zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Stop Blood Tomatoes Act

This bill requires each public or private company that produces or sells products in interstate commerce and has gross annual revenues exceeding $1 million to submit to annual audits of its supply chains by an independent auditor to determine if the chains are free of child labor and forced labor.

The independent auditor shall determine in each audit either that:

 the company's products are produced without the use of child labor or forced labor; or if the auditor cannot be certain that child labor or forced labor was used, that the company's products may have been produced with the use of such labor.

Date: 2015-05-15
Topic: Labor (Youth Employment)
Subject: Labor and employment
Employ Young Americans Now Act

 Establishes in the Treasury the Employ Young Americans Fund, with an initial appropriation of $5.5 billion for FY2016.

Requires the Department of Labor to make certain Fund allocations to each state with an approved workforce investment system plan modification, other specified requests for funds, and Native American program grantees to provide summer and year-round employment opportunities to low-income youth.

Requires the Department to award allocations and competitive grants to local entities for work-based training and other work-related and educational strategies and activities of demonstrated effectiveness to provide unemployed, low-income young adults and low-income youths with skills that will lead to employment.

Subjects activities funded under this Act to federal labor standards and nondiscrimination protections.

Date: 2015-06-10
Topic: Labor (Youth Employment)
Subject: Labor and employment
Children's Act for Responsible Employment of 2015 or the CARE Act of 2015

 Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to define "oppressive child labor," for purposes of the Act's child labor prohibitions, as the employment of any employee who is:

 16 or 17 in any occupation found by the Department of Labor to be particularly hazardous for their employment or detrimental to their health or well-being; 14 or 15, unless the employment is confined to periods which do not interfere with the employee's schooling, health, or well-being; or under 14. Revises the Act's exemptions to make the restrictions on oppressive child labor inapplicable to the following:

 employment in agriculture of an employee under age 18 by his or her parent, or by a person standing in the place of the parent, on a farm owned by the parent or person (current law uses an age- and consent-based scheme); and employment of an employee under age 16 by a parent, or a person standing in place of a parent, other than in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, or any other employment the Department finds to be particularly hazardous for the employment of children age 16 or 17 or detrimental to their health or well-being. (Current law applies the child labor restrictions to particularly hazardous agricultural employment, except where the child is employed by a parent or a person standing in place of the parent on a farm owned or operated by such person). Eliminates any waiver of such prohibitions for hand-harvesting of certain crops.

Increases civil and establishes criminal penalties for child labor violations.

Directs the Department to revise federal child labor regulations to prohibit the employment of children under age 18 in duties involving the handling of pesticides.

Date: 2015-06-12
Topic: Labor (Youth Employment)
Subject: Labor and employment
Youth Summer Jobs and Public Service Act of 2015

 Amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to direct the Department of Labor to award grants to states to help local areas with high concentrations of eligible youth to carry out summer employment programs to provide those youth with summer employment opportunities directly linked to academic and occupational learning.

Date: 2015-06-16
Topic: Labor (Youth Employment)
Subject: Labor and employment
Securing America's Next Generation of Safe Loggers and Truckers Act 

This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to make the restrictions on oppressive child labor inapplicable to employment of an employee age 16 or 17 exclusively by a parent, or a person standing in place of a parent, in a logging operation owned or operated by that parent or person.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shall establish a test program to allow states to enter into interstate compacts with contiguous states, approved by the governor of each state, to standardize the requirements for operators of commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce.

A commercial driver's license issued by one state participating in a compact shall be recognized as valid in every state participating in the compact.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Labor (Youth Employment)
Subject: Labor and employment
Child Performers Protection Act of 2015

This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to revise the application of child labor requirements and prohibitions with respect to child performers to specify new limitations on the number of hours such children may be employed at the place of employment.

An employer or contractor may not: (1) employ any child performer unless a trust meeting specified requirements has been established on the child performer's behalf and the employer has obtained the account number of the trust account or other proof of its existence; or (2) compensate a child performer in any form besides cash wages, exclusive of board, lodging, or facilities.

Any employment or contracting of a child performer that is not in accordance with such limitations and requirements shall be treated as oppressive labor.

