zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Congressional Record Printing Savings Act of 2011 - Revises requirements for printing the Congressional Record, specifying that it be made electronically available promptly as it is issued in daily form. Prohibits the Government Printing Office (GPO) from printing more than the minimum number of copies of the Record necessary for archival purposes. Requires the Public Printer to: (1) determine that minimum number of copies, and (2) ensure the most cost-effective printing of it. Requires GPO to make the Record publicly available on GPO's website in a format which enables it to be downloaded and printed by users. Repeals: (1) the authority of the Librarian of Congress to furnish a copy of the daily and bound Record to the Undersecretary of State for External Affairs of Canada in exchange for a copy of the Parliamentary Hansard, and (2) the Public Printer's requirement to honor the requisition. Repeals the authority of the Public Printer, under the direction of the Joint Committee, to sell: (1) subscriptions to the daily Record; and (2) current, individual numbers and bound sets of it.

Date: 2011-03-30
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
GSE Bailout Elimination and Taxpayer Protection Act - Sets a deadline for the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to terminate the conservatorship of either the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) if the Director determines that it is financially viable. (Refers to both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as enterprises [government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs].) Requires the Director to appoint the FHFA immediately as receiver of either enterprise if it is found not to be financially viable. Amends the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (FHEFSSA) to repeal: (1) its housing goals, and (2) the housing trust fund. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to restrict the authority of an enterprise to acquire mortgage assets following its emergence from conservatorship. Repeals certain temporary, general, and permanent high-cost area increases to conforming loan limits. Establishes new conforming loan limits. Amends FHEFSSA to require the Director to require each enterprise to charge a guarantee fee, in connection with any mortrgage guaranteed after a specified three-year period, in an amount equivalent to that which the enterprise would charge if it were held to the same capital standards as private banks or financial institutions. Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act (FNMACA) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act (FHLMCA) to prohibit reduction in the rate of dividends paid on each enterprise's Variable Liquidation Preference Senior Preferred Stock. Amends FHEFSSA to require the Director to establish minimum levels of capital for the enterprises, including levels in excess of such minimums as necessary or appropriate in light of an enterprise's particular circumstances. Authorizes the Director to deem failure of an enterprise to maintain revised minimum capital levels to constitute an unsafe and unsound condition. Amends FNMACA and FHLMCA to: (1) prohibit the enterprises from purchasing mortgages if the mortgagor has paid less than the specified minimum downpayment; and (2) require the enterprises to pay state and local taxes. Repeals the exemption of mortgage-backed securities and subordinate obligations of Fannie Mae, as well as mortgage-backed securities of Freddie Mac, from regulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), thus subjecting such securities and obligations to SEC regulation. Prescribes a deadline and procedures for the wind down of operations and dissolution of an enterprise three years after enactment of this Act.

Date: 2011-03-31
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Housing and community development
Public Online Information Act of 2011 - Establishes a Public Online Information Advisory Committee to: (1) coordinate and encourage the government's efforts to make information from all three branches of government available on the Internet, and (2) issue and update nonbinding guidelines on how the government should make public information available. Directs the government to make public records available on the Internet at no charge, except as imposed by federal law before this Act's enactment. Requires: (1) public records to be permanently available on the Internet; (2) current information technology capabilities to be applied to the means by which records are made available and to the formats in which they are available; (3) public records to be made accessible through programs and equipment that are readily available to the general public; and (4) each agency to publish on the Internet a comprehensive, searchable, machine processable list of all records it makes publicly available. Delineates the roles of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government, and the chief information officers of independent regulatory agencies, including granting narrow case-by-case exceptions to the Internet publication requirement if an agency requests an exception and demonstrates that: (1) there is clear and convincing evidence that the record should not be made available on the Internet, and (2) on balance the harm caused by disclosure significantly outweighs the public's interest in having the record available on the Internet. Directs the Inspector General of each agency to conduct periodic reviews regarding agency compliance with Internet publication requirements. Sets forth provisions regarding enforcement of public access by private individuals or organizations. Urges: (1) judicial and legislative agencies to adopt or adapt the Advisory Committee's recommendations, and (2) the Government Printing Office (GPO) to make all of its publications permanently available on the Internet in a multiplicity of formats.

