United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2023
Beginning Agriculturalist Lifetime Employment Act of 2023 or the BALE Act of 20 2 3 This bill revises the limits for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation loan guarantee program. The bill replaces the existing 80% limit on the portion of a loan that USDA may guarantee with limits that range from 80%-90%, depending on the principal amount of the loan. For socially disadvantaged or beginning farmers or ranchers, the bill replaces the existing 90% limit with limits that range from 85%-95%, depending on the principal amount of the loan. The bill also (1) prohibits USDA from guaranteeing a loan under the program that exceeds $4 million, and (2) requires USDA to adjust the limits annually for inflation.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2023
Educational Choice for Children Act This bill allows individuals and corporations a new tax credit after 2023 for charitable contributions to tax-exempt organizations that provide scholarships to elementary and secondary school students. Such students must be members of a household with incomes not greater 300% of the area median gross income and be eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school. The bill excludes from the gross income of taxpayer dependents any scholarship amount for the elementary or secondary education expenses of eligible students. It also prohibits governmental control over scholarship granting organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2023
This concurrent resolution calls on the President to abandon the One China policy in favor of one that recognizes Taiwan as an independent country that is not a part of China. The resolution also urges the President to bolster diplomatic and economic relations between the United States and Taiwan through specified means.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2023
Promoting Employment and Lifelong Learning Act or the PELL Act This bill expands student eligibility for Pell Grants by establishing the Workforce Pell Grants Program. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to award Workforce Pell Grants to students enrolled in eligible short-term programs. Eligible programs are those that provide 150 to 600 clock hours of instructional time over a period of 8 to 15 weeks and meet other eligibility criteria. An accrediting agency or association recognized by ED must determine a program's eligibility based on several criteria, including that the program provides education aligned with the requirements of in-demand industry sectors and occupations and meets specified completion and job placement rates. ED must annually collect and publish information on the College Scorecard regarding each eligible program, including job outcomes. The College Scorecard is a comparison tool for information on school sizes, settings, graduation rates, average costs, and salary ranges per field of study.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2023
Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act or the HALT Fentanyl Act This bill places fentanyl-related substances as a class into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. A schedule I controlled substance is a drug, substance, or chemical that has a high potential for abuse; has no currently accepted medical value; and is subject to regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act. Additionally, the bill establishes a new, alternative registration process for schedule I research that is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Veterans Affairs or that is conducted under an investigative new drug exemption from the Food and Drug Administration. The bill also makes several other changes to registration requirements for conducting research with controlled substances, including permitting a single registration for related research sites in certain circumstances, waiving the requirement for a new inspection in certain situations, and allowing a registered researcher to perform certain manufacturing activities with small quantities of a substance without obtaining a manufacturing registration.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2023
Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act of 2023 This bill requires the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice to report on one or more proposed programs to make treatment or preventative care available to public safety officers and public safety telecommunicators for job-related post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder. The report must also include draft legislative language related to each proposed program, as well as the estimated cost for administering each proposed program.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2023
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 620 East Pecan Boulevard in McAllen, Texas, as the "Agent Raul H. Gonzalez Jr. Memorial Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2023
Protect Our Military Families' 2nd Amendment Rights Act This bill broadens the scope of allowable firearms transactions involving active duty service members and their spouses. Specifically, the bill allows a licensed gun dealer, importer, or manufacturer to sell or ship a firearm or ammunition to the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces on active duty outside the United States. Current law already allows a licensed dealer, importer, or manufacturer to sell or ship a firearm or ammunition to a member of the Armed Forces on active duty outside the United States. The bill also specifies that, for purposes of federal firearms laws, a member of the Armed Forces on active duty, or his or her spouse, is a resident of the state in which (1) the member or spouse maintains legal residence, (2) the permanent duty station of the member is located, and (3) the member maintains a home from which he or she commutes to the permanent duty station.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2023
Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 20 23 This bill revises provisions relating to congressional review of agency rulemaking. Specifically, the bill establishes a congressional approval process for a major rule. A major rule may only take effect if Congress approves of the rule. A major rule is a rule that has resulted in or is likely to result in (1) an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more; (2) a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, government agencies, or geographic regions; or (3) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of U.S.-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises. The bill generally preserves the current congressional review process for a nonmajor rule.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 2023
Stop Trying to Obsessively Vilify Energy Act or the STOVE Act This bill prohibits federal agencies from promulgating rules or guidances that restrict or ban the use and purchase of gas-powered stoves, cooktops, ranges, or ovens in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2023
Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 This bill repeals provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for individuals who receive other benefits, such as a pension from a state or local government. The bill eliminates the government pension offset , which in various instances reduces Social Security benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who also receive government pensions of their own. The bill also eliminates the windfall elimination provision , which in some instances reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes. These changes are effective for benefits payable after December 2023.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2023
This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment limiting Representatives to three terms and Senators to two terms. Terms beginning before the ratification of this amendment do not count towards these term limits.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2023
Security First Act This bill reauthorizes the Operation Stonegarden program from FY2024 through FY2027 and addresses other border security issues. (Operation Stonegarden provides grants to enhance the border security capabilities of state, local, and tribal governments.) From FY2024 through FY2027, the money from unreported monetary instruments seized from individuals crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and transferred into the Department of the Treasury general fund shall be made available without further appropriation to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to fund Operation Stonegarden. DHS must report to Congress on (1) DHS hiring practices from 2018 to 2021, and (2) whether certain Mexican drug cartels meet the criteria to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations. DHS must also periodically report to Congress about the technology needed to secure the U.S.-Mexico land border.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2023
Strategic Production Response Act This bill limits the drawdown of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the Department of Energy develops a plan to increase the percentage of federal lands leased for oil and gas production.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2023
This concurrent resolution offers sincere gratitude and appreciation for the nation's law enforcement officers. It also recognizes the sacrifices of law enforcement officers and rejects efforts to defund and dismantle law enforcement agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2023
This concurrent resolution offers sincere gratitude and appreciation for the nation's law enforcement officers. It also recognizes the sacrifices of law enforcement officers and rejects efforts to defund and dismantle state and local law enforcement agencies.