Certain work hour restrictions shall not apply to child performers employed in a live theatrical production.

Any individual in a supervisory role with respect to a child performer shall be liable for unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex against a child performer whether or not the individual is employed by or contracted by a covered employer or contractor.

Any child performer aggrieved by unlawful harassment on the basis of sex, or the performer's parent or guardian, may bring a civil action in any federal court of competent jurisdiction to recover equitable relief and compensatory and punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

The employer of an individual who is alleged to have engaged in unlawful harassment on the basis of sex against a child performer shall conduct an internal review of its policies and procedures for protecting child performers and ensuring appropriate compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Labor (Youth Employment)
Subject: Labor and employment
Employ Young Americans Now Act

 Establishes in the Treasury the Employ Young Americans Fund, with an initial appropriation of $5.5 billion for FY2016.

Requires the Department of Labor to make certain Fund allocations to each state with an approved workforce investment system plan modification, other specified requests for funds, and Native American program grantees to provide summer and year-round employment opportunities to low-income youth.

Requires the Department to award allocations and competitive grants to local entities for work-based training and other work-related and educational strategies and activities of demonstrated effectiveness to provide unemployed, low-income young adults and low-income youths with skills that will lead to employment.

Subjects activities funded under this Act to federal labor standards and nondiscrimination protections.

Date: 2015-06-04
Topic: Labor (Youth Employment)
Subject: Labor and employment
21st Century Conservation Service Corps Act of 2015 

This bill establishes a 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC) that provides work and training opportunities for youth and veterans in certain federal agencies. Work and training provided in 21CSC must involve:

 protecting, restoring, and enhancing natural, cultural, and historical resources and treasures, including public and tribal land or water; supporting outdoor recreation and urban green spaces; restoring and safeguarding U.S. natural resources; or service that is primarily indoors with a clear benefit for natural, cultural, or historic resources or treasures. Participating federal agencies may develop public-private partnerships with organizations to support and carry out 21CSC projects.

Participating federal agencies must compensate 21CSC participants with a wage, a stipend, a living allowance, or an educational credit at a participating institution of higher education.

Participating federal agencies must also provide participants with: (1) job skill development; (2) community skill development to help participants acquire an ethic of service to others and become more effective resource and community stewards; and (3) a greater understanding of U.S. natural, cultural, or historic resources or treasures.

Date: 2015-08-05
Topic: Labor (Youth Employment)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Federal Intern Protection Act of 2015

This bill extends protections against discrimination in a federal workplace based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability to interns (individuals who perform uncompensated voluntary service in a federal agency to earn credit awarded by an educational institution or to learn a trade or occupation) and applicants for internships.

Date: 2016-02-02
Topic: Labor (Youth Employment)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Temporary Agricultural Labor Reform Act of 2007 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise employer and employee association application requirements for admission of H-2A temporary agricultural workers, including assurances: (1) that the job opportunity is temporary, and is not the result of a labor dispute; (2) that attempts have been made to hire U.S. workers; (3) respecting wages and benefits, and labor law compliance; (4) respecting nondisplacement of U.S. workers; and (5) respecting placement with other employers. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a mandatory employment verification program. Revises related provisions respecting: (1) penalties; and (2) admissions and extensions of stay. Provides special provisions for alien sheepherders, goatherders, and dairy workers. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to: (1) authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to H-2A employers for the transportation costs of workers whose employment is cut short by natural disaster; and (2) direct the Secretary to establish an H-2A Worker Program Ombudsman within the Office of the Chief Economist of the Department of Agriculture. Amends the Immigrant Reform and Control Act of 1986 to limit the conditions under which the Legal Services Corporation may: (1) provide legal assistance for, or on behalf of, any alien; (2) bring a civil action for damages on behalf of an H-2A nonimmigrant (requires prior mediation); and (3) enter onto an employer's property.

Date: 2007-03-29
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
American Job and Seasonal Business Preservation Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt certain returning H-2B aliens (temporary nonagricultural worker) from annual numerical limitations in FY2009.