Date: 2011-04-04
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Information Technology Investment Management Act of 2011 -  Expands the responsibilities of agency heads with respect to the acquisition of information technology (IT) to require: (1) the development of an IT management and development program; and (2) the posting on agency websites of cost, schedule, and performance information regarding an agency's major IT investments. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure the effective operation of a website that provides monthly updated information on agency investment in IT projects. Requires a Chief Information Officer of an executive department that is primarily responsible for an IT project under review to: (1) take specified actions, including conducting performance reviews and taking corrective actions, after determining that an IT project has significantly or grossly deviated (i.e., a cost, schedule, or performance variance that is at least 20% or 40%, respectively, from the original baseline); and (2) designate, in consultation with the agency head, the most costly and critical major IT investment projects as core IT investment projects. Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to develop policy and guidance for agencies in developing programs to recognize excellent employee performance in the acquisition of information systems and information technology for such agencies.

Date: 2011-04-12
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to revise the definition of "agency" to include independent regulatory agencies for purposes of provisions concerning federal mandates. Amends the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 to provide that provisions of such Act relating to regulatory accountability and reform, review of federal mandates, and judicial review shall not apply to rules concerning monetary policy proposed or implemented by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Open Market Committee.

Date: 2011-04-14
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), not later than 150 days after the enactment of this Act, to coordinate with the heads of federal agencies to: (1) use available administrative authority to eliminate, consolidate, or streamline federal programs and agencies with duplicative and overlapping missions as identified in the March 2011 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled "Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue" and apply any savings towards deficit reduction; (2) report to Congress any legislative changes required to further eliminate, consolidate, or streamline such programs and agencies; (3) determine the total cost savings to each agency from the implementation of this Act; and (4) rescind from appropriate accounts the greater of $5 billion or the total amount of such cost savings.

Date: 2011-05-11
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Correction of Long-Standing Errors in Agencies' Unsustainable Procurements Act of 2011 or the CLEAN-UP Act - Requires executive agencies to ensure that: (1) inherently governmental functions, functions closely related to such functions, and mission-essential functions are performed by federal employees; (2) other functions are performed by the more efficient form of personnel, whether federal employees, contractors, or military personnel; and (3) consideration is given to using federal employees to perform new functions on a regular basis. Requires each agency head to submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): (1) an annual report on service contracts for new work, (2) a Functions At Risk Report that describes those functions required to be performed by federal employees that are actually performed by contractors (requires agencies to reduce the total number of contractor employees described in that Report by 70% within six years), and (3) a strategic human capital plan to ensure the capability of the agency's federal employee workforce to perform agency functions. Prohibits an agency from conducting a public-private competition for any function that such plan identifies as experiencing a gap in its federal employee workforce. Requires agencies subject to the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998 (other than the Department of Defense [DOD]) to: (1) submit an annual inventory of activities performed pursuant to contracts for services, (2) review those contracts and identify activities that should be considered for conversion to performance by civilian employees, and (3) develop a plan for such conversion by June 30 of the following year. Authorizes agency heads to expedite the hiring of certain professionals in shortage category positions. Requires the OMB Director to: (1) develop guidelines for the establishment of business process re-engineering projects, and (2) conduct annual performance reviews of such projects that are ongoing. Sets forth revisions, requirements, and restrictions applicable to studies and public-private competitions for the conversion of agency functions to contractor performance pursuant to OMB Circular A-76.

Date: 2011-05-12
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Limits the amount that may be expended by the Department of Defense (DOD) in any fiscal year for printing and reproduction costs after FY2011. Rescinds a specified amount from amounts made available for the DOD for FY2011. Allocates such rescinded amounts across Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Army National Guard, Air National Guard, and defense-wide operation and maintenance accounts. Requires the Secretary of DOD to report to Congress on the allocation of such rescission. Requires certain DOD reports that are required by law that do not contain information that should not be made available to the public in the interest of national security to be distributed electronically in order to reduce printing and reproduction costs.

