zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Sunshine on Government Act of 2013 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the Executive Chair of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, to create a separate website with a distinct URL, apart from the OMB website about the reports issued by each Office of Inspector General.  Requires such website to include: (1) a general description of the role of the Office of Inspector General, (2) a description of the types of reports issued by the Office of Inspector General, (3) a list of each federal agency that has an Office of Inspector General, and (4) a link to a website containing Inspector General reports.

Date: 2013-06-03
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Spending Reduction Act - Requires the head of each executive agency to submit to the President and Congress a report on the implementation of recommendations made by specified Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports on reducing duplication in government programs, achieving savings, and enhancing revenue.

Requires: (1) such agency reports to include recommendations by the agency heads for actions that should be taken as a result of such GAO reports; and (2) agency heads to begin implementation of such recommendations in order to eliminate, consolidate, streamline, or better coordinate government programs and agencies with duplicative, overlapping, or fragmented missions identified in the GAO reports, unless Congress enacts a joint resolution disapproving them.

Date: 2013-06-04
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Protecting Adoption and Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Act of 2013 - Amends part B (Child and Family Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish and maintain an automated National Responsible Father Registry.

Requires the Registry to: (1) contain specified kinds of information sufficient to identify a possible father, and (2) provide a mechanism for men to register such identifying information directly with the Registry.

Limits access to Registry information to eligible parties, including: (1) public and licensed private adoption or child placement agencies, (2) licensed attorneys representing a party in a planned or pending adoption or in the termination of rights of one or more possible fathers, (3) state agencies or entities responsible for the placement of children, and (4) state courts.

Directs the Secretary to establish a nationwide campaign designed to inform possible fathers, unwed mothers, possible adoptive parents, and eligible parties of the National Registry, the advantages of possible fathers registering either in the National Registry or State Responsible Father Registries, or both, the rights and responsibilities of such parties with regard to a proceeding, and the role of such Registries in a proceeding.

Directs the Secretary to use all reasonable efforts to encourage states to enter into agreements to establish automated State Responsible Father Registries and centers that make registration forms easily accessible to possible fathers.

Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant to a state to establish a State Registry or modify an existing one to meet the requirements of this Act.

Date: 2013-06-19
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Families
Duplication Elimination Act of 2013 - Requires the President, within 90 days after publication of the annual Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on duplication, consolidation, and elimination of duplicative government programs, to send Congress a proposed joint resolution accompanied by a special message specifying:

 any recommendations outlined in the GAO report that are excluded from the proposed joint resolution; in detail why they were excluded; and the outlined GAO recommendations included in the proposed joint resolution. Limits the proposed joint resolution to one that: (1) makes legislative changes needed to carry out the recommendations contained in the GAO report for a year that the President did not exclude, and (2) requires that any savings attributable to the legislative changes be transferred to the General Fund of the Treasury and be used to reduce the deficit.

Sets forth procedures for expedited congressional consideration of the proposed joint resolution.

Date: 2013-06-26
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Improving All Government Efficiency Act of 2013 or the IMAGE Act of 2013 - Directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to coordinate with the heads of relevant federal departments or agencies to: (1) use available administrative authority to eliminate, consolidate, or streamline programs and agencies with duplicative and overlapping missions as identified in specified Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports released in 2011, 2012, and 2013; (2) identify and report to Congress any legislative changes required to further eliminate, consolidate, or streamline duplicative or overlapping programs and agencies; (3) determine the total cost savings from such activities; and (4) rescind from amounts made available to such departments and agencies the total estimated cost savings.

Requires the Director to report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations listing the accounts reduced by the rescission required by this Act and the amounts rescinded from each such account.

Imposes a monetary penalty on any department or agency that does not meet the requirements of this Act before September 30, 2013.

Date: 2013-06-26
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Cost-Benefit and Regulatory Transparency Enhancement Act of 2013 - Requires the head of a federal agency, after completing any cost-benefit or regulatory impact analysis used to promulgate rules or guidelines or to determine administrative actions, to: (1) submit to relevant congressional committees a report on the result of and methods used to calculate the cost-benefit or regulatory impact analysis, and (2) publish such report in the Federal Register.