Date: 2009-04-02
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2009 or the AgJOBS Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to confer "blue card status" upon an alien who: (1) has performed agricultural employment in the United States for at least 863 hours or 150 work days during the 24-month period ending on December 31, 2008, or earned at least $7,500 from U.S. agricultural employment; (2) applied for such status during the 18-month application period beginning on the first day of the seventh month that begins after the date of enactment of this Act; (3) is otherwise admissible to the United States; and (4) has not been convicted of any felony or a misdemeanor, an element of which involves bodily injury, threat of serious bodily injury, or harm to property in excess of $500. Limits the number of blue cards that may be issued during the five-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary to adjust a blue card alien (and spouse and minor children) to permanent resident status if the alien has fulfilled specified periods of agricultural employment. Amends the Social Security Act to exempt blue card aliens from prosecution for social security-related identity or payment false statements if such conduct occurred prior to the granting of blue card status. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise H-2A visa (agricultural labor or temporary or seasonal services) provisions. Replaces the existing labor certification requirement with a labor attestation requirement containing: (1) a description of the nature and location of the job; (2) the job's expected beginning and ending dates; (3) the number of jobs; and (4) specified labor assurances respecting job opportunities covered by collective bargaining agreements and non-covered job opportunities.

Date: 2009-05-14
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
Amends the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to make it unlawful for a person to knowingly commit specified fraudulent acts relating to a Pigford claim (relating to racial discrimination by the Department of Agriculture). Subjects a violator to criminal fine and/or up to five years in prison. Provides for: (1) access to the permanent judgment fund for additional claims payments or debt relief after the expenditure of amounts otherwise made available for claims payments; and (2) reasonable attorney fees, administrative costs, and expenses to be paid from such fund.

Date: 2009-05-05
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Agriculture and food
H-2A Improvement Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include within the H-2A nonimmigrant visa category (temporary agricultural workers) an alien coming temporarily to the United States to work as a sheepherder, goat herder, or dairy worker. Exempts an employer filing a petition to employ such a worker from the requirement to show that the position is of a seasonal or temporary nature. Provides for a three-year initial period of admission with additional three-year extensions. Authorizes such alien to petition to become a lawful permanent resident after having worked as a sheepherder, goat herder, or dairy worker in the United States for not fewer than 33 of the preceding 36 months.

Date: 2010-09-28
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
Helping Agriculture Receive Verifiable Employees Securely and Temporarily Act of 2010 or the HARVEST Act of 2010 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to redefine "H-2A worker" to include a nonimmigrant who: (1) is seeking to perform agricultural labor in the United States in a job for which U.S. workers are not available and willing to perform such service or labor; and (2) commutes each day across the U.S. border and returns to his or her foreign residence and place of abode at the end of each business day. Defines "Level 2 H-2A worker" as an H-2A worker who has been employed as an H-2A worker for at least 30 months, has not violated a material term of H-2A employment, and works in a supervisory capacity. Sets forth employer and employee association petition and attestation requirements. Requires H-2A employers to participate in the the E-Verify program. Requires: (1) the Secretary of Labor to conduct investigations and random audits of employer work sites; and (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide each H-2A worker with a single machine-readable, counterfeit-resistant document that authorizes the alien's U.S. entry, serves as an employment eligibility document, and has at least one biometric identifier. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) penalties; (2) working conditions, wages, transportation, and housing; (3) admissions and extensions of stay; and (4) worker replacement. Amends the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act to: (1) limit the conditions under which the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) may provide legal assistance for any alien, or provide financial assistance to any person or entity that provides legal assistance for any alien; (2) require a good faith mediation attempt prior to bringing a civil action for damages on behalf of an H-2A worker; (3) require an H-2A employer to post LSC contact information in the dwelling and at the work site of each nonimmigrant employee in a language in which all employees can understand; and (4) require that the LSC pay a prevailing defendant's costs. Authorizes appropriations to adjudicate H-2A petitions.

Date: 2010-09-29
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
10k Run for the Border Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase employer civil fines for: (1) hiring, or recruiting or referring for a fee, an alien that the employer knows is not authorized for employment; and (2) continuing to employ such alien. Sets forth a federal-state (and local) allocation of such additional penalty funds.

