zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Research and Development Efficiency Act - Requires the Director of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to establish a working group under the authority of the National Science and Technology Council that includes the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Makes the working group responsible for reviewing federal regulations affecting research and research universities and making recommendations on how to: (1) harmonize, streamline, and eliminate duplicative federal regulations and reporting requirements; and (2) minimize the regulatory burden on U.S. institutions of higher education performing federally funded research while maintaining accountability for federal tax dollars.

Instructs the working group to take into account input and recommendations from specified non-federal stakeholders in ensuring effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability in the performance of scientific research.

Requires the Director to report to Congress on what steps have been taken to carry out the recommendations of the working group.

Date: 2014-07-10
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Lean and Responsive Government Act - Requires the head of each federal agency to describe the implementation of continuous process improvement in the agency's periodic update on agency performance. Defines "continuous process improvement" as a management methodology (commonly referred to as lean six sigma) that combines tools to improve process speed, reduce waste, and incorporate requirements with data driven project analysis to provide products and services with improved quality at lower cost.

Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to: (1) make available on the OMB website a description of the results of the government-wide implementation of continuous process improvement, and (2) appoint an expert on such process as a member of the Performance Improvement Council to advise on its implementation across agencies.

Requires: (1) each agency's Chief Operating Officer to implement continuous process improvement, (2) each agency's Performance Improvement Officer to advise and assist the agency head and Chief Operating Officer in implementing such process, and (3) the head of each agency to include information on the results of continuous process improvement projects in each relevant appropriation request for the agency.

Requires the Director to designate a center of excellence for continuous process improvement training from within the Department of Defense (DOD).

Date: 2014-07-10
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Audit the Pentagon Act of 2014 - Requires, on March 2 of FY2015 and each subsequent fiscal year, a .5% reduction in the discretionary budget authority of a federal agency that is identified by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as required to have an audited financial statement: (1) that has not submitted a financial statement for the previous fiscal year, or (2) whose statement has not received either an unqualified or a qualified audit opinion by an independent external auditor. Excludes from such reduction accounts for military, reserve and National Guard personnel and the Defense Health Program account of the Department of Defense (DOD). Authorizes: (1) the Secretary of Defense to make such a reduction in the discretionary budget authority of any agency in a manner that minimizes any effect on national security, and (2) the President to waive a reduction in discretionary budget authority if such reduction would harm national security or members of the Armed Forces who are in combat.

Requires a report to Congress listing required DOD reports that interfere with DOD's capacity to achieve an audit of its financial statements with an unqualified opinion.

Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) congressional defense committees and DOD should not endanger the nation's troops by reducing wounded warrior accounts or vital protection for members of the Armed Forces in harm's way, (2) the valuation of legacy assets by DOD should be simplified without compromising essential controls or generally accepted government auditing standards, and (3) this Act should not be construed to require or permit the declassification of accounting details about classified defense programs and DOD should ensure financial accountability in such programs.

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Date: 2014-07-16
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Savings, Accountability, Value, and Efficiency III Act of 2014 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue software licensing policies for federal agencies.

Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to expand the definition of "energy or water conservation measure" under such Act to include, in the case of a contract in which the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is a party: (1) the purchase or lease of low emission and fuel efficient vehicles; (2) the upgrade of USPS vehicles to increase average fuel economy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions; or (3) the construction of infrastructure to support such vehicles, including electric vehicle charging stations.

Directs the Postmaster General to develop guidelines for USPS vehicles that provide for specified carbon dioxide emissions and fuel economy standards.

Requires the head of each federal agency to ensure that agency desktop computers are shut down for at least 4 hours out of each 24-hour time period, except for certain computers that are in use for 16 or more hours per day.

Denies payment of civil service retirement benefits and requires forfeiture of thrift saving plan (TSP) agency contributions for federal employees who are convicted of certain public corruption offenses.

Requires the Secretary of Defense to implement specified criteria in requests for overseas contingency operations.

Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to direct each federal facility energy manager, not later than two years after completion of a comprehensive energy evaluation of a federal agency's facilities, to consider: (1) implementing any energy-saving or conservation measure that the agency identified in the evaluation that is life cycle cost-effective, and (2) bundling individual measures of varying paybacks together into combined projects.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to examine, and report to Congress on, which payments may be made under both the Medicare Advantage Program and the veterans health care system or the TRICARE program for health care furnished to individuals eligible under such health care programs.

