United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2019
Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2019 This bill establishes a Department of Peacebuilding in the executive branch, dedicated to peacebuilding, peacemaking, and the study and promotion of conditions conducive to both domestic and international peace and a culture of peace. The mission of the department includes the cultivation of peace and peacebuilding as a strategic national policy objective and development of policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful conflict resolution, and structured conflict mediation. The department shall collaborate with others to promote personal and community security and peace by supporting policies to address personal and family violence, including suicide; address crime, punishment, and rehabilitation, including by reducing prison recidivism rates; reduce drug and alcohol abuse; and create, through local community initiatives, peace projects that facilitate conflict resolution and healing of societal wounds. A Federal Interagency Committee on Peace is established to coordinate the actions of the department with other federal agencies. The Department of Defense and the Department of State must consult with the department concerning nonviolent means of conflict resolution when a conflict between the United States and any other government or entity is foreseeable, imminent, or occurring. The department shall encourage citizens to observe and celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace on Peace Days.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2019
District of Columbia National Guard Home Rule Act This bill makes the Mayor of the District of Columbia (under current law, the President of the United States) the Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard of the District. Notwithstanding the authority of the Mayor of the District of Columbia as such Commander-in-Chief, the President shall retain control over units and members of the District of Columbia National Guard to conduct necessary and appropriate homeland defense activities.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2019
National Heritage Area Act of 2019 This bill establishes a National Heritage Areas System to recognize certain areas of the United States that tell nationally significant stories and to conserve, enhance, and interpret the areas' natural, historic, scenic, and cultural resources that illustrate significant aspects of U.S. heritage. Through such system, the Department of the Interior may provide technical and financial assistance to local coordinating entities to support the establishment, development, and continuity of such areas. The system shall be comprised of such areas designated by Congress under this bill; such areas designated after enactment of this bill, unless the law designating the area exempts it from inclusion in the system; 49 specified areas; and any other national heritage areas designated before this bill's enactment. National heritage areas shall not be considered to be units of the National Park System. Interior shall (1) undertake studies as directed by Congress to assess the feasibility of designating proposed national heritage areas; (2) approve or disapprove the management plan prepared by the local coordinating entity for an area; and (3) evaluate the accomplishments of an area every 10 years after its designation and submit a recommendation on whether federal funding for such area should be continued, reduced, or eliminated.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2019
Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 This bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China. The bill also establishes transition rules for employment-based visas from FY2020-FY2022, by reserving a percentage of EB-2 (workers with advanced degrees or exceptional ability), EB-3 (skilled and other workers), and EB-5 (investors) visas for individuals not from the two countries with the largest number of recipients of such visas. Of the unreserved visas, not more than 85% shall be allotted to immigrants from any single country.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2019
FAFSA Fairness Act of 2019 This bill revises the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process for certain students. Specifically, the Department of Education must allow students to complete FAFSA as independent students under special circumstances. It also requires financial aid administrators to provide those students with a final determination regarding their assistance in the same manner as, and by no later than the date that, they provide other provisionally independent students with that determination.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2019
Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act of 2019 or the Autism CARES Act of 2019 This bill reauthorizes through FY2024 and revises several programs and activities relating to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Among other things, the bill reauthorizes provisions relating to (1) expanded ASD research at the National Institutes of Health; (2) ASD education, early detection, and intervention activities supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration; and (3) the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. The bill also generally revises the scope of such programs and activities to encompass ASD individuals of all ages, rather than only youth.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2019
Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act of 2019 This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies regarding prices for drugs covered under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. (Current law prohibits the CMS from doing so.) The CMS must take certain factors into account during negotiations, including the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of the drug, the financial burden on patients, and unmet patient needs. If the CMS is unable to negotiate the price of a drug, such drug is subject to competitive licensing in order to further its sale under Medicare, notwithstanding existing government-granted exclusivities. Additionally, for one year after a drug is provided under a competitive license, such drug is also subject to specified price limitations; if the drug is not offered at such prices, the drug is subject to additional licensing that furthers its sale under any federal program (e.g., Medicaid).