Date: 2011-05-03
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
H-2A Improvement Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include within the H-2A nonimmigrant visa category (temporary agricultural workers) an alien coming temporarily to the United States to work as a sheepherder, goat herder, or dairy worker. Exempts an employer filing a petition to employ such a worker from the requirement to show that the position is of a seasonal or temporary nature. Provides for a three-year initial period of admission with additional three-year extensions. Authorizes such alien to petition to become a lawful permanent resident after having worked as a sheepherder, goat herder, or dairy worker in the United States for not fewer than 33 of the preceding 36 months.

Date: 2011-05-04
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
American Specialty Agriculture Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish an H-2C nonimmigrant visa for an alien having a residence in a foreign country which he or she has no intention of abandoning and who is coming temporarily (10-month maximum per contract period) to the United States to perform agricultural labor or services, including the pressing of apples for cider on a farm. Requires an employer or employer association to file an H-2C petition with the Department of Agriculture (USDA) which shall include specified employment-related attestations. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) penalties; (2) working conditions, wages, and transportation reimbursement; (3) admissions and extensions of stay; (4) abandonment of employment and worker replacement; (5) legal assistance; and (6) arbitration and mediation. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct investigations and random audits of employer work sites. Requires an employer to guarantee to offer the worker employment for the hourly equivalent of at least 50% of the work hours during the total anticipated period of employment. Limits the number of annual fiscal year H-2C admissions. Prohibits the admission of spouses and children of H-2C workers. Extends coverage under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act to H-2C workers. Makes the provisions of this Act effective two years after its enactment. Terminates authority to petition for H-2A temporary agricultural workers two years after enactment of this Act.

Date: 2011-09-07
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
Legal Agricultural Workforce Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a W-visa nonimmigrant classification for temporary agricultural workers. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to establish: (1) a nonimmigrant temporary agricultural worker program (W-visa) which shall include annual numerical limitations and monthly limitations based on enrollment requests, historical agricultural employment needs, and the reports of U.S. workers applying for agricultural employment; and (2) a trust fund to administer and enforce the program and provide a monetary incentive for such workers to return to their countries upon visa expiration. Sets forth program provisions, including: (1) enrollment requirements, (2) a visa preference allocation system, (3) a biometric identification card requirement, (4) U.S. worker protections, and (5) visa increases due to extraordinary and unusual employment circumstances. Makes such agricultural workers ineligible for need-based federal financial assistance.

Date: 2011-09-12
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
Agricultural Labor Market Reform Act of 2011- Confers "blue card status" upon an alien who: (1) during the 24-month period ending on December 31, 2010, has performed specified lengths of, or earned a specified amount from, agricultural employment in the United States; (2) applied for such status during the 18-month application period; (3) is otherwise admissible to the United States; and (4) has not been convicted of specified felonies or misdemeanors. Sets forth grounds for termination of blue card status, including: (1) deportability, and (2) commission or conviction of certain crimes. Provides for adjustment of blue card status to permanent resident status based upon completed periods of agricultural employment. Exempts an alien from certain Social Security-related violations if committed prior to receiving blue card status. Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to require farm labor contractors to participate in the E-verify Program. Amends the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act to prohibit farm labor contractors from hiring an alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence or who has not been otherwise authorized by the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to work. Establishes a trust fund for agricultural labor market reform.

Date: 2011-09-22
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
H-2A Improvement Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include within the H-2A nonimmigrant visa category (temporary agricultural workers) an alien coming temporarily to the United States to work as a sheepherder, goat herder, or dairy worker. Exempts an employer filing a petition to employ such a worker from the requirement to show that the position is of a seasonal or temporary nature. Provides for a three-year initial period of admission with additional three-year extensions.

Date: 2011-10-14
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
Better Agriculture Resources Now Act or the BARN Act - Revises the H-2A nonimmigrant agricultural worker visa program, including provisions regarding: (1) agricultural labor and services, (2) application requirements, (3) wages, (4) period of authorized nonimmigrant status, (5) housing, (6) legal assistance, and (7) violations.

Date: 2011-11-16
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
Prohibits the Secretary of Labor from issuing a final rule that prevents or otherwise affects the agricultural employment of minors to detassel, rogue, or otherwise engage in seed production or related and incidental agricultural employment.

