. Provides that such standards are only for tracking technological literacy and not for assessing adequate yearly progress (AYP) under title I. Permits technological literacy testing to be embedded in other state tests or performance-based assessments portfolios, or made through other valid and reliable means. Requires states to use the bulk of their part D allotment for two new subgrant programs for local educational agencies (LEAs), devoting: (1) 60% for formula subgrants to improve teaching and learning through technology; and (2) 40% for competitive subgrants for systemic school reform through technology integration. Requires LEAs to: (1) include a new or updated local long-range strategic educational technology plan in their applications; (2) use a specified percentage of each subgrant for teacher training; and (3) use each subgrant to acquire and apply technology to identify individual student learning needs and support individualized learning. Allows LEAs that receive funds for both programs to use all the funds for systemic school reform through technology integration program activities. Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) conduct an annual national study on student technology literacy to determine the extent to which such literacy is attained by grade eight; and (2) update the National Education Technology Plan at least once every five years.

Date: 2009-01-15
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Center to Advance, Monitor, and Preserve University Security Safety Act of 2009 or the CAMPUS Safety Act of 2009 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to establish and operate a National Center for Campus Public Safety. Tasks the Center with strengthening the safety and security of institutions of higher education (IHEs) by: (1) training IHE public safety agencies and their collaborative partners; (2) fostering relevant research; (3) collecting, coordinating, and disseminating information and best practices regarding campus safety; (4) developing protocols to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from natural and man-made emergencies that threaten the campus community; and (5) increasing cooperation between IHEs and the law enforcement, mental health, and other agencies and jurisdictions that serve them. Authorizes the Director to award grants to IHEs and other nonprofit organizations for activities that will assist the Center in performing its functions.

Date: 2009-01-28
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a four-year pilot program to provide outreach and training services related to the mental health of veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom to counseling centers, student health or wellness centers, or student services centers at colleges or universities with large enrollments of such veterans.

Date: 2009-01-28
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Secure Education for Americans Today Act of 2009 or SEAT Act of 2009 - Prohibits the provision of federal funds to institutions of higher education that admit illegal aliens. Prohibits such provision from being construed as denying federal student assistance to students attending such schools.

Date: 2009-02-04
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Hope Scholarship Credit Expansion Act of 2009 - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the Hope Scholarship tax credit to make certain additional expenses eligible for such credit, including room and board, employment-related expenses, and books, supplies, and equipment.

Date: 2009-02-10
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Taxation
Authorizes the use of veterans' educational assistance for the the pursuit of an approved program of education offered through distance learning.

Date: 2009-02-10
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Green Energy Education Act of 2009 - Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to contribute energy research and development funds to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program to support graduate education related to such energy projects. Authorizes the Secretary to contribute funds for advanced energy technology research and development for high performance buildings to the NSF for curriculum development to improve undergraduate or graduate interdisciplinary engineering and architecture education related to the design and construction of such buildings.

Date: 2009-02-10
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Student Privacy Protection Act of 2009 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise provisions for military recruiter access to secondary school student information. Requires ESEA-assisted local educational agencies (LEAs) to notify each secondary school student's parent of the option to consent to a release of the student's name, address, and telephone listing to military recruiters, and to give the parent the opportunity to provide such consent in writing. Requires such LEAs to provide military recruiters, upon their request, with access to such information on a student only if the student's parent has given such written consent.

Date: 2009-02-13
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Semester of Service Act - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to direct the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service to award competitive matching grants to local educational agencies or their nonprofit partners and, through them, competitive subgrants to schools or their nonprofit partners for Semester of Service programs that allow high school juniors and seniors to earn academic credit for service-learning that meets unmet human, educational, environmental, or public safety needs in their communities. Gives grant priority to applicants that propose to direct subgrants toward programs at schools that receive school improvement funds under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Requires Semester of Service programs to engage youth in service-learning for a minimum of 70 hours over a minimum of 12 weeks and have: (1) a weekly classroom-based component that is integrated into schools' regular curricula and aligned with applicable state academic content standards; and (2) a field-based component covering at least 24 of the minimum 70 hours. Directs the Chief Executive Officer to reserve funds for: (1) competitive grants to Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands for such programs; (2) technical assistance and training to grantees and subgrantees, and program outreach activities; and (3) independent evaluations of the programs.

Date: 2009-02-24
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Summer of Service Act of 2009 - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to create Summer of Service programs providing at least 100 hours of summer community service learning opportunities to youth who will subsequently enroll in grades six through nine. Requires the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide competitive three-year grants to: (1) states under a State Grant program; and (2) public or private organizations under a National Direct Grant program, when a state does not apply for funding or the community service program includes multiple states. Requires states and organizations, in making project subgrants, to favor entities with established track records that: (1) have leadership positions in the communities from which participating youth will be drawn; (2) focus on youth service during the transition year before high school; (3) encourage or enable youth to continue providing community service throughout the school year; (4) involve youth in the design and operation of the community service project; and (5) include youth of diverse backgrounds, at least 50% of which are from low-income families. Permits such entities to charge the parents of participants an income-based fee to contribute to the nonfederal share of project costs. Makes each youth serving at least 100 hours in a service-learning project eligible for an educational award of up to $500.