Date: 2013-06-28
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Stay in Place, Cut the Waste Act of 2013 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to: (1) review and report on the extent to which federal agencies have reduced travel expenses by the use of video conferencing pursuant to Executive Order 13589 and OMB Memorandum 12-12-12; (2) develop a plan for fiscal years beginning with FY2017 to use video conferencing to achieve the lesser of a 50% reduction in federal agency travel expenses below FY2013 levels, or the greatest reduction in such expenses that the Director considers feasible; and (3) rescind amounts made available for travel expenses that are proposed for reduction under this Act.

Date: 2013-07-10
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
FCC "ABCs" Act of 2013 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in the case of a proposed or final rule (including a proposed or final amendment to an existing rule) that may have an economically significant impact, to include in the notice a cost-benefit analysis demonstrating that the benefits outweigh the costs, recognizing that some benefits and costs are difficult to quantify.

Defines "economically significant impact" as an effect on the economy of at least $100 million annually or a material adverse effect on the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or state, local, or tribal governments or communities.

Prohibits any appropriations for the express purpose of carrying out such analysis and notice requirements.

Directs the FCC to presume, absent clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, that: (1) forbearance requirements are met when determining whether to forbear from applying any regulation or provision under such Act to a telecommunications carrier, service, or class; and (2) regulations considered in each biennial regulatory review are no longer necessary in the public interest as the result of meaningful economic competition between providers of telecommunications service.

Date: 2013-07-10
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2013 - Amends the sanctions provisions in Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to require the court to impose an appropriate sanction on any attorney, law firm, or party that has violated, or is responsible for the violation of, the rule with regard to representations to the court. Requires any sanction to compensate parties injured by the conduct in question.

Removes a provision that prohibits filing a motion for sanctions if the challenged paper, claim, defense, contention, or denial is withdrawn or appropriately corrected within 21 days after service or within another time the court sets.

Authorizes the court to impose additional sanctions, including striking the pleadings, dismissing the suit, nonmonetary directives, or penalty payments if warranted for effective deterrence.

Date: 2013-07-11
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Law
Government Transformation Act - Establishes the Commission on Government Transformation. Directs the Commission to: (1) review work done by governmental and non-governmental entities and conduct research on the organizational practices, operations, and reform efforts of federal agencies; (2) analyze organizational practices and management challenges of federal agencies; (3) assess federal programs for economy, efficiency, and effectiveness and identify best practices; (4) upon request, provide information on Commission activities to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), other federal agency heads, and the Office of Inspector General of each federal agency; and (5) serve as a repository for best practices for federal agencies. Requires the Commission to make interim and annual reports on its activities to the President and Congress and make such reports available to the public.

Provides for expedited congressional consideration of legislation to implement recommendations of the Commission.

Date: 2013-07-11
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Requires the head of a federal agency who is hosting a conference or sending an agency employee to a conference to submit to Congress, not later than 30 days before the conference, a report that includes: (1) an itemized statement of the cost of attending the conference, (2) the total cost to the agency hosting the conference, (3) the names of keynote speakers, (4) a list of conference attendees, (5) the location of the conference, (6) a summary of the purposes and goals of the conference, and (7) a conference itinerary. Defines "conference" as a meeting, retreat, seminar, symposium, training, or other event that involves travel for 50 or more attendees.

Date: 2013-07-16
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Stop Paying Something for Nothing Act of 2013 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), by March 31 of each year, to report to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Budget Committees on: (1) each grant account exceeding three months past the grant end date; and (2) the total unexpended balance, the amount of obligated but unexpended funds, and the amount of unobligated funds in each such account for each agency. Requires the report to be made public on the OMB website.

Requires rescission and return to the Tresury general fund, on the date of the report's submittal, of any unobligated amounts in an expired grant account not listed in the report.

Requires the head of the relevant agency, within four months after a grant account is published on the OMB website, to close that grant account in the Payment Management System if the final report required by OMB Circular No. A-110 was filed more than 36 months before such date. Rescinds the unobligated amounts in such grant account and requires their return to the general fund.

Requires an agency to close any grant account in the System that has no unexpended balance remaining for the previous six months and, by June 15 of each year, report to the Chairs and Ranking Members on each closed account.

Authorizes OMB to prevent the closure of an account only after submitting to the Chairs and Ranking Members a report describing the reason for not closing the account.