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2019
Improving Corporate Governance Through Diversity Act of 2019 This bill requires certain issuers of securities to disclose the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of their boards of directors and executive officers, as well as the status of any of those directors and officers as a veteran. It also requires the disclosure of any plan to promote racial, ethnic, and gender diversity among these groups.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2019
Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 201 9 This bill modifies requirements for tax-favored retirement savings accounts, employer-provided retirement plans, and retirement benefits for federal judges. With respect to employer-provided plans, the bill modifies requirements regarding multiple employer plans, automatic enrollment and nonelective contributions, loans, terminating or transferring plans, reporting and disclosure rules, nondiscrimination rules, selecting lifetime income providers, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums. The bill also increases the tax credit for small employer pension plan startup costs and allows a tax credit for small employers that establish retirement plans that include automatic enrollment. With respect to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), the bill treats taxable non-tuition fellowship and stipend payments as compensation, repeals the maximum age for traditional IRA contributions, and permits any IRA to be a shareholder of any S corporation that is a bank. The bill makes several modifications to retirement benefits for magistrate judges of the U.S. Tax Court and other federal judges. The bill also modifies various tax provisions to reinstate and increase the tax exclusion for benefits provided to volunteer firefighters and emergency medical responders, revise the required distribution rules for pension plans, increase penalties for failing to file tax or retirement plan returns, and require the Internal Revenue Service to share returns and return information with U.S. Customs Border Protection to administer the heavy vehicle use tax.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2019
Clean and Efficient Cars Act of 2019 This bill provides statutory authority for rules concerning corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for automobiles with model years 2021 through 2025 and greenhouse gas emission standards for light-duty vehicles (e.g., trucks) with model years 2017 through 2025. Specifically, the bill provides statutory authority for rules issued in 2012 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on the CAFE standards and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the greenhouse gas emission standards. NHTSA and the EPA may not take actions that could reduce the stringency of the standards.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2019
Safeguard American Food Exports Act of 2019 This bill prohibits the knowing sale or transport of equines (i.e., horses or other members of the horse family) or equine parts for human consumption.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2019
This resolution recognizes Black History Month as an important time to reflect on the significant contributions of African Americans in the history of the United States, including in the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2019
This concurrent resolution recognizes the difficult challenges black veterans faced when returning home after serving in the Armed Forces, their heroic military sacrifices, and their patriotism in fighting for equal rights and for the dignity of a people and a nation. The concurrent resolution also recognizes the need for the Department of Veterans Affairs to continue to work to eliminate any health and benefit disparities for minority veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2019
This concurrent resolution calls for the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend that the Postmaster General issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring the Buffalo Soldiers.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2019
Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2019 This bill provides for coverage of marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare. It also excludes such services from the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system, and authorizes marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors to develop discharge plans for post-hospital services.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2019
Never Again Education Act This bill creates the Holocaust Education Assistance Program Fund for the Department of Education (ED) to (1) award grants to eligible entities to carry out Holocaust education programs, and (2) conduct periodic regional workshops to provide teachers with technical assistance on how to incorporate Holocaust education within state and local education standards. The fund may accept donations and in-kind contributions. ED shall (1) create and maintain a Holocaust education program website containing resources for middle grades and high schools; and (2) establish the Holocaust Education Advisory Board to advise on developing application criteria for the fund's grants, to advise on content for the Holocaust education program website, and to lead efforts to solicit donations for the fund.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2019
Miners Pension Protection Act This bill transfers certain funds to provide pension benefits for retired coal miners who have been affected by issues such as coal company bankruptcies. The Department of the Treasury must transfer additional funds to the 1974 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Pension Plan to pay pension benefits required under that plan if the annual limit on transfers under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 exceeds the amount required to be transferred for existing obligations of the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund. The bill also increases the annual limit on transfers from $490 million to $750 million. The bill also allows in-service distributions under a pension plan or governmental section 457(b) plan at age 59-1/2 (currently age 62).