Date: 2011-12-16
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Labor and employment
Family Farm Relief Act of 2012 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a process for receiving H-2A nonimmigrant visas (temporary agricultural workers) which shall ensure that that petitioners may file such petitions over the Internet or in paper form. (Transfers administration of the H-2A program from the Department of Labor to USDA.) Includes dairy workers in the H-2A category with a maximum 12-month period of admissions which may be renewed three months after the end of each such period. Revises H-2A certification provisions.

Date: 2012-09-11
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
H-2A Improvement Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include within the H-2A nonimmigrant visa category (temporary agricultural workers) an alien coming temporarily to the United States to work as a sheepherder, goat herder, or dairy worker. Exempts an employer filing a petition to employ such a worker from the requirement to show that the position is of a seasonal or temporary nature. Provides for a three-year initial period of admission with additional three-year extensions. Authorizes such alien to petition to become a lawful permanent resident after having worked as a sheepherder, goat herder, or dairy worker in the United States for not fewer than 33 of the preceding 36 months.

Date: 2011-04-14
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
American Jobs in American Forests Act of 2012 - Directs the Secretary of Labor, as a component of the H-2B (temporary nonagricultural workers) labor certification process, to take specified actions to recruit U.S. workers before petitioning to hire H-2B workers. Requires a prospective H-2B employer to submit a separate petition for each state in which the employer plans to employ H-2B non-immigrants for a period of at least seven days. Prohibits the Secretary from granting a temporary labor certification to a prospective H-2B employer until the Director of the state workforce agency has determined that: (1) employer recruitment requirements have been met, and (2) U.S. nationals are not qualified or available to fill such employment opportunities.

Date: 2012-03-07
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
Legal Agricultural Workforce Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a W-visa nonimmigrant classification for temporary agricultural workers.

Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to establish: (1) a nonimmigrant temporary agricultural worker program (W-visa) which shall include annual numerical limitations and monthly limitations based on enrollment requests, historical agricultural employment needs, and the reports of U.S. workers applying for agricultural employment; and (2) a trust fund to administer and enforce the program and provide a monetary incentive for such workers to return to their countries upon visa expiration.

Sets forth program provisions, including: (1) enrollment requirements, (2) a visa preference allocation system, (3) a biometric identification card requirement, (4) U.S. worker protections, and (5) visa increases due to extraordinary and unusual employment circumstances.

Makes such agricultural workers ineligible for need-based federal financial assistance.

Date: 2013-01-14
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
Growing Small Farms Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the liability of employers of agricultural labor for federal unemployment tax under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), to increase from $20,000 or more to $40,000 or more the amount of wages which such employers must pay in a calendar quarter for agricultural labor before being treated as employers for FUTA purposes. Provides for an inflation adjustment to such increased wage threshold after 2014.

Date: 2013-07-31
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Taxation
Visa Transparency Anti-Trafficking Act of 2016

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand nonimmigrant employer annual data reporting requirements to include all nonimmigrant worker categories and compensated cultural exchange, training, and business classifications.

Expanded reporting requirements include information regarding: (1) the age and gender of admitted nonimmigrants; (2) categories and numbers of visas issued; (3) numbers of persons admitted under each visa classification and subclassification; (4) blanket petitions; (5) the occupation and country of origin of beneficiaries; (6) nonimmigrant worker employers; (7) compensation; and (8) citizens of nations with Compacts of Free Association with the United States who are authorized to reside permanently in the United States as nonimmigrants and their ports of U.S. entry.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall: (1) submit such report and post the information along with the corresponding raw data and a searchable database to a public website, and (2) ensure that such posted information does not include information that would identify a specific person with reasonable certainty.

Any government official who uses such information shall take steps to: (1) protect individual identities, and (2) prevent the information from being disaggregated into its component parts.

 The Department of State or the Department of Labor, if requested by DHS, shall share information necessary for Labor to file its annual report regarding employer petitions for H-, P-, O-, and Q-visa nonimmigrant aliens.

"Employment" means employment in the United States and includes cultural exchanges, training, or business activities for which the nonimmigrant receives any form of compensation.