Date: 2013-07-22
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Economics and public finance
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

OPM IG Act - Authorizes funding for the cost of audits, investigations, and oversight activities conducted by the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) of the OPM revolving fund and activities financed by the fund. Requires OPM to include in its budget submission an estimate by the Inspector General of the amount required to pay the expenses to audit, investigate, and provide other oversight activities with respect to the revolving fund.

Date: 2013-07-30
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Fair and Independent Redistricting (Fair) Act - Directs the Election Assistance Commission to: (1) publish a report containing best practice recommendations that states may use in establishing and operating independent commissions to develop congressional redistricting plans, and (2) ensure that the report is available to the public online.

Date: 2013-08-01
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Congress
One In, Two Out Act - Prohibits a federal agency from: (1) issuing a new rule unless such agency has repealed two or more existing rules that impose a cost or responsibility on a nongovernmental person or state or local government and that are, to the extent practicable, related to the new rule; or (2) issuing a major rule (generally, a rule that has an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more) unless such agency has repealed two or more rules that are related to such major rule and the cost of the new major rule is less than or equal to the cost of the rules being repealed. Requires any rule that is repealed to be published in the Federal Register.

Date: 2013-08-02
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Executive Cyberspace Coordination Act of 2013 - Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the National Office for Cyberspace to serve as the principal office for coordinating issues relating to cyberspace. Establishes within such Office the Federal Cybersecurity Practice Board to be responsible for developing and updating information security policies and procedures.

Requires the Director of the National Office for Cyberspace to: (1) oversee information security policies and practices, (2) establish a national program to instruct students in cybersecurity education and computer literacy, (3) review federal agency budgets relating to the protection of information infrastructures, and (4) ensure the operation of a central federal information security incident center.

Requires each federal agency to perform an annual independent audit of its information security programs and practices and submit the results of such audit to the Director.

Requires the Secretary of Commerce, on the basis of proposed standards developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to promulgate information security standards pertaining to federal information systems.

Prohibits any agency from entering into a contract, an order under a contract, or an interagency agreement for information technology without including requirements for effective information security that supports the operations and assets of that agency.

Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to require each agency to conduct an initial vulnerability assessment for any major information system.

Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the Office of the Federal Chief Technology Officer. Includes among the duties of such Officer: (1) advising the President and agency officials on information technology infrastructures, strategy, and use; (2) leading an interagency effort to ensure the use of best-in-class technologies; (3) promoting technological innovation in the federal government; (4) establishing public-private sector partnership initiatives; and (5) gathering information on significant developments and trends in information technology.

Grants the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) primary authority for the protection of the critical information infrastructure, as defined by this Act.

Date: 2013-08-02
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Veterans Affairs Employee Accountability Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that no VA employee who knowingly violates any federal civil law or regulation, including one covered under the Federal Acquisition Regulation or the Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulation, or any internal VA policy receives any retention incentive, payment, or award for or during the year of such violation.

Date: 2013-09-12
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Regulation D Study Act - Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to study the impact upon depository institutions, consumers, and monetary policy of the requirement that depository institutions maintain reserves in accordance with the Federal Reserve Act and Regulation D (Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions).

Requires such study to include: (1) a historic review of how the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has used reserve requirements to conduct U.S. monetary policy, (2) the impact of the maintenance of reserves upon depository institutions, (3) the impact upon consumers in managing their accounts, and (4) alternatives available to the Board to maintain reserves to effect monetary policy.

Date: 2013-10-03
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Fiduciary Responsibility and Fairness Act of 2013 - Exempts from the prohibition against making or authorizing an expenditure or obligation of federal funds exceeding an amount available in an appropriation or fund (Antideficiency Act) an expenditure or obligation derived from user fees.

Date: 2013-10-11
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Economics and public finance
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on February 25, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Taxpayer Transparency Act of 2014 - Requires each communication funded by a federal agency that is an advertisement, or that provides information about any federal program, benefit, or service to clearly state: (1) in the case of a printed communication, including mass mailings, signs, and billboards, that the communication is printed or published at taxpayer expense; and (2) in the case of a communication transmitted through radio, television, or the Internet, that the communication is produced or disseminated at taxpayer expense. Requires such notification to state that a communication is provided by the U.S. government, rather than at taxpayer expense, if the communication is funded entirely by user fees or by other sources that do not include federal funds.

Requires any such printed communication: (1) to be of sufficient size to be clearly readable; and (2) to the extent feasible, to be contained in a printed box set apart from the other contents of the communication and to be printed with a reasonable degree of color contrast between the background and the printed statement. Sets forth similar requirements for audio, video, and email communications.

Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop and issue guidance on implementing the requirements of this Act.

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

Date: 2013-10-22
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Verifying Agencies' Lasting Use of Expenditures Act of 2013 or the VALUE Act of 2013 - Requires a federal agency, when making a rule, to: (1) clearly identify the nature and source of the problem that the proposed rule is designed to address, (2) assess the costs and benefits of the rule, and (3) identify and assess available alternatives to the rule.

Allows a rule that does not meet such requirements to take effect temporarily only if the President makes a determination by executive order that such rule is: (1) necessary because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency, (2) necessary for the enforcement of criminal laws, (3) necessary for national security, or (4) issued to implement an international trade agreement.

Requires the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), every five years, to: (1) review the rules of each agency; (2) assess the costs and benefits of such rules to determine whether any such rules are outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome; and (3) report to the head of each agency on such review.

Date: 2013-10-24
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Protecting Adoption Act - Amends part B (Child and Family Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish and maintain an automated National Responsible Father Registry.

Requires the Registry to: (1) contain specified kinds of information sufficient to identify a possible father, and (2) provide a mechanism for men to register such identifying information directly with the Registry.

Limits access to Registry information to eligible parties, including: (1) public and licensed private adoption or child placement agencies, (2) licensed attorneys representing a party in a planned or pending adoption or in the termination of rights of one or more possible fathers, (3) state agencies or entities responsible for the placement of children, and (4) state courts.

Directs the Secretary to establish a nationwide campaign designed to inform possible fathers, unwed mothers, possible adoptive parents, and eligible parties of the National Registry, the advantages of possible fathers registering either in the National Registry or State Responsible Father Registries, or both, the rights and responsibilities of such parties with regard to a proceeding, and the role of such Registries in a proceeding.

Directs the Secretary to use all reasonable efforts to encourage states to enter into agreements to establish automated State Responsible Father Registries and centers that make registration forms easily accessible to possible fathers.

Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant to a state to establish a State Registry or modify an existing one to meet the requirements of this Act.

Date: 2013-11-20
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Families
Improper Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013 - Amends the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 to require the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to: (1) establish and maintain the National Deaths Registry to provide information relating to the deaths of individuals for the purpose of supporting the Do Not Pay Initiative and otherwise preventing, identifying, or recovering improper payments; (2) enter into cooperative agreements with federal agencies, including Inspectors General, and states, local and tribal governments to provide information in the Registry to such agencies and entities to prevent and recover improper payments; and (3) implement procedures for identifying and correcting errors in the Registry.

Directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to identify each agency that operates or maintains a database relating to federal beneficiaries and annuity recipients. Requires each agency to establish: (1) a data matching procedure to compare agency information with information in the Registry, and (2) a procedure for prompt reporting to the Commissioner of information relating to the death of a recipient of federal benefits or a retirement annuity.

Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to report to Congress on data analytics performed as part of the Do Not Pay Initiative and the metrics used in determining whether the analytic and investigatory efforts have reduced improper payments or awards.

Directs OMB to convene a task force of agencies to: (1) identify ways to improve the sharing of information relating to deaths of individuals receiving a federal retirement annuity, (2) share best practices for identifying deceased annuitants, and (3) report to Congress on such efforts.

Requires the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to provide agencies access to information on delivery addresses, including Commercial Mail Receiving Agency lists of known locations of commercial mail boxes, for purposes of improved detection, prevention, and recovery of improper payments.

Date: 2013-11-20
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Entrepreneur-in-Residence Act of 2013 - Directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish an entrepreneur-in-residence program to appoint in-house entrepreneurs who have demonstrated success in working with business concerns and entrepreneurs to: (1) assist federal agencies in improving outreach to business concerns and entrepreneurs, (2) provide recommendations on inefficient or duplicative agency programs and on methods to improve agency efficiency, (3) facilitate meetings and forums to educate business concerns and entrepreneurs on agency programs and initiatives, and (4) provide technical assistance or mentorship. Limits to 10 the number of entrepreneurs-in-residence that the Director may appoint in any year.

Authorizes the Director to establish an informal working group to allow entrepreneurs-in-residence to meet to discuss best practices, experiences, and recommendations in order to create an informal knowledge base for current and future entrepreneurs-in-residence.

