zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Government Customer Service Improvement Act of 2012 - Directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to: (1) develop performance measures to determine whether federal agencies are providing high-quality, timely, customer service and improving delivery service, (2) develop customer service and service delivery standards for such agencies, and (3) include achievements in meeting such performance measures and standards in agency performance updates. Requires the head of each federal agency to designate an agency employee to be its service improvement officer, who shall issue guidelines to implement customer service standards and publish customer service contact information. Directs the OMB Deputy Director of Management to establish a two-year Service Improvement Unit Pilot Program to provide assistance to agencies that do not meet such customer service standards and performance measures. Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to: (1) report to Congress and the Comptroller General (GAO) on information submitted by each federal agency on its employees who are retiring, and (2) establish a timetable for the completion of its retirement systems modernization project.

Date: 2012-07-30
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act of 2012 - Authorizes the President to require an independent regulatory agency to: (1) comply, to the extent permitted by law, with regulatory analysis requirements applicable to other federal agencies; (2) provide the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs with an assessment of the costs and benefits of a proposed or final significant rule (i.e., a rule that is likely to have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more and is likely to adversely affect sectors of the economy in a material way) and an assessment of costs and benefits of alternatives to the rule; and (3) submit to the Administrator for review any proposed or final significant rule. Prohibits judicial review of the compliance or noncompliance of an independent regulatory agency with the requirements of this Act.

Date: 2012-08-01
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Economic Growth and Development Act - Directs the President to establish an interagency mechanism to improve coordination of U.S. development programs with private sector investment activities. Directs the President and Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to: (1) direct their respective policy and country teams to include private sector consultation in all country, sector, and global development strategies; and (2) ensure that independent analyses of constraints to growth are conducted as a component of all appropriate country, sector, and global development strategies.

Date: 2012-08-02
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: International affairs
Pay for Printing Act - Requires the sponsor of a ceremonial or commemorative Senate resolution to reimburse the Government Printing Office (GPO) for the total costs of printing the resolution out of the sponsor's Members' Representative Allowance. Excludes from such requirement a resolution sponsored by at least two-thirds of Senators.

Date: 2012-08-02
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Congress
Government Contracting Improvement Act of 2012 - Directs the Comptroller General to include in the annual report to Congress on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) a list of the most common grounds for sustaining protests relating to bids for contracts during the year.

Date: 2012-12-19
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
(Sec. 1) Directs the Comptroller General to study any bank holding company having more than $500 billion in consolidated assets (covered institution) with respect to: favorable pricing of its debt relative to its risk profile resulting from the perception it will receive federal support in the event of any financial stress; any favorable funding or economic treatment resulting from an increase in its credit rating as a result of express, implied, or perceived federal support; any economic benefit resulting from the ownership of, or affiliation with, an insured depository institution; any economic benefit resulting from its status as a bank holding company, including access to federal deposit insurance and the discount window of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve Board) before enactment of this Act; any economic benefit received through extraordinary federal actions taken, such as specified actions by the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); any extraordinary assistance provided to American Insurance Group (AIG), but ultimately received by one of the covered institutions; and any government actions that resulted in the payment or nonpayment of credit default swap contracts entered into by a covered institution. Defines "economic benefit" as the difference between actual loan terms offered, debt or equity prices, or asset values and a reasonable estimate of what such terms, prices, or values might have been as determined by examining actual values of comparable transactions in the private markets or by estimating the values of comparable transactions priced to properly reflect associated risk. (Sec. 2) Requires the resulting report to Congress to redact any proprietary, sensitive, or confidential information in any release subsequently made electronically available to the public.

Date: 2012-12-21
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Requires the Governor of the Virgin Islands to appoint a Chief Financial Officer, with the advice and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, from a list required by this Act. States that, if the Legislature has not confirmed a nominee within 90 days, the Governor shall appoint an Acting Chief Financial Officer until the Legislature consents to a Chief Financial Officer. Requires the Virgin Islands Chief Financial Officer Search Commission to appoint an Acting Chief Financial Officer from the list, until a Chief Financial Officer is appointed, if one has not been appointed within 180 days. Requires any Acting Chief Financial Officer serving in that capacity for 180 consecutive days to become the Chief Financial Officer.

