United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act This bill revises the methodology for calculating Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits and phases out the cap on compensation subject to Social Security taxation. The bill directs the Bureau of Labor Statistics to prepare and publish a Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E) to track cost-of-living changes for individuals age 62 or older. Beginning in two years after the enactment of this bill, the CPI-E, instead of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, shall be used to calculate the cost-of-living adjustment for OASDI benefits. The bill also includes surplus earnings in the calculation of the primary insurance amount (i.e., the amount received by a beneficiary who elects to receive OASDI benefits at full retirement age). The bill phases out and, after 2023, eliminates the cap on compensation ($128,400 in 2018) subject to Social Security taxation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2017
Northern Border Regional Commission Reauthorization Act of 2017 This bill provides that the share of the administrative expenses of the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, the Southwest Border Regional Commission, or the Northern Border Regional Commission to be paid by each state of such commission shall be determined by a majority (currently, unanimous) vote of the state members of such commission. A commission must include in the 40% of any economic and infrastructure development grant amounts provided to states or local governments, Indian tribes, or public or nonprofit organizations for the development of the transportation infrastructure, basic public infrastructure, or telecommunications infrastructure amounts for the development of renewable and alternative energy sources in its region. Such economic and infrastructure development grants may be used to attract businesses to a region from outside of the United States. The bill reauthorizes each commission through FY2023.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 silver coins in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include a surcharge of $10 per coin, which shall be paid by Treasury to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to support the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
LGBT Data Inclusion Act This bill requires federal agencies that collect information through a survey that includes demographic data (where subjects self-report information or a proxy provides information about the subject or responds for all persons in a household) to establish data standards that require: a determination of which existing data sets exclude information about sexual orientation and gender identity; an identification, and a use, of appropriate methods to include questions on sexual orientation and gender identity in surveys that facilitate categorization and voluntary participation and that preserve privacy and confidentiality; and a routine assessment of needed changes in survey methods related to asking such questions. Agencies that publish reports relying on survey demographic data must include information on sexual orientation and gender identity. Individuals shall not be: (1) required by this bill to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity to an agency; or (2) subjected to fines or penalties for refusing to answer, or providing a false answer to, any survey question regarding gender identity or sexual orientation. Nothing in this bill shall be construed to permit the use of such collected information in a manner that would adversely affect an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
Veteran Education Empowerment Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to make grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) or consortia of IHEs for the establishment, maintenance, improvement, and operation of veteran student centers. A veteran student center is a dedicated space on a campus that provides students who are veterans or members of the Armed Forces with: (1) a lounge or meeting space for themselves, their spouses or partners, and veterans in the community; (2) a centralized office for veteran services that serves as a single point of contact to coordinate veterans support services; and (3) comprehensive academic and tutoring services to veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2017
Water Advanced Technologies for Efficient Resource Use Act of 2017 This bill codifies the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) WaterSense program, which identifies, labels, and promotes water efficient products, buildings, landscapes, and services. This bill also establishes a program to provide financial incentives for consumers to purchase and install residential water efficient products and services labeled under the WaterSense program. In order to meet procurement requirements for a water consuming product or service, federal agencies must purchase a WaterSense product or service, or a Federal Energy Management Program designated product. Agencies do not have to procure those products or services if they are not cost-effective, or not reasonably available. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of individual taxpayers any amount received under an incentive program for the purchase and installation of residential water efficient products and services.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2017
Supporting Working Moms Act of 2017 This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to extend the requirement that certain employers provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child to bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity employees or outside salesmen who are exempt from federal labor laws that limit the number of hours in a workweek.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2017 This bill amends various provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including by: (1) expanding the types of actions that would justify a court retaining jurisdiction to prevent a state or political subdivision from using new devices to limit the right to vote; and (2) imposing notice requirements on a state or political subdivision that makes changes to voting procedures, polling-place resources, or district boundaries. The bill also changes the calculation for determining whether a state or political subdivision is subject to preclearance requirements (i.e., requirements for certain jurisdictions to receive preapproval from the Department of Justice or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before making legal changes that would affect voting rights).