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare beneficiaries with an option to receive statements of benefits in a electronic format.

Date: 2014-07-17
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Retention of Electronic Correspondence Of Regulatory Decisions Act of 2014 or the RECORD Act of 2014 - Requires the records management program maintained by each federal agency head to provide for: (1) the identification and automatic retention of electronic mail (email) accounts that should be preserved as permanent federal records, including the accounts of such head and specified other agency officials and employees; and (2) the electronic capture, management, and preservation of those email accounts in accordance with records disposal requirements such that electronic records are readily accessible for retrieval through electronic searches and there are mandatory minimum functional requirements for electronic records management systems to ensure compliance with program requirements.

Directs the Comptroller General to evaluate and report to Congress not less than every two years on agency management of email records.

Amends the Inspector General Act to make it the responsibility of each Inspector General to: (1) review legislation and regulations relating to records retention requirements under the Federal Records Act for entity programs and operations, and (2) make recommendations in such Inspector General's semiannual reports concerning compliance with such requirements.

Date: 2014-07-23
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
National Regulatory Budget Act of 2014 - Establishes the Office of Regulatory Analysis in the executive branch as an independent establishment. Requires the Director of the Office to submit an annual report to specified congressional committees that includes: (1) regulatory costs imposed on regulated entities; (2) an analysis of any major changes in estimation methodology used by the Office since its last annual report; (3) an analysis of any major estimate changes caused by improved or inadequate data; (4) recommendations on how regulations may be streamlined, simplified, and modernized; and (5) recommendations for repealing regulations and reducing the cost of regulations without diminishing their effectiveness.

Requires the Director to publish a regulatory analysis of each proposed covered federal rule (a rule, an information collection requirement, guidance, or a directive that imposes not less than $25 million in annual costs on regulated entities) and each proposed withdrawal or modification of a covered federal rule by an executive agency that imposes or reduces costs on a regulated entity. 

Requires Congress to pass an annual bill establishing a National Regulatory Budget that sets an overall regulatory cost cap and an agency regulatory cost cap for each executive agency for the fiscal year.

Requires agencies to provide the information that the Director requests and imposes sanctions for failing to cooperate.

 Prohibits an executive agency that exceeds the annual agency regulatory cost cap imposed by the National Regulatory Budget for a fiscal year from promulgating a new covered federal rule that increases regulatory costs.

Date: 2014-07-24
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
To Help Reduce Inefficient Federal Tendencies Act of 2014 or the THRIFT Act of 2014 - Allows federal agencies, including judicial branch agencies, to: (1) retain up to 25% of annual savings from the implementation of plans developed by such agencies to create efficiencies and cost savings in agency operations, and (2) use such savings for specified purposes, including salary increases and employee awards for cost savings disclosures. Requires an agency to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a plan and an associated request to amend its approved operating budget specifying how such savings will be achieved and the amount and source of such savings.

Date: 2014-07-24
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Inspector General Empowerment Act of 2014 - Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to: (1) grant inspectors general additional subpoena authority to compel the attendance and testimony of certain witnesses, including federal government contractors and former federal employees, necessary in the performance of functions assigned by such Act; (2) authorize appropriations for the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency through FY2021; (3) assign the Council additional responsibilities with respect to disputes involving the jurisdiction of more than one federal agency or entity; and (4) set forth procedures for considering allegations of wrongdoing against the Special Counsel and Deputy Special Counsel (officials appointed to investigate prohibited personal practices and government waste and abuse).

Exempts from requirements relating to the authority of federal agencies to collect information for investigations: (1) information collected during any evaluation by the Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency Board; and (2) information collected during any audit, investigation, inspection, evaluation, or other review conducted by the Council or any Office of the Inspector General, including any Office of Special Inspector General.

Requires: (1) the Comptroller General (GAO) to study and report on prolonged vacancies in the Offices of the Inspector General, and (2) the Council to conduct and report on an analysis of critical issues that involve the jurisdiction of more than one individual federal agency or entity.

Date: 2014-09-16
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Printing Responsibly in New Typesets Act or the PRINT Act - Directs the Public Printer of the Government Printing Office (GPO) to: (1) adjust the font used to print GPO documents if the Public Printer determines that adjusting such font will reduce printing costs and be cost-effective and appropriate; and (2) enter into to an agreement with any person outside GPO who prints documents for the federal government to similarly adjust fonts used for printing documents.