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2019 This bill provides financial assistance in FY2020-FY2029 for long-term improvements to public school facilities by allocating funds to states for school improvements, awarding need-based grants to local education agencies, and restoring school infrastructure tax credit bonds. The bill specifies allowable uses of grant funds, including making major repairs of public school facilities and making public school facilities accessible to disabled individuals. The bill requires local education agencies to adopt certain green practices (environmental standards) and use products made in the United States (Buy America). The Department of Education must establish a clearinghouse to disseminate information to assist schools in initiating, developing, and financing energy efficiency projects, distributed generation projects, and energy retrofitting projects. The bill increases funding through FY2023 for the Impact Aid Construction program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2019 This bill supports wildlife conservation and addresses wildlife trafficking. Specifically, it reclassifies certain wildlife-trafficking offenses and illegal fishing violations as violations of federal racketeering or other laws concerning transnational criminal organizations. The bill also expands federal law enforcement powers to combat wildlife trafficking (e.g., poaching and the illegal trade in wildlife). The bill sets forth requirements to provide awards to whistle-blowers for reporting violations of wildlife-trafficking laws. In addition, the Fish and Wildlife Service must carry out the International Wildlife Conservation Program to implement global habitat and conservation initiatives; address global conservation threats; combat wildlife trafficking, poaching, and trade in illegal wildlife products; and carry out international wildlife conservation and habitat activities authorized by federal law. Revenue generated from fines, penalties, or forfeitures of property or assets for certain wildlife and fishing violations may be used for a variety of animal conservation funds.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
Esther Martinez Native American Languages Programs Reauthorization Act This bill revises a grant program administered by the Administration for Native Americans at the Department of Health and Human Services to preserve Native American languages. The minimum number of enrollees in educational programs funded by grants is reduced from 10 to 5 enrollees in Native American language nests, which provide instruction through the use of a Native American language for children under the age of 7 and their parents. For survival schools, which are programs striving for fluency in a Native American language and proficiency in other academic fields, the minimum number of enrollees is reduced from 15 to 10. The bill increases the maximum duration of grants. The program is reauthorized through FY2024.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
Educators Expense Deduction Modernization Act This bill modifies the tax deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers to (1) increase from $250 to $500 the annual limit on the expenses that may be deducted, and (2) require the limit to be adjusted for inflation after 2019.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
Social Security 2100 Act This bill increases various Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits and related taxes. The bill increases the primary insurance amount (e.g., the amount a Social Security beneficiary receives if the beneficiary begins receiving benefits at normal retirement age) by increasing the percentage of the beneficiary's average indexed monthly earnings used to calculate the amount. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shall publish a Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers, which the Social Security Administration (SSA) shall use to calculate cost-of-living adjustments to benefits. Currently, the SSA uses a price index for wage earners to make such adjustments. The bill increases the minimum benefit amount for individuals who worked for more than 10 years by creating an alternative minimum benefit. A qualifying beneficiary shall receive that alternative minimum if it is higher than the standard calculated benefit amount. The bill increases the income threshold that a beneficiary must reach before Social Security benefits are taxable. Increased benefits from this bill shall not count as income when determining an individual's eligibility or benefit amounts for (1) Medicaid, (2) the Children's Health Insurance Program, or (3) the Supplemental Security Income program. Income above $400,000 shall be included when calculating Social Security benefits and taxes. The bill also increases rates for the payroll and self-employment taxes that fund OASDI. The bill establishes the Social Security Trust Fund, which replaces the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
This joint resolution eliminates the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits discrimination based on sex. The amendment was proposed to the states in House Joint Resolution 208 of the 92nd Congress, as agreed to in the Senate on March 22, 1972. The amendment shall be part of the Constitution whenever ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
Paycheck Fairness Act This bill addresses wage discrimination on the basis of sex. It amends equal pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to (1) restrict the use of the bona fide factor defense to wage discrimination claims, (2) enhance nonretaliation prohibitions, (3) make it unlawful to require an employee to sign a contract or waiver prohibiting the employee from disclosing information about the employee's wages, and (4) increase civil penalties for violations of equal pay provisions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs shall train EEOC employees and other affected parties on wage discrimination. The bill directs the Department of Labor to: (1) establish and carry out a grant program for negotiation skills training for girls and women, (2) conduct studies to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, and (3) make available information on wage discrimination to assist the public in understanding and addressing such discrimination. The Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace is established for an employer who has made a substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. The bill requires the EEOC to issue regulations for collecting from employers compensation and other employment data according to the sex, race, and national origin of employees for use in enforcing laws prohibiting pay discrimination.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2019
Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019 This bill makes it unlawful to knowingly influence (or attempt or conspire to influence) a major international sports competition by use of a prohibited substance or prohibited method. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to 10 years, or both—and mandatory restitution. Additionally, property used or intended to be used to commit an offense may be seized and forfeited to the U.S. government.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2019
Threat Assessment, Prevention, and Safety Act of 2019 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a Joint Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Task Force, which shall provide recommendations to Congress and DHS on the development and implementation of a national strategy for preventing targeted violence through behavioral threat assessment and management. The bill defines behavioral threat assessment and management as the systematic and evidence-based process of (1) identifying individuals whose behavior indicates a capacity for committing acts of violence, (2) investigating and gathering information from multiple sources to assess whether such individuals pose a threat, and (3) the subsequent management of such a threat. DHS shall (1) develop and implement the national strategy and provide information and training services related to it, and (2) award grants to establish community based units for implementing the national strategy.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2019
Get the Lead Out of Schools Act This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to (1) test for lead in drinking water at schools and day care facilities, and (2) create a grant program for lead testing and remediation efforts in schools and day care facilities. Specifically, the EPA must promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation for schools and day care facilities that establishes a lead action level (a level of lead in drinking water that triggers additional actions to control lead contamination) that is no more than 15 parts per billion; directs each public water system to sample for lead in the drinking water at schools and day care facilities if the EPA determines there is a risk that the lead in the drinking water will meet or exceed the action level; and requires public water systems that serve schools or day cares that meet or exceed the action level to notify the local educational agency, the relevant local health agencies, the municipality, and the state as soon as practicable, but no later than 24 hours after the system receives the sampling results. The EPA must also establish a grant program for (1) testing drinking water in schools and day care facilities for lead contamination, and (2) remediating lead contamination in such drinking water by replacing lead pipes and certain plumbing materials with lead-free material.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2019
Civics Learning Act of 2019 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prioritize innovative civics learning and teaching and to provide additional funding in FY2020 for civics education programs. The bill expands the allowable uses of grant funds for civics education to include before, during, and after-school and extracurricular activities, activities that include service learning and community service projects that are linked to school curriculum, activities that encourage and support student participation in school governance, and online and video game-based learning. The Department of Education must ensure that specified percentages of grant funds for civics education be awarded on a diverse basis to eligible entities that serve students and teachers at elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2019
Promoting Access to Diabetic Shoes Act This bill allows a nurse practitioner or physician assistant to fulfill documentation requirements for coverage, under Medicare, of special shoes for diabetic individuals. Under current law, such requirements may be satisfied only by a physician.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2019
Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 201 9 This bill repeals the excise tax on employer-sponsored health care coverage for which there is an excess benefit (high-cost plans). The repeal applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2019
Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2019 This bill imposes a fee on the carbon content of fuels, including crude oil, natural gas, coal, or any other product derived from those fuels that will be used so as to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The fee is imposed on the producers or importers of the fuels and is equal to the greenhouse gas content of the fuel multiplied by the carbon fee rate. The rate begins at $15 in 2019, increases by $10 each year, and is subject to further adjustments based on the progress in meeting specified emissions reduction targets. The bill also imposes a specified fee on fluorinated greenhouse gases. The bill includes exemptions for fuels used for agricultural or nonemitting purposes, exemptions for fuels used by the Armed Forces, rebates for facilities that capture and sequester carbon dioxide, and border adjustment provisions that require certain fees or refunds for carbon-intensive products that are exported or imported. The fees must be deposited into a Carbon Dividend Trust Fund and used for administrative expenses and dividend payments to U.S. citizens or lawful residents. The fees must be decommissioned when emissions levels and monthly dividend payments fall below specified levels. The bill also suspends certain regulations that limit greenhouse gas emissions. The suspensions expire if the emissions targets established by this bill are not reached after a specified time period.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2019