Date: 2011-05-18
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Directs the Attorney General (AG) to establish minimization and destruction procedures governing the acquisition, retention, and dissemination of any records received by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): (1) in response to a national security letter issued under specified provisions of the federal criminal code authorizing FBI requests for telephone toll and transactional records for counterintelligence purposes, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978, or the National Security Act of 1947; or (2) pursuant to provisions authorizing FBI requests for orders from designated judges requiring production of business records and other tangible things in investigations related to foreign intelligence and international terrorism, and requiring the AG to inform Congress of such requests, under title V of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). Defines "minimization and destruction procedures" as: (1) specific procedures reasonably designed in light of the purpose and technique of a national security letter or a request for tangible things for an investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information, as appropriate, to minimize the acquisition and retention, and prohibit the dissemination, of nonpublicly available information concerning unconsenting U.S. persons consistent with the need of the United States to obtain, produce, and disseminate foreign intelligence information, including procedures to ensure that information obtained outside the scope of such letter or request, is returned or destroyed; (2) procedures requiring that nonpublicly available information, which is not foreign intelligence information (as defined in specified FISA provisions) shall not be disseminated in a manner that identifies, without consent, any U.S. person, unless such person's identity is necessary to understand foreign intelligence information or assess its importance; and (3) notwithstanding the first two procedures, procedures allowing retention and dissemination of information that is evidence of a crime which has been, is being, or is about to be committed and that is to be retained or disseminated for law enforcement purposes.

Date: 2011-05-25
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Department of Commerce and the Workforce Consolidation Act - Establishes the Department of Commerce and the Workforce, headed by a Secretary of Commerce and the Workforce, as an executive department for the advancement of economic growth and job opportunities. Consolidates in such Department: (1) the Office of the Workforce, (2) the Patent and Trademark Office, (3) the Small Business Administration (SBA), (4) the Office of Economic Affairs and Statistics, (5) the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), (6) the International Trade Administration, (7) the Bureau of Industry and Security, (8) the Economic Development and Training Administration, (9) the Communications and Information Administration, and (10) the Office of Inspector General. Sets forth the powers and responsibilities of the Secretary. Transfers: (1) specified functions and programs of the Departments of Commerce and Labor to the Department of Commerce and the Workforce, (2) all functions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the Department of the Interior, and (3) all functions of the National Marine Fisheries Service of NOAA to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Requires the President to issue an executive order to achieve cost savings in the areas of travel and relocation, printing and copying, and supplies and materials. Eliminates: (1) the International Labor Comparisons program of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, (2) the career pathways innovation fund established under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, (3) the Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration program (4) grants for public telecommunications facilities, (5) the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program, (6) the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, (6) the Emergency Steel Guaranteed Loan Program, and (7) certain functions and programs of the Bureau of the Census.

Date: 2011-05-26
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Unfunded Mandates Accountability Act of 2011 - 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: 2011-06-14
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Employment Impact Act of 2011 - Requires federal agencies to: (1) assess the impact of federal actions on jobs and job opportunities, (2) include in every recommentation or report on legislative proposals and regulartory actions a jobs impact statement, and (3) review their statutory authority, regulations, and policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the purposes and provisions of this Act.  Exempts implementation of this Act, including such job impact statements, from judicial review.

Date: 2011-06-16
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2011 or DATA Act - Requires each person, state, local, or tribal government (recipient) that receives federal appropriated funds, either directly or as a subcontractor or subgrantee, to report at least once quarterly each receipt and use of such funds to the Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency Board established by this Act. Requires each executive agency to report all federal obligations and expenditures to the Board. Exempts an individual recipient from such reporting requirements if: (1) the total amount of federal funds received does not exceed $100,000 in the current calendar or fiscal year; and (2) no transaction in which the recipient has received federal funds during the current calendar year or fiscal year has exceeded $24,999. Authorizes the Board to grant additional exemptions for classes or categories of recipients. Requires the Board to designate: (1) common data elements for information required to be reported, and (2) data reporting standards. Requires the Board to establish one or more websites for the publication of all information submitted by recipients and agencies to serve as a public portal for federal financial information. Requires the Board to establish a federal accountability portal (an integrated Internet-based system, consisting of one or more websites) to: (1) combine information submitted by recipients and agencies with other compilations of information; (2) permit executive agencies to verify the eligibility of recipients to receive federal funds; and (3) permit executive agencies, Inspectors General (IGs), and law enforcement agencies to track federal awards to find waste, fraud, and abuse. Establishes the Board in the executive branch. Transfers all functions of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to the Board, including its employees. Makes conforming amendments to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to terminate the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board on October 1, 2013. Repeals the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.