Prohibits delivery of printed copies of any version of the Congressional Record to the office of a Senator or Member of the House of Representatives, effective 30 days after the enactment of this Act.

Redesignates GPO as the Government Publishing Office.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Inspector General Vacancy Act of 2014 - Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide that if the President does not nominate an Inspector General within 180 days after a vacancy occurs in that position, the individual serving as interim Inspector General shall be deemed to be appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Cut REDTAPE Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt a new small business, including an incorporated business, from the additional tax imposed for underpayment of estimated income tax, if such business's gross receipts for the calendar year do not exceed $1 million.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Taxation
Fiscal Responsibility Using Government Accountability Laws Act of 2014 or the FRUGAL Act - Requires the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to analyze the extent to which taxpayers are reporting existing foreign accounts and are circumventing or properly utilizing offshore voluntary disclosure initiatives and programs. Requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to: (1) increase educational outreach concerning taxpayer offshore tax obligations, and (2) report to Congress on closing offshore tax loopholes and increasing revenue collection from offshore sources.

Requires the Federal Acquisition Regulation to be revised to include guidelines for federal agencies to use reverse auctions, an electronic auction in which offerors compete by submitting bids or revised bids for a contract, task, or delivery order until the award is made to the offeror with the lowest bid. States that the guidelines should ensure that reverse auctions uphold high quality standards and that small businesses can continue to participate in the procurement process.

Requires the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to develop and implement a plan to reduce spending on coin inventory management.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
United States Secret Service Accountability and Improvement Act of 2014 - Establishes in the legislative branch an independent advisory panel to: (1) examine the efficiency and effectiveness of the leadership structure, protocols, training, tools, and capabilities of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) mission to protect national leaders, visiting heads of state and government, designated sites, and special events of national significance; and (2) make recommendations to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the United States Secret Service.

Directs the panel to assess the current leadership structure, protocols, training, tools, and capabilities of the Service, including assessing:

 the unity of effort between the divisions of the Service, law enforcement agencies, and other components of DHS related to the protective and investigative missions; the impact of Service personnel culture on its effectiveness and efficiency; the impact any leadership or security deficiencies have on the threat from acts of terrorism or other security incidents; identification of all security breaches at locations under Service protection in the past five years; the extent to which current resources provide for accomplishing its mission, and the effectiveness of communications and dissemination of homeland security information within the Service and with other law enforcement entities in routine and emergency situations. Sets forth reporting requirements, including requiring the final report to identify lessons learned regarding Service leadership issues and to include recommendations for improving efficiency and effectiveness, improving unity of effort, eliminating barriers to effective communications, identifying and mitigating culture issues that detract from its mission, and mitigating risks based on past security breaches.

Date: 2014-11-13
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Emergency management
Report the Costs Act - Requires the annual reports of federal agency chief financial officers to include the cost of multilingual services provided or performed by federal agencies, including the cost of hiring interpreters and producing materials in a language other than English.

Requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to: (1) include in its financial status management reports a Multilingual Services Expense Report, and (2) issue guidance for agency chief financial officers in compiling reports on the cost of multilingual services.

Date: 2014-11-14
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission Act of 2014 - Establishes in the executive branch a Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking. Directs the Commission to conduct a comprehensive study of the data inventory, data infrastructure, and statistical protocols related to federal policymaking and the statistical and programmatic agencies responsible for maintaining that data to:

 determine the optimal arrangement for which administrative data on federal programs and tax expenditures and related data series may be integrated and made available to facilitate program evaluation, policy-relevant research, and cost-benefit analyses by qualified researchers and institutions; make recommendations on how data infrastructure and protocols should be modified to best fulfill those objectives; and make recommendations on how best to incorporate outcomes measurement, institutionalize randomized controlled trials, and rigorous impact analysis into program design. Requires the Commission to consider if and how to create a clearinghouse for program and survey data.

Terminates the Commission not later than 18 months after enactment of this Act.

Date: 2014-11-20
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Realign and Eliminate Duplicative Unnecessary Costly Excess in Government Act of 2014 or the REDUCE Government Act - Establishes the Federal Realignment and Closure Commission, which shall: (1) establish a systematic method for assessing the effectiveness and accountability of agency programs, excluding Department of Defense (DOD) programs; (2) divide the programs into three approximately equal budgetary groupings; (3) assess the effectiveness and accountability of all programs within a grouping in each of 2015, 2017, and 2019; and (4) by June 30 of each such year, submit a plan with recommendations of the agencies and programs that should be realigned or eliminated within the grouping assessed.

