United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2019
Women's Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue up to 400,000 $1 silver coins that are emblematic of the women who played a vital role in rallying support for the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Such coins may be issued during the period beginning on January 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2020. All surcharges received from the sales of such coins shall be paid to the American Women's History Initiative of the Smithsonian Institution.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2019
Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act This bill directs the Department of State to report annually to Congress on the school materials used by the Palestinian Authority or the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the West Bank and Gaza. Specifically, the report shall address (1) whether the materials used encourage violence or intolerance toward other nations or ethnic groups, (2) the steps the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA have taken to reform such materials, and (3) whether U.S. foreign assistance is used to fund the dissemination of the offending materials. The State Department shall make such reports publicly available.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2019
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1715 Linnerud Drive in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, as the "Fire Captain Cory Barr Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2019
Stop for School Buses Act of 2019 This bill addresses safety measures and programs to prevent the illegal passing of school buses. Specifically, the Department of Transportation must conduct a review of existing state laws and programs regarding the illegal passing of school buses; create a nationwide public safety campaign to highlight the importance of illegally passing school buses; review and evaluate the effectiveness of various technologies to enhance school bus safety; review driver education materials in states to determine how the illegal passing of school buses is addressed; and research the connections between the illegal passing of school buses and other safety issues, including distracted driving.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2019
Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 201 9 This bill expands tax incentives and federal assistance for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) that are sponsored by S corporations. The bill provides additional tax incentives for ESOPs by (1) extending to all domestic corporations, including S corporations, provisions allowing deferral of tax on gain from the sale of employer securities to an ESOP; and (2) allowing a tax deduction for 50% of the interest received by a bank on loans to S corporation-sponsored ESOPs for the purchase of employer securities. The Department of the Treasury must establish the S Corporation Employee Ownership Assistance Office to foster increased employee ownership of S corporations. The bill defines an "ESOP business concern" and allows such a concern to continue to qualify as a small business for the purposes of programs under the Small Business Act. An "ESOP business concern" is a business concern that was a small business concern eligible for a loan, preference, or other program under the Small Business Act before more than 49% of the business concern was acquired by an ESOP.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2019
Exposing the Financing of Human Trafficking Act This bill modifies the minimum standard for foreign government action toward the elimination of human trafficking. Specifically, an assessment of whether a government has made serious and sustained efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking shall include consideration as to whether the government vigorously investigates, seeks to prevent, and prosecutes financial crimes associated with such trafficking.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2019
Pell Flexibility Act of 2019 This bill directs the Department of Education to implement a demonstration program allowing institutions of higher education to award job training Pell Grants to students in approved short-term career and technical education programs.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2019
Revitalizing Underdeveloped Rural Areas and Lands Act of 2019 or the RURAL Act of 2019 This bill modifies the definition of income used to determine the tax-exempt status of a mutual or cooperative telephone or electric company to exclude certain government grants, contributions, and assistance. Specifically, the bill excludes from income (1) grants, contributions, and assistance provided under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act or by local, state, or regional governmental entities for disasters or emergencies; and (2) certain grants or contributions provided by a government entity for electric, communications, broadband, internet, or other utility facilities or services.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2019
Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research Act of 2019 or the FASTER Act of 2019 This bill directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to expand data collection of information related to food allergies and specific allergens and revises the definition of major allergen to specifically include sesame. The Department of Health and Human Services may designate additional food ingredients as major allergens based on the prevalence and severity of allergic reactions through regulation. The Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health must report on specified information regarding food allergies.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2019
National Scenic Trails Parity Act This bill requires the North Country, Ice Age, and New England national scenic trails to be administered as units of the National Park System.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2019
Stopping the Pharmaceutical Industry from Keeping drugs Expensive Act or the SPIKE Act This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to determine at least annually whether certain covered drugs under Medicare were subject to a price increase that exceeded specified thresholds. Drug manufacturers must submit justifications for such price increases to the CMS, subject to civil penalties. The bill's requirements do not apply to low-cost drugs, as identified by the CMS.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2019
Providing Officers With Electronic Resources Act or the POWER Act This bill authorizes the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice to make grants to law enforcement agencies to purchase a chemical screening device and to train personnel to use, and interpret data collected by, such device.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2019
This bill recognizes service in the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II as active military service. Individuals who served in the corps are eligible for specified honors and burial benefits but shall not be entitled by reason of such service to veterans' benefits generally.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2019
Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act or the TRACED Act This bill implements a forfeiture penalty for violations (with or without intent) of the prohibition on certain robocalls. The bill also removes an annual reporting requirement for enforcement relating to unsolicited facsimile advertisements. The bill requires voice service providers to develop call authentication technologies. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) shall promulgate rules establishing when a provider may block a voice call based on information provided by the call authentication framework, but also must establish a process to permit a calling party adversely affected by the framework to verify the authenticity of their calls. The FCC shall also initiate a rulemaking to help protect a subscriber from receiving unwanted calls or texts from a caller using an unauthenticated number. This bill requires the Department of Justice and the FCC 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. The bill requires the FCC to initiate a proceeding to determine whether its policies regarding access to number resources could be modified to help reduce access to numbers by potential robocall violators.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2019
VA Medical Center Facility Transparency Act This bill requires the directors of medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to submit to the VA and Congress an annual pamphlet containing certain statistics (such as how many veterans were treated at each facility), as well as plans for improvements and descriptions of successes experienced by the facilities. The bill also requires the pamphlets to be made publicly available online and as hard copies at the medical facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2019
Lymphedema Treatment Act of 2019 This bill includes certain lymphedema compression treatment items as covered durable medical equipment under Medicare. (Lymphedema is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling that is caused when the lymphatic system is damaged or blocked.)
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2019
Wage Equity Act of 2019 This bill addresses pay discrimination in the workplace between men and women. Specifically, the bill allows an employer to base a wage differential determination on an employee's participation in a flexible work arrangement; protects employers who conduct a pay analysis audit to identify and correct pay discrimination from liability for damages relating to such discrimination; makes it an unlawful practice for an employer to rely on the wage history of a prospective employee for hiring and wage determination purposes unless the wage history is voluntarily provided by the prospective employee; makes it an unlawful practice for an employer to prohibit an employee from requesting wage information from another employee or from requesting information about wage differentials; authorizes the Department of Labor to establish a grant program for negotiation skills training for women and girls; and requires the Government Accountability Office to study and report on the causes and effects of pay disparities among men and women in the workplace and the impact on pay and opportunity for employees who leave the workforce for parental reasons.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2019
Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2019 This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit annual reports to Congress that include specified details regarding certain federally funded projects that are (1) more than five years behind schedule, or (2) have expenditures that are at least $1 billion more than the original cost estimate for the project. The reports must also be posted on the OMB website and included with the President's budget.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2019
This concurrent resolution expresses the sense of the Congress regarding the benefits that tax-exempt fraternal benefit societies provide to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2019
This resolution promotes increased public awareness of motorcycle profiling. The resolution also encourages the motorcycle community and law enforcement to collaborate and communicate on efforts to end motorcycle profiling.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2019
Restoring Investment in Improvements Act This bill confirms that the applicable recovery period for qualified improvement property (nonresidential real estate) for depreciation purposes is 15 years under the modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) and 20 years under the alternative depreciation system (ADS).
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2019
National Law Enforcement Museum Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue up to 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins, and 750,000 half-dollar clad coins that are emblematic of the National Law Enforcement Museum in the District of Columbia and the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers throughout the history of the United States. All sales of such coins shall include specified surcharges, which shall be distributed to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, Inc., for educational and outreach programs and exhibits.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2019
This resolution opposes the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS) and other efforts targeting Israel, and states that BDS undermines the possibility for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The resolution urges both sides to return to direct negotiations and expresses support for a solution resulting in the state of Israel existing alongside a democratic Palestinian state.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2019
Help Ensure Responders Overdosing Emerge Safely Act of 2019 or the HEROES Act of 2019 This bill allows naloxone and similar substances to be made available for personal use to (1) first responders under the firefighters grants program, and (2) law enforcement officers under the public safety and community policing (COPS on the Beat) grants program.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2019
Horseracing Integrity Act of 2019 This bill establishes the Horseracing Anti-Doping and Medication Control Authority as an independent, private non-profit corporation with responsibility for developing and administering an anti-doping and medication control program for (1) Thoroughbred, Quarter, and Standardbred horses that participate in horse races; and (2) the personnel engaged in the care, training, or racing of such horses. The Federal Trade Commission shall have oversight over the authority. An interstate compact may be established after five years to take over the authority's duties.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2019
College Transparency Act This bill requires the National Center for Education Statistics to establish a secure and privacy-protected data system that contains information about postsecondary students. Specifically, the data system must evaluate student enrollment patterns, progression, completion, and postcollegiate outcomes, and higher education costs and financial aid; provide complete and customizable information for students and families making decisions about postsecondary education; reduce the requirements for reporting by institutions of higher education; and periodically match with other federal systems of data. The bill also establishes a postsecondary student data system advisory committee.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2019
Violence Against Women Extension Act of 2019 This bill extends through March 31, 2020, 19 grant programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and subsequent legislation and administered by the Office on Violence Against Women within the Department of Justice.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2019
PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support Program Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish the P.F.C. Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support program to make grants to eligible entities for peer-to-peer mental health programs for veterans. Eligible entities include (1) a nonprofit organization having historically served the mental health needs of veterans; (2) a congressionally chartered veteran service organization; or (3) a state, local, or tribal veteran service agency, director, or commissioner. The VA shall establish an advisory committee to create appropriate program standards.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2019
Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2019 This bill deems an individual receiving outpatient observation services in a hospital as an inpatient for purposes of satisfying the three-day inpatient hospital-stay requirement with respect to Medicare coverage of skilled nursing facility services.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2019
Chronic Wasting Disease Management Act This bill requires the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service-Wildlife Services to support state and tribal efforts to address chronic wasting disease. The transmissible disease afflicts deer, elk, and moose populations. The agency must make grants to research centers to support efforts to expand and accelerate applied research on the disease. Land management agencies of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior must work cooperatively with states in researching the disease and implementing state response plans to reduce the spread and prevalence of the disease.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2019
Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act This bill allows individual and corporate taxpayers a tax credit for cash contributions to tax-exempt scholarship-granting organizations for elementary and secondary education expenses. It imposes a cap of $5 billion on the amount of contributions that qualify for a tax credit. The bill directs the Department of Education, in coordination with the Department of the Treasury, to establish, host, and maintain a web portal that (1) lists all eligible scholarship-granting organizations; (2) enables contributions to such organizations; (3) provides information about the benefits of this bill; and (4) enables a state to submit and update information about its programs and scholarship-granting organizations, including information on student eligibility and allowable educational expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2019
Health Insurance Tax Relief Act of 2019 This bill delays reimposition of the annual fee on health insurers until 2022. Under current law, the annual fee for a health insurer is calculated based on the insurer's share of total premiums from the preceding year. The fee is suspended for 2019 (i.e., there is no fee based on premiums from 2018); reimposition is scheduled for 2020.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2019
ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019 This bill eliminates the five-month waiting period for disability benefits under the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a progressive neurodegenerative disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord). Under current law, individuals must wait five months after becoming disabled before their disability insurance benefit payments may begin.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2019
Provide Accurate Information Directly Act or PAID Act This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to identify, in response to an inquiry from certain non-group health plans (e.g., liability insurers), whether an individual was enrolled in Medicare, Medicare Advantage, or the Medicare prescription drug benefit during the preceding three-year period.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2019
Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover diagnosis and treatment services for congenital anomalies and birth defects, such as reconstructive services and prosthetics. Coverage must include services that functionally improve, repair, or restore any body part that is medically necessary for normal bodily functions or appearance, as determined by the treating physician.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2019
Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019 This bill revises payment rules under Medicare for graduate medical education (GME) costs with respect to a hospital that establishes a new medical residency training program. If a hospital has not entered into a GME affiliation agreement, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must establish the hospital's full-time equivalent (FTE) resident amount only after determining that the hospital's medical residency training program trains more than 1.0 FTE resident in a cost reporting period. If a hospital has an approved FTE resident amount that is based on other specified thresholds, the CMS must give the hospital the opportunity to have the amount reestablished when the hospital begins training FTE residents in excess of the applicable threshold. The bill also establishes similar thresholds for new determinations of certain adjustments to hospital payment limitations regarding FTE residents in allopathic and osteopathic medicine; a hospital that has an adjustment has the opportunity to have it redetermined once the applicable threshold is exceeded.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2019
The Mass Violence Prevention Act of 2019 or the MVP Act of 2019 This bill modifies criminal penalties for an offense involving the theft of a firearm from a federal firearms licensee. It also directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to take specified actions to prevent gun violence. First, the bill modifies criminal penalties for an offense involving the theft of a firearm from a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer, or from their business premises. Specifically, the bill (1) increases from 10 to 20 years the maximum prison term, and (2) creates a 3- or 5-year mandatory minimum prison term for an offense that occurs during the commission of a burglary or robbery. Further, an attempt to commit an offense is subject to the same penalties as a substantive offense. Next, the bill establishes a Mass Violence Prevention Center in DOJ to, among other things, serve as the primary government organization for analyzing and integrating all government intelligence pertaining to threats of mass violence. Finally, the bill authorizes DOJ to appoint no fewer than 50 Assistant U.S. Attorneys to implement Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is a national initiative to reduce gun violence in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 2019
Protect and Serve Act of 2019 This bill establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly assaulting a law enforcement officer causing serious bodily injury (or attempting to do so) in circumstances that affect interstate commerce. It imposes criminal penalties—a prison term of up to 10 years, a fine, or both—on a violator.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 2019
This concurrent resolution declares that Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2019
Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act This bill allows a state to use federal funds to cover a higher percentage of the costs for the construction and expansion of public target ranges. Specifically, a state may use specified federal grant funds to pay up to 90% of such costs (rather than 75%, as under current law). Additionally, amounts provided for these purposes shall remain available for five fiscal years (rather than two, as under current law).