Student Loan Relief for Feds Act This bill makes federal student loans eligible for deferment during federal government shutdowns. Specifically, the bill allows affected federal, state, and District of Columbia employees and contractors to apply for deferment on their student loan payments during a shutdown and for three months after the shutdown has ended.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2019 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct a clinical trial of the effects of medical-grade cannabis on the health outcomes of covered veterans diagnosed with chronic pain, and also those diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Covered veterans are those who are enrolled in the VA patient enrollment system for hospital care and medical services.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act or the PACT Act This bill revises and expands criminal provisions with respect to animal crushing. It retains existing criminal offenses that prohibit knowingly creating or distributing an animal crush video using interstate commerce. The bill also adds a new provision to criminalize an intentional act of animal crushing. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to seven years, or both. It provides additional exceptions for conduct, or a video of conduct, including conduct that is (1) medical or scientific research, (2) necessary to protect the life or property of a person, (3) performed as part of euthanizing an animal, or (4) unintentional.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019 This bill makes it illegal to possess, buy, or sell shark fins or any product containing shark fins, except for certain dogfish fins. A person may possess a shark fin that was lawfully taken consistent with a license or permit under certain circumstances. Penalties are imposed for violations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2019 This bill expands and reauthorizes through FY2024 specified nursing workforce development programs. Specifically, the bill reauthorizes (1) loan repayment and scholarships for nurses; (2) loans for nursing faculty development; (3) advanced education nursing grants; (4) grants for increasing nursing workforce diversity; and (5) nurse education, practice, quality, and retention grants. Eligibility for nurse education, practice, quality, and retention grants is expanded to include nurse-managed health clinics that provide primary care to underserved communities. Further, grants for nursing career ladder programs are expanded to (1) promote career advancement for individuals to become registered nurses or advanced education nurses and (2) support internships and residency programs that encourage mentoring and the development of specialties. In addition, eligibility for advanced education nursing grants is expanded to include education of clinical nurse leaders in combined registered nurse graduate degree programs. Clinical nurse leaders are advanced generalist clinicians who apply research and coordinate care to improve outcomes for patients. Eligibility is also extended to clinical nurse specialist programs that provide registered nurses with full-time clinical nurse specialist education that qualifies participating nurses to provide a full range of care. The bill also revises specified grant reporting and program evaluation requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
Spam Calls Task Force Act of 2019 This bill requires the Department of Justice to assemble an interagency working group to study and report to Congress on the enforcement of the prohibition of certain robocalls. Specifically, the working group will look into how to better enforce against robocalls by examining issues like the types of laws, policies, or constraints that could be inhibiting enforcement.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
Make Identifiable Criminal Rounds Obvious Act or the MICRO Act This bill requires certain semiautomatic pistols to be capable of microstamping ammunition. A pistol is capable of microstamping ammunition if (1) the characters that identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol are etched into the breech face and firing pin of the pistol; and (2) these characters are copied onto the cartridge case of the ammunition when the pistol fires such ammunition. Specifically, the bill prohibits a federal firearms licensee (e.g., a gun dealer) from manufacturing, importing, or transferring a semiautomatic pistol that is not capable of microstamping ammunition. Violators are subject to fines. The bill also makes it unlawful for any person to remove, obliterate, or alter the microstamped code or microstamping capability of a firearm that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Violators are subject to fines and suspension or revocation of any firearms license.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
Raise the Age Act This bill establishes new restrictions on the sale or transfer of certain semiautomatic firearms to individuals under 21 years of age. Specifically, this bill makes it unlawful for a licensed gun dealer, importer, manufacturer, or collector to sell or deliver a semiautomatic center-fire rifle that has the capacity to accept more than five rounds to an individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under age 21. The prohibition does not apply if the individual under age 21 is a full-time law enforcement officer or active-duty member of the Armed Forces. The bill also requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to report on the operation of its public access line, including a description of information sharing protocols and recommendations for improving such protocols.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2019
Measuring Real Income Growth Act of 2019 This bill requires the Bureau of Economic Analysis to include estimates pertaining to various income groups in its gross domestic product analyses. Such analyses shall include estimates pertaining to each of the 10 deciles of income as discreet groups and the highest 1% of income as a group.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take a series of actions relating to palliative-care training. Specifically, HHS must provide support for Palliative Care and Hospice Education Centers. The centers must improve the training of health professionals in palliative care and establish traineeships for individuals preparing for advanced-education nursing degrees, social-work degrees, or advanced degrees in physician-assistant studies in palliative care. HHS may provide support to medical schools, teaching hospitals, and graduate medical-education programs for training physicians who plan to teach palliative medicine. HHS must (1) provide Palliative Medicine and Hospice Academic Career Awards to individuals to promote their career development, (2) support entities that operate a Palliative Care and Hospice Education Center, (3) support individuals in specified fields who are pursuing an advanced degree in palliative care or related fields, and (4) award grants to nursing programs to train individuals in providing palliative care. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality must provide for a national education and awareness campaign to inform patients, families, and health professionals about the benefits of palliative care. The National Institutes of Health must expand national research programs in palliative care.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Student Loan Repayment Assistance Act of 2019 This bill allows a business-related tax credit for an employer's payments for employees under a student loan repayment program. The credit is equal to 10% of the amounts that an employer pays on behalf of any employee under a program and is refundable for certain small businesses and tax-exempt organizations. The payments for an employee may not exceed $500 per month.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Comprehensive Care for Seniors Act of 2019 This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to finalize a proposed rule regarding Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) by April 1, 2019. PACE is a program under Medicare and Medicaid that provides in-home and community services for certain individuals as an alternative to nursing home care. The proposed rule updates and revises application, enforcement, and other administrative requirements. The CMS published the proposed rule in August 2016; final action is expected in August 2019.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Haitian Educational Empowerment Act of 2019 This bill directs the Department of State to establish a scholarship program for eligible Haitian students who were enrolled as full-time or part-time students in a Haitian or U.S. university or institution of higher education and whose studies were interrupted as a result of the January 12, 2010, earthquake or the October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew. A Haitian student who receives such a scholarship shall return to Haiti for at least two years upon completion of an undergraduate or graduate degree. The State Department may make grants to institutions of higher education that have enrolled a significant number of Haitian students who were enrolled in a Haitian university at the time of such earthquake or hurricane. Such grants shall be used to provide social and educational support services.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Report and Educate About Campus Hazing Act or the REACH Act This bill addresses hazing incidents that involve students attending an institution of higher education (IHE). Hazing means an intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a student, or a former student, of an IHE against another student, that (1) is connected with an initiation into, an affiliation with, or the maintenance of membership in, an organization that is affiliated with the IHE; and (2) contributes to a substantial risk of physical injury, mental harm, or degradation or causes physical injury, mental harm or personal degradation. Specifically, an IHE must disclose hazing incidents that were reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies in its annual security report. In addition, each IHE must provide students with an educational program on hazing that includes information on hazing awareness, hazing prevention, and the IHE's policies on hazing.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Student Aid Simplification Act This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to disclose certain tax return information to the Department of Education (ED) for the purpose of administering financial aid and loan programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965. (Under current law, students must obtain their own tax return information from the IRS and submit it to ED.) Upon receiving a request from ED, the IRS must disclose specified tax return information to ED for the purposes of establishing, renewing, administering, and conducting analyses and forecasts for estimating costs related to income-contingent or income-based repayment programs; the discharge of loans based on a total and permanent disability; determining the eligibility for, and the amount of, federal student financial aid; and conducting analyses and forecasts for estimating costs related to federal student financial aid programs. ED may only use the disclosed information for the purposes above and for mitigating risks related to the programs. Mitigating risks includes activities related to analyzing or estimating costs, conducting oversight, developing statistics, and reducing improper payments. It does not include conducting criminal investigations or prosecutions. With the consent of the taxpayer, ED may disclose the return information to certain institutions of higher education, state higher education agencies, and scholarship organizations solely for the use in financial aid programs. The bill also specifies notification and reporting requirements related to the disclosures and the implementation of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that compensation of public school teachers should be comparable to that of other college graduates with years in the workforce where the teachers are employed.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2019
Protect Veterans from Financial Fraud Act of 2019 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to pay a beneficiary (or beneficiary's successor fiduciary) the amount of the misused benefit when any fiduciary has misused all or part of an individual's benefit. Specifically, the bill requires this payment in any case not involving negligent failure by the VA to investigate or monitor a fiduciary but where a fiduciary misuses all or part of an individual's benefit. The bill removes the stipulation that the fiduciary (1) not be an individual, or (2) serve at least 10 beneficiaries for the VA to repay misused benefits. An adverse determination by the VA of a veteran's mental capacity to manage VA monetary benefits may be appealed in accordance with provisions governing the Board of Veterans' Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
![Official portrait of Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/t000193_200.jpg)