Terminates such program after FY2017.

Date: 2013-11-20
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Assessing NASA Science Mission Extensions Act - Instructs the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in conducting assessments of the costs and benefits of extending the date of the termination of data collection for those science missions that have exceeded their planned mission lifetime, to consider: (1) the potential continued benefit of instruments on such missions; and (2) the cost and schedule impacts, if any, of mission extension on other NASA activities and science missions.

Date: 2014-01-10
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Sound Regulation Act of 2014 - Establishes additional requirements for rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), including:

 identification by a federal agency, in the context of a coherent conceptual framework and supported with objective data, of the nature and significance of the market failure, regulatory failure, or other problem that necessitates regulatory action and why other alternatives, such as market forces or state or local regulations, could not address the problem better than federal regulation;  establishment by an agency of an achievable objective for its regulatory action; development of at least three regulatory options, in addition to not regulating, that the agency estimates will provide the greatest benefits for the least cost in meeting the regulatory objective; an estimate by each agency of the costs and benefits of each regulatory option developed, at least to the extent the agency is able to exclude options whose costs exceed their benefits, and rank such options by cost from lowest to highest; publication for public comment of all analyses, documentation, and data relating to the requirements of this Act for a public comment period of at least 30 days; establishment, by rule, of the specific cost-benefit analysis methodology appropriate to the functions and responsibilities of the agency and establishment of an appropriate period for review of new rules to assess their cost-effectiveness; and justification of why the agency does not select the least-cost regulatory option as its proposed rule. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO), for purposes of congressional review, to examine and report on: (1) each agency cost-benefit analysis for compliance with the requirements of this Act, including the agency methodology for such analysis; (2) risk analysis pertaining to the cost-benefit analysis; and (3) agency quadrennial regulatory reviews for consistency with the requirements of this Act.

Date: 2014-01-14
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Federal Sunset Act of 2014 - Establishes the Federal Agency Sunset Commission to: (1) submit to Congress a schedule for review by the Commission, at least once every 12 years, of the abolishment or reorganization of each federal executive agency, including advisory committees; (2) review and evaluate the efficiency and public need for each agency using specified criteria; (3) recommend whether each agency should be abolished or reorganized; and (4) report to Congress on all legislation introduced that would establish a new agency or a new program to be carried out by an existing agency. Requires the abolishment of any agency within one year of the Commission's review, unless the agency is reauthorized by Congress. Authorizes the deadline for abolishing an agency to be extended for an additional two years by legislation enacted by a super majority of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Terminates the Commission on December 31, 2033.

Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in cooperation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), to prepare an inventory of federal programs within each agency, including the budget authority for each such program, to assist Congress and the Commission in carrying out the requirements of this Act.  

Date: 2014-01-14
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Security Clearance Reform Act of 2014 - Directs the President to submit a strategic plan to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the intelligence committees of Congress (appropriate congressional committees) to improve security clearance and background investigation activities. Sets forth the required contents of such plan, including the development of a continuous evaluation or monitoring system of information used for security clearances, improvement of information sharing procedures between agencies, and the reduction or elimination of databases and information sources that cannot be accessed and processed electronically.

Prohibits the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from awarding a contract to any entity for investigative support services or background investigation fieldwork services if such entity has another contract in effect with the federal government to provide such services.

Requires the OPM Director to report to the appropriate congressional committees listing any state or local entity covered by the definition of "criminal justice agency" that has failed to cooperate with three or more criminal history record information requests of the Director. Reduces criminal justice grant funding to state and local entities that fail to substantially comply with such requests.

Date: 2014-02-10
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) remove any individual from the Senior Executive Service upon determining that such individual's performance warrants such removal, and (2) remove such individual from federal service or transfer the individual to a General Schedule position at any grade the Secretary deems appropriate.

Requires: (1) the Secretary to notify the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs committees within 30 days after removing such an individual, and (2) such removal to be done in the same manner as the removal of a professional staff member employed by a Member of Congress.

Date: 2014-02-11
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Federal Register Modernization Act - Requires the Federal Register to be published (e.g., by electronic means), rather than printed, and that documents in the Federal Register be made available for sale or distribution to the public in published form. Revises requirements for the filing of documents with the Office of the Federal Register for inclusion in the Federal Register and for the publication of the Code of Federal Regulations to reflect the publication requirement.