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Do No Harm Act This bill makes the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) inapplicable to federal laws (or implementations of laws) that: protect against discrimination or the promotion of equal opportunity, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, Executive Order 11246 (concerning equal employment opportunity), the Violence Against Women Act, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) rules entitled "Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity"; require employers to provide wages, other compensation, or benefits, including leave; protect collective activity in the workplace; protect against child labor, abuse, or exploitation; or provide for access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for, any health care item or service. Under current law, RFRA prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest when using the least restrictive means. The bill makes RFRA inapplicable to: (1) terms requiring goods, services, functions, or activities to be performed or provided to beneficiaries of government contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or awards; or (2) denials of a person's full and equal enjoyment of a government-provided good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation. To assert a RFRA claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, the government must be a party to the proceeding.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Zero Tolerance for Domestic Abusers Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to: state that the term "intimate partner" includes a dating partner and any other person subject to a protection order under state domestic or family violence law; and expand the term "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" to include the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, by a current or former intimate partner. The bill makes it a crime to knowingly sell or dispose of a firearm to a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of stalking. It also makes it a crime for such convicted stalker to receive or possess a firearm.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2017
Every Kid Outdoors Act This bill directs the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and the Army to establish the Every Kids Outdoors program to provide fourth graders free access to federal lands and waters to which the public has access. Such Departments shall issue such students annual passes, upon request, which shall allow free access to: a per-vehicle fee area for the student and any passengers accompanying the student in a private, noncommercial vehicle or for up to three adults accompanying the student on bicycles; or a per-person fee area for the student and up to three adults accompanying the student. In carrying out such program, such departments: may collaborate with state park systems that opt to implement a complementary Every Kid Outdoors State park pass, shall maintain a publicly available website that provides information about the program, may provide visitor services, and may support approved partners of the federal lands and waters by furnishing them with opportunities for participation in the program.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Preventing Diabetes in Medicare Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend Medicare coverage for medical nutrition therapy services to beneficiaries with pre-diabetes or risk factors for developing type-2 diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Medicare Dental, Vision, and Hearing Benefit Act of 2017 This bill provides for Medicare coverage of dental, vision, and hearing care. With respect to such care, the bill establishes special payment rules, limitations, and coinsurance requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Biomass Thermal Utilization Act of 2017 or the BTU Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to include 30% of qualified biomass fuel property expenditures for property placed in service before 2022 in the residential energy efficient property tax credit. A "qualified biomass fuel property expenditure" is an expenditure for property which uses the burning of biomass fuel (a plant-derived fuel available on a renewable or recurring basis) to heat a dwelling used as a residence, or to heat water for use in such dwelling, and which has a thermal efficiency rating of at least 75%. The bill also allows: (1) a 15% energy tax credit until 2022 for investment in open-loop biomass heating property, including boilers or furnaces that operate at thermal output efficiencies of at least 65% and provide thermal energy in the form of heat, hot water, or steam for space heating, air conditioning, domestic hot water, or industrial process heat; and (2) a 30% credit until 2022 for investment in such property that operates at a thermal output efficiency of at least 80%.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
America's Call To Improve Opportunities Now for National Service Act or the ACTION for National Service Act This bill amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to reestablish the Corporation for National and Community Service as an independent executive agency called the National and Community Service Administration. An individual who successfully completes a term of full-time national service shall be entitled to a national service educational award equal to twice the amount of tuition for the institution of higher education where the individual is enrolled, not to exceed twice the average in-state tuition. Current law limits the award's value to the maximum amount of a Federal Pell Grant that an individual is eligible to receive in the aggregate. Within the administration, the bill establishes an interagency working group to evaluate specified issues related to: (1) eligibility for tuition and student loan repayment assistance with regard to participation in certain national or volunteer service programs, (2) the advisability of granting federal hiring preference to certain volunteer program participants, and (3) methods for increasing the participation of seniors in national service programs. The National Service Foundation, a nonprofit corporation established by the bill, shall accept and administer gifts made in connection with the administration. The bill expresses support for the authorization of appropriations sufficient to provide, within 10 years, volunteer service opportunities for at least 1 million volunteers in full-time national service annually. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude AmeriCorps educational awards from gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Transforming Student Debt to Home Equity Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency to jointly establish and implement a pilot demonstration program to provide, to eligible applicants with federal student loan debt, assistance in purchasing eligible properties. Specifically, the program may provide for: (1) discounts on the appraised value of eligible properties, (2) flexibility in certain underwriting standards, (3) the development of new mortgage products specifically targeted to eligible applicants, (4) the development of a program that uses actuarial information to determine how the repayment of federal student loans may be integrated into a mortgage repayment schedule to allow eligible applicants to accumulate home equity, and (5) other appropriate assistance. An "eligible property" is a property: (1) that is designed as a dwelling for occupancy by one to four families; (2) that is safe and habitable; (3) the occupancy of which will promote community revitalization; and (4) that is owned by HUD, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac).