Requires the Commission to recommend: (1) the realignment of agencies or programs that are performing the same essential function that can be consolidated or streamlined into a single agency or program; and (2) the elimination of agencies or programs that have completed their intended purpose, have become irrelevant, or have failed to meet their objectives.  Authorizes the Commission to recommend the realignment or elimination of any agency or program that has wasted federal funds by: (1) spending funds on items outside its authorized mission, (2) mismanaging resources and personnel, or (3) using such funds for personal benefit or the benefit of a special interest group.

Requires the President: (1) by August 15 of each such year, to transmit a report containing the President's approval or disapproval of the Commission's plan and recommendations; (2) to transmit a copy of an approved plan and recommendations to Congress; and (3) to eliminate or realign  agencies and programs pursuant to such recommendations unless Congress enacts a resolution disapproving them.

Requires funds saved by implementation of such plan to be used for deficit reduction.

Date: 2014-12-04
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2014 - Requires the general notice of proposed rule making by a federal agency to include the Internet address of a plain-language summary, not exceeding 100 words, of the proposed rule, which shall be posted on the regulations.gov website.

Date: 2014-12-04
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2013 or the REINS Act - States that the purpose of this Act is to increase accountability for and transparency in the federal regulatory process.

Revises provisions relating to congressional review of agency rulemaking to require a federal agency promulgating a rule to include in its report to Congress and to the Comptroller General (GAO) a classification of the rule as a major or nonmajor rule.

Requires a joint resolution of approval of major rules to be enacted before such rules may take effect. Provides that if a joint resolution of approval is not enacted by the end of 70 session days or legislative days, as applicable, after the agency proposing the rule submits its report on such rule to Congress, the major rule shall be deemed not to be approved and shall not take effect. Permits a major rule to take effect for one 90-calendar day period without such approval if the President determines it is necessary because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency, for the enforcement of criminal laws, for national security, or to implement an international trade agreement.

Sets forth the congressional approval procedure for major rules and the congressional disapproval procedure for nonmajor rules.

Requires the introduction of a joint resolution addressing a report classifying a rule as a major rule within three legislative days in the House of Representative and three session days in the Senate. Prohibits any amendments to such a joint resolution at any stage of the legislative process. Provides for expedited consideration of a joint resolution of approval and requires a vote on such resolution in the Senate within 15 session days after it is reported by the committee to which it was referred, or after such committee has been discharged from further consideration of the resolution.

Allows a court to review whether an agency has completed the necessary requirements under this Act for a rule to take effect. Limits the effect of a joint resolution of approval of a major rule.

Prohibits an agency from allowing a major rule to take effect without the congressional review procedures set forth in this Act.

Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to provide that any congressional approval procedure set forth in this Act affecting budget authority, outlays, or receipts shall be assumed to be effective unless it is not approved in accordance with this Act.

Date: 2013-02-26
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Regulatory Responsibility for our Economy Act of 2013 - Sets forth general requirements for the federal regulatory system, including the protection of public health, welfare, safety, and the environment, the promotion of predictability in the regulatory process, and the consideration of benefits and costs of regulations.

Requires federal agencies to: (1) propose or adopt regulations only upon a reasoned determination that the benefits of such regulations justify their costs; (2) tailor regulations to impose the least burden on society and to maximize economic and other benefits; (3) involve the public and parties affected by regulations in the regulatory process; (4) develop regulatory actions that promote innovation, flexibility, and objectivity; and (5) consider methods to promote retrospective analysis of rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and develop plans for reviewing on a periodic basis significant regulation actions (i.e., those having an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or otherwise adversely affecting the economy).

Provides for judicial review of any agency action required under this Act.

Date: 2013-01-31
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Establishes the Senate Committee to Reduce Government Waste to: (1) research, review, and study federal programs that are underperforming or nonessential; (2) determine which ones should be modified or eliminated; and (3) recommend to the Senate actions designed to modify or eliminate them, including legislation.

Date: 2013-02-07
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Congress
Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act of 2013 - Requires each federal agency with extramural research expenditures of over $100 million to develop a federal research public access policy, following common procedures for the collection and depositing of research papers, that is consistent with, and that advances, the purposes of the agency.