Sets forth the Chief Financial Officer's duties.

Directs the Board of Elections of the Virgin Islands, as part of the regularly scheduled, islands-wide election in the Virgin Islands closest to the expiration of the fourth year of the five-year term of the Chief Financial Officer, to hold a referendum to determine whether the position of Chief Financial Officer shall be made a permanent part of the executive branch of the government of the Virgin Islands.

Establishes the Virgin Islands Chief Financial Officer Search Commission to recommend at least three candidates for the Chief Financial Officer position. Terminates the Commission upon the nomination and confirmation of the Chief Financial Officer.

Date: 2013-01-03
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Investigative Commission Act - Establishes the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Investigative Commission to investigate and make recommendations to Congress regarding certain decisions of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (enterprises) that led to financial instability and federal conservatorship.

Requires the Commission to analyze specified topics, including: (1) the role of the enterprises in expanding homeownership and in helping housing market recovery; (2) enterprise involvement in the development of faulty risk standards, accounting practices, and the creation and proliferation of the securitized mortgage instrument, and how such instrument affected the solvency of such enterprises; (3) the role of the respective boards of directors in voting for the policies relating to risk assessments, subprime mortgages, and the international securitization of mortgages; and (4) compensation, stock options, and financial benefits that accrued to executive officers and members of the boards of directors.

Requires the enterprises and the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to grant the Commission access to requested records and information.

Date: 2013-01-14
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Housing and community development
Zero-based Budgeting Ensures Responsible Oversight (ZERO) Act of 2013 - Requires the President to submit with materials related to each federal budget transmitted to Congress by January 1, 2015, a budget for each agency that contains:

 a description of each activity for which an agency receives an appropriation in the current fiscal year or for which the agency requests an appropriation for the budget year; the legal basis for each activity; for each activity, three alternative funding levels for the budget year (at least two of which shall be below the funding level for the current fiscal year), a summary of the priorities that would be accomplished within each level, and the additional increments of value that would be added by the higher funding levels; and for each activity one or more measures of its cost efficiency and effectiveness. Requires the  Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to publish guidelines to carry out this Act that shall require: (1) the baseline budget of each agency to be assumed to be zero, and (2) each proposed expenditure to be justified as if it were a new expenditure.

Date: 2013-01-14
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Agency Conferences and Conventions Operating Under Necessary Transparency Act of 2013 or the ACCOUNT Act - Requires the head of a federal agency to: (1) approve in writing any conference costing more than $25,000, (2) approve such a conference only upon determining that it is necessary to the core mission of the agency, and (3) publish a summary on the agency website of the conference that includes the purpose and total cost of the conference and the cost per employee that attended the conference. Excludes conferences held entirely at a government facility.

Date: 2013-01-15
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Inspector General Act of 2013 - Establishes an Office of Inspector General for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to appoint an Inspector General for the Authority.

Date: 2013-01-15
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Regulatory Sunset and Review Act of 2013 - Requires federal agencies to review their covered rules and modify, consolidate, or terminate such rules on a periodic basis. Defines "covered rule" to include a significant rule that is likely to result in an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or any other rule designated by an agency for sunset review.

Allows a person adversely affected by a rule that is not a significant rule to submit a petition for sunset review of such rule. Provides for sunset review of a rule upon the request of a congressional committee or a majority of the members of such committee.

Requires the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to: (1) conduct an inventory of existing rules and deadlines for their sunset review; (2) prioritize rules for sunset review based on specified criteria, including the cost of the rule and the burden of reviewing it; (3) group related rules for simultaneous review; (4) provide guidance to agencies for conducting sunset reviews; and (5) provide feedback to agencies on sunset reviews and results. Requires a new significant rule to be reviewed: (1) within three years after taking effect, or (2) within seven years after taking effect if the rule is issued pursuant to negotiated rulemaking procedures or if compliance with the rule requires substantial capital investment.

Requires each federal agency to designate a Regulatory Review Officer with responsibility for implementation of this Act.

Provides for judicial review of a denial or delay in granting or denying a petition for sunset review of a rule.