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Recognizes National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. Recognizes the rate at which individuals are affected by eating disorders and the inadequate rate at which such individuals seek treatment. Acknowledges that eating disorders can be successfully treated and that individuals with eating disorders can and do recover.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2017
Supports the designation of American Grown Flower Month. Recognizes that flowers grown in the United States support farmers, small businesses, jobs, and the economy; are a vital part of the U.S. agricultural industry; and enhance the ability of the people of the United States to celebrate holidays and special occasions. Urges all people of the United States to proactively showcase flowers and greens grown in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2017
Expresses support for: (1) equal rights and protections for all people, regardless of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; and (2) the designation of LGBT Equality Day on June 26 to commemorate Supreme Court decisions handed down on that day in 2003, 2013, and 2015. Acknowledges the need for further legislation to ensure that people in the United States are free from all forms of discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2017
Saving America's Pollinators Act of 2017 This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend the registration of members of the nitro group of neonicotinoid insecticides that are registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for use in seed treatment, soil application, or foliar treatment on bee-attractive plants, trees, and cereals until the EPA determines that the insecticides will not cause unreasonable adverse effects on pollinators. The determination must be based on: an evaluation of the published and peer-reviewed scientific evidence on whether the use or uses of those neonicotinoids cause unreasonable adverse effects on pollinators, including native bees, honeybees, birds, bats, and other species of beneficial insects; and a completed field study that meets the criteria required by the EPA and evaluates residues, chronic low-dose exposure, and cumulative effects of multiple chemical exposures. The EPA may not issue new registrations of the neonicotinoid pesticides for any seed treatment, soil application, and foliar treatment on bee-attractive plants, trees, and cereals under FIFRA until it has made the determination with respect to the insecticide. For purposes of protecting and ensuring the long-term viability of native bees and other pollinators, the Department of the Interior must: (1) regularly monitor the health and population status of native bees, (2) identify the scope and likely causes of unusual native bee mortality, and (3) submit to Congress and make public an annual report on the health and population status of native bees.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2017
Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) cover marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare, (2) exclude such services from the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system, and (3) authorize marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors to develop discharge plans for post-hospital services.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2017
Voter Empowerment Act of 2017 Voter Registration Modernization Act of 2017 This bill amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require states to make available online voter registration. The federal criminal code is amended to prohibit hindering, interfering with, or preventing voter registration. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended to require states to promote access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must support pilot programs enabling individuals with disabilities to register and vote at their residences. The bill reauthorizes support for state and local governments to ensure voting access for individuals with disabilities. States must notify individuals convicted of a criminal offense under state law, upon release or upon sentence to probation, of their right to vote in federal elections. Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2017 This bill revises auditing requirements for voting systems. Voting systems must use individual, durable, voter-verified paper ballots. The National Science Foundation must support the study and development of accessible ballot voting and best practices to enhance the accessibility of voting for certain individuals. With exceptions, states must audit federal election results. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is amended to extend the guarantee of voting residency to family members of absent military personnel. The EAC must support poll-worker recruitment and training and develop materials for a model program. The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is amended to prohibit a chief state election administration official, unless the official or a family member is a candidate, from taking part in political management or in a political campaign for federal office over which the official has supervisory authority. The EAC is reauthorized and its exemption from certain contracting requirements is repealed.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2017 This bill states that it is U.S. policy to regard the prevention of genocide and other atrocity crimes as a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility. The President shall instruct the Department of State to establish a Mass Atrocities Task Force to strengthen State Department efforts and assist other agency efforts at atrocity prevention and response. The Foreign Service Act of 1980 is amended to provide for the training of Foreign Service Officers in conflict and atrocity crimes prevention. The Director of National Intelligence is encouraged to include in his or her annual testimony to Congress on threats to U.S. national security: (1) a review of countries and regions at risk of atrocity crimes; and (2) specific countries and regions at immediate risk of atrocity crimes, including most likely pathways to violence, specific risk factors, potential perpetrators, and at-risk target groups. The bill establishes the Complex Crises Fund to enable the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to support programs and activities to prevent or respond to emerging or unforeseen foreign challenges and complex crises overseas, including potential atrocity crimes. Fund amounts may not be expended for lethal assistance or to respond to natural disasters.