Date: 2016-04-20
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
Paperwork Reduction for Farmers Act

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit multiple employers to submit a joint petition to import nonimmigrant H-2A visa temporary agricultural workers. Upon approval of such petition, each joint employer shall be subject to the Act's H-2A provisions with respect to each alien listed in the petition.

The period of authorized H-2A admission may not exceed the shorter of three years or the contract period.

An employer seeking to rehire H-2A workers who previously worked for the employer as H-2A workers at any time during the most recent 12-month period may submit a simplified petition, to be developed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), which shall include a certification that the employer maintains compliance with all applicable employment requirements. Such petitions shall be approved upon completion of applicable security screenings.

An employer may apply for workers with staggered start and end dates in the same application.

An employer that has received a request for evidence from the CIS may request that such evidence request be delivered in an online format. The CIS, within three days of the employer's submission of evidence, shall: (1) provide an online response indicating whether the evidence is sufficient; and (2) if the evidence is insufficient, shall provide evidence thereof and an opportunity for the employer to address the deficiencies.

Date: 2016-09-28
Topic: Labor (Migrant and Seasonal)
Subject: Immigration
Summer of Service Act of 2007 - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to create Summer of Service programs providing at least 100 hours of summer community service learning opportunities to youth who will subsequently enroll in grades six through nine. Requires the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide competitive three-year grants to: (1) states under a State Grant program; and (2) public or private organizations under a National Direct Grant program, when a state does not apply for funding or the community service program includes multiple states. Requires states and organizations, in making project subgrants, to favor entities with established track records that: (1) have leadership positions in the communities from which participating youth will be drawn; (2) focus on youth service during the transition year before high school; (3) encourage or enable youth to continue providing community service throughout the school year; (4) involve youth in the design and operation of the community service project; and (5) include youth of diverse backgrounds, at least 50% of which are from low-income families. Permits such entities to charge the parents of participants an income-based fee to contribute to the nonfederal share of project costs. Makes each youth serving at least 100 hours in a service-learning project eligible for an educational award of up to $500.

Date: 2007-04-17
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Education
Assistance to Individuals Delivering for America Act of 2007 or the AID for America Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a business tax credit for 50 percent of the wages paid to employees serving as disaster relief volunteers. Limits the amount of such credit to $100 per day per employee.

Date: 2007-05-22
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Taxation
GothamCorps Authorization Act of 2007 - Establishes the GothamCorps program. Directs the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide, through such program, for the award of grants to certain units of local government to carry out volunteer projects. Requires local government units to provide each participant in a volunteer project with a scholarship equal to the cost of one year's tuition at a local public college. Authorizes grant funding from amounts made available in the National Service Trust.

Date: 2007-07-10
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Social welfare
Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue rules that designate no-fly zones in the vicinity of certain nuclear power plants and prohibit the operation of aircraft in such zones.

Date: 2007-07-31
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Emergency management
Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish the Social Work Reinvestment Commission to provide independent counsel to Congress on policy issues associated with the recruitment, retention, research, and reinvestment in the profession of social work. Directs the Commission to study and report to Congress on issues facing the social work profession, including: (1) fair market compensation, high social work educational debt, social work workforce trends, knowledge development, and social work safety; and (2) state-level social work licensure and reciprocity agreements for providing services across state lines. Authorizes the Secretary to award various grants to eligible entities to support demonstration programs and other activities related to research, workplace improvements, education, training, and programs of excellence. Directs the Secretary to: (1) contract with a national social work research entity to serve as a coordinating center and clearinghouse for information on activities under the demonstration program; and (2) develop and issue public service announcements that advertise and promote the social work profession. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should designate a National Social Work Awareness month.

Date: 2008-02-14
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Social welfare
Supporting Emergency Responders Volunteer Efforts Act of 2008 or the SERVE Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a $1,000 refundable tax credit for individuals who are bona fide volunteer members of a qualified volunteer emergency response organization who provide firefighting, ambulance, or emergency medical services.

Date: 2008-04-03
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Taxation
Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Tax Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income for income tax purposes AmeriCorps educational awards awarded under the National and Community Service Act of 1990.