Date: 2013-01-18
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Inspector General Improvement Act of 2013 - Requires the inspectors general of the following federal agencies, in addition to the other duties and responsibilities specified in the Inspector General Act of 1978, to supervise, direct, and control audit and investigative activities pertaining to programs and operations:

 U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Department of Defense (DOD); Department of Education; Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA); Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); Department of Homeland Security (DHS); Department of the Interior; Department of Labor; Department of State; Department of the Treasury; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); General Services Administration (GSA); Government Accountability Office (GAO); Intelligence Community; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); Office of Personnel Management (OPM); and Smithsonian Institution.

Date: 2013-01-18
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Federal Executive Board Efficiency Act - Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish Federal Executive Boards, which are defined as interagency entities established in a geographic area with a high concentration of federal employees outside the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to strengthen the management and administration of agency activities and coordination among local federal officers to implement national initiatives in that area. Requires each Board for a geographic area to consist of a senior officer for each agency in that area.

Requires the Director to: (1) consider specified factors in determining the location for establishment of such Boards, such as whether a geographic area has a strong, viable, and active Federal Executive Association and whether such Association petitions to become a Board; and (2) provide for the administration and oversight of such Boards, including by establishing staffing and communications policies and performance standards for Board staff.

Requires each Board to: (1) serve as an instrument of outreach for the national headquarters of agencies relating to agency activities in the geographic area; (2) provide a forum for the exchange of information relating to programs and management methods and problems between the national headquarters of agencies and the field; (3) develop local coordinated approaches to the development and operation of programs that have common characteristics; (4) communicate management initiatives and other concerns from federal officers and employees in the Washington, D.C. area to federal officers and employees in the geographic area to achieve better mutual understanding and support; (5) develop relationships with state and local governments and nongovernmental organizations to help fulfill the roles and responsibilities of that Board; and (6) facilitate communication, collaboration, and training to prepare the federal workforce for emergencies and continuity of operations.

Requires the Director to: (1) establish a fund within OPM for financing essential Board functions, into which contributions from the headquarters of each participating agency shall be deposited; (2) submit annual reports to Congress and agencies on Board program outcomes and budget matters; and (3) report to specified congressional committees on essential Board functions, staffing requirements, and staffing and operating expenses.

Date: 2013-02-04
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), not later than 150 days after the enactment of this Act, to coordinate with the heads of federal agencies to: (1) use available administrative authority to eliminate, consolidate, or streamline federal programs and agencies with duplicative and overlapping missions as identified in the February 2012 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled "Opportunities to Reduce Duplication, Overlap and Fragmentation, Achieve Savings, and Enhance Revenue" and the March 2011 GAO report entitled "Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue" and apply any savings towards deficit reduction; (2) report to Congress any legislative changes required to further eliminate, consolidate, or streamline such programs and agencies; (3) determine the total cost savings to each agency from the implementation of this Act; and (4) rescind from appropriate accounts the greater of $10 billion or the total amount of such cost savings.

Date: 2013-02-05
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Government Waste Reduction Act of 2013 - Establishes the Independent Government Waste Reduction Board, the membership of which shall include individuals with national recognition for expertise in agencies, waste reduction, finance and economics, and actuarial sciences.

Requires the Board to submit to Congress and the President a report that advises specific implementation of the recommendations from the March 2011 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report "Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue" and the February 2012 GAO report "Opportunities to Reduce Duplication, Overlap and Fragmentation, Achieve Savings, and Enhance Revenue."

Sets forth procedures for congressional consideration of the Board's recommendations.

Date: 2013-02-06
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Audit the Pentagon Act of 2013 - Requires, on March 2 of FY2014 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 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: 2013-02-06
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Requires the Comptroller General to annually: (1) study the adequacy and accuracy of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) baseline model projections for health care expenditures for that fiscal year; and (2) report study results to the congressional veterans, appropriations, and budget committees.

Requires each such report to be made available to the public.

Date: 2013-02-25
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Taxpayers' Conference Overspending Prevention Act or the Taxpayers' COP Act - Requires each executive agency to submit an annual report to Congress listing the amount of funds such agency obligated for conferences in the previous fiscal year, including funds for pre-planning, travel, and subsistence costs. Requires the rescission of unobligated funds for agency conferences in excess of specified amounts unless such funds are certified as being for foreign travel that is critical to the agency's mission.