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Strengthening Loan Forgiveness for Public Servants Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Department of Education (ED) to cancel 15%, 15%, 20%, 20%, and 30% of the amount a borrower owes after 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 years of public service employment, respectively, on a William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan made after this bill's enactment. (Currently, the balance of a borrower's Direct Loan is canceled if the borrower is not in default and has made 120 monthly payments on such loan while employed as a public service employee.) The bill: (1) requires borrowers availing themselves of such loan cancellation to submit an employment certification form that includes self-certification of employment and employer certification of employment dates, and (2) places the borrower's loan in deferment during the period in which the borrower is employed in an eligible public service job if the borrower submits such form to ED. If a portion of a loan is canceled for any year, the interest on such loan for such year must be canceled.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Calls for an end to the dog and cat meat industry. Urges the governments of China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, India, and all other nations to: (1) adopt and enforce laws banning the dog and cat meat trade, (2) increase efforts to prevent any leather or fur byproducts of such trade from entering international markets, and (3) use their food safety laws to crack down on the sale of dog and cat meat. Affirms the U.S. commitment to the protection of animals and to advancing the progress of animal protection around the world. Urges executive branch officials to include the dog and cat meat trade on the agenda for discussion with the officials of countries that have a dog or cat meat industry.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Patients' Access to Treatments Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to establish cost sharing limits for health plans that cover prescription drugs and use a formulary or other tiered cost sharing structure. Such health plans may not impose higher cost sharing requirements, including copayment and coinsurance, for specialty drugs than for other prescription drugs in a nonpreferred brand name drug tier. If a health plan's formulary contains more than one nonpreferred brand name drug tier, the tier with the lowest cost sharing applies.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2017
Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to allow a representative official of an Indian tribe, with authorization from the governing body of the tribe, to request one or more polling places to be located on tribal lands. The state or political subdivision shall provide each requested polling place at no expense to the Indian tribe if certain criteria are met. A federal court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce constitutional voting guarantees, but also certain violations of the Act as well as of any federal prohibition against discrimination on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, for an appropriate period to prevent commencement of new devices to deny or abridge the right to vote. Any state (and all of its political subdivisions) shall be subject to certain requirements for a 10-year period if: 15 or more voting rights violations occurred there during the previous 25 years; or 10 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years, at least one of which was committed by the state itself (as opposed to a political subdivision within it). A state or political subdivision that obtains a declaratory judgment that it has not used a device to deny or abridge the right to vote shall be exempt from such requirements unlessas specified. This bill prescribes transparency requirements regarding any changes to specified matters. Department of Justice authority to assign observers receives new extensions. Courts shall grant preliminary injunctive relief if a complainant raises a serious question whether the challenged covered practice violates the Act or the Constitution and, on balance, the hardship imposed upon the defendant by the relief will be less than the hardship on the plaintiff if the relief were not granted.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2017
This bill amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office, upon receiving a request from Congress, to determine if legislation would reduce spending outside of the 10-year budget window through the use of preventive health and preventive health services.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2017
Schedules That Work Act This bill grants an employee the right to request that the employee's employer change the terms and conditions of employment relating to: the number of hours or times the employee is required to work or be on call; the location; the amount of notification the employee receives of work schedule assignments; and minimizing fluctuations in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The employer, if the request is made, shall engage in a timely, good faith interactive process with the employee that includes a discussion of potential schedule changes that would meet the employee's needs. The bill outlines the process for either granting or denying a change. The employer shall grant a request, unless there is a bona fide business reason for denying it, if the request is made because of the employee's serious health condition, the employee's responsibilities as a caregiver, or enrollment in a career-related educational or training program, or if a part-time employee requests such a change for a reason related to a second job. An employer, if an employee requests a change for any other reason, may deny it for any reason that is not unlawful. The employer shall give the employee the reason for the denial, including whether it was a bona fide business reason. The bill outlines employer requirements for paying reporting time and split shift pay and for giving advance notice of work schedules to retail, food service, or cleaning employees, or the Department of Labor's designated employees, except for those in bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacities. The bill makes it unlawful for any employer or other person to: (1) interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise or the attempt to exercise any right of an employee specified in this bill; (2) retaliate against an employee for exercising the rights granted employees by this bill; or (3) interfere with proceedings or inquiries with respect to violation of an individual's rights under this bill. The bill sets forth administrative enforcement procedures and civil remedies for violation of these prohibitions. Labor must give information and technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning compliance with this bill. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of the Census shall: (1) include in the Current Population Survey questions on, among other things, the amount of fluctuation in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis; and (2) conduct at regular intervals the Contingent Worker Supplement, the Work Schedules and Work at Home Supplement, and other relevant supplements to the Current Population Survey. This bill is inapplicable to any employee covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement if its terms govern work scheduling practices.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2017
Reaffirms: (1) the bipartisan commitment of the United States to promote the safety, health, and well-being of refugees; and (2) the goals of World Refugee Day. Recognizes those who have risked their lives to provide life-saving assistance and to help protect people displaced by conflict. Calls upon the U.S. government to: uphold its international leadership role in responding to displacement crises with humanitarian assistance for, and protection of, the most vulnerable populations; work in partnership with the international community to find solutions to existing conflicts and to prevent new conflicts; continue to support the efforts of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and to advance the work of nongovernmental organizations to protect refugees regardless of their country of origin or religious beliefs; and continue to mitigate, through humanitarian and development support, the burden placed on frontline refugee host countries that absorb the majority of the world's refugees.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 2017
Expresses strong disapproval of the President's announcement to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Commends the group of states, cities, colleges and universities, businesses, investors, and individuals who have publicly expressed their support for such agreement. Urges the President to reverse his decision and maintain U.S. participation in such agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Report and Educate About Campus Hazing Act or the REACH Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to modify campus security reporting requirements for an institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in federal student aid programs. 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, which includes information on hazing awareness, hazing prevention, and the IHE's policies on hazing. Hazing means any intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a student, or a former student, of an IHE against another student, that: (1) was committed in connection with an initiation into, an affiliation with, or the maintenance of membership in, any 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.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Climate Change National Security Strategy Act of 2017 This bill requires the National Security Advisor and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to jointly establish an interagency Climate and National Security Working Group, which must develop an action plan on current and projected climate-related impacts on national security interests. Specified federal departments and agencies must each develop a plan that ensures that such impacts are identified and considered in the development and implementation of relevant national security doctrine, policies, and plans. The plans must be updated at least annually.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Restore Honor to Service Members Act This bill requires appropriate military record correction boards or discharge review boards to review the discharge characterization of any former members of the Armed Forces requesting a review who were discharged because of their sexual orientation. Such boards to change a characterization to honorable if such characterization is any characterization except honorable. The Department of Defense (DOD) shall ensure that any such changes are carried out consistently and uniformly across the military departments using specified criteria, including that: (1) the original discharge was based on the policy of Don't Ask Don't Tell (as in effect before it was repealed pursuant to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010) or a similar earlier policy; and (2) the discharge characterization will be changed if, with respect to the original discharge, there were no aggravating circumstances that would have independently led to any discharge characterization except honorable. The bill prohibits "aggravating circumstances" from including: (1) an offense of sodomy committed by the member against a consenting person of the same sex; or (2) statements, consensual sexual conduct, or consensual acts relating to sexual orientation or identity, or the disclosure of such statements, conduct, or acts, that were prohibited at the time of discharge but that became permitted after such discharge. Each military department shall ensure that oral historians of the department: (1) review discharges between World War II and September 2011 based on sexual orientation, and (2) receive oral testimony of individuals who personally experienced discrimination and discharge because of actual or perceived sexual orientation so that such testimony may serve as an official record of such discriminatory policies and their impact on American lives. Specified military personnel records and discharge forms must be reissued in a manner that shall not reflect the sexual orientation of the member.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Mental Health in Schools Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to revise a community children and violence program to assist local communities and schools in applying a public health approach to mental health services, including by: (1) revising eligibility requirements for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement; and (2) providing for comprehensive school mental health programs that are culturally and linguistically appropriate, trauma-informed, and age appropriate. A comprehensive school mental health program funded under this bill must assist children in dealing with trauma and violence. The bill makes only certain partnerships that include a state educational agency and one or more educational agencies, with a local agency serving as lead partner, eligible for funding. They include public or private entities that use evidence-based intervention. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration shall develop a fiscally appropriate process for evaluating grant program activities, including the development of: (1) guidelines for the submission of program data by recipients; and (2) outcome measures to be applied by recipients in evaluating programs, including student and family measures and local educational measures.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
IDEA Full Funding Act This bill amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to reauthorize and make appropriations for the grant program to assist states and outlying areas in providing special education and related services to children with disabilities. The bill sets the amount to be appropriated for each fiscal year from FY2018-FY2026 as the greater of: (1) a specified amount, or (2) a specified percentage of an amount determined pursuant to a formula that multiplies the number of children receiving special education services by the average per-pupil expenditure in public elementary and secondary schools. The bill appropriates funds for FY2027 and each subsequent fiscal year equal to the greater of a specified amount or 40% of the amount determined using such formula. Amounts appropriated shall be expended consistent with pay-as-you-go requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2017
Expresses that the House of Representatives: remembers the victims, their families, the survivors, and the community one year since the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States; acknowledges the scars are still fresh and the community is still recovering from this tragedy; offers support to the brave men and women of the emergency response teams, law enforcement agencies who responded to the scene of the shooting, and the medical personnel who treated victims and survivors; acknowledges the threat of homegrown terrorists and will work together to ensure such a tragedy is not repeated; stands united together against terrorism and hatred, and will not permit prejudice, violence, and fear to diminish the U.S. ideals of compassion, liberty, equality, and freedom.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Acupuncture for Heroes and Seniors Act of 2017 This bill provides access to qualified acupuncturist services for: (1) military members and their dependents under the TRICARE program, and (2) veterans enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system. The position of certified, trained acupuncturist for civilian employees in the Department of Defense shall be the grade of GS-12 or higher under the General Schedule. The VA shall carry out such program at in at least one VA facility in each Veterans Integrated Service Network in both urban and rural areas. The VA shall establish the Advisory Committee on Acupuncturist Services. Title XVIII of the Social Security Act is amended to provide Medicare coverage for acupuncturist services. The Public Health Act is amended to make acupuncturists eligible for appointment as officers in the commissioned Regular Corps and the Ready Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Wildfire Disaster Funding Act This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require specified adjustments to discretionary spending limits in FY2017-FY2026 to accommodate appropriations for wildfire suppression operations in the Wildland Fire Management accounts at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) or the Department of the Interior. If USDA or Interior determines that supplemental appropriations are necessary for wildfire suppression operations, the bill requires the relevant department to submit to Congress a request for the funding and a plan for obligating the funds. The bill also requires the President's budget to include the average costs for wildfire suppression over the previous 10 years.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Automatic Voter Registration Act This bill amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require state motor vehicle authorities, upon receiving certain identifying information with respect to an individual requesting motor vehicle authority services, to transmit the information to the state election official. The state election official shall then notify the individual that unless the individual declines to be registered to vote in federal elections in the state, the individual shall be automatically registered unless the individual does not meet voter registration eligibility requirements or is already registered to vote. A state may not use any identifying information regarding an individual's citizenship status for any purpose other than determining whether the individual is eligible to vote in federal elections.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Voices for Veterans Act This bill: (1) expands the membership of the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans to include veterans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, and (2) extend the Commission through December 31, 2019.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2017
Patient Choice and Quality Care Act of 2017 This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to create and test a new Medicare model for advanced illness and care management that would enable certain Medicare beneficiaries with serious, chronic progressive, or advanced illnesses, to voluntarily engage in a planning process to obtain specialized care consistent with their health care goals. At least one participant in this model must be a hospice program. The model requires an interdisciplinary team comprised of physicians, nurses, and social workers to work together to provide beneficiaries and their caregivers with information and services on disease trajectory, treatment options, and available care. Information on advance care planning must be included in the Medicare & You Handbook. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must: (1) award grants to certain public or private entities to increase awareness of advance care planning and advanced illness care, (2) establish the Advance Care Planning Advisory Council to advise HHS on issues relating to advanced and terminal illnesses, and (3) issue an annual report analyzing the circumstances of deceased Medicare beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2017
Humane Cosmetics Act This bill prohibits testing cosmetics on animals, effective on the date that is one year after enactment of this bill. No cosmetic may be sold or transported if the final product or any component was developed or manufactured using animal testing after that date, effective three years after enactment of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2017
Health Equity and Access under the Law for Immigrant Women and Families Act of 2017 or the HEAL Immigrant Women and Families Act of 2017 This bill amends titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) of the Social Security Act to extend Medicaid and CHIP coverage to aliens lawfully present in the United States who otherwise meet eligibility requirements. This applies to individuals granted deferred action or other federally authorized presence but not to nonimmigrants (e.g., individuals with a temporary worker visa). Individuals granted federally authorized presence, except nonimmigrants, are eligible for health insurance exchanges and reduced cost sharing under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and premium subsidies under the Internal Revenue Code.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Rabbi Michoel Ber Weissmandl Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2017 This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Rabbi Michoel Ber Weissmandl in recognition of his acts of valor during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 to require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct and update at least once every seven years an ocean acidification coastal community vulnerability assessment with a corresponding public report. The assessment must identify: (1) U.S. coastal communities that are most dependent on coastal and ocean resources that may be impacted by ocean acidification; (2) the nature of those communities' social and economic vulnerabilities; (3) impacts from changes in ocean and coastal marine resources that are not managed by the federal government; and (4) key knowledge gaps where research could be devoted to better understand the possible ocean acidification impacts, risks, threats, and possible adaptation strategies for the communities. In carrying out the ocean acidification coastal community vulnerability assessment, NOAA must collaborate with state and local government entities that are conducting or have completed vulnerability assessments, strategic research planning, or other similar activities related to ocean acidification and its impacts on coastal communities. NOAA's ocean acidification program is expanded to include an ongoing mechanism that allows affected industry members, coastal stakeholders, non-federal resource managers, and outside scientific experts not employed by the federal government to provide input on research, data, and monitoring necessary to support on-the-ground management, decision making, and adaptation related to ocean acidification and its impacts. The strategic plan for ocean acidification research and monitoring developed by the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology of the National Science and Technology Council must make recommendations for research to address the key knowledge gaps identified in the community vulnerability assessment report.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Save Our Seas Act of 2017 or the SOS Act of 2017 This bill amends the Marine Debris Act to revise the Marine Debris Program to require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to work with: (1) other agencies to address both land- and sea-based sources of marine debris, and (2) the Department of State and other agencies to promote international action to reduce the incidence of marine debris. The bill also revises the program by allowing NOAA to make sums available for assisting in the cleanup and response required by severe marine debris events. NOAA must prioritize assistance for activities that respond to a severe marine debris event in: (1) a rural or remote community, or (2) a habitat of national concern. The bill urges the President to: (1) work with foreign countries that contribute the most to the global marine debris problem in order to find a solution to the problem; (2) study issues related to marine debris, including the economic impacts of marine debris; and (3) encourage the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to consider the impact of marine debris in relevant future trade agreements. The Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee must expand to include a senior official from the State Department or from the Department of the Interior. This bill reauthorizes for FY2018-FY2022: (1) the Marine Debris Program, (2) an information clearinghouse on marine debris, and (3) enforcement of laws about discarded marine debris from ships.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine Act or the Healthy MOM Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act and Internal Revenue Code to require health insurers, health insurance exchanges, and group health plans to offer a special enrollment period to pregnant individuals. The special enrollment period offered by an insurer or exchange must begin when the pregnancy is reported to the insurer or exchange. The special enrollment period offered by a group health plan must begin when the pregnancy is reported to the plan or is confirmed by a health care provider. Coverage offered by a group health plan or health insurer that covers dependents must provide coverage for maternity care to all covered individuals. The Office of Personnel Management must ensure that eligible pregnant women are allowed to enroll in federal employee health benefit plans outside of the open enrollment period. This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to revise the range in which a state must establish a maximum level of family income for pregnant women and infants to be eligible for Medicaid. The upper limit of the range is eliminated and the lower limit is set to the level in place, or specified in an amendment to a state plan, on January 1, 2014.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Procurement Fraud Prevention Act This bill directs the General Services Administration to establish procedures to ensure that any notice regarding registration of a small business concern in a procurement system contains information about cost-free federal procurement technical assistance services that are available through the Small Business Administration, Procurement Technical Assistance Centers of the Defense Logistics Agency, the Department of Commerce, and other federal agencies and programs.
![Official portrait of Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000597_200.jpg)