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2019
Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies Act or the USE IT Act This bill addresses the capture, utilization, and sequestration of carbon dioxide. The Environmental Protection Agency must (1) establish a competitive prize program for certain technology projects that capture carbon dioxide directly from the air, (2) research and develop technologies or approaches that transform carbon dioxide generated by industrial processes into a product of commercial value, and (3) support research and infrastructure activities relating to carbon dioxide utilization by providing technical and financial assistance. The bill includes the construction of infrastructure for carbon capture (e.g., carbon dioxide pipelines) among those projects subject to performance schedules designed to reduce permitting and project delivery time. The Government Accountability Office must issue a report that identifies grant programs that research carbon capture and utilization technologies and examines whether the programs overlap. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) must publish guidance to (1) facilitate reviews associated with the deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration projects and carbon dioxide pipelines; and (2) support the development of such projects and pipelines. The CEQ must also establish at least two task forces to (1) identify challenges and successes that permitting authorities and project developers and operators face, and (2) improve the performance of the permitting process and regional coordination.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2019
Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2019 This bill modifies the tax treatment of certain alcoholic beverages to exclude the aging period from the production period for beer, wine, or distilled spirits for purposes of determining whether a taxpayer can expense, rather than capitalize, interest costs paid or incurred during the production period; reduce excise tax rates on beer and distilled spirits; permit the transfer of beer between bonded facilities without payment of tax; increase the amount of the small wine producer tax credit and expand the categories of producers covered by such credit; allow an adjustment to the producer credit for hard cider; and modify the alcohol content limitations that apply to certain wines for tax purposes. The Department of the Treasury must amend applicable regulations with respect to the use of wholesome products suitable for human consumption in the production of fermented beverages. The bill also increases funding for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2019
Aviation Funding Stability Act of 2019 This bill provides continuing appropriations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund if an appropriations bill for the FAA has not been enacted before a fiscal year begins or a joint resolution making continuing appropriations for the FAA is not in effect. The bill provides appropriations at the rate of operations that was provided for the prior fiscal year to continue programs, projects, and activities for which funds were provided in the preceding fiscal year.
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 · 5 February 2019
Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act This bill establishes requirements for the degree of care a health care practitioner must exercise in the event a child is born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion. A health care practitioner who is present must (1) exercise the same degree of care as reasonably provided to another child born alive at the same gestational age, and (2) immediately admit the child to a hospital. The bill also requires a health care practitioner or other employee to immediately report any failure to comply with this requirement to law enforcement. A person who violates the requirements is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. Additionally, an individual who intentionally kills or attempts to kill a child born alive is subject to prosecution for murder. The bill bars the criminal prosecution of a mother of a child born alive for conspiracy to violate these provisions, for being an accessory after the fact, or for concealment of felony. A woman who undergoes an abortion or attempted abortion may file a civil action for damages against an individual who violates this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2019
Taking Account of Bureaucrats' Spending Act of 2019 or the TABS Act of 201 9 This bill eliminates provisions in the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 that fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) using transfers from the earnings of the Federal Reserve System. The transfers under current law permit the CFPB to be funded outside of the annual appropriations process, and this bill brings the CFPB into the regular process.
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.
![Official portrait of Rep. Steil, Bryan [R-WI-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s001213_200.jpg)