Date: 2009-02-24
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
AmeriCorps: Together Improving Our Nation Act or the ACTION Act - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to base the calculation of the amount of the national service educational award on the average cost of attending a four-year institution of higher education, rather than a portion of a veteran's basic educational assistance allowance. Excludes the national service educational award from an individual's gross income for tax purposes. Permits the Corporation for National and Community Service to support a national service program that is carried out by another federal agency and implements the priorities of such agency. Makes Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation a Cabinet position. Raises the Officer's compensation to Level I of the Executive Schedule.

Date: 2009-02-24
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Satellite Consumers' Access to Public Television Digital Programming Act of 2009 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require a satellite carrier that offers multichannel video programming distribution service to over five million subscribers to retransmit the digital signals of each noncommercial educational television station that is located in any local U.S. market.

Date: 2009-02-24
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Veterans Education Improvement Act of 2009 - Amends the Montgomery GI Bill educational assistance program for veterans to: (1) authorize the use of such assistance for business courses and seminars, courses taken to prepare for licensing or certification tests, and the repayment of federal student loans; (2) allow for withdrawal of the election not to enroll in the program; (3) extend the increase in benefits for certain individuals pursuing apprenticeships or on-job training; (4) provide educational assistance benefits for veterans discharged under a general discharge; (5) increase the reporting fee payable to educational institutions that enroll veterans receiving assistance; (6) provide additional areas of work-study for veterans; (6) require a five-year pilot program for on-campus work-study positions; (7) modify the advance payment of initial educational assistance or subsistence allowance; and (8) authorize, for certain individuals, the accelerated payment of educational assistance.

Date: 2009-03-05
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Student Support Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to make matching grants of at least $1 million to states for allocation to local educational agencies (LEAs) so that additional school-based mental health and student service providers may be hired, thereby reducing the student-to-provider ratios in elementary and secondary schools to specified levels recommended by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Includes school counselors, school psychologists or other psychologists, child or adolescent psychiatrists, and school social workers among such providers. Requires grants to states and state allocations to LEAs to be made pursuant to specified formulas that take into account a state's and school district's share of disadvantaged children.

Date: 2009-03-05
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Savings Enhancement for Education in College Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the allowance for payment of expenses for computer technology and equipment from qualified tuition programs; (2) allow a tax credit for contributions to such programs; and (3) allow limited direction of investment of contributions or earnings in a qualified tuition program.

Date: 2009-03-05
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Taxation
Josh Miller Helping Everyone Access Responsive Treatment in Schools Act of 2009 or the Josh Miller HEARTS Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award matching grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to: (1) purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for use in their schools; and/or (2) provide training to meet the grant requirement that at least five adult employees or volunteers at each school where an AED is to be used successfully complete training in its use and in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Requires LEAs to provide matching funds equal to at least 25% of the grant, but waives such requirement for LEAs that serve a student population at least 20% of which is impoverished. Requires LEA grant applicants also to demonstrate that: (1) the AEDs are integrated into the schools' emergency response procedures; and (2) emergency services personnel are notified of their locations. Gives grant priority to schools that: (1) lack an AED; (2) typically have a significant number of students, staff, and visitors present during the day; (3) generally have a longer wait for emergency medical services than other public facilities in the community; and (4) have not received funds under the Rural Access to Emergency Devices Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY2010-FY2015.

Date: 2009-03-06
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education
Every Student Counts Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require, beginning by the 2010-2011 school year, states, local educational agencies (LEAs), and secondary schools annually to include on the report cards required under title I of the Act: (1) their four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate; (2) their cumulative graduation rate; (3) the number and percentage of students graduating in more than four years with a regular secondary school diploma; (4) the number and percentage of students who have been removed from the adjusted cohort; (5) the number and percentage of students from each previous adjusted cohort who remain in secondary school after four years; and (6) the percentage of secondary school students in each grade, except the graduating grade, prepared to advance to the next grade. Requires such data, except for data on students who remain in secondary school after four years, to be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, migrant status, English proficiency, and status as economically disadvantaged. Directs states, LEAs, and secondary schools in states that lack a statewide longitudinal data system with individual student identifiers to make certain annual interim graduation rate calculations; but prohibits the use of such interim calculations after the 2010-2011 school year. Requires the use of aggregate and disaggregated cumulative graduation rates in determining the success of each secondary school and LEA in making adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards under the Act. Requires states, LEAs, and schools that have a cumulative graduation rate below 90% overall or for any of the student subgroups, to make specified yearly progress in improving such rate or be deemed as failing to make AYP.

Date: 2009-03-17
Topic: Education (Higher)
Subject: Education