United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2015
Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation Act of 2015 or the SAVE Act of 2015 Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit knowingly: (1) advertising commercial sex acts involving a minor or an individual engaged in such an act through force, fraud, or coercion; or (2) benefitting financially or otherwise from such advertising knowing that the individual involved was a minor or victim of force, fraud, or coercion.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all businesses and residential customers.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act Amends the Internet Tax Freedom Act to make permanent the ban on state and local taxation of Internet access and on multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act Designates approximately 1,559,538 acres of land within Alaska in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to include among the required uses of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's annual grant to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children operation of a cyber tipline to provide online users and electronic service providers an effective means of reporting Internet-related child sexual exploitation in the area of child sex trafficking, including child prostitution (currently, in the area of child prostitution).
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Safe and Secure Drinking Water Act of 2015 This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and publish within 90 days a health advisory including recommendations on: (1) the level of microcystins (toxins produced by freshwater cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae) in drinking water that is safe for human consumption; (2) feasible treatment techniques and other means for achieving a safe level; and (3) standardized procedures for testing for microcystins in drinking water. Until the EPA makes a determination on whether to regulate microcystins in drinking water, it must report on: (1) the status of the determination, (2) the steps taken by the EPA to promote testing of drinking water for microcystins in areas that have been affected by harmful algal blooms, and (3) an analysis of available treatment techniques and other means for addressing microcystins in drinking water. The EPA must submit the report within 120 days and every year thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Maya Angelou Congressional Gold Medal Act Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal in commemoration of Maya Angelou in recognition of her achievements and contributions to American culture and the civil rights movement. Requires the medal to be given to the Smithsonian Institution. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution make it available for display, particularly at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, or for loan as appropriate, particularly to locations associated with Angelou's life.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Half in Ten Act of 2015 Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty, which shall develop a National Strategy to reduce the number of persons living in poverty in America in half within 10 years after release of the 2014 Census Report on Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2015 This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to authorize the Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for FY2016-FY2020. The Initiative must prioritize and carry out programs and projects for Great Lakes protection and restoration, including: (1) the remediation of toxic substances and areas of concern; (2) the prevention and control of invasive species and their impacts; (3) the protection and restoration of near-shore health and the prevention and mitigation of nonpoint source pollution (water pollution that comes from many diffuse sources, such as pollution on the ground picked up by rain or snow); and (4) habitat and wildlife protection and restoration. Funding made available to implement the Initiative may not be used for any water infrastructure activity (other than a green infrastructure project that improves habitat and other ecosystem functions in the Great Lakes) for which funding is made available under the clean water or drinking water state revolving fund program. Federal agencies must maintain the base level of funding for their Great Lakes activities without regard to funding under the Initiative and identify new activities to support the environmental goals of the Initiative.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2015 This bill amends the Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2009 to repeal the sunset of, and so extend indefinitely, the exclusion from resources under titles XVI (Supplemental Security Income) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, for eligibility purposes, of compensation in the amount of the first $2,000 per year received by individuals who participate in clinical trials for rare diseases or conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2015 Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per country numerical limitation for family based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas. Amends the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual Chinese immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act. Sets forth the following transition period for employment-based second and third preference (EB-2 and EB-3) immigrant visas: for FY2015, 15% of such visas allotted to natives of countries other than the two countries with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2011; for FY2016, 10% of such visas allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2012; and for FY2017, 10% of such visas allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2015. Sets forth the following per country distribution rules: (1) for transition period visas, not more than 25% of the total number of EB-2 and EB-3 visas for natives of a single country; and (2) for non-transition period visas, not more than 85% of EB-2 and EB-3 visas for natives of a single country. Provides that the amendments made by this Act will take place as if enacted on September 30, 2014, and shall apply beginning in FY2015.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Requires the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service to report annually to Congress on the effects of gun violence on public health and the status of actions taken to address those effects.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2015
Respect for Marriage Act Amends the Defense of Marriage Act to repeal a provision that prohibited a state, territory, possession, or Indian tribe from being required to recognize any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a same sex marriage. Amends the federal rules of construction added by such Act concerning the definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" to provide that, for purposes of any federal law in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered married if that individual's marriage is valid in the state where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into outside any state, if the marriage is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in a state. Removes the definition of "spouse" (currently, a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife).
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2015
Medgar Wiley Evers Congressional Gold Medal Act Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal in commemoration of Medgar Wiley Evers, in recognition of his contributions and sacrifice in the fight for racial equality in the United States. Requires the medal, following its award, to be given to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, where it is to be available for display or temporary loan to be displayed elsewhere.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2015
Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act Establishes the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans to examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the President should declassify a 28-page section of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 2001, and (2) the families of the victims and the people of the United States deserve answers about the events and circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2014
Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2014 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) to revise requirements for the audit capacity of voting systems, particularly those for a permanent paper record. Requires the voting system to require the use of an individual, durable, voter-verified paper ballot of the voter's vote that shall be marked and made available for inspection by the voter before the voter's vote is cast and counted, and which shall be counted by hand or read by an optical scanner or other counting device. Requires the voting system to provide the voter with an opportunity to correct any system-made error in the voter-verified paper ballot before it is permanently preserved. Requires each paper ballot used to be: (1) suitable for a manual audit, and (2) counted by hand in any recount or audit conducted with respect to any federal election. Sets forth a special rule for treatment of disputes when paper ballots have been shown to be compromised. Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to make grants to eligible entities to study, test, and develop accessible ballot voting, verification, and casting mechanisms and devices and best practices to enhance the accessibility of paper ballot voting and verification mechanisms for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary language is not English, and for voters with difficulties in literacy. Specifies additional voting system requirements and prohibitions. Requires the NSF Director to make grants to eligible entities to conduct research on the development of election-dedicated voting system software. Makes available additional funding to enable states to meet the costs of the requirements imposed by this Act. Provides for complaints to the Attorney General by persons aggrieved by violations of HAVA. Requires each state to administer audits of federal election results, without advance notice to the precincts selected, consisting of random hand counts of the voter-verified paper ballots. Makes an exception from this requirement for elections in which the winning candidate had no opponent or received 80% or more of the vote total. Prescribes requirements for determination of the number of ballots counted under the audit. Prescribes the process for administering audits. Requires the Election Auditor of a state, as soon as practicable after the completion of an audit, to submit the results to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) for publication. Prohibits certification of the results of any election until completion of audits. Provides for payments to states for the costs of conducting audits. Exempts from this Act any election for which a recount under state law will commence before certification of the election results. Repeals the EAC's exemption from certain federal government contracting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2014
Veterans' Toxic Wounds Research Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a master registry of veterans who experienced toxic exposures while serving in the Armed Forces. Includes in the master registry the registries for: Agent Orange; exposure to toxins relating to a deployment during the Persian Gulf War; exposure to toxins relating to a deployment during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Enduring Freedom, or the Global War on Terror; exposure to toxins relating to a deployment to Bosnia, Somalia, or the Philippines; and exposure to toxins relating to being stationed at a military installation potentially contaminated by toxic substances. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to review published scientific information and studies, and make recommendations for future research, on the health effects: (1) of the toxic exposures covered in those registries, and (2) on the children and grandchildren of veterans who had a toxic exposure covered in those registries. Requires those reviews to inform the Secretary's selection of research to be conducted or funded by the VA. Establishes a presumption of a service connection, for the purpose of veterans' disability and survivor benefits, for an illness that: the Secretary determines warrants such a presumption by reason of having a positive association with exposure to a toxic substance covered in the master registry; and becomes manifest, within the period the Secretary prescribes, in a veteran who experienced such exposure while serving in the Armed Forces. Requires the Secretary's service connection determinations to be based on sound medical and scientific evidence that a positive association exists between: (1) the exposure of humans or animals to a toxic substance covered in the master registry, and (2) the occurrence of a diagnosed or undiagnosed illness in humans or animals. Directs the Secretary, in implementing the VA's electronic health record system, to include specified information in each individual's electronic health record, including whether the individual served in the Armed Forces and, if so, the locations and dates of such service.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2014
10-20-30 Act of 2014 - Requires 10% of funds made available in appropriations Acts in FY2015-FY2025 for specified accounts or activities to be allocated for assistance in persistent poverty counties. Defines "persistent poverty counties" as any county with a poverty rate of at least 20%, as determined in each of the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses and the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates of the Bureau of the Census.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2014
Preventing Improper Foreclosures Act of 2014 - Amends the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 with respect to the prohibition against exercise of a due-on-sale contract requirement upon certain transfers of property subject to a real property loan. Requires the lender, in the case of such a transfer, to provide the successor homeowner with information about the mortgage loan, including the availability of loan modification options. Requires a lender, with respect to any such transfer not involving a reverse mortgage, to: (1) evaluate the successor homeowner promptly for a loan modification on the same terms as if the successor homeowner had been the original borrower and mortgagor, and (2) perform this evaluation and offer any available loss mitigation before any assumption by the successor homeowner of the obligations under the note. Allows the failure of a lender to comply with such requirements to be asserted as a defense to any judicial or non-judicial foreclosure. Entitles the homeowner to recover statutory damages not to exceed $1,000 per violation, actual damages, costs, and attorney's fees in any successful action the homeowner brings. Amends the National Housing Act with respect to insurance of home equity conversion mortgages (reverse mortgages) for elderly homeowners. Prohibits the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from insuring a reverse mortgage unless the mortgage provides that the maturity of the loan obligation (currently, the homeowner's obligation to satisfy the loan obligation) is deferred until the death of the homeowner (as under current law) and the homeowner's spouse or the permanent relocation of the homeowner and homeowner's spouse, in addition to sale of the home or other occurrences specified by the Secretary as under current law. Adds new sales terms for a reverse mortgage to be eligible for insurance. Denies any liability of the mortgagor (as under current law) or the mortgagor's estate or the heirs for any difference between the amount of indebtedness under the mortgage and the amount recovered by the mortgagee from the net sales proceeds or the insurance benefits paid. Requires a reverse mortgage, to be eligible for mortgage insurance, to allow: (1) sale of the dwelling subject to the mortgage for at least the lesser of the remaining mortgage balance or the dwelling's appraised value (or 5% less than the dwelling's appraised value, if the loan is due and payable); and (2) satisfaction of the loan obligation by the mortgagor's estate or heirs, upon the mortgagor's death, for the lesser of the remaining mortgage balance or 5% less than the appraised value.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2014
Supports the designation of National Service Coordinator Day. Recognizes the value of service coordinators in assisting low-income Americans to maintain and maximize their independence and strive toward economic self-sufficiency.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2014
Safe and Secure Drinking Water Act of 2014 - Requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and publish within 90 days a health advisory including recommendations on: (1) the level of microcystins (toxins produced by freshwater cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae) in drinking water that is safe for human consumption; (2) feasible treatment techniques and other means for achieving a safe level; and (3) standardized procedures for testing for microcystins in drinking water. Directs the EPA, until it makes a determination on whether to regulate microcystins in drinking water, to report within 120 days and every year thereafter on: (1) the status of the determination, (2) the steps taken by the EPA to promote testing of drinking water for microcystins in areas that have been affected by harmful algal blooms, and (3) an analysis of available treatment techniques and other means for addressing microcystins in drinking water.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 2014
Transparency in Policing Act of 2014 or the TIP Act of 2014 - Directs the Attorney General to conduct a study on the cost to state and local law enforcement agencies of purchasing and using body cameras. Conditions the receipt by a state or local law enforcement agency of federal funds from a grant program carried out by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the purchase of body cameras for use by the law enforcement officers employed by that agency. Authorizes the Attorney General to waive such requirement upon determining that compliance would create a hardship for such agency.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 2014
Reforming CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act - Declares without force or effect Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Bulletin 2013-02 (Indirect Auto Lending and Compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act), published March 21, 2013. Amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to direct the CFPB, when proposing and issuing guidance primarily related to indirect auto financing, to: provide for a public notice and comment period before issuing the guidance in final form; make publicly available all information relied on by the CFPB; redact any information exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act; consult with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Department of Justice (DOJ); and study the costs and impacts of the guidance to consumers and women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2014
Pathways Out of Poverty Act of 2014 - Division A: Education - Title I: Strong Start for America's Children - Subtitle A: Access to Voluntary Prekindergarten for Low- and Moderate-Income Families - Directs the Secretary of Education (Secretary) to allot matching grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs), childhood education program providers, or consortia of those entities to implement high-quality prekindergarten programs for children from low-income families. Allots grants to states based on each state's proportion of children who are age four and who are from families with incomes at or below 200% of the poverty level. Defines "high-quality prekindergarten programs." Conditions grant eligibility on a state demonstrating to the Secretary that it: (1) has established or will establish early learning and development standards, (2) has established or will develop the ability to link prekindergarten data with elementary and secondary school data, (3) offers state-funded kindergarten for children, and (4) has established a State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a process to provide Head Start program services to children who are younger than age four in states or regions that provide four-year-olds whose family income is at or below 200% of the poverty level with sustained access to high-quality prekindergarten programs. Subtitle B: Prekindergarten Development Grants - Directs the Secretary to award competitive, matching, capacity-building grants to states that assure that they will use their grant to become eligible, within three years of receiving the grant, for this Act's grants for high-quality prekindergarten programs. Title II: Restoring Summer Pell Grants - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow the Secretary to award a student two Pell Grants during a single award year if the student is enrolled in an associate or baccalaureate degree program or a certificate program at an institution of higher education (IHE) on at least a half-time basis for the equivalent of more than one academic year during the Pell Grant award year. Title III: Restoring Title IV Ability-to-Benefit Eligibility - Allows students who are not high school graduates or have not met certain home schooling requirements to receive student assistance under title IV of the HEA if they demonstrate that they can benefit from the education or training being offered by an IHE through: (1) their performance on an independently administered examination, (2) a state prescribed process, or (3) their satisfactory completion of six credit hours or the equivalent coursework toward a degree or certificate offered by the IHE. Title IV: Youth Promise/Federal Coordination of Local and Tribal Juvenile Justice Information and Efforts - Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to establish a PROMISE Advisory Panel to assist the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in assessing and developing standards and evidence-based practices to prevent juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity. Requires the Administrator of the Office to award grants to organizations to collect and use data in designated geographic areas to assess the needs and existing resources for juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention. Title V: Promise Grants - Subtitle A: PROMISE Assessment and Planning Grants - Authorizes the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to award grants to local governments and Indian tribes to assist local PROMISE Coordinating Councils (PCCs) with planning and assessing evidence-based and promising practices for juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention, especially for at-risk youth. Subtitle B: PROMISE Implementation Grants - Directs the Administrator to award additional grants to assist PCCs to implement PROMISE plans for coordinating and supporting the delivery of juvenile delinquency and gang prevention and intervention programs in local communities. Subtitle C: General PROMISE Grant Provisions - Directs the Administrator, in conjunction with the PROMISE Advisory Panel, to establish and utilize a system for evaluating applications for PROMISE Assessment and Planning grants and for PROMISE Implementation grants. Division B: Housing - Title VI: Common Sense Housing Investment - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax deduction for mortgage interest, to: (1) allow, in lieu of such deduction, a tax credit for 15% of mortgage interest paid in a taxable year for the taxpayer's principal residence and one other residence; (2) provide for a phaseout of the tax deduction for mortgage interest between 2014 and 2018; (3) allow a deduction for interest and taxes relating to land for dwelling purposes owned or leased by cooperative housing corporations; and (4) increase the state housing credit ceiling for the low-income housing tax credit. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to apply the savings from the enactment of this Act to the Housing Trust Fund, for assistance under the Section 8 low-income housing program, and for the Public Housing Capital Fund. Title VII: Low-Income Housing Tax Credit for Homeless Youth - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to qualify low-income building units that provide housing for full-time students who were homeless youth or homeless veterans prior to occupying a low-income housing unit for the low-income housing tax credit. Title VIII: Renters Tax Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business-related tax credit for a portion of the rent paid by a qualified renter. Defines "qualified renter" as a family unit with income not greater than the higher of 60% of local median income or 150% of the federal poverty line. Establishes the amount of such credit as the rent reduction amount, which: (1) is the amount by which the fair market rent for a rental unit exceeds the rent charged to the qualified renter; and (2) shall not exceed the excess of the rent charged to the qualified renter (or, if lower, specified modest rent) over 30% of the qualified renter's income (prorated monthly). Division C: Nutrition - Title IX: Improving the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require state TANF plans to address whether and how states will give priority to providing assistance in areas with the greatest need. Extends the TANF program. Establishes matching grants to the states for subsidized employment. Sets a flat minimum participation rate of 50% with respect to all families residing in a state that include a work-eligible individual.. Gives TANF recipients the option to have trained personnel assess certain barriers to employment. Revises the contents of individual responsibility plans. Authorizes a state to develop a modified employability plan for a TANF recipient with, or caring for a family member with, a disability. Prohibits a state from imposing a lifetime sanction or full-family sanction on assistance to any individual or family on the basis of a family member's failure to comply with a program requirement. Prohibits sanctioning individuals for failure to engage in work if the failure results from the inability to secure child care or after-school arrangements for a child under age 13. Prohibits imposing a limit of less than 60 months on duration of TANF assistance. Makes the durational limit inapplicable during a recession. Requires that states establish personnel standards through a merit-based system in the administration of TANF programs. Requires TANF assistance to meet basic family economic needs. Makes reducing child poverty a purpose of the TANF program. Requires that states adopt standards and procedures to address domestic and sexual violence suffered by TANF recipients. Requires a state to guarantee child care services to TANF recipients employed or participating in a work activity. Eliminates the ban on providing assistance to families not assigning certain support rights to the state. Gives states the option to extend TANF eligibility to children through age 21. Prohibits considering financial aid tied to education of a child in determining eligibility for or the amount of TANF. Eliminates bars to TANF assistance for persons convicted of drug felonies, unwed teen parents not in school, and teens not in an adult-supervised living arrangement. Title X: Employment Advancement, Retention, and Navigation Act - Makes it a purpose of TANF to promote employment among needy families. Requires a state to use any funds received under a grant from the TANF Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs solely to support training programs leading to a credential directly linked to the employment opportunities in the local area or region. Eliminates the maintenance of effort requirement, and related administrative penalty, for state use of amounts from the Contingency Fund. Revises the definition of vocational educational training as a work activity to include up to 24 months of such training for any individual participating in a training program leading to a credential directly linked to employment opportunities in the individual's local area or region. Removes from the limitation on the number of persons who may be treated as engaged in work by reason of participation in educational activities all single heads of household or married individuals under age 20 who maintain satisfactory school attendance. Title XI: Restoring Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs Funding Cuts Instituted in Farm Bill (Heat-and-Eat) - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to remove restrictions on providing standard utility allowances under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) to certain households based on the receipt of nominal benefits under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 or similar energy assistance programs. Title XII: Helping Hungry Students Learn - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to expand the school lunch program, provide free breakfast to students, and establish a pilot program to provide commodities to state agencies to assist in providing food to at-risk children on weekends and during school holidays. Title XIII: Food Assistance to Improve Reintegration Act - Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to repeal provisions making individuals convicted of certain drug-related offenses ineligible for SNAP benefits. Division D: Labor/Job Training - Title XV [ sic ]: Assistance for the Unemployed and Pathways Back to Work - Subtitle A: Supporting Unemployed Workers - Supporting Unemployed Workers Act of 2014 - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to extend emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) payments for eligible individuals to weeks of employment ending on or before January 1, 2016. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until December 31, 2015, requirements that federal payments to states cover 100% of EUC. Amends the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 to exempt weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and June 30, 2016, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (FSEUCA of 1970) against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law provides for payment of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. Amends FSEUCA of 1970 to postpone similarly from December 31, 2013, to December 31, 2015, termination of the period during which a state may determine its "on" and "off" indicators according to specified temporary substitutions in its formula. Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to extend through December 31, 2015, the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits. Establishes the Reemployment NOW program to facilitate the reemployment of individuals receiving emergency unemployment compensation (EUC claimants). Requires a state to submit for approval by the Secretary of Labor a plan meeting certain minimum requirements in order to be eligible for an allotment of federal funds under such program. Authorizes a state to use its allotted funds to establish: (1) a Bridge to Work program to provide EUC claimants with short-term work experience placements with eligible employers; (2) a wage insurance program to pay, for up to two years, an EUC claimant who obtains reemployment up to 50% of the difference between the wages received at the time of work separation and the wages received for reemployment; and (3) a program of enhanced reemployment services to EUC claimants, including unemployed individuals who have exhausted their EUC rights. Prescribes requirements for federal financing of state short-time compensation programs. Subtitle B: Long-Term Unemployed Hiring Preferences - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an increased work opportunity tax credit for long-term unemployed individuals (individuals who are unemployed and receiving unemployment compensation for six months or more). Subtitle C: Pathways Back to Work - Pathways Back to Work Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to make certain allocations of federal funds to states with approved plans, qualifying outlying areas (U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of Palau), and Native American program grantees to provide: (1) subsidized employment to unemployed, low-income adults; and (2) summer and year-round employment opportunities to low-income youth. Requires the Secretary of Labor to award competitive grants to local entities for work-based training and other work-related and educational strategies and activities of demonstrated effectiveness to provide unemployed, low-income adults and low-income youths with skills that will lead to employment. Subjects activities funded under this Act to federal labor standards and nondiscrimination protections. Subtitle D: Prohibition of Discrimination in Employment on the Basis of an Individual's Status as Unemployed - Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2014 - Makes it an unlawful practice for certain employers to: (1) publish a job advertisement or announcement that includes provisions indicating that an individual's status as unemployed disqualifies the individual for employment or that the employer will not consider or hire an individual for employment based on such status, (2) fail or refuse to consider or hire an individual because of such status, or (3) direct or request that an employment agency take an individual's status into account to disqualify an applicant for consideration for employment or when screening or referring employees. Makes it an unlawful practice for an employment agency to commit similar acts, including to: (1) screen, or fail or refuse to consider or refer, an individual for employment because of the individual's unemployed status; or (2) limit, segregate, or classify any such individual in any manner that would limit access to job information or consideration, screening, or referral for jobs. Makes it unlawful for any employer or employment agency to: (1) interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of any right provided under this Act; or (2) fail or refuse to hire, discharge, or otherwise discriminate against an employee because such individual opposed any practice made unlawful by this Act or asserted any right under it. Prescribes enforcement authorities and legal remedies for violations of this Act. Title XVI: Living American Wage - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage to at least the amount determined by the Secretary of Labor according to the formula prescribed by this Act beginning September 1, 2014. Requires the Secretary to determine such minimum wage rate by June 1, 2014, and once every four years thereafter. Prohibits any adjustment if the determination would result in a minimum wage lower than the current one. Requires the minimum wage so determined to be the minimum hourly wage sufficient for a person working for it 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, to earn an annual income 15% higher than the federal poverty threshold for a four-person household, with two children under age 18, and living in the 48 contiguous states, as published for each such year by the Census Bureau. Title XVII: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (SSA, 2008) to extend emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) payments for eligible individuals to weeks of employment ending on or before January 1, 2015. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until December 31, 2014 requirements that federal payments to states cover 100% of EUC. Amends the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 to exempt weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and June 30, 2015 from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (FSEUCA of 1970) against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law provides for payment of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. Amends the FSEUCA of 1970 to postpone similarly from December 31, 2013, to December 31, 2014 termination of the period during which a state may determine its "on" and "off" indicators according to specified temporary substitutions in its formula. Amends the SSA, 2008 to appropriate funds out of the employment security administration account through FY2015 to assist states in providing reemployment and eligibility assessment activities. Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to extend through December 31, 2014 the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits. Makes a change in application of a certain requirement (nonreduction rule) to a state that has entered a federal-state EUC agreement, under which the federal government would reimburse the state's unemployment compensation agency making EUC payments to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular unemployment compensation under state or federal law and meet specified other criteria. (Under the nonreduction rule such an agreement does not apply with respect to a state whose method for computing regular unemployment compensation under state law has been modified to make the average weekly unemployment compensation benefit paid on or after June 2, 2010, less than what would have been paid before June 2, 2010.) Declares that the nonreduction rule shall not apply to a state which has enacted a law before December 1, 2013, that, upon taking effect, would violate the nonreduction rule. Allows a state whose agreement was terminated, however, to enter into a subsequent federal-state EUC agreement on or after enactment of this Act if, taking into account this inapplicability of the nonreduction rule, it would otherwise meet the requirements for an EUC agreement. (Thus allows such a subsequent EUC agreement to permit payment of less than the average weekly unemployment compensation benefit paid on or after June 2, 2010.) Division E: Anti-Poverty Tax Provision - Title XVIII: Child Tax Credit Permanency - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the child tax credit, to: (1) make permanent the reduction (from $10,000 to $3,000) of the eligibility threshold for the refundable portion of such credit, and (2) require an annual inflation adjustment to the allowable amount of such credit (i.e., $1,000) after 2013. Title XIX: Earned Income Tax Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the earned income tax credit, to: (1) increase the rate of such credit for individuals with no qualifying children; (2) allow an annual inflation adjustment to the increased phaseout amount of such credit for taxable years beginning after 2014; and (3) expand eligibility for such credit to individuals who have attained age 21 (currently, age 25) but have not attained the full retirement age under the Social Security Act. Title XX: Child Care Access and Refundability Expansion Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for dependent care expenses, to: (1) make such credit refundable, (2) deny such credit to nonresident aliens, and (3) allow an annual cost-of-living adjustment after 2013 to the amounts used to determine an income-based reduction in the amount of such credit. Division F: Miscellaneous - Title XXI: Poverty Impact Trigger - Amends Rule XXI (Restrictions on Certain Bills) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to make it out of order to consider a public bill or joint resolution authorizing an appropriation of $10 million or more, unless: (1) the accompanying committee report includes a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Poverty Impact Division impact statement, or (2) the chair of the committee reporting the legislation submits such statement for publication in the Congressional Record before consideration of the measure. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish the CBO Poverty Impact Division to prepare and submit poverty impact statements to the chair of House committees. Title XXII: Half in Ten Act to Create a National Strategy to Reduce Poverty - Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty, which shall develop a National Strategy to reduce the number of persons living in poverty in America in half within 10 years after release of the 2012 Census report on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2014
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt aircraft management services from the excise tax on transportation of persons and property. Defines "aircraft management services" as scheduling, flight planning, weather forecasting, operation of flights, obtaining insurance, maintenance, storage and fueling of aircraft, hiring, training and provision of pilots and crew, establishing and complying with safety standards, and such other services necessary to support flights.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2014
Condemns: (1) all forms of anti-Semitism and rejects attempts to justify anti-Jewish hatred or violent attacks as an acceptable expression of disapproval over political events, and (2) the comparison of Israel to Nazis perpetrating a Holocaust or genocide. Applauds those foreign leaders, especially in France, Italy, and Germany, who have condemned anti-Semitic acts, and calls on those who have yet to take firm action against anti-Semitism in their countries to do so. Reaffirms support for the mandate of the United States Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. Supports Holocaust educational programs at home and abroad. Urges the Secretary of State to: maintain the fight against anti-Semitism as a U.S. foreign policy priority, urge governments to ensure that adequate laws are in place to punish anti-Semitic violence and hate crimes as well as establish mechanisms to investigate and punish perpetrators, continue U.S. reporting on anti-Semitism as a human rights and religious freedom issue, provide training for diplomatic and law enforcement personnel posted abroad to report on anti-Semitic incidents, deepen engagement with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and support its specialized efforts to monitor and address anti-Semitism, and oppose efforts to prevent any individual from exercising his or her religion without fear of prosecution or violence.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2014
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the current outbreak of Ebola in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia is an international health crisis and is the largest and most widespread outbreak of the disease ever recorded. Calls on all nations to immediately provide additional resources to help affected nations address current and future public health crises. Requests development of a global health security plan to respond to disease outbreaks. Urges the prioritization of the elimination of Ebola as a public health threat.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2014
Welcomes: (1) African leaders to the first United States-Africa Leaders' Summit in Washington, DC, and (2) African trade ministers to the 13th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum. Recognizes the progress and hope that modern Africa represents in global affairs and economic advancement. Acknowledges the opportunities to boost cultural, trade, and economic relations and partnerships between the United States and Africa. Recognizes the importance of renewing the AGOA program. Encourages implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement as one important way to address supply-side barriers and encourage greater trade and investment in Africa.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2014
Living Donor Protection Act of 2014 - Prohibits discrimination based on a person's status as a living organ donor in the offering, issuance, cancellation, coverage, price, or any other condition of a life insurance policy, disability insurance policy, or long-term care insurance policy. Revises the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to specifically include living organ donation as a serious health condition that entitles a covered employee to leave under that Act. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to update public service announcements, websites, and other media regarding live organ donation to educate the public on the benefits of live organ donation and access to insurance for living organ donors.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2014
John P. Parker House Study Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the John P. Parker House in Ripley, Ohio, to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing it as a unit of the National Park System.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2014
Homeless Children and Youth Act of 2014 - Amends the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to redefine "homeless," "homeless individual," or "homeless person." Modifies requirements relating to an individual or family who will imminently lose their housing, including housing they own, rent, or live in without paying rent. Revises criteria for unaccompanied youth and homeless families with children and youth defined as homeless under other federal statutes to require that they: are certified as homeless by the director or designee of a program funded under any other federal statute; or have been certified by a director of a program funded under this Act or a director of a public housing agency (PHA) as lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, which shall include: (1) temporarily sharing the housing of another person due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or other similar reason; or (2) living in a room in a motel or hotel. Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to: (1) aggregate and publicly report information provided from a community-wide homeless management information system (HMIS), and (2) ensure that any such report does not contain personally identifiable information. Prohibits the Secretary, in awarding grants for continuum of care programs, from considering or prioritizing the specific homeless populations intended to be served by the applicant if the applicant demonstrates that the project: (1) would meet the priorities identified in the applicant's plan, and (2) is cost-effective in meeting the overall goals and objectives identified in that plan. Repeals certain requirements regarding collaborative applicants. Modifies requirements for selection criteria for the award of grants through a national competition between geographic areas. Requires annual reports to Congress on housing assistance for the homeless to include data: (1) required to be made publicly available in the HMIS report, and (2) on programs funded under other specified federal statutes.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2014
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring Maya Angelou.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2014
Breaking Addiction Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a five-year demonstration project under which payment may be made to each participating state for any medical assistance provided with respect to a qualified individual being treated for a substance use condition in a community-based institution for mental diseases.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2014
Supports the designation of a National Get Vertical Day and encourages employers and employees to acknowledge its goals and ideals by incorporating physical movement and appropriate programming into daily work activity. Recognizes the serious long-term health effects of sedentary lifestyles. Urges promotion of physical movement and active lifestyles.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2014
Recognizes the centennial of the founding of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Honors the Fraternity for a century of fortitude and distinguished service to the people of the United States and the global community.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2014
Amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to include among the required uses of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's annual grant to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children operation of a cyber tipline to provide online users and electronic service providers an effective means of reporting Internet-related child sexual exploitation in the area of child sex trafficking (currently, child prostitution).
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2014
Constitutional Amendment - Authorizes Congress and the states to set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections. Grants Congress and the states the power to implement and enforce this amendment by appropriate legislation. Allows them to distinguish between natural persons and corporations or other artificial entities created by law, including by prohibiting such entities from spending money to influence elections. Declares that nothing in this amendment shall be construed to grant Congress or the states the power to abridge the freedom of the press.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2014
Supports the goals and ideals of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, now in its 40th year of continuous service. Recognizes the benefits the CDBG program has provided to urban, suburban, and rural communities. Acknowledges the importance of this federal grant program to states and local communities throughout the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2014
Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2014 - Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to condition eligibility to receive a state grant for child abuse or neglect prevention and treatment programs on inclusion in the state plan of a certification by the governor that the state has in effect and is enforcing a state law, or is operating a statewide program, that includes provisions and procedures to: (1) identify and assess reports involving children who are sex trafficking victims (and which may also involve children who are victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons), (2) train representatives of the state child protective services about identifying and assessing such children, and (3) identify services and procedures for appropriate referral to address the needs of such children. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to report to Congress on: (1) the specific type and prevalence of severe forms of trafficking in persons to which children have been subjected who are identified for services or intervention under the placement, care, or supervision of state, Indian tribe, or tribal organization child welfare agencies; (2) the practices and protocols utilized by states to identify and serve children who are, or are at-risk of becoming, victims of trafficking; and (3) any barriers in federal laws or regulations that may prevent identification and assessment of children who are such victims.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2014
Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act or the Clay Hunt SAV Act - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Secretary of Defense (DOD), at least annually, to each arrange for an independent third party evaluation of, respectively, the VA and DOD mental health care and suicide prevention programs. Requires a board reviewing the discharge or dismissal of a former member of the Armed Forces whose application for relief is based at least in part on post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury related to military operations or sexual trauma, to: (1) review the medical evidence from the VA or a civilian health provider that is presented by the former member; and (2) review the case, with a presumption of administrative irregularity, and place the burden on the VA or DOD to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that no error or injustice occurred. Directs the VA Secretary to publish an Internet website that serves as a centralized source to provide veterans with regularly updated information regarding all of the VA's mental health care services. Requires the VA Secretary and the DOD Secretary to enter into certain strategic relationships to facilitate: the mental health referrals of members of the reserve components who have a service-connected disability and are being discharged or released from the Armed Forces, timely behavioral health services for such members, communication when such members are at risk for behavioral health reasons, and the transfer of documentation for line-of-duty and fitness-for-duty determinations. Requires the VA Secretary to carry out a three-year pilot program to repay the education loans relating to psychiatric medicine that are incurred by individuals who: are eligible to practice psychiatric medicine in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) or are enrolled in the final year of a residency program leading to a specialty qualification in psychiatric medicine, demonstrate a commitment to a long-term career as a psychiatrist in the VHA, and agree to a period of obligated service with the VHA in the field of psychiatric medicine. Directs the VA Secretary to carry out a program, as part of the Yellow Ribbon G.I. Education Enhancement Program, under which the VA Secretary and an institution of higher education (IHE) agree to cover the full cost of charges not covered by post-9/11 educational assistance that are incurred by veterans who: (1) are pursuing an advanced degree in mental health at the IHE, and (2) intend to seek employment as a mental health professional in the VA. Allows the VA Secretary to cover up to 64% of those charges, if the school covers the remainder. Requires the DOD Secretary to submit to Congress a zero-based review of the staffing requirements for individual State National Guard Commands with respect to Directors of Psychological Health. Directs the VA Secretary to establish a pilot program at not less than five Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) to assist veterans transitioning from active duty and to improve the access of veterans to mental health services. Requires the pilot program at each VISN to include: (1) a community oriented veteran peer support network, and (2) a community outreach team for each medical center in such VISN.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2014
Protect Women's Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014 - Affirms requirements, notwithstanding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, that: (1) an employer that establishes or maintains a group health plan for its employees must provide coverage of a specific item or service for the employees or their dependents where the coverage is required under federal provisions or regulations pursuant to those provisions; and (2) group health plans sponsored by an employer or employee organization, and any health insurance coverage, must provide coverage required under the Public Health Service Act, including preventive health services. Authorizes the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury to modify regulations concerning coverage of contraceptive services by group health plans of religious employers consistent with the purposes and findings (regarding coverage of birth control services and the Supreme Court decisions in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Burwell ) of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 2014
Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2014 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act with respect to determining entitlement to and the amount of any monthly benefit, including any lump-sum death payment, payable under OASDI on the basis of the wages and self-employment income of any individual. Deems such an individual to have been paid a wage (according to a specified formula) during each month during which the individual was engaged for at least 80 hours in providing care to a dependent relative without monetary compensation for up to five years of such service. Makes this Act inapplicable in the case of any monthly benefit or lump-sum death payment if a larger benefit or payment would be payable without its application.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2014
Maya Angelou Congressional Gold Medal Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous presentation of a congressional gold medal in commemoration of Maya Angelou in recognition of her achievements and contributions to American culture and the civil rights movement. Requires the gold medal to be given to the Smithsonian Institution. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution make it available for display, particularly at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, or for loan as appropriate, particularly to locations associated with Angelou's life.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2014
Seniors' Access to Social Security Act of 2014 - Directs the Commissioner of Social Security to continue to make available at Social Security Administration field offices Social Security number printouts through at least July 31, 2015, and benefit verification letters through at least September 30, 2015.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2014
Charitable Automobile Red-Tape Simplification Act of 2014 or the CARS Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax deduction for charitable contributions, to modify the substantiation rules for donations of qualified vehicles (i.e., motor vehicles manufactured primarily for use on public streets, roads, and highways and boats or airplanes) to require: (1) a statement with respect to such qualified vehicles and a good faith estimate of their value at the time of donation; and (2) a contemporaneous written acknowledgement of the contribution by the donee organization, with information about the donor and the qualified vehicle.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2014
Protecting American Jobs and Exports Act - Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank of the United States through FY2021. Extends through FY2021 and gradually increases (with a specified exception) the Bank's aggregate outstanding loan, guarantee, and insurance authority. Extends through FY2021 Bank authority to provide financing for the export of nonlethal defense articles or services whose primary end use will be for civilian purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2014
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 715 Shawan Falls Drive in Dublin, Ohio, as the "Lance Corporal Wesley G. Davids and Captain Nicholas J. Rozanski Memorial Post Office."
![Official portrait of Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b001281_200.jpg)