Date: 2014-03-11
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Prohibits the number of limousines in the federal fleet for FY2015 and each fiscal year thereafter from exceeding 50% of the number of such limousines in the fleet as of the last day of FY2014. Excepts any limousine determined to be essential for reasons of national security.

Date: 2014-03-27
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Repeals the National Technical Information Act of 1988, effective one year after the enactment of this Act (thus abolishes the National Technical Information Service [NTIS]).

Directs: (1) the Secretary of Commerce, the Archivist of the United States, the Comptroller General (GAO), and the Commissioner of Social Security to consult with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine if any NTIS function is critical to the U.S. economy; (2) the Comptroller General to determine which of any such critical functions are not being carried out by any other agency or instrumentality of the federal government; and (3) the Secretary of Commerce, prior to the effective date of this Act, to submit to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Finance a written certification that all NTIS operations have been terminated.

Date: 2014-04-02
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Financial Regulatory Clarity Act of 2014 - Requires the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), before issuing a regulation or order, to assess other federal regulations and orders to determine whether the agency's proposal is in conflict with, is inconsistent with, or is duplicative of such other regulations or orders and whether such other federal regulations or orders are outdated.

Date: 2014-04-10
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
NSA Internal Watchdog Act - Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to require the President to appoint, with advice and consent of the Senate, the Inspector General of the National Security Agency (NSA). (Currently, the NSA Inspector General is appointed by the NSA Director.)

Directs the Inspector General to include in an annual report to Congress a review of the mechanisms for NSA employees or contractors to submit complaints.

Establishes a General Counsel to the NSA Inspector General, to be appointed by the Inspector General.

Requires the General Counsel to prescribe professional rules of ethics and responsibilities for NSA employees, officers, and contractors.

 Authorizes the Inspector General, after providing the Attorney General (DOJ) with seven days' advance notice, to subpoena the attendance and testimony of former NSA employees or NSA contractors, former contractors, or former detailees.

Requires the Inspector General to provide Congress with an evaluation of any notice or statement of reasons the Inspector General receives from the Secretary of Defense (DOD) regarding the Secretary's exercise of authority in the interest of national security to prohibit the Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, or completing any audit or investigation.

Directs the Inspector General, in carrying out any audit or investigation of a surveillance or data collection program, to assess the impact of such program on civil rights and liberties.

Requires the Inspector General's reports to Congress to be made available to all Members of Congress.

Directs the Inspector General to audit and report to Congress regarding the effectiveness and use (including improper or illegal use) of NSA surveillance and data collection programs, including programs under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) that authorize: (1) the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to submit applications to the FISA court for an order requiring the production of tangible things (commonly referred to as business records, including books, records, papers, documents, and other items); and (2) the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), with the approval of the FISA court or under exigent circumstances, to authorize the targeting of persons located outside the United States.

Requires such audit to address: (1) the interactions between the NSA and the FISA court, and (2) the process for conducting background investigations of persons for NSA employment or for receiving access to classified information.

Date: 2014-04-30
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies Act - Establishes the Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies. Requires such Commission to evaluate federal agencies and their programs each year for a six-year period to determine whether: (1) two or more agencies or programs are performing the same essential function and such function can be consolidated or streamlined; (2) any agency or program has wasted federal funds by egregious spending, mismanagement of resources and personnel, or use of funds for personal benefit or the benefit of a special interest group; and (3) any agency or program has completed its intended purpose, has become irrelevant, or has failed to meet its objectives. Requires the realignment or elimination of such agencies or programs.

Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to report to Congress on the effectiveness of the Commission. Sets forth procedures for consideration and implementation by Congress of Commission recommendations.

Date: 2014-05-06
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Government Reporting Efficiency Act of 2014 - Terminates any statutory requirement for reporting by a federal agency to Congress on the date that is five years after the enactment of this Act and every five years after such original termination date. Allows a permanent exception to such termination rule.

Date: 2014-05-09
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Regulatory Improvement Act of 2014 - Establishes in the legislative branch the Regulatory Improvement Commission. Requires the Commission to evaluate and provide recommendations and proposed legislation for modification, consolidation, or repeal of regulations that have been finalized not later than 10 years before the establishment of the Commission and have not been amended after being finalized (covered regulations) for the purpose of reducing compliance costs, encouraging growth and innovation, improving competitiveness, and protecting public health and safety. Sets forth reporting requirements for the Commission and procedures for congressional consideration of Commission reports and recommendations and proposed legislation.