Date: 2011-06-16
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Regulatory Capture Prevention Act of 2011 - Establishes the Office of Regulatory Integrity in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to be headed by an Administrator. Requires the Administrator to investigate and report on the influence of concentrated economic interests on federal agencies that results in: (1) agency action or inaction that fails to advance the mission of the agency or is otherwise inimical to the public interest; (2) regulation, licensing, adjudication, grants, or other agency action that favors a limited number of economic interests or is otherwise inimical to the public interest; (3) enforcement priorities that are not reasonably calculated to accomplish regulatory goals; and (4) a loss of confidence in the integrity of the regulatory process. Grants certain powers to the Administrator to carry out this Act, including access to agency records, subpoena power, direct and prompt access to the head of a relevant agency and access to information and assistance by such agency. Requires the Administrative Conference of the United States to provide the Administrator with written guidance on the principal means by which concentrated economic interests wield influence on federal agencies, the most salient threats to regulatory integrity arising from such influence, and effective measures to minimize regulatory capture.

Date: 2011-07-07
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act - Requires the Public Printer to establish and maintain a website accessible by the public for obtaining electronic copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one place. Requires each federal agency to provide the Public Printer with an electronic copy of congressionally mandated reports for publication on the website.

Date: 2011-07-25
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Faster FOIA Act of 2011 - Establishes the Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays to conduct a study to: (1) identify methods that will help reduce delays in processing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted to federal agencies; (2) ensure the efficient and equitable administration of FOIA throughout the federal government; (3) examine whether the system for charging fees for such requests and granting waivers of such fees needs to be reformed; (4) determine why the government's use of FOIA exemptions increased during FY2009, whether the increase contributed to delays, what efforts were made by federal agencies to comply with President Obama's January 21, 2009, Presidential Memorandum on Freedom of Information Act Requests, whether those efforts were successful, and how the use of exemptions may be limited; and (5) determine whether any disparities in processing, processing times, and completeness of responses to FOIA requestors have occurred based upon political considerations, ideological viewpoints, the identity of the requestors, affiliation with the media, or affiliation with advocacy groups, why such disparities occurred, and the extent to which political appointees have been involved in the FOIA process.

Date: 2011-08-01
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Amends the Budget Control Act of 2011 to require each meeting of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (except any discussing classified information) to be made open to the public and available for television coverage.

Date: 2011-08-02
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Congress
Closing Regulatory Loopholes Act of 2011 - Requires federal agency guidance documents and major guidance documents to be submitted for congressional review prior to implementation.  Defines: (1) "guidance document" as an agency statement of general applicability and future effect that sets forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory or technical issue or an interpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue; and (2) "major guidance document" as a guidance document that has resulted in or is likely to result in an annual effecct on the economy of $100 million or more, a major increase in costs of prices, or a significant adverse effect on competition, employment, investment, productivity, or innovation.

Date: 2011-09-08
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Regulatory Accountability Act of 2011 - Amends the Administrative Procedure Act to revise and expand the requirements for federal agency rulemaking by requiring agencies, in making a rule, to base all preliminary and final determinations on evidence and to consider the legal authority under which the rule may be proposed, the specific nature and significance of the problem the agency may address with the rule, any reasonable alternatives for the rule, and the potential costs and benefits associated with such alternatives. Requires agencies to publish advance notice of proposed rulemaking for major rules and for high-impact rules (rules having an annual cost on the economy of $100 million or $1 billion or more, respectively), which shall include a written statement identifying the nature and significance of the problem the agency may address with a rule, the legal authority under which the rule may be proposed, and a solicitation for written data and comments from interested persons. Sets forth criteria for issuing major guidance (agency guidance that is likely to lead to an annual cost on the economy of $100 million or more, a major increase in cost or prices, or significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or ability to compete). Expands the scope of judicial review of agency rulemaking by allowing immediate review of rulemaking not in compliance with notice requirements and establishing a substantial evidence standard for affirming agency rulemaking decisions.

Date: 2011-09-22
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2011 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to publish on its website and submit to Congress a biennial report on the state of the communications marketplace assessing: (1) competition, including intermodal, facilities-based, and new and emergent services competition and addressing the provision of content and communications using the Internet; (2) deployment of communications capabilities, including whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion; and (3) whether laws, regulations, or regulatory practices pose a barrier to competitive entry or expansion of existing providers of communications services. Requires the FCC to compile a list of geographic areas that are not served by any provider of advanced telecommunications capability. Repeals and consolidates various FCC reports including reports on satellite competition, international broadband, video programming, cable industry prices, small business entry barriers, commercial mobile radio, and several other existing reports under such Act.