Makes each federal research public access policy applicable to: (1) researchers employed by the federal agency whose works remain in the public domain, and (2) researchers funded by the agency. Specifies exclusions.

Requires each federal agency to submit an annual report on its federal research public access policy to specified congressional committees.

Date: 2013-02-14
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine: (1) the number of civilian vehicles purchased and leased by each executive agency in FY2010, (2) the total dollar amount obligated by each executive agency to purchase and to lease civilian vehicles in FY2010, and (3) the amount that would be 20% less than such total dollar amount. Prohibits each executive agency from obligating more than the reduced dollar amount for FY2010 to purchase and lease civilian vehicles in each of FY2013-FY2017. Exempts the purchase or procurement of any vehicle determined by the President to be essential for reasons of national security.

Directs the Administrator of General Services (GSA) to ensure that agencies may share excess or unused vehicles for temporary or long-term use through the Federal Fleet Management System.

Date: 2013-02-28
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Financial Regulatory Responsibility Act of 2013 - Prohibits a federal financial regulatory agency from issuing notices of proposed or final rulemakings unless specified analyses have been included in them.

Prohibits an agency from publishing a notice of final rulemaking if it determines that the quantified costs are greater than the quantified benefits.

Requires an agency to make available on its public website sufficient information about the data, methodologies, and assumptions underlying its analyses so that its analytical results are capable of being substantially reproduced.

Requires the chief economist of an agency, within five years after publication in the Federal Register of a notice of final rulemaking, to report to certain congressional committees on the economic impact of the subject regulation, including its direct and indirect costs and benefits.

Requires each federal agency to develop, report to certain congressional committees, and post on its public website a plan to modify, streamline, expand, or repeal existing regulations so as to make the agency's regulatory program more effective or less burdensome in achieving its regulatory objectives.

Authorizes judicial review for a person adversely affected or aggrieved by a regulation.

Establishes the Chief Economists Council to report to certain congressional committees on activities of the financial regulatory agencies.

Requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to report separately to certain congressional committees their plans for subjecting to the requirements of this Act the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, and registered national securities associations on the one hand, and registered futures associations on the other.

Date: 2013-03-05
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Declares that if, by 45 days after a state Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office has submitted a Federal Register notice to the Washington, DC, office of the BLM for review by the Department of the Interior, the review has not been completed: (1) the notice shall consider to be approved, and (2) the state BLM office shall immediately forward the notice to the Federal Register for publication.

Date: 2013-03-06
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Regulation Costs to America Act - Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to: (1) conduct an annual study of the total costs of federal regulations; and (2) report to Congress on the findings, including an estimate of the total annual costs of federal regulations by agency.

Date: 2013-03-12
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Capital Construction Fund Penalty Relief Act - Permits any person who entered into a capital construction fund agreement (an agreement to provide replacement vessels, additional vessels, or reconstructed vessels) with respect to certain vessels operated in the fisheries of the United States to make an election to terminate the capital construction fund established under such agreement.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prescribe requirements regarding the effect of such an election, including the distribution and taxation of such funds, on individuals and entities.

Date: 2013-03-13
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Accountability for Veterans Act of 2013 - Requires that, whenever the head of the Department of Defense (DOD), the Social Security Administration, or the National Archives and Records Administration (agency head) receives a request from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) for information necessary to adjudicate a veterans' benefit claim, the agency head shall, within 30 days, either: (1) furnish such information; or (2) submit an explanation for not being able to furnish such information, as well as an estimate of when the agency head will be able to furnish such information. Provides for the continuous resubmission of, and required response to, requests not acted upon within the original or estimated period. Requires the Secretary to notify the appropriate claimant of each request made and explanation and estimate received.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) keep records of the information requested and the time it takes to receive responses, and (2) submit semiannually to the congressional veterans committees a summary of such records.

Date: 2013-04-09
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2013 - Defines a "covered civil action" as a civil action seeking to compel agency action and alleging that an agency is unlawfully withholding or unreasonably delaying an agency action relating to a regulatory action that would affect: (1) the rights of private persons other than the person bringing the action; or (2) a state, local, or tribal government. Defines a "covered consent decree" or a "covered settlement agreement" as: (1) a consent decree or settlement agreement entered into a covered civil action, and (2) any other consent decree or settlement agreement that requires agency action relating to such a regulatory action that affects the rights of such persons or governments.