Date: 2008-06-26
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Taxation
Public Service Scholarship Act of 2008 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a Public Service Scholarship program authorizing the Secretary of Education to make grants to states for scholarships to exceptionally able students who show promise of continued excellence and agree to serve as federal employees for at least five years. Allocates scholarship funds among states on the basis of each state's share of the nation's population of five- through 17-year olds; but sets the minimum allocation at a level allowing grantees to award at least 10 scholarships per year.

Date: 2008-09-18
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Education
Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to authorize the Corporation for National and Community Service to award grants to public agencies or private nonprofit organizations experienced in administering service programs to provide Silver Scholarships to individuals who: (1) perform, over a 12-month period, at least 500 hours of volunteer service after attaining age 55; and (2) have received, during the five-year period preceding the award, fewer than two such scholarships. Allows the proration of such scholarships when an individual, due to compelling personal circumstances, cannot perform 500, but performs at least 250, hours of service within the 12-month period. Allows a scholarship recipient to designate another individual to use such scholarship.

Date: 2008-09-23
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Social welfare
National Parents Corps Act of 2008 - Directs the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, subject to the availability of appropriations, to award a grant to a nonprofit entity (to be known as the NPCP Nonprofit Partner) to establish a National Parents Corps program to promote safety and combat youth violence and substance abuse in public middle or secondary schools. Requires the NPCP Nonprofit Partner to: (1) select for program participation annually schools that agree to host a Parent Leader for a number of years equal to the number of grade levels they offer; and (2) employ, after a background check, a Parent Leader from among the parents of students enrolled in the lowest grade at each participating school to work on a full-time basis with students, other parents, and school officials to treat, prevent, and reduce violence and drug, alcohol, and tobacco addiction among students. Urges participating schools to take the measures necessary to secure funding for the employment of Parent Leaders after federal funding becomes unavailable.

Date: 2008-09-29
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Education
Protecting the Spirit of Giving Act - Prohibits a manufacturer or retailer from using the name of a charitable organization to solicit donations or to sell or market a product under certain arrangements unless the manufacturer or retailer, for each solicitation, sale, or promotion, notifies the organization, obtains advance written approval, and limits the use of the organization's name to the scope approved. Requires a manufacturer or retailer that sells or markets a product with the intention of remitting a portion of the proceeds to a charitable organization to disclose to the purchaser the portion of the purchase price that will be remitted, the maximum amount that will be remitted, the applicable time period, and the organization's contact information.

Date: 2007-12-19
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Commerce
Authorizes the National District Attorneys Association to use the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina, for a national training program to improve the professional skills of state and local prosecutors and to enhance the ability of federal, state, and local prosecutors to work together. Authorizes the National Advocacy Center to provide comprehensive legal education in trial practice, substantive legal updates, and support staff training. Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2012.

Date: 2008-04-30
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Corrosion Prevention Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business-related tax credit for 50% of net expenditures for engineering design, materials, and application and installation of corrosion prevention and mitigation technology for depreciable property comprised primarily of metals susceptible to corrosion. Terminates such credit after 2017.

Date: 2008-07-23
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to convene a Task Force on Obesity to: (1) establish a government-wide strategy for preventing and reducing overweight and obesity that includes defining clear roles, responsibilities, and accountability for all federal agencies; (2) coordinate effective interagency coordination and priorities for action among federal agencies, including short-term and long-term goals for childhood and adult obesity rates; and (3) implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of, such strategy.

Date: 2008-07-23
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Health
Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide for a one-year extension of the authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out an alternative contracting program for research and development projects if the Secretary issues policy guidance by September 30, 2008, detailing the appropriate use of other transaction authority and provides mandatory training to each employee handling procurements under such authority.Directs the Secretary to submit to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the House Committee on Homeland Security an annual report on the exercise of such authority, including: (1) the technology areas in which research projects were conducted under other transactions; (2) the extent of the cost-sharing among federal and nonfederal sources; (3) the extent to which use of the other transactions contributed to a broadening of the technology and industrial base available for meeting the needs of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and fostered within the technology and industrial base new relationships and practices that support national security; (4) the total payments received by the government; and (5) the rationale for using such authority.