Date: 2013-02-27
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Amends the Diplomatic Security Act to require a determination by the Accountability Review Board that an individual's misconduct or unsatisfactory performance of duty significantly contributed to serious injury, loss of life, significant property destruction, or serious security breach in order for the Board to recommend that an investigatory or disciplinary action be initiated by the appropriate federal agency or instrumentality.

Date: 2013-02-28
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: International affairs
Requires the Secretary of Commerce, in conducting any survey relating to the Census, to include in instructions for completing any such survey that participation in the survey is optional, except that survey respondents must provide their names, contract information, the date of response, and the number of people living or staying at the same addresses where the respondents reside. Prohibits any person participating in a survey from being fined or otherwise compelled to answer questions in connection with the survey (except for the basic questions permitted by this Act).

Date: 2013-03-12
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2013 - Amends the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) to require appointments to federal agency advisory committees to be made without regard to political affiliation or activity, unless otherwise required by federal statute. Directs the head of an agency, prior to appointing members to an advisory committee, to give interested persons an opportunity to suggest potential committee members.

Requires an individual appointed to an advisory committee who is not a full-time or permanent part-time officer or employee of the federal government to be designated as: (1) a special government employee if the individual is providing advice based on the individual's expertise or experience, or (2) a representative if the individual is representing the views of an entity outside of the federal government. Prohibits an agency from designating committee members as representatives to avoid subjecting them to federal ethics rules and requirements.

 Requires each agency head to ensure that advice and recommendations of an advisory committee that reports to the agency are the result of the advisory committee's judgment, independent from the agency.

 Provides that an individual who is not an officer or employee of the federal government shall be regarded as a member of an advisory committee if the individual regularly attends and participates in committee meetings as if the individual were a member, even if the individual does not have the right to vote or veto the advice or recommendations of the committee.

Requires each agency head to make available on the agency's Internet site specified information about each of the agency's advisory committees and their activities and to designate an Advisory Committee Management Officer to be responsible for the establishment, management, and supervision of the agency's advisory committees. Requires the Comptroller General to review compliance by agencies with FACA.

Date: 2013-03-13
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on April 15, 2013. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Government Accountability Office Improvement Act - Authorizes the Comptroller General to: (1) obtain federal agency records required to discharge his or her duties (including audit, evaluation, and investigative duties), including through bringing civil actions under this Act, (2) make and retain copies of agency records, and (3) administer oaths when investigating fraud or federal employee misconduct.

States that no provision of the Social Security Act or the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act shall be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the Comptroller General's authority to obtain any information, inspect, or copy any record under this Act.

Requires the Comptroller General to prescribe policies and procedures to protect from public disclosure proprietary or trade secret information obtained pursuant to the authority of the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to: (1) alter or amend the prohibitions against the disclosure of trade secret or other sensitive information prohibited by federal and other applicable laws; or (2) affect the applicability of this Act, including the protections against unauthorized disclosure to obtained information.

Requires agency statements on actions taken or planned in response to Comptroller General recommendations to be submitted to the congressional committees with jurisdiction over the pertinent agency program or activity and to GAO.

Date: 2013-03-14
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Small Business Deposit Relief Act of 2013 - Limits criminal penalties for violations of reporting requirements imposed on financial institutions concerning domestic transactions for the payment, receipt, or transfer of U.S. coins or currency or other monetary instruments where the violation: (1) was not made while also violating another federal law, and (2) was a first offense under such transaction provisions.

Limits the amount of property forfeiture and monetary penalties imposed with respect to a monetary instrument transaction where the violation was not made while also violating another federal law.

Date: 2013-03-14
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
True Cost of War Act of 2013 - Directs the President, with contributions from the Secretary of Defense (DOD), the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), to provide Congress with an estimate of the long-term costs of Operation New Dawn (the successor contingency operation to Operation Iraqi Freedom) and Operation Enduring Freedom based on current contingency operation and withdrawal plans, that takes into account expected force levels and the expected length of time that members of the Armed Forces will be deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Requires the President, in preparing such report, to make estimates and projections through at least FY2023, and to take into account specified cost factors.

Date: 2013-03-18
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act - Requires the Public Printer to establish and maintain a website accessible by the public for obtaining electronic copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one place.

Requires each federal agency to provide the Public Printer with electronic copies of its congressionally mandated reports for publication on the website. Prohibits an agency head from changing or removing a report published on the website, except for technical changes, without the express, written consent of the chairman of each congressional committee to which the report is submitted.

Exempts information or records that are exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from publication on the website. Requires each agency head to redact from congressionally mandated reports any information that may not be publicly released under FOIA before submission for publication on the website.

Date: 2013-03-21
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act - (Sec. 2) Sets forth additional information relating to a federal program that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is required to include on its website and update at least annually, including: (1) the total administrative cost of the program and the expenditures for services for the program for the previous fiscal year; (2) an estimate of the number of clients served by the program and beneficiaries who received assistance under the program for the previous fiscal year; (3) an estimate, for the previous fiscal year, of the number of full-time federal employees who administer the program and the number of full-time employees whose salary is paid in part or in full by the federal government through a grant or contract or other form of financial assistance; (4) an identification of the specific statute that authorizes the program and whether such authorization is expired; (5) any finding of duplication or overlap; and (6) any program performance reviews for such program.

Requires the OMB Director, not later than February 1 of each fiscal year, to publish on the OMB website the total amount of undisbursed grant funding remaining in grant accounts for which the period of availability to the grantee has expired.

(Sec. 3) Amends the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 to require the Comptroller General (GAO) to maintain and provide regular annual updates to a publicly available website that tracks the status of agency responses to recommendations by the Comptroller General for identifying duplicative government programs.

(Sec. 4) Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to require the disclosure of classified information.

(Sec. 5) Requires the OMB Director to implement this Act not later than one year after its enactment. Prohibits the authorization of additional funds to carry out the requirements of this Act.

Date: 2013-04-09
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Fiscal Instruction for a Vibrant Economy Act or FIVE Act - Requires, for FY2013, within 30 days after enactment of this Act, and for FY2014 and each subsequent fiscal year, within 30 days after the President's budget submission to Congress, each federal department and agency to report to the congressional appropriations committees an operating budget that reflects a 5% reduction from the amount requested for it in the President's most recent budget submission.

Date: 2013-04-10
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Plain Regulations Act of 2013 - Requires the head of each executive agency to: (1) implement a program for using plain language in writing new and revised regulations, and (2) certify to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that each proposed or final rule is in plain language.

Requires the Director to: (1) publish agency certifications of compliance with plain language requirements on OMB's website, and (2) return proposed agency regulations that fail to meet such requirements to be redrafted and resubmitted for approval.

Denies jurisdiction to any court to review compliance or noncompliance with any provision of this Act.

Date: 2013-04-15
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 Performance Improvement 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 Director of OMB to establish a Customer Service Feedback Pilot Program which shall include participation by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and two additional agencies to collect information from agency customers on the quality of customer service provided; and (3) the Director to include agency achievements in meeting customer service performance standards in each required update on agency performance.

Requires: (1) compliance with customer service standards developed under this Act to be included in agency employee appraisal systems, (2) the Director of OMB to establish a two-year Service Improvement Unit Pilot Program to provide assistance to agencies that do not meet such government-wide customer service standards, and (3) 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 about its employees who are retiring and pending applications for retirement benefits, (2) establish a timetable for completion of OPM's customer-focused retirement processing system and a deadline by which all federal payroll processing entities will electronically transmit all personnel data to OPM, and (3) include in each OPM annual budget request a statement on progress in completing its customer-focused retirement processing system.

Date: 2013-04-19
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Closing Long-Empty Accounts Now Act of 2013 or the CLEAN Act - Directs the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to submit a report that: (1) lists each U.S. government bank account that has a zero balance for 180 days or more, and (2) recommends which of such accounts should be immediately closed. Requires the appropriate agency to close each such account recommended for closure not later than seven days after the report is submitted.

Date: 2013-05-07
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Protecting Resort Cities from Discrimination Act of 2013 - Prohibits a federal agency from establishing or implementing an internal policy that discourages or prohibits the selection of a travel, event, meeting, or conference location because it is perceived to be a resort or vacation destination.

Date: 2013-05-08
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Sunset Wasteful Executive Expenditures and Programs Act of 2013 - Requires the Comptroller General (GAO): (1) each year, beginning in 2014, to review three executive departments to identify agencies and programs that perform similar or related functions and that no longer serve a public need; (2) to review every executive department at least once every five years; and (3) each year, beginning on February 1, 2015, to report to Congress on the results of the reviews of executive departments carried out during the preceding year with recommendations for abolishing agencies and programs that perform similar or related functions and no longer serve a public need.

Abolishes by December 31 of each year, beginning with 2015, the three executive departments reviewed by the Comptroller General during the preceding year. Requires the President to direct procedures for the winding down of the operations of each abolished department. Allows Congress to authorize the continued existence of an executive department scheduled for abolishment.

Sets forth the process for congressional consideration of the Comptroller General's report, including an expedited procedure for consideration of resulting legislation to be known as a wasteful expenditures bill.

Date: 2013-05-13
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Growth to Excellence Act of 2013 - Amends part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow states to measure student progress toward academic achievement standards using adaptive assessments that are computerized, aligned with grade-level academic content standards, and measure student growth above and below grade level.

Allows states, upon the Secretary of Education's approval, to adopt an alternative accountability model requiring their local educational agencies (LEAs) and public elementary and secondary schools to achieve adequate student growth toward college and career readiness standards.

Requires such states to: (1) adopt college and career ready academic content standards; (2) adopt college and career ready assessments that measure annual student growth in mathematics and reading or the language arts; (3) measure secondary school graduation rates; (4) assess at least two additional specified indicators of students' college or career readiness; and (5) provide a comprehensive system of accountability for schools that do not meet annual progress targets, which shall categorize schools based on student performance, include supports and consequences based on such categorization, and provide incentives for schools that consistently exceed such targets.

Requires an alternative accountability model to establish annual progress targets for each school that: (1) aim to reduce by half, in less than six years, the difference between the percentage of students (overall and in specified student subgroups) at the top performing schools who meet the college and career readiness standards or make adequate student growth, and the percentage of such students at each school that is not a top performing school; (2) ensure that students are making adequate yearly growth to be college and career ready by the end of the 2019-2020 school year; or (3) are calculated in another manner, but result in ambitious and achievable targets for students overall and in specified student subgroups.

Requires annual progress targets for secondary schools that: (1) aim to reduce by half, in less than six years, the difference between the percentage of students (overall and in specified student subgroups) who graduate and 90%; or (2) establish another single graduation rate goal for each specified student subgroup that is ambitious and achievable.

Requires states using an alternative accountability model to establish a system of categorization and related interventions and rewards that groups LEAs based on their schools' and students' annual progress toward such targets.

Describes what shall be considered adequate student growth toward college and career readiness standards.

Date: 2013-05-14
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Education
Savings, Accountability, Value, and Efficiency Act or the SAVE Act - Requires within six months after the enactment of this Act and every two years thereafter: (1) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop and publish a national strategy for managing excess and underutilized federal real property; and (2) the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) to develop and implement a plan to improve the Federal Real Property Profile that ensures the data collected is complete, accurate, and consistent.

Requires the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy to issue guidance to federal agencies for reinvigorating the role of the competition advocate.

Requires OMB to issue government-wide savings goals for the strategic sourcing of goods and services by executive agencies.

Requires agency chief information officers to report to OMB on agency efforts to identify and eliminate potentially duplicative information technology investment.

Requires the Federal Chief Information Officer to develop and implement the Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative to optimize the usage and efficiency of federal data centers. Requires OMB to issue recommendations for reducing or consolidating the number of federal data centers by at least 40% by the end of FY2018 and by at least 80% by the end of FY2023.

Rescinds unobligated budget authority for the Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.

Amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to submit to Congress a report on efforts to finalize plans and schedules for fully implementing and expanding the use of the Integrated Data Repository and on actions taken to plan, schedule, and conduct training on the One Program Integrity System.

Amends the USEC Privatization Act to expand the definition of "uranium" for purposes of transfers and sales to include depleted uranium and any byproduct of uranium processing.

Requires OMB to develop a strategy to assess the collective results of federal funding for the reduction of mobile source diesel emissions and to identify and eliminate any unnecessary duplication, overlap, and fragmentation of such activities.

Repeals a provision of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 establishing an inspection and grading program for catfish and other species of farm-raised fish or shellfish.

Date: 2013-05-15
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
No Regulations, No Pay Act of 2013 - Requires the basic pay of any federal agency official who is responsible for the issuance of regulations to be held in escrow and not paid to such official if such official fails to issue such regulations by the date specified by law. Allows the basic pay of such official to be released when such official issues the required regulations or ceases to serve in the office that issues such regulations.

Date: 2013-05-17
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on September 9, 2013. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

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 is a top national priority to enhance U.S. global 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; (3) maintaining the U.S. commitment to open investment policy encourages other countries to reciprocate and enables the United States to open new markets abroad for U.S. companies and their products; (4) U.S. policies regarding foreign direct investment should reflect national security interests and should not disadvantage domestic investors or companies; and (5) U.S. efforts to attract foreign direct investment should be consistent with efforts to maintain and improve the U.S. standard of living.

 Directs the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Federal Interagency Investment Working Group and the heads of other relevant federal agencies, to conduct an interagency review of the U.S. global competitiveness in attracting foreign direct investment and report to Congress recommendations for increasing that U.S. global competitiveness without weakening labor, consumer, financial, or environmental protections.

Date: 2013-05-20
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Demanding Accountability for Veterans Act of 2014 - (Sec. 3) Requires the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), upon determining that the VA Secretary has not appropriately responded to an IG report that recommends actions to be taken by the Secretary to address a VA public health or safety issue, to notify the Secretary and the congressional veterans committees of such failure.

Requires the Secretary: (1) within 15 days after such notification, to submit to the IG a list of the names of each responsible VA manager and the matter for which the manager is responsible; (2) within 7 days after such submission, to notify each such manager of the covered issue; (3) to direct such manager to resolve the issue; (4) to provide the manager with appropriate counseling and a mitigation plan for resolving the issue; and (5) to ensure that a manager's performance review includes an evaluation of actions taken with respect to such issue.

Prohibits the Secretary from paying a bonus or award to any manager whose issue remains unresolved.

(Sec. 4) Authorizes the Secretary, for the three years beginning on October 1, 2014, to transfer a veteran who is eligible for VA nursing home care to a medical foster home if: (1) the veteran requests that transfer, (2) the home meets the VA's standards, and (3) the transfer is made pursuant to a contract or agreement between the VA and the medical foster home.

Requires a veteran so transferred to agree, as a condition of such transfer, to accept VA home health services.

Defines a "medical foster home" as a home designed to provide non-institutional, long-term, supportive care for veterans who are unable to live independently and prefer a family setting.

(Sec. 5) Prohibits the Secretary from making a per diem payment to a public or nonprofit private entity for the provision of housing or housing services to homeless veterans unless such entity submits to the Secretary an annual certification that the building proposed for such housing or services is in compliance with codes relevant to the operations and level of care provided, licensing requirements, fire and safety requirements, and any other local requirements regarding the condition of the facility and the operation of the entity providing such housing or services.

Directs the Secretary to include, in a currently required annual report on assistance to homeless veterans, an evaluation of the safety and accessibility of such facilities.

(Sec. 6) Extends, through October 1, 2018, the current rates for fees on housing loans guaranteed by the VA, excluding the rates for fees on subsequent loans.

(Sec. 7) Extends through through May 31, 2017, the Secretary's authority to obtain veterans' income verification information from the Commissioner of Social Security or the Secretary of the Treasury.

Date: 2013-05-21
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
One Subject at a Time Act - Requires: (1) each bill or joint resolution to embrace no more than one subject, and (2) the subject to be clearly and descriptively expressed in the measure's title.

Prohibits an appropriations bill from containing any general legislation or change of existing law requirement, if its subject is not germane to the subject of such bill.

Declares void: (1) an entire Act or joint resolution if its title addresses two or more unrelated subjects, (2) provisions in legislation not clearly and descriptively expressed in the measure's title, (3) appropriation provisions in legislation outside the relevant subcommittee's jurisdiction, and (4) provisions of appropriation bills not germane to their subject matter.

Grants aggrieved persons and Members of Congress the right to bring an action against the United States to seek appropriate relief, including an injunction against the enforcement of any law the passage of which did not conform to this Act.

Date: 2013-05-22
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Congress