Requires an agency against which a covered civil action is brought to publish the notice of intent to sue and the complaint in a readily accessible manner, including by making such notice and complaint available online not later than 15 days after receiving service of such notice or complaint

Requires an agency seeking to enter a covered consent decree or settlement agreement to publish such decree or agreement in the Federal Register and online not later than 60 days before it is filed with the court. Provides for public comment and public hearings on such decree or agreement.

Requires the Attorney General or an agency head, if an agency is litigating a matter independently, to certify to the court that the Attorney General or the agency head approves of: (1) any proposed covered consent decree that includes terms that convert into a nondiscretionary duty a discretionary authority of an agency to propose, promulgate, revise, or amend regulations, commit an agency to expend funds that have not been appropriated and budgeted or to seek a particular appropriation or budget authorization, divest an agency of discretion committed to it by statute or the Constitution, or otherwise afford any relief that the court could not enter under its own authority; or (2) any proposed covered settlement agreement that includes terms that provide a remedy for a failure by the agency to comply with the terms of the agreement other than the revival of the civil action resolved by the agreement, interfere with the authority of an agency to revise, amend, or issue rules, or commit the agency to expend funds that have not been appropriated and budgeted or to exercise in a particular way discretion which was committed to the agency by statute or the Constitution.

Requires a court to grant de novo review of a covered consent decree or settlement agreement if an agency files a motion to modify such decree or agreement on the basis that its terms are no longer fully in the public interest due to the agency's obligations to fulfill other duties or due to changed facts and circumstances.

Date: 2013-04-11
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Government Customer Service Improvement Act of 2013 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop government-wide standards for customer service delivery, which shall be included in the Federal Government Performance Plan. Requires such standards to include: (1) government-wide goals for continuous service improvements and efforts to modernize service delivery; and (2) government-wide target response times for telephone calls, electronic mail, mail, benefit processing, and payments.

Directs: (1) the Chief Performance Officer for each executive agency to establish customer service standards in accordance with such government-wide standards, which shall be included in Agency Performance Plans; (2) the Performance Improvement Officer for each agency to collect information from customers of the agency regarding the quality of customer service provided; and (3) the Director to include agency achievements in meeting such standards and customer service performance measures in each required update on agency performance.

Requires: (1) the Director to establish a two-year Service Improvement Unit Pilot Program to provide assistance to agencies that do not meet such government-wide standards, and (2) the Administrator of General Services (GSA) to provide administrative and other support to implement such Program.

Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to: (1) submit to Congress and the Comptroller General (GAO) and issue publicly every month a report on information submitted by each federal agency regarding its employees who are retiring and pending applications for retirement benefits, (2) establish a timetable for completion of OPM's retirement systems modernization project and a deadline by which all federal payroll processing entities will electronically transmit all personnel data to OPM, and (3) include in each annual budget request a statement on OPM's progress in completing such project and resources needed to implement it.

Date: 2013-04-18
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Directs the Comptroller General (GAO), beginning on or before December 31, 2013, and annually thereafter for the following five years, to prepare a report to aid Congress in monitoring and measuring the effects of a series of reforms by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) intended to promote the availability and affordability of broadband service throughout the United States.

Requires such report to include measurements, statistics, and metrics with respect to:

 the implementation progress on the reforms adopted in the FCC's Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted on October 27, 2011; any effects of such reforms on retail end-user rates for local voice telephony, interconnected VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol), long distance voice, mobile wireless voice, bundles of voice telephony or VoIP, fixed broadband Internet access, and mobile broadband Internet access services; any disparities or trends with respect to the relative average (such as per consumer) retail rates charged for each service to residential and business consumers located in rural and urban areas as well as between incumbent local exchange carriers subject to price cap regulation and those subject to rate-of-return regulation; any effects on average fixed and mobile broadband Internet access speeds available to residential and business consumers as well as speed disparities between rural and urban areas; any effects on the magnitude and pace of investments in broadband-capable networks in rural areas, including investments financed by the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, and investment disparities between rural and urban areas; any disparities or trends with respect to the magnitude and pace of investments in broadband-capable networks in areas served by carriers subject to price cap regulation and areas served by carriers subject to rate-of-return regulation; any effects on adoption of broadband Internet access services by end users; and any effects on state universal service funds or initiatives, including carrier-of-last-resort requirements.

Date: 2013-04-22
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Restoring Integrity to our Government Act - Prohibits a proposed significant regulatory action from being finalized unless it includes the reasons why the agency proposing it determined that it is a significant regulatory action.