Date: 2008-07-24
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Emergency management
Green Jobs and Infrastructure Act of 2008 - Requires the Secretary of Energy to implement a program to provide loans to manufacturers to help finance the cost of: (1) reequipping, expanding, or establishing a manufacturing facility in the United States to produce clean technology products and significant component parts of those products, including wind turbines, solar energy products, fuel cells, advanced batteries and storage devices, biomass engines, and geothermal equipment; and (2) improving the energy-efficiency of the industrial processes of the manufacturers other than through the production of products and component parts for retrofitting a manufacturing facility. Applies such loans to: (1) facilities and equipment placed in service before December 30, 2012; and (2) costs incurred between the date of this Act's enactment and December 30, 2020. Requires the Secretary to give priority to facilities in regions with the highest unemployment rates. Authorizes the Secretary to provide awards or loans to idle facilities.Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to require the Secretary to establish the High-Performance Building Block Grant Program to provide grants to assist eligible entities in implementing large-scale, multi-building projects to improve and provide high-performance building, green building, and renewable energy services and financing to homeowners and small businesses. Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to include among national service programs eligible for assistance under the National and Community Service State Grant Program a Clean Energy Service Corps program in which participants: (1) promote clean energy technologies; or (2) enable communities and nonprofit organizations to assist businesses and households in matters relating to clean energy technologies and in becoming more energy efficient.Amends the Workforce Investment Act to require the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer to the Secretary a specified amount of funding for the energy efficiency and renewable energy worker training program.

Date: 2008-12-10
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Energy
Boy Scouts of America Land Transfer Act of 2009 - Authorizes the Utah National Parks Council of the Boy Scouts of America (the Boy Scouts) to convey to Brian Head Resort certain public land in Utah acquired under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act for the purpose of operating a camp in exchange for conveyance by Brian Head Resort of certain of its private land to the Boy Scouts.

Date: 2009-01-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Volunteer Firefighter Tax Relief Act of 2009- Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow volunteer firefighters a tax deduction from gross income for personal safety clothing (including helmets and boots) used in performing fire fighting services.

Date: 2009-01-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to authorize the Corporation for National and Community Service to award grants to public agencies or private nonprofit organizations experienced in administering service programs to provide Silver Scholarships to individuals who: (1) perform, over a 12-month period, at least 500 hours of volunteer service after attaining age 55; and (2) have received, during the five-year period preceding the award, fewer than two such scholarships. Allows the proration of such scholarships when an individual, due to compelling personal circumstances, cannot perform 500, but performs at least 250, hours of service within the 12-month period. Allows a scholarship recipient to designate another individual to use such scholarship.

Date: 2009-02-12
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Social welfare
Encore Service Act of 2009 - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to make eligible for assistance under the National Service Trust program Encore Service programs that engage individuals age 50 or older in national service addressing specific community needs. Gives Encore Service participants age 50 or older five options for their term of service, ranging from full-time to minimum time. Makes such participants eligible for national service educational awards, which they may transfer to others for use within 20 years. Expresses the sense of Congress that, by 2018, 25% of National Service Trust program participants should be age 50 or older. Requires the Corporation for National and Community Service to identify and address the barriers to program participation by such individuals. Establishes Encore Fellowship programs providing Encore Fellowships to professionals age 50 or older who serve as full-time volunteers for nine months to one year with public or nonprofit organizations that address unmet human, educational, environmental, or public safety needs. Makes such Fellows ineligible for national service educational awards. Creates Silver Scholarship programs providing Silver Scholarships to individuals who, over a one-year period, complete: (1) at least 500 hours of volunteer service after attaining age 55; or (2) between 250 and 500 hours of such service and present compelling personal experiences. Allows such individuals to transfer their scholarships to others for use within 20 years. Directs the Corporation to specify the services that qualify volunteers for scholarships, including: (1) tutoring or mentoring in educational settings; and (2) assisting persons with special needs. Amends the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to allow anyone age 55 or older (currently, 60 or older) whose income does not exceed 200% (currently, 125%) of the poverty level to volunteer under the Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion programs that provide supportive services to persons with exceptional needs. Reauthorizes appropriations for the National Senior Volunteer Corps, including the Retired and Senior Volunteer, Foster Grandparent, and Senior Companion programs.

Date: 2009-02-24
Topic: Social Welfare (Volunteer Associations)
Subject: Social welfare