Date: 2011-11-02
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2011 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to establish procedural requirements for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concerning: (1) the issuance of proposed rulemaking notices, including the time periods for comments and replies and any necessary findings, background information, or performance measures that must be contained in such notices; (2) the circumstances under which the FCC is authorized to adopt or amend a rule; and (3) the disclosure of closed meetings held by a bipartisan majority of FCC Commissioners. Requires the FCC, before adopting or amending a rule that may have an economically significant impact, to: (1) analyze the specified market failure, actual consumer harm, burden of existing regulation, or failure of public institutions that warrants the rule or amendment; and (2) determine that the benefits justify its costs. Directs the FCC to establish rules for: (1) Commissioners' deliberations including procedures for initiating agenda items and approving orders; and (2) the publication of the status of open rulemakings and all proposed orders, decisions, reports, or actions on circulation for review. Prohibits the FCC, without providing an opportunity for public review, from relying on unpublished reports to Congress or ex parte FCC communications or filings under specified circumstances. Directs the FCC to publish on its website and in other required formats: (1) each order, decision, report, or action within seven days of its adoption; and (2) an anticipated release schedule for all statistical reports and reports to Congress. Sets forth standards that restrict the FCC's authority to conditionally approve line and license transfers and other transactions. Prohibits the FCC from considering a voluntary commitment of a party to such transfer or transaction unless the FCC could adopt that commitment as a condition under such standards.

Date: 2011-11-02
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Telecommunications Jobs Act of 2011 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to establish procedural requirements for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concerning: (1) the issuance of proposed rulemaking notices, including the time periods for comments and replies and any necessary findings, background information, or performance measures that must be contained in such notices; (2) the circumstances under which the FCC is authorized to adopt or amend a rule; and (3) the disclosure of closed meetings held by a bipartisan majority of FCC Commissioners. Requires the FCC, before adopting or amending a rule that may have an economically significant impact, to: (1) analyze the specified market failure, actual consumer harm, burden of existing regulation, or failure of public institutions that warrants the rule or amendment; and (2) determine that the benefits justify its costs. Directs the FCC to establish rules for: (1) Commissioners' deliberations including procedures for initiating agenda items and approving orders; and (2) the publication of the status of open rulemakings and all proposed orders, decisions, reports, or actions on circulation for review. Prohibits the FCC, without providing an opportunity for public review, from relying on unpublished reports to Congress or ex parte FCC communications or filings under specified circumstances. Directs the FCC to publish on its website and in other required formats: (1) each order, decision, report, or action within seven days of its adoption; and (2) an anticipated release schedule for all statistical reports and reports to Congress. Sets forth standards that restrict the FCC's authority to conditionally approve line and license transfers and other transactions. Prohibits the FCC from considering a voluntary commitment of a party to such transfer or transaction unless the FCC could adopt that commitment as a condition under such standards.

Date: 2011-11-08
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011 - Amends the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) to revise the definition of "rule" under such Act to exclude a rule of particular (and not general) applicability relating to rates, wages, and other financial indicators and to define "economic impact" with respect to a proposed or final rule as any direct economic effect on small entities from such rule and any indirect economic effect on small entities that is reasonably foreseeable and that results from such rule. Includes tribal organizations within the definition of "small governmental jurisdictions" for purposes of such Act. Requires initial and final regulatory flexibility analyses to: (1) describe alternatives to a proposed rule that minimize any adverse significant economic impact or maximize the beneficial significant economic impact on small entities, and (2) include revisions or amendments to a land management plan developed by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior under specified Acts. Requires each federal agency to include in its regulatory flexibility agenda a description of the sector of the North American Industrial Classification System that is affected by a proposed agency rule which is likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Expands elements of initial and final regulatory flexibility analyses under RFA to include estimates and descriptions of the cumulative economic impact of a proposed rule on a small entity. Repeals provisions allowing a waiver or delay of the completion of an initial regulatory flexibility analysis. Requires the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to issue rules governing federal agency compliance with RFA requirements. Authorizes the Chief Counsel to modify or amend such rules, to intervene in agency adjudication relating to such rules, and to inform an agency of the impact of its rulemaking on small entities. Revises requirements for agency notification of the SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy prior to the publication of any proposed rule. Requires agencies to provide the Chief Counsel with: (1) all materials prepared or utilized in making the proposed rule, and (2) information on the potential adverse and beneficial economic impacts of the proposed rule on small entities. Requires each agency to publish in the Federal Register a plan for the periodic review of existing and new rules that have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities to determine whether such rules should be continued, changed, or rescinded. Provides for judicial review of an agency final rule for compliance with RFA requirements after the publication of such rule. Grants federal courts of appeal jurisdiction to review all final rules issued in accordance with RFA.

Date: 2011-12-01
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Commerce
Taxpayers Right to Know Act - Requires the head of each federal agency in each fiscal year to: (1) identify and describe every program administered by such agency; (2) determine the total administrative expenses and expenditures for services for each program; (3) estimate the number of clients served by each program and the beneficiaries who received assistance under each program; (4) estimate the number of full-time federal and contract employees who administer each program; and (5) identify federal programs with duplicative or overlapping missions, services, and allowable uses of funds. Requires agency heads to publish on agency websites the information required by this Act, the latest performance reviews of each agency program, improper payment rates, the total amount of unspent and unobligated program funds held by the agency and grant recipients, and recommendations for consolidating duplicative programs, eliminating waste and inefficiency, and terminating lower priority, outdated, and unnecessary programs and initiatives. Expands the scope of information required in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance to include: (1) programs providing assistance to foreign nations, international organizations, and services provided or funded by agencies operating outside the United States; (2) information required by this Act; and (3) budget functions and authorization and appropriation amounts for each assistance program in the Catalog.

Date: 2011-12-07
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Down Payment to Protect National Security Act of 2012 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine the number of full-time employees employed in each federal agency. Prohibits a federal agency head from hiring more than 2 employee for every 3 full-time employees who leave employment in such agency until the OMB Director makes a determination that the number of full-time federal employees is 5% less than the initial level as determined by OMB. Allows a waiver of such workforce limitation by the President for national security reasons or in the case of an extraordinary emergency. Amends the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 to extend the freeze on the pay of federal employees, including Members of Congress, until June 30, 2014. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), as amended by the Budget Control Act of 2011, to offset mandatory sequestration in security and nonsecurity categories in FY2013-FY2021 with revenues resulting from the reduction in the federal workforce and the pay freeze under this Act.

Date: 2012-02-02
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Federal Research Public Access Act of 2012 - Requires each federal agency with extramural research expenditures of over $100 million to develop a specified federal research public access policy that is consistent with, and that advances, the purposes of the agency. Makes each federal research public access policy applicable to: (1) researchers employed by the federal agency whose works remain in the public domain; and (2) researchers funded by the agency. Specifies exclusions. Requires the submission of annual reports by each federal agency on its federal research public access policy.

Date: 2012-02-09
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Reforming and Consolidating Government Act of 2012 - Defines "efficiency-enhancing plan," for purposes of executive authority to reorganize federal agencies, as a reorganization plan that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) determines will or is likely to result in a decrease in the number of agencies or cost savings in performing the functions that are the subject of the plan. Expands executive authority to reorganize federal agencies by allowing: (1) the creation of a new executive department or the abolition or renaming of an existing department, (2) the consolidation of two or more departments, and (3) the creation of a new agency that is not a component or part of an existing executive department. Allows a provision in a reorganization plan to take effect only if such plan is transmitted to Congress within two years of the enactment of this Act and is an efficiency-enhancing plan.

Date: 2012-02-17
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Plain Writing Act for Regulations of 2012 - Requires the head of each executive agency to: (1) implement a program for using plain writing in drafting agency regulations, (2) designate a senior official to oversee the implementation of plain writing requirements, (3) certify to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that each agency rule has been reviewed for compliance with such requirements, and (4) publish annual reports on agency compliance with such requirements on the agency's website. Requires: (1) the Director of OMB to develop and issue guidance to agencies for implementing plain writing requirements, and (2) the Comptroller General (GAO) to report to Congress on the extent to which regulations are using plain writing and the impact of plain writing requirements on the rulemaking process. Prohibits judicial review of compliance with any provision of this Act.

Date: 2012-04-23
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Midnight Rule Relief Act of 2012 - Prohibits a federal agency (excluding the Federal Election Commission [FEC], the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC], and the U.S. Postal Service [USPS]) from proposing or finalizing any midnight rule that would likely result in: (1) an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more; (2) a major increase in costs or prices; or (3) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of U.S.-based enterprises to compete internationally. Defines "midnight rule" as an agency statement of general applicability and future effect that is issued during the moratorium period, that is intended to have the force and effect of law, and that is designed to: (1) implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy; or (2) describe the procedure or practice requirements of an agency. Defines the "moratorium period" as the day after the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in every fourth year succeeding a presidential election through January 20 of the following year in which a President is not serving a consecutive term. Exempts any midnight rule that the President determines is necessary: (1) because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency, (2) to enforce criminal laws, (3) to protect U.S. national security, or (4) to implement an international trade agreement.

Date: 2012-04-25
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics
EPA Regional Oversight Act of 2012 - Requires each Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Permits individuals serving as Regional Administrators on the date of this Act's enactment to continue to serve until January 1, 2013.

Date: 2012-05-09
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Environmental protection
GAO Mandates Revision Act of 2012 - Amends the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act of 1988 to require audits of the transactions of the U.S. Capitol Preservation Commission at least once every three years, rather than annually, unless the Chairman or Ranking Member of the House Committee on House Administration or the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, the Secretary of the Senate, or the Clerk of the House of Representatives requests that an audit be conducted at an earlier date. Amends the federal judicial code to repeal the requirement that the Comptroller General (GAO) review contributions to the Judicial Survivors' Annuities Fund at the end of each three-fiscal year period. Changes reporting and audit requirements of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to require: (1) reports on the strategy of ONDCP's national media campaign on February 1, 2013, and every three years thereafter, rather than annually, and (2) audits of the programs and operations of ONDCP not later than December 31, 2013, and every three years thereafter, rather than annually. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010 to modify the annual GAO reporting requirement for the demonstration project for referral of claims under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 to the Office of Special Counsel to require only one annual report after the commencement of the demonstration project. Amends the Semipostal Authorization Act to repeal the requirement that GAO issue an interim report four years after a semipostal stamp is first made available to the public and a final report not later than six months before the semipostal stamp's scheduled expiration date. Amends the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act to eliminate the annual GAO review requirement for the Earned Import Allowance Program for imports of textiles. Eliminates requirements that the American Battle Monuments Commission prepare an annual financial statement and obtain an annual audit of its financial statement by GAO. Requires audits of the Senate Preservation Fund at least once every three years, rather than annually, unless the Chairman or the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration or the Secretary of the Senate requests that an audit be conducted at an earlier date.

Date: 2012-06-20
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Congress
Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2012 - Defines a "covered civil action" as a civil action seeking to compel agency action and alleging that an agency is unlawfully withholding or unreasonably delaying an agency action relating to a regulatory action that would affect: (1) the rights of private persons other than the person bringing the action, or (2) a state, local, or tribal government. Defines a "covered settlement agreement" as: (1) a consent decree or settlement agreement entered into a covered civil action; and (2) any other consent decree or settlement agreement that requires agency action relating to such a regulatory action. Requires an agency against which a covered civil action is brought to publish the complaint in a readily accessible manner and to provide interested parties an opportunity to intervene and to conduct settlement negotiations through mediation. Requires an agency seeking to enter a covered settlement agreement to publish such agreement in the Federal Register and online not later than 60 days before it is filed with the court. Provides for public comment and public hearings on such agreement. Requires the Attorney General or an agency head, if an agency is litigating a matter independently, to certify to the court that the Attorney General or the agency head approves of any proposed covered settlement agreement that includes terms that: (1) convert into a duty a discretionary authority of an agency to propose, promulgate, revise, or amend regulations; (2) commit an agency to expend funds that have not been appropriated and budgeted; (3) commit an agency to seek a particular appropriation or budget authorization; (4) divest an agency of discretion committed to it by statute or the Constitution; or (5) otherwise afford any relief that the court could not enter under its own authority. Requires a court to grant de novo review of a covered settlement agreement if an agency files a motion to modify such agreement on the basis that its terms are no longer fully in the public interest due to the agency's obligations to fulfill other duties or due to changed facts and circumstances.

Date: 2012-07-12
Topic: Government Operations (Bureaucracy)
Subject: Government operations and politics