Defines "significant regulatory action" as any regulatory action likely to result in a regulation that may: (1) have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or state, local, or tribal governments or communities; (2) create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another agency; (3) materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligation of recipients thereof; (4) add to the national debt; or (5) raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in this Act.

Date: 2013-04-23
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on September 17, 2013. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Organization of American States Revitalization and Reform Act of 2013 - States that it is U.S. policy to: (1) promote democracy, the rule of law, and human rights in the Western Hemisphere; and (2) support the practices and principles expressed in the Charter of the Organization of American States, the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and other fundamental instruments of democracy.

Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the Organization of American States (OAS) should be the primary multi-lateral diplomatic entity for regional dispute resolution and promotion of democratic governance; (2) the Summit of the Americas process should be formally and more effectively integrated into the work of the OAS, the Inter-American Development Bank, and other Members of the Joint Summit Working Group; (3) the OAS has historically accepted too many member state mandates creating unclear priorities and loss of institutional focus; and (4) it is in the interest of the United States and the OAS and its member states to move toward an assessed fee structure that assures financial sustainability and establishes, within five years, that no member state pays more than 50% of the organization's assessed fees.

Directs the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a multiyear strategy that: (1) leads to such assessed fee structure, (2) identifies a path toward the adoption of necessary reforms that prioritize the core competencies of the OAS, (3) outlines a results-based budgeting process to prioritize current and future mandates and transparent hiring and promotion practices, and (4) reflects the inputs and coordination from other executive branch agencies.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) carry out diplomatic engagement to build support for reforms and budgetary burden sharing among OAS member states and observers, and (2) promote donor coordination among OAS member states.

Date: 2013-04-24
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: International affairs
Plain Writing Act for Regulations of 2013 - Requires the head of each executive agency to: (1) implement a program for using plain writing in drafting agency regulations, (2) designate a senior official to oversee the implementation of plain writing requirements, (3) certify to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that each agency rule has been reviewed for compliance with such requirements, and (4) publish annual reports on agency compliance with such requirements on the agency's website.

Requires: (1) the Director of OMB to develop and issue guidance to agencies for implementing plain writing requirements and publish certifications of agency compliance with such requirements on the OMB's website, and (2) the Comptroller General (GAO) to report to Congress on the extent to which regulations are using plain writing and the impact of plain writing requirements on the rulemaking process.

Prohibits judicial review of compliance or noncompliance with any provision of this Act.

Date: 2013-04-24
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Establishes the Office of the Inspector General (IG) of the Senate.

Requires the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate to appoint the first IG.

Limits the IG to an initial five-year term and two additional terms if reappointed.

Requires the IG to: (1) audit and investigate Senate programs and operations; (2) review legislation and regulations relating to Senate programs and operations, and make recommendations concerning their impact on the economy and efficiency in the administration of such programs and operations or the prevention and detection of fraud and abuse in them; and (3) keep the Committee on Rules and Administration and the Committee on Appropriations informed concerning fraud and other serious problems, abuses, and deficiencies relating to such administration and recommend corrective action.

Requires the Office to establish a publicly available website for posting its reports and audits, including a direct homepage link for individuals to report fraud, waste, and abuse without being required to disclose personally identifying information.

Date: 2013-04-24
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Congress
Global Investment in American Jobs Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) U.S. ability to attract foreign direct investment is directly linked to U.S. long-term economic prosperity, global competitiveness, and security; (2) it should be mindful of the potential impact upon the U.S. ability to attract foreign direct investment when evaluating proposed legislation; (3) it is a top national priority to enhance U.S. competitiveness, prosperity, and security by removing unnecessary barriers to foreign direct investment and the U.S. jobs it creates and promoting policies to ensure the United States remains the premier global destination in which to invest, hire, innovate, and manufacture products; (4) maintaining the U.S. commitment to open investment policy encourages other countries to do the same and enables the United States to open new markets abroad for U.S. companies and their products; and (5) U.S. policies regarding foreign direct investment should reflect national security interests and should not disadvantage domestic investors or companies.

 Directs the Secretary of Commerce to conduct an interagency review of the U.S. global competitiveness in attracting foreign direct investment and report to Congress recommendations for making the United States more competitive in attracting foreign direct investment without undermining fundamental domestic labor, consumer, or environmental protections.

Date: 2013-05-22
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance