United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2018
Seeds for the Future Act This bill amends the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act to require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure that at least $50 million of USDA grant funding is used each year for competitive research grants that support the development of public cultivars. A "cultivar" is a variety of plant that has been intentionally selected for use in cultivation because of its improved characteristics. A "public cultivar" is the commercially available uniform end product of a publicly funded breeding program that has been sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and stable performance. The bill also amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish a public cultivar research activities coordinator within USDA to coordinate research activities relating to the breeding of public cultivars.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2018
Puerto Rico Film, Television, and Theatre Production Act of 2018 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code; with respect to rules that allow the expensing of certain costs of qualified film, television, and live theatrical productions; to: (1) apply the rules to Puerto Rico, and (2) extend the rules through 2021 for Puerto Rico. (Under current law, the rules apply through 2017 for productions with costs that include a specified amount of compensation for services performed in the United States.)
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2018
This bill amends the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act and the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to authorize the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide competitive grants for sensor and imager technology. The bill authorizes USDA to provide the grants under: (1) the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, and (2) the Specialty Crop Research Initiative.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2018
This bill amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to establish seaweed as a high-priority research and extension area for which the Department of Agriculture (USDA) may make competitive grants to support research and extension activities. USDA may make grants for carrying out or enhancing research with respect to the harvesting of seaweed for voluntary use for the livestock, poultry, and food animal production industries for purposes of the reduction of methane emissions. The bill also reauthorizes the USDA high-priority research and extension initiatives through FY2023.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2018
United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018 This bill extends Military Financing Program grants for Israel through FY2023. The Department of Defense shall conduct a joint assessment with Israel regarding: (1) precision guided munitions needed by Israel in a sustained armed confrontation with Hezbollah and other armed groups and terrorist organizations, and (2) related U.S. assistance and resupply planning. The President may utilize the Special Defense Acquisition Fund to transfer precision guided munitions and related defense articles and services to reserve stocks for Israel. Authorities for loan guarantees and the war reserves stockpile for Israel are extended through FY2023. The Department of Homeland Security shall establish a seven-year grant program with Israel to support: (1) cybersecurity research and development, and (2) commercialization of cybersecurity technology. The U.S. Agency for International Development may enter into memoranda of understanding with Israel to advance common goals on energy, agriculture and food security, democracy, economic growth, education, and health. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shall continue to work with the Israel Space Agency to pursue peaceful space exploration and science initiatives. The President may enter into a cooperative project agreement with Israel to carry out research and joint production of defense articles and services to detect and destroy unmanned aerial vehicles (i.e., drones) that threaten the United States or Israel. The bill states that it is U.S. policy to ensure that Israel maintains its qualitative military edge.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2018
Buy America 2.0 Act This bill prohibits federal funding of a transportation or infrastructure project unless the steel, iron, and manufactured goods used for the project are produced in the United States, except where: (1) inconsistent with the public interest; (2) iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or (3) inclusion of iron, steel, and manufactured goods produced in the United States will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25%. The bill revises and expands Buy America provisions pertaining to public transportation, rail loan and loan guarantees, and aviation. The bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to apply in all fiscal years (currently, FY2017) the prohibition on the use of funds for a public water system project that does not use iron and steel products produced in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2018
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Economic Exclusion Act This bill expands sanctions against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The President shall report to Congress regarding: foreign and domestic supply chains that significantly aid the IRGC; Iranian state-owned entities that provide support to terrorist entities, including Mahan Air; and foreign persons owned or controlled by the IRGC, including companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange or companies with a value in excess of $100 million. The bill states that it is U.S. policy to prevent Iran's membership in the World Trade Organization and similar international bodies as long as Iran remains a state sponsor of terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2018
WeissSat-1 Resolution This resolution expresses the sense of Congress that: as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Education is undergoing internal reviews and assessments in determining the appropriate structure of the office going forward, the CubeSat (small satellite) Launch Initiative must continue to thrive and expand as a priority of Congress; and NASA should prioritize awareness of the CubeSat Launch Initiative in annual budget proposals.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2018
HBCU Parity Act of 2018 This bill amends the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 to reauthorize and provide mandatory funding for Department of Agriculture grants to upgrade agricultural and food sciences facilities at 1890 land-grant colleges, including Tuskegee University. (Under current law funding for the grant program is subject to the annual appropriations process. Mandatory spending is not controlled by appropriations bills.)
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2018
Eliminating the HHS Discrimination Division Act of 2018 This bill eliminates the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and prohibits the use of federal funds to establish or operate a similar entity with respect to HHS programs and activities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2018
This joint resolution nullifies the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission entitled "Restoring Internet Freedom." The rule published on February 22, 2018: (1) restores the classification of broadband Internet access service as a lightly-regulated "information service"; (2) reinstates private mobile service classification of mobile broadband Internet access service; (3) requires Internet service providers to disclose information about their network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms of service; and (4) eliminates the Internet Conduct Standard and the bright-line rules.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2018
No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the taxation of the foreign-source income of domestic corporations, to: eliminate an exemption for certain returns from tangible investments made overseas, eliminate deductions for a domestic corporation's foreign-derived intangible income and global intangible low-taxed income, repeal a provision that excludes foreign oil and gas extraction income from the tested income of a controlled foreign corporation, limit the tax deduction for the interest expenses of a U.S. corporation that is a member of a financial reporting group (i.e., a group that prepares consolidated financial statements according to generally accepted accounting principles or international financial reporting standards), modify the rules for the taxation of inverted corporations (U.S. corporations that acquire foreign companies to reincorporate in a foreign jurisdiction with income tax rates lower than the United States), and treat certain foreign corporations managed and controlled primarily in the United States as domestic corporations for tax purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2018
Raise the Age Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to make 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. Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation must report to Congress on the operation of its public access line, including the protocols and procedures with respect to information sharing.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2018
Assault Weapons Ban of 2018 This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to knowingly import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon (SAW) or large capacity ammunition feeding device (LCAFD). The prohibition does not apply to a firearm that is: (1) manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action; (2) permanently inoperable; (3) an antique; or (4) a rifle or shotgun specifically identified by make and model. Additionally, the bill does not prohibit, with respect to a SAW or LCAFD: importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession related to certain law enforcement efforts, or authorized tests or experiments; importation, sale, transfer, or possession related to securing nuclear materials; and possession by a retired law enforcement officer. The bill permits continued possession, sale, or transfer of a grandfathered SAW, which must be securely stored. A licensed gun dealer must conduct a background check prior to the sale or transfer of a grandfathered SAW between private parties. The bill permits continued possession of, but prohibits sale or transfer of, a grandfathered LCAFD. Newly manufactured LCAFDs must display serial number identification. Newly manufactured SAWs and LCAFDs must display the date of manufacture. The legislation amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to require law enforcement agencies to be notified when a prohibited person attempts to purchase a grandfathered SAW. It also amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to allow a state or local government to use Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds to compensate individuals who surrender a SAW or LCAFD under a buy-back program.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2018
Heroes Lesley Zerebny and Gilbert Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act of 2018 This bill makes changes to benefits under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program. The PSOB program provides death, disability, and education benefits to public safety officers and survivors of public safety officers who are killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. Among other things, the bill increases the death and disability benefit and increases the monthly education assistance benefit.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2018
Immigrant Witness and Victim Protection Act of 2018 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the annual numerical limit on nonimmigrant U visas (victims of crime who are willing to assist law enforcement in investigations and prosecutions). The Department of Homeland Security shall grant work authorizations to aliens with a pending application for a nonimmigrant U visa or a T visa (victims of trafficking in persons who are willing to assist law enforcement in investigations and prosecutions). The bill prohibits, with specified exceptions, the following nonimmigrants from being considered inadmissible or subject to removal or deportation until there is a final denial of status application: a U or T visa applicant, a battered spouse seeking employment authorization, a battered spouse or child seeking permanent resident status, an alien seeking temporary protected status (TPS), or a self-petitioning alien seeking protections under the Violence Against Women Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2018
Advancing Access to Precision Medicine Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Medicine for the academy to study usage of genetic and genomic testing, including how to reduce barriers to the utilization of such testing. The bill allows states to apply for an exception to Medicaid's federal medical assistance percentage rate to provide whole genome sequencing clinical services to certain children, including those admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit for a chronic or undiagnosed disease and those suspected to have a pediatric-onset genetic disease.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2018
Protect America's Secrets Act This bill amends the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to prevent a federal employee, including an employee in the Executive Office of the President, from being granted access to information on highly sensitive programs unless the employee: (1) has been determined to be eligible for access by the head of an agency or designated official based upon a full personnel security investigation and a favorable adjudication, (2) has a demonstrated need-to-know, and (3) has signed an approved nondisclosure agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2018
Nutrient Management Technical Service Provider Certification Act of 2018 This bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to provide alternative certification methods for third-party technical service providers (TSPs). (TSPs provide technical expertise to agricultural producers on behalf of the Department of Agriculture [USDA] Natural Resource Conservation Service to assist in planning and implementing conservation measures.) USDA must approve certain professional certifications that meet or exceed national criteria and were established by: the USDA, an agriculture-related retailer, a farmer cooperative, the American Society of Agronomy, or the National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants. A qualified certification includes a certifications as: a Certified Crop Advisor by the American Society for Agronomy, a Certified Professional Agronomist by the American Society for Agronomy, and a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan Specialist by USDA.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2018
International Violence Against Women Act of 2018 This bill provides for a U.S. global strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. The bill establishes in the Department of State an Office of Global Women's Issues which shall be headed by an Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. The Ambassador-at-Large shall: (1) coordinate U.S. government efforts regarding gender equality and the advancement of women and girls in foreign policy, and (2) develop or update periodically a U.S. global strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. The bill establishes in the U.S. Agency for International Development the position of Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment who shall direct policies, programs, and funding regarding gender equality and women's empowerment. The bill requires that U.S. assistance made available for humanitarian relief, conflict mitigation, and post-conflict reconstruction prevents and responds to violence against women and girls. The Department of State shall also identify incidents that occur during armed conflict and implement emergency responses.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2018
This bill amends the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 to require the Department of Agriculture Specialty Crops Committee to include in its annual report recommendations regarding research, extension, and teaching programs designed to improve competitiveness in the specialty crop industry by increasing the use of agricultural technology, including sensor and imaging technology.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2018
Election Security Act This bill directs the Election Assistance Commission to establish grant programs to support (1) states' compliance with certain voting system security requirements, including the use of voting systems that require individual paper ballots marked by hand; (2) states' audits of federal election results (i.e., manual counts of paper ballots); and (3) research and development directed at improving the security and reliability of election infrastructure. The bill also (1) requires the President to develop a national strategy to protect against attacks on U.S. democratic institutions, and (2) establishes the National Commission to Protect U.S. Democratic Institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2018
This bill directs the Department of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing the birthplace of James Weldon Johnson located at Adams and Lee Streets in Jacksonville, Florida, as a unit of the National Park System. James Weldon Johnson was a renowned statesmen, educator, songwriter, author, lawyer, and civil rights activist.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2018
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the requirements for tax-exempt bonds, to reinstate the exclusion from gross income for interest on certain bonds issued to advance refund another bond. The exclusion was repealed for bonds issued after 2017. (A refunding bond is a bond used to pay principal, interest, or the redemption price on a prior bond issue. An advance refunding bond is issued more than 90 days before the redemption of the refunded bond.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2018
Supports the designation of Career and Technical Education Month to celebrate career and technical education (CTE) and the goals and ideals of such month. Recognizes the importance of CTE in preparing a well-educated and skilled workforce. Encourages educators, school counselors, guidance and career development professionals, administrators, and parents to promote CTE as a respected option for students.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2018
MadeInAmerica.gov Act This bill requires the Department of Commerce to create and maintain a website where consumers can find information about U.S.-made products.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2018
Chiropractic Health Parity for Military Beneficiaries Act This bill directs the Department of Defense to provide chiropractic health care services and benefits through the TRICARE program to uniformed service members who are not on active duty, uniformed service retirees, and their dependents. (Active duty members of the uniformed services are currently eligible for chiropractic services and benefits through the Chiropractic Health Care Program.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2018
Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act This bill requires federal employees furloughed due to a lapse in appropriations that begins on or about February 8, 2018, to be compensated at their standard rate of compensation for the period of such lapse as soon as practicable after such lapse ends.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2018
Reuniting Families Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to recapture unused employment-based and family-sponsored visas from FY1992-FY2016; reclassify spouses, permanent partners, minor children, and stepchildren of permanent residents as immediate relatives; repeal the per-country immigration limits; repeal specified bars to reentry and allow waivers of inadmissibility to promote family unity; exempt children of naturalized Filipino veterans from immigration limitations; and allow relatives of a deceased alien to maintain visa eligibility. The bill defines "permanent partner" to purposes of applying the INA to LGBT families and individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2018
Women and Climate Change Act of 2018 This bill establishes a Federal Interagency Working Group on Women and Climate Change within the Department of State. The duties of the working group include: (1) coordinating the development of policies and activities of the federal government relating to addressing the effects of climate change on women, and (2) identifying and disseminating best practices for improved data collection relevant to the disparate impact of climate change on women. The working group and the State Department's Office of Global Women's Issues must develop a strategy to prevent and respond to the effects of climate change on women. The office must designate a Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate Change.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2018
Journalist Protection Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to establish new criminal offenses for intentional acts (or attempts to commit acts) that cause bodily injury to a journalist.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2018
Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act of 2018 or the STOP School Violence Act of 2018 This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to revise and reauthorize through FY2028 the Secure Our Schools grant program. This grant program provides grants to states, local governments, and Indian tribes to improve security, including the placement and use of metal detectors and other deterrent measures, at schools and on school grounds.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2018
Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2018 This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct an interagency study regarding research on lung cancer in women, access to lung cancer preventive services, and public awareness and education campaigns on lung cancer. The study must include a comprehensive report on research and knowledge gaps related to lung cancer in women in the federal government and recommendations for: (1) a research program that would encourage innovative approaches to eliminate knowledge gaps, (2) the development of a national lung cancer screening strategy with sufficient resources to expand access to screening, and (3) the development of a national public education and awareness campaign on lung cancer in women and the importance of early detection of lung cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2018
Healthy Climate and Family Security Act of 2018 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the Department of the Treasury to establish a carbon trading program that caps the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from crude oil, coal, and natural gas. Beginning in 2019, crude oil refineries, petroleum importers, coal mines, coal importers, and natural gas suppliers or processors must purchase carbon permits equivalent to the amount of CO2 that would be emitted by covered fuels. Treasury will auction these permits to those entities. This bill establishes a declining cap on the quantity of permits issued to reduce CO2 emissions until 2050 when the permits issued represent an amount 80% below 2005 CO2 emission levels. Treasury must issue permits for carbon capture and sequestration of CO2 from covered fuels. This bill provides for the trading or sale of permits between entities, the banking by entities of permits for future years, and the borrowing by Treasury of permits from future years to stabilize permit prices. Auction proceeds and penalties are returned to U.S. citizens lawfully present in the United States using the Healthy Climate Trust Fund established by this bill. Treasury must impose fees on the import and pay fees for the export of carbon-intensive goods when the export country does not have equivalent measures to regulate greenhouse gases. Carbon-intensive goods are goods with an increased cost due to the regulation of greenhouse gases. The Environmental Protection Agency must regulate within 10 years all sources of greenhouse gases that are anthropogenically emitted. This excludes gases attributable to the production of animals for food.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2018
Safe Coasts, Oceans, And Seaside Towns Act or the Safe COAST Act This bill provides statutory authority for specified safety regulations that govern offshore oil and gas production in the Outer Continental Shelf and provide protections for human, marine, and coastal environments. The Department of the Interior must contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to complete the study titled "Review and Update of Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Offshore Oil and Gas Operations Inspection Program" within 21 months.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 2018
Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act This bill requires the Federal Labor Relations Authority to determine whether a state substantially provides public safety officers or employees: the right to form and join a labor organization; recognition by public safety employers of the employees' labor organization, agreement to bargain with the organization, and reduction of any agreements to writing in a contract or memorandum of understanding; the right to bargain over hours, wages, and terms and conditions of employment; and binding interest arbitration to resolve an impasse in collective bargaining negotiations. The bill makes the authority responsible for: (1) determining the appropriateness of units for labor representation; (2) supervising elections; (3) conducting hearings and resolving complaints of unfair labor practices; and (4) protecting the right of employees to form, join, or assist any labor organization, or to refrain from doing so. An employer, public safety officer, or labor organization may not engage in a lockout, sickout, work slowdown, strike, or any other organized job action that will measurably disrupt the delivery of emergency services and is designed to compel an employer, public safety officer, or labor organization to agree to the terms of a proposed contract.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 2018
SNAP Healthy Incentives Act of 201 8 This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide a financial incentive for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) participants to purchase fruits and vegetables.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 2018
Clearing Local Impediments Makes Broadband Open to New Competition and Enhancements or the CLIMB ONCE Act This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission to publish recommendations on best practices relating to the implementation of a one touch make ready policy for a state. The term "one touch make ready policy" refers to state regulations that require utility pole owners to allow a single construction crew to make changes to multiple utility wires.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2018
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 567 East Franklin Street in Oviedo, Florida, as the "Sergeant First Class Alwyn Crendall Cashe Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2018
Reaching English Learners Act This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a grant program for preparing teachers to effectively instruct English learners. Grants may be awarded for up to five years.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2018
Artificial Intelligence Job Opportunities and Background Summary Act of 2018 or the AI JOBS Act of 2018 This bill expresses the sense of Congress that technology can improve the lives of individuals, but can also disrupt jobs, and for this reason, innovation should be encouraged while training and retraining American workers. The Department of Labor shall prepare and submit to Congress a report on artificial intelligence and its impact on the workforce.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2018
Advancing Seniors and Kids Act or the ASK Act This bill extends, and otherwise revises, various public health and social welfare programs. Specifically, the bill: permanently extends the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP); extends by one year, but reduces by half, additional federal financial participation for CHIP; extends CHIP's qualifying-states option, express-lane eligibility option, and outreach and enrollment program; extends the Child Enrollment Contingency Fund, the Childhood Obesity Demonstration Project, and the Pediatric Quality Measures Program; modifies Medicare payment rules and reporting requirements with respect to ground-ambulance services; permanently extends specialized Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for certain special-needs individuals; expands certain supplemental benefits under MA for chronically ill enrollees; extends the Medicare payment adjustment known as the "home-health rural add-on"; makes permanent or extends other specified programs and payment rules under Medicare; under Medicaid, extends certain health workforce demonstration projects as well as specified programs related to community health centers, diabetes, graduate medical education, family-to-family health-information centers, abstinence education, and personal-responsibility education; delays certain changes, under Medicaid, to disproportionate-share hospital allotments and to third-party liability provisions; extends the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program and requires, under the program, continued demonstration of improvements in certain benchmark areas; establishes a grant program for the monitoring of representative payees under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program and the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program; otherwise revises provisions related to representative payment under SSI and OASDI; and with respect to the child-welfare system, modifies provisions related to information sharing and to overpayment liability.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2018
Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act This bill requires federal employees furloughed due to a lapse in appropriations that begins on or about January 19, 2018, to be compensated at their standard rate of compensation for the period of such lapse as soon as practicable after such lapse ends.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2018
Expresses support and respect for Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations. Censures and condemns President Trump for his derogatory statements about Haiti and other countries at the January 11, 2018, White House meeting and calls on him to retract and apologize for such remarks.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2018
Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act of 2018 This bill provides for additional disaster-recovery assistance and other assistance to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with respect to infrastructure, health care, agriculture, education, economic development, and environmental remediation, among other sectors. Specifically, regarding both territories, the bill: provides for the use of certain emergency assistance to rebuild electric grids; establishes grant programs to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy; subject to oversight requirements, increases funding for transportation infrastructure, telecommunications systems, housing, and community development; increases funding for Medicaid and Medicare; temporarily increases social-services block-grant allotments; increases funding for, and otherwise revises, rural and agricultural programs; increases funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs; provides for aid to the Head Start program, elementary and secondary education programs, and higher education programs; increases funding for training and employment services; modifies provisions concerning unemployment assistance, taxation, and federal permitting; increases funding for economic and community development programs; increases funding for environmental remediation; requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to submit to Congress a disaster-relief plan; and otherwise modifies provisions related to emergency funding and disaster-recovery assistance. In addition, the bill: extends Medicaid waiver authority to all territories, provides for Medicaid disproportionate share hospital allotments to the territories, and otherwise revises the Medicaid and Medicare programs with respect to the territories; provides for health-insurance coverage for individuals residing in territories without health exchanges; extends participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Supplemental Security Income Program to all territories; modifies provisions concerning the earned-income tax credit and the child tax credit with respect to the territories; and modifies provisions concerning the application of certain workers' protections in Puerto Rico.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2018
Visa Transparency Anti-Trafficking Act of 2018 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) expand nonimmigrant employer annual data reporting requirements to include all nonimmigrant worker categories and compensated cultural exchange, training, and business classifications; and (2) require that such information be made public. (Employment means employment in the United States and includes cultural exchanges, training, or business activities for which the nonimmigrant receives any form of compensation.) Expanded reporting requirements shall include information regarding: (1) age and gender of admitted nonimmigrants, (2) categories and numbers of visas issued and numbers of persons admitted under each visa, (4) blanket petitions, (5) nonimmigrant worker employers, and (6) citizens of nations with Compacts of Free Association with the United States who are authorized to reside permanently in the United States as nonimmigrants. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of State, and the Department of Labor may revise forms or databases used to regulate nonimmigrant visas or grant nonimmigrant status. The State Department and Labor shall share report-related information with DHS.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2018
Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act or the FAIR Act This bill increases by 3% the rates of basic pay for federal employees under the statutory pay systems (i.e., the General Schedule, the Foreign Service Schedule, and various schedules related to the Veterans Health Administration) for calendar year 2019. Additionally, it increases by 3% the rates of basic pay for prevailing rate employees for FY2019.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 2018
Space Debris Removal Act This bill directs the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in conjunction with other federal agencies, to develop or acquire technologies and policies to remove orbital debris.
![Official portrait of Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/115_rp_fl_9_soto_darren_200.jpg)