Date: 2014-05-09
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Unfunded Mandates Accountability Act of 2013 [sic]- Amends the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 to: (1) require regulatory impact analyses for rules that do not involve a legislative mandate and for final rules that do not have a prior notice of proposed rulemaking; (2) require federal agencies to prepare and publish in the Federal Register an initial and final regulatory impact analysis prior to promulgating any proposed or final rule that may have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or that may result in the expenditure of $100 million or more in any one year by state, local, and tribal governments; (3) require such agencies to identify and consider regulatory alternatives before promulgating any proposed or final rule and select the least costly, most cost-effective, or least burdensome alternative; (4) define "cost" as the cost of compliance and any reasonably foreseeable indirect cost resulting from agency rulemaking; (5) exempt rules concerning monetary policy proposed or implemented by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Open Market Committee from provisions of such Act relating to regulatory accountability and reform, review of federal mandates, and judicial review; and (6) expand provisions relating to judicial review of regulatory impact analyses.

Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require independent regulatory agencies to conduct regulatory impact analyses.

Date: 2014-05-09
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Federal Financial Statement Transparency Act of 2014 - Establishes in the executive branch an independent Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) to develop federal financial accounting concepts or standards, giving consideration to the budgetary information needs of executive agencies and the needs of users of federal financial information.

Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a FASAB operations fund to enable the FASAB to carry out its duties.

Requires the Secretary to assess a fee on each sale of a security for deposit into the fund.

Date: 2014-05-20
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Verify It Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit a federal agency from notifying the Secretary of the Treasury of any past-due legally enforceable debt until such agency: (1) notifies by certified mail the person owing such debt that the agency proposes to notify the Secretary of the debt and gives such person at least 60 days to present evidence that such debt is not past-due or legally enforceable, (2) considers such evidence and determines that an amount of such debt is past-due and legally enforceable, and (3) satisfies any other conditions the Secretary may prescribe to ensure that the debt is valid and that the agency has made reasonable efforts to collect such debt.

Prohibits any administrative offset of a claim asserted by the federal government that has been outstanding for more than 10 years.

Date: 2014-05-29
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Taxation
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome Act of 2014 or the SCRUB Act of 2014 - Title I: Retrospective Regulatory Review Commission - Establishes the Retrospective Regulatory Review Commission to review the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to identify, using specified criteria, rules and sets of rules that collectively implement a regulatory program that should be repealed to lower the cost of regulation to the economy, giving priority to major rules that: (1) have been in effect more than 15 years, (2) impose paperwork burdens that could be reduced substantially without significantly diminishing regulatory effectiveness, (3) impose disproportionately high costs on small business entities, and (4) could be strengthened in their effectiveness while reducing regulatory costs. 

Title II: Regulatory Cut-go - Requires a federal agency that makes a new rule to repeal rules identified by the Commission to offset the cost to the economy of such new rule (cut-go procedures). Requires the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review and certify the accuracy of agency determinations of the cost of new rules.

Title III: Retrospective Review of New Rules - Requires a federal agency that makes a new rule to include in the final issuance of such rule a plan for reviewing the rule not later than 10 years after it is promulgated.

Title IV: Judicial Review - Makes agency compliance with the requirements of this Act subject to judicial review.

Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions - Defines terms used in this Act and makes it effective upon enactment.

Date: 2014-06-17
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Protection Against Wasteful Spending Act of 2014 - Requires the head of a federal agency to: (1) implement in each of fiscal years 2014-2020 all of the recommendations of the agency's inspector general (IG) regarding wasteful and excessive spending, or duplicative programs causing wasteful and excessive spending, except for any recommendation that would violate an existing law; and (2) report to Congress on such implementation.

Prohibits an agency that fails to implement an IG recommendation in a timely manner from obligating funds for: (1) convention or seminar attendance and international or domestic travel by any politically-appointed official, or (2) any bonus or salary increase for such official.

Directs that such funds that are prohibited from being obligated and amounts saved by the implementation of IG recommendations be credited or transferred equally to: (1) the Highway Trust Fund, and (2) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for capitalization grants for state water pollution control revolving funds under the Clean Water Act.

Date: 2014-06-23
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics