United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2019
Lady Liberty Act of 2019 This bill sets a floor of 110,000 for the maximum number of refugees who may be admitted into the United States each fiscal year. Under current law, the President sets the annual cap on refugee admissions at the beginning of each fiscal year. (The cap for FY2020 is 18,000, and the cap for FY2019 was 30,000.)
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2019
Stopping Bad Robocalls Act This bill updates various policies and regulations relating to robocalls. Specifically, the bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to protect consumer privacy as it relates to robocalls. The FCC must update regulations involving certain robocalls that are exempt from criminal liability to include specific requirements identifying classes of parties who may make such calls, parties who may be called, and how many times they may be called. Additionally, the bill removes the requirement that a citation be issued prior to a forfeiture penalty being imposed in cases where violations involving illegal robocalls have been intentional and where inaccurate caller identification information has been provided. The bill also implements a three-year statute of limitation for such violations requiring notice, and a four-year statute of limitation where an intentional violation has occurred. The FCC must promulgate regulations to address requirements for effective call authentication technology as well as to establish a process to streamline the ways in which a private entity may voluntarily share with FCC information relating to an illegal call or text or for calls with misleading or inaccurate caller identification information. Finally, the bill requires the FCC to ensure robocall blocking services provided on an opt-out basis are provided free of cost with transparency and redress options for consumers and callers.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2019
Price Relief, Innovation, and Competition for Essential Drugs Act or the PRICED Act This bill allows biosimilars to be marketed five years after the reference brand-name biological product is licensed. Currently, brand-name biological products are provided a 12-year marketing-exclusivity period. This shortened marketing-exclusivity period applies only to biological products licensed by the Food and Drug Administration after enactment of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2019
Children's Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety of 2019 or the CARE Act of 2019 This bill revises labor provisions for protecting child workers, including those employed in agriculture, and increases the civil penalties for violations of such provisions and imposes new criminal penalties for violations resulting in the death or serious injury or illness of a child worker. Specifically, the bill revises the definition of oppressive child labor to prohibit the employment of children under 14 years of age and imposes new employer reporting requirements for work-related injuries or deaths of agricultural employees under the age of 18. The Department of Labor must analyze, collect, and report on data concerning children under the age of 18 who are employed in agriculture and each work-related injury, illness, or death of any such child. Labor must also revise regulations to prohibit the employment of a child under the age of 18 as a pesticide handler.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2019
Defending All Veterans In Education Act or the DAVIE Act This bill requires a for-profit institution of higher education (IHE), in order to participate in federal student-aid programs, to derive at least 20% of its revenue from sources other than federal funds. Current law requires a for-profit IHE to derive at least 10% of its revenue from sources other than federal funds. The bill also expands the definition of federal funds to include GI education benefits, with an exception for the monthly housing stipend provided under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2019
Reward Work Act This bill prohibits issuers from purchasing their own securities on a national exchange. The bill also requires one-third of an issuer's board of directors to be elected by employees in order for the issuer to be allowed to register securities.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2019
This resolution recognizes the importance of the alliance and friendship between the United States and Germany and the strong ties between the populations and governments, including cooperation under the Wunderbar Together-Germany and the U.S. initiative .
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2019
Neighborhood Homes Investment Act This bill establishes a new business-related tax credit to finance home building and rehabilitation in neighborhoods that meet certain eligibility criteria relating to poverty rates, income, and home values. The credit is limited to 35% of the lesser of the qualified development cost (i.e., the cost of construction, substantial rehabilitation, demolition, and environmental remediation of residential properties) or 80% of the national median sale price for new homes. The credit applies to single family homes containing four or fewer residential units, condominiums, or houses or apartments owned by cooperative housing corporations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2019
Harmful Algal Bloom Essential Forecasting Act This bill requires the Harmful Algal Bloom Operational Forecast System to continue to operate during a government shutdown by designating certain activities related to the system as excepted services under the Anti-Deficiency Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2019
This resolution reaffirms the bipartisan commitment to promoting the safety, health, education, and well-being of refugees and persons displaced by war, persecution and violence. It also calls upon the Department of State and the Ambassador to the United Nations to continue supporting robust funding for refugee protection and humanitarian response overseas and resettlement in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2019
Removing Environmental Hazards And Building Safely Act of 2019 or the REHABS Act of 2019 This bill authorizes the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to award grants to national and regional organizations and consortia to abate and remove environmental hazards (e.g., lead, asbestos, and mold) in homes being rehabilitated for families and individuals who otherwise would be unable to afford to purchase a dwelling. Additionally, HUD must study the assessment and removal of mold in the rehabilitation of a single-family home.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2019
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 340 Wetmore Avenue in Grand River, Ohio, as the "Lance Corporal Andy 'Ace' Nowacki Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2019
Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2019 This bill generally prohibits deceptive practices, false statements, and voter interference regarding federal elections. Specifically, the bill prohibits any person, within 60 days before an election, from communicating, causing to be communicated, or producing for communication certain information on voting, if the person (1) knows such information to be materially false, and (2) has the intent to impede or prevent another person from exercising the right to vote in an election. The bill also prohibits false statements regarding public endorsements and hindering, interfering with, or preventing voting or registering to vote. A private right of action for preventive relief is established for persons aggrieved by violations of these prohibitions. Criminal penalties are also established for violations. If the Department of Justice (DOJ) receives a credible report that materially false information has been or is being communicated in violation of these prohibitions, DOJ must communicate to the public accurate information designed to correct the materially false information.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2019
Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in Customs and Border Protection Custody Act This bill imposes requirements and standards related to the care of aliens in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody. CBP shall conduct an initial health screening of each alien in custody to identify those with acute conditions and high-risk vulnerabilities and to provide appropriate healthcare. CBP shall conduct the screening within 12 hours of each alien's initial detention, and within 3 hours for certain priority individuals such as children, pregnant women, and those with disabilities. The bill imposes various requirements related to the services, personnel, and infrastructure for providing such screenings, such as providing interpreters, chaperones, and mental health treatment when necessary. CBP shall ensure detainees have access to drinking water, toilets, sanitation facilities, hygiene products, food, and shelter. The bill imposes certain standards relating to such requirements, such as the minimum amount of drinking water and space for each detainee. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall enter into memoranda of understanding with various emergency government relief agencies to address instances when surge capacity is necessary. The Inspector General of DHS shall conduct unannounced inspections of ports of entry, border patrol stations, and detention facilities and report the results to Congress. The Government Accountability Office shall assess CBP's management of such facilities and whether CBP and DHS processes are in compliance with this bill's requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2019
United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2019 This bill establishes restrictions on businesses that relocate call centers or redirect customer service calls to locations outside the United States. Specifically, a business must notify the Department of Labor that it intends to move its customer service call center overseas and Labor must maintain a publicly available list of such businesses. Subject to narrow exceptions, a business appearing on such list is ineligible to receive federal grants or guaranteed loans for five years after the business is added to the list. Further, agencies must condition the awarding of government contracts on the requirement that any call center activity pursuant to the contract must be performed in the United States. Additionally, the bill requires call center employees to disclose their physical location at the beginning of each call initiated or received, unless all employees of the business participating in the communication are located in the United States, among other exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2019
Protecting Europe's Energy Security Act of 2019 This bill directs the President to impose visa- and asset-blocking sanctions on any foreign person that knowingly provides pipe-laying vessels for constructing a Russian-origin energy export pipeline that makes landfall in Germany or Turkey. The President may waive the sanctions as to specific persons if it is in the U.S. national interest to do so and if the President notifies Congress of the decision.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2019
Coast Guard Youth STEM Programs Expansion Act This bill authorizes the U.S. Coast Guard, in coordination with the Department of Education, to establish programs for the purpose of improving the mathematics and scientific knowledge and skills of elementary and secondary school students and faculty members. Any such program may also focus on areas of specific Coast Guard expertise.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2019
Stop Automatically Voiding Eligible Voters Off Their Enlisted Rolls in States Act or the Save Voters Act This bill requires verification and notice of the removal of registrants from an official list of eligible voters. Specifically, the bill requires a state or political subdivision to provide notice to individual registrants that are removed, the grounds for the removal, and information on contesting the removal. Public notice must be provided after any systematic removal of names. The bill provides conditions for the removal of names from an official list of eligible voters. A state is prohibited from removing a name unless the state verifies that the registrant is ineligible to vote. A state is prohibited from considering failure to vote in an election or failure to respond to a notice as evidence of ineligibility to vote.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2019
Restoring Overtime Pay Act of 2019 This bill requires the Department of Labor to update the salary threshold applicable to bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees for purposes of determining eligibility for overtime pay. The bill adopts rulemaking promulgated by Labor in 2016 that established the threshold for exempting such employees from overtime requirements at the 40th percentile of earnings for full-time salaried employees in the lowest-wage census region. The bill also requires updates to the threshold amount every three years. In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shall publish quarterly on its public website data on the weekly earnings of nonhourly, full-time salaried workers by census region.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2019
Improving Mental Health Access for Students Act This bill requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in federal student aid programs to share contact information for suicide prevention resources with students. If IHEs distribute student identification cards, then they must include on the cards phone numbers for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Crisis Text Line, and a campus mental-health center or program. If IHEs do not create such cards, then they must publish the numbers on the IHEs' websites.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2019
Mental Health Parity Compliance Act This bill revises the mental health parity rules to require private health insurance plans that offer both medical and mental health coverage to prepare a comparative analysis of nonquantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs). (NQTLs are limitations on the scope or duration of benefits for treatment, such as preauthorization requirements.) The comparative analysis must be available for the Department of Health and Human Services upon request and must include (1) a description of the NQTL and the specific services to which it applies, (2) the factors used to determine when the NQTL will apply, and (3) a description of how the NQTLs applicable to mental health or substance use disorder benefits are comparable to, and no more stringent than, the NQTLs applicable to medical or surgical benefits, among other information.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2019
Wounded Warrior Service Dog Act of 2019 This bill provides for the establishment of program for the provision of service dogs to certain Armed Forces members. It requires the Department of Defense to establish a K-9 Service Corps Program to award grants to nonprofit organizations to assist them in planning, designing, establishing, or operating programs to provide assistance dogs to members with a disability who are receiving receiving medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy; those in medical hold or medical holdover status; or those on the temporary disability retired list in cases where medical principles indicate that the disability may be of a permanent nature.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2019
Every Child Deserves a Family Act This bill prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or religion in the provision of child welfare programs and services by entities receiving federal funding. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must provide technical assistance to help states follow this requirement, including (1) guidance for bringing state laws into compliance, (2) developing training to increase cultural competency related to social identity, and (3) training for judges and attorneys involved in child welfare cases, among other supports. Additionally, HHS must establish the National Resource Center on Safety, Well-Being, Placement Stability, and Permanency for LGBTQ Children and Youth Involved with Child Welfare Services to provide training, technical assistance, and guidance to applicable state and local agencies and service providers. Further, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act may not be the basis for challenging the application or enforcement of this bill. The Government Accountability Office must study and report on states' compliance with the requirements of the bill no later than three years after enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2019
"Six Triple Eight" Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2019 This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion (commonly known as the "Six Triple Eight") in recognition of their pioneering military service, devotion to duty, and contributions to increase the morale of personnel stationed in the European theater of operations during World War II. The medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution and made available for display and research.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2019
Student Loan Interest Deduction Act of 201 9 This bill modifies the tax deduction for student loan interest to (1) increase the maximum deduction for interest paid on any qualified education loan to $5,000 ($10,000 for married couples filing a joint tax return), and (2) repeal the limitation on the deduction based upon modified adjusted gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2019
Woman on the Twenty Act This bill requires that all $20 Federal Reserve notes printed after December 31, 2022, prominently feature a portrait of Harriet Tubman on their front face. The bill also instructs the Department of the Treasury to release to the public by December 31, 2020, the preliminary design of the $20 Federal Reserve note that shall prominently feature a portrait of Harriet Tubman.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2019
Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2019 This bill revises provisions of the low-income housing tax credit and renames it as the affordable housing credit . The bill increases the per capita dollar amount of the credit and its minimum ceiling amount beginning in 2019 and extends the inflation adjustment for such amounts. The bill modifies tenant income eligibility requirements and the average income formula for determining such income. It also revises rules for student occupancy of rental units and tenant voucher payments and prohibits any refusal to rent to victims of domestic abuse. The bill further modifies the credit to establish a 4% minimum credit rate for certain housing projects, repeal the qualified census tract population cap, prohibit local approval and contribution requirements, increase the credit for certain projects designated to serve extremely low-income households, increase the credit for certain bond-financed projects designated by state agencies, eliminate the basis reduction for properties that receive certain energy-related tax benefits, and increase the population cap for difficult development areas (i.e., areas with high construction, land, and utility costs relative to area median gross income). The bill also includes Indian and rural areas as difficult development areas and modifies other requirements relating to casualty losses, acquisition credits, and foreclosures.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 2019
FEMA Modernization Act of 2019 This bill revamps, modifies, and revises the organization, activities, and processes of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Among other things, it requires FEMA to divide its Office of Response and Recovery into an Office of Disaster Response and an Office of Disaster Recovery, and to report on its ability to support a state managed and locally executed casework management system to coordinate and deliver direct assistance to disaster survivors. Disaster Recovery Small Business Grant Act The bill establishes within the Small Business Administration an Office of Disaster Recovery Small Business Grants. It also reauthorizes through FY2029 the temporary reassignment of state and local personnel during a public health emergency.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2019
Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need Act of 2019 or the HAVEN Act This bill modifies the treatment of certain veterans' benefits in bankruptcy. Specifically, the bill excludes from a debtor's current monthly income certain benefits, including disability benefits, paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2019
Women's Health Protection Act of 2019 This bill prohibits state or local governments from imposing certain restrictions on access to abortion services. Specifically, state or local government may not require unnecessary tests or procedures in connection with the provision of abortion services, the same health care provider who provides abortion services to perform such tests or procedures, providers to offer medically inaccurate information to patients before or during abortion services, providers to refrain from prescribing certain drugs, certain hospital facility transfer agreements, one or more medically unnecessary in-person visits, or patients to disclose the reason for seeking abortion services. The bill also prohibits limitations or requirements that both single out and impede access to abortion services based on a number of factors (e.g., restrictions that are reasonably likely to decrease the availability of abortion services in a state). A state or local government also may not prohibit abortions prior to fetal viability nor prohibit abortions after fetal viability in cases where the health care provider determines that continuing the pregnancy poses a risk to the patient's life or health. Additionally, the Department of Justice, individuals, or health care providers may bring a lawsuit to prospectively enjoin a limitation or restriction that is prohibited by this bill. The bill further requires the government defending such a limitation or restriction to show that (1) it significantly advances the safety of abortion services or patient health, and (2) such advancement cannot be met by a less-restrictive measure.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2019
Labor, Human, and Civil Rights Trade Policy Act This bill requires trade agreement implementing bills to (1) adhere to certain labor standards; and (2) ensure that parties demonstrate respect for internationally recognized human rights, as indicated through assessments over a period of at least 10 years.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2019
Protection of Social Security Benefits Restoration Act This bill prohibits the application of, and repeals authority for, administrative offsets to Social Security, railroad retirement, and black lung benefits. An administrative offset is the withholding of funds payable by or held by the United States to satisfy a debt.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2019
Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act of 2019 or the DISCLOSE Act of 2019 This bill expands prohibitions and requires additional disclosures related to political spending. Specifically, foreign nationals are further restricted regarding their involvement in election related activity, including by prohibiting their participation in the decision-making process regarding an election expenditure. Existing foreign money prohibitions are expanded to prohibit disbursements for paid internet or digital communications. The Federal Election Commission must perform an audit after each election cycle to determine the incidence of illicit foreign money. In general, organizations making political expenditures must disclose donors who have contributed $10,000 or more during an election cycle. Certain of these organizations, including corporations, must also disclose their beneficial owners. The bill requires organizations to provide additional disclosures on certain political ads, including the donors who contributed the most money to that organization in the last year.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2019
Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020 This bill provides FY2020 appropriations for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works projects, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Energy (DOE), and independent agencies such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The bill provides appropriations for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works projects, including for Investigations, Construction, Mississippi River and Tributaries, Operation and Maintenance, the Regulatory Program, the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies, Expenses, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. The bill provides appropriations to the Department of the Interior for the Central Utah Project and the Bureau of Reclamation. The bill provides appropriations to DOE for Energy Programs, including Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response; Electricity; Nuclear Energy; Fossil Energy Research and Development; Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves; the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve; the Energy Information Administration; Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup; the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund; Science; the Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy; the Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program; the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program; the Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program; the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs; Departmental Administration; and the Office of the Inspector General. The bill also provides appropriations to DOE for Atomic Energy Defense Activities of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Environmental and Other Defense Activities, and the Power Marketing Administrations. The bill provides appropriations to several independent agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The bill sets forth permissible and prohibited uses for funds provided by this and other appropriations Acts.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2019
This resolution expresses concern that Hungary is undermining democratic institutions and providing a platform through which Russia can exert malign influence within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The resolution urges specified U.S. agencies to bolster efforts to combat corruption and Russian influence in Hungary.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2019
Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2019 This bill places a moratorium on certain acquisitions between large agricultural and retail-related businesses and establishes the Food and Agriculture Concentration and Market Power Review Commission. The commission shall report to Congress and the President on (1) the nature and consequences of market concentration in the U.S. food and agricultural economy, and (2) recommended legal and regulatory changes to address such market concentration.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2019
Animal Freedom from Testing, Experiments, and Research Act of 2019 or the AFTER Act of 2019 This bill requires federal research facilities to facilitate the adoption or nonlaboratory placement of certain warm-blooded animals (e.g., dogs, cats, monkeys, guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits) with animal rescue organizations, animal sanctuaries, animal shelters, or individuals. In order to be adopted or placed, the animals must (1) no longer be needed for research; (2) be suitable for release; (3) not be birds, rats, or mice.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2019
Chief Manufacturing Officer Act This bill directs the President to appoint a United States Chief Manufacturing Officer who shall (1) coordinate manufacturing-related policies and activities across agencies; and (2) create and submit a national manufacturing srategy to develop the manufacturing sector, encourage economic growth, and promote the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2019
Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act This bill requires the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury to (1) cooperatively issue regulations to require group health plans and health insurance issuers to annually disclose the analyses performed to ensure compliance with mental health parity laws, and (2) conduct annual random audits of group health plans and health insurance issuers to determine compliance. (Mental health parity laws prohibit health insurance plans that cover mental health and substance use disorder services from imposing less favorable limitations on those benefits than are placed on medical and surgical benefits under that plan.) Additionally, HHS must establish a consumer parity unit: (1) to facilitate the collection of, monitoring of, and response to consumer complaints; and (2) to provide consumers information about the disclosure requirements and enforcement of the mental health parity laws.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2019
This resolution expresses support for the leaders of the peaceful Tiananmen pro-democracy demonstrations in the spring of 1989 in Beijing, and expresses sympathy and solidarity with the families of those killed, tortured, and imprisoned for their participation. It also calls on the Chinese government to (1) support a full and transparent accounting of its violent suppression of the protests, (2) cease censoring information about the massacre, and (3) allow the protesters to return to China without risk of retribution.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2019
This concurrent resolution expresses support for efforts to ensure that all women have access to comprehensive, preventative, and affordable health care services and are able to receive unbiased information about those services.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2019
Protect Our Refuges Act of 2019 This bill prohibits the use of neonicotinoids (a class of neuroactive insecticides that are chemically similar to nicotine) within the National Wildlife Refuge System.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2019
Humane Retirement Act This bill requires animal care committees at entities that receive federal funds for biomedical or behavioral research to make reasonable efforts to find parties to adopt dogs and cats that have been retired from research. Prior to euthanizing, the animal care committee must assess the temperament of the dog or cat to determine whether it is suitable for adoption and, if so, make reasonable efforts to offer the dog or cat to an adopting party.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2019
Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act of 2019 This bill increases the rehabilitation tax credit and modifies certain requirements for the credit. The bill increases the rate of the credit to 30% for smaller projects (rehabilitation expenditures not exceeding $3.75 million) and caps the credit for such projects at $750,000 for all taxable years. The bill also allows taxpayers to transfer all or a portion of the credits that are allowable for smaller projects. The bill expands the types of buildings eligible for rehabilitation by decreasing the rehabilitation threshold from 100% to 50% of project expenses. It also eliminates the basis adjustment requirement for the credit and modifies rules relating to the eligibility of tax-exempt use property for the credit.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2019
This resolution honors retired Representative John Conyers, Jr., on the occasion of his 90th birthday and extends congratulations and best wishes from the House of Representatives to Representative Conyers in celebration of a distinguished legislative career.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2019
Huntington's Disease Parity Act of 2019 This bill waives, for individuals diagnosed with Huntington's Disease, the 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage. Current law generally applies this waiting period to individuals deemed eligible for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2019
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act This bill prohibits employment practices that discriminate against making reasonable accommodations for job applicants or employees affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Specifically, the bill declares that it is an unlawful employment practice to (1) fail to make reasonable accommodations to known limitations of such job applicants or employees, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on an entity's business operation; (2) deny employment opportunities based on the need of the entity to make such reasonable accommodations to an applicant or employee; (3) require such job applicants or employees to accept an accommodation that they do not want, if such accommodation is unnecessary to perform the job; (4) require such employees to take paid or unpaid leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided to their known limitations; or (5) take adverse action in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment against an employee requesting or using such reasonable accommodations. The bill sets forth enforcement procedures and remedies under various statutes that cover different types of employees in relation to such unlawful employment practices. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission must provide examples of reasonable accommodations that shall be provided to affected job applicants or employees unless the employer can demonstrate that doing so would impose an undue hardship. The bill prohibits state immunity under the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution from an action for a violation of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2019
Disarm Hate Act The bill expands the categories of persons who are prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm. Specifically, it prohibits firearm sale or transfer to and receipt, possession, shipment, or transport by a person (1) who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime, or (2) who has received an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2019
Family First Transition and Support Act of 2019 This bill eliminates income-based limitations on a child's eligibility for federal foster care support and makes other changes to funding for, and administration of, grants and programs for child welfare in states and tribes. The bill increases funding for activities including (1) training of child welfare workers, foster parents, and those working in the court system; (2) research on evidence-based practices to prevent child abuse and neglect; and (3) regional partnerships between child welfare agencies and others to address a parent's, or other caregiver's, substance use disorder. The bill's changes to the administration of child welfare programs include, for example, delaying until FY2027 a requirement for states to expend a minimum percentage of funding for child abuse prevention services on only those services that meet certain criteria for effectiveness. In addition, the bill expands the scope of certain grants to include kinship placement services and allows the use of federal funds to address issues that may put a child at risk of entering foster care, such as by providing assistance with housing and utility payments.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2019
Election Security Act of 2019 This bill addresses election security through grant programs and requirements for voting systems and paper ballots. The bill establishes requirements for voting systems, including that systems (1) use individual, durable, voter-verified paper ballots; (2) make a voter's marked ballot available for inspection and verification by the voter before the vote is cast; (3) ensure that individuals with disabilities are given an equivalent opportunity to vote, including with privacy and independence, in a manner that produces a voter-verified paper ballot; and (4) be manufactured in the United States. The National Science Foundation must award grants to study, test, and develop accessible voter-verified paper ballot voting and best practices to enhance the accessibility of such voting for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary language is not English, and for voters with difficulties in literacy. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must award grants to states to (1) replace certain voting systems, carry out voting system security improvements, and implement and model best practices for ballot design, ballot instructions, and the testing of ballots; and (2) conduct risk-limiting audits. The bill provides for information sharing with states regarding threats to election infrastructure. The Department of Homeland Security must issue a national strategy to protect against cyberattacks, influence operations, disinformation campaigns, and other activities that could undermine the security and integrity of democratic institutions. The EAC must provide for the testing of voting system hardware and software and decertify such technology that does not meet guidelines.