United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2013
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exempt from maximum hours requirements any employee who: (1) adjusts or evaluates claims resulting from or relating to a major disaster for at least $591 per week (or any minimum weekly amount established by the Secretary of Labor, whichever is greater) during the 2-year period after the disaster; and (2) is employed as an adjuster or evaluator by an employer not itself engaged, directly or through an affiliate, in underwriting, selling, or marketing property, casualty, or liability insurance policies or contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2013
Recognizes school principals' and assistant principals' contribution to the success of elementary and secondary school students. Encourages the observation of National Principals Month in a manner that promotes awareness of the importance of school leadership in ensuring that every child has access to a high-quality education.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2013
Advancing Competency-Based Education Demonstration Project Act of 2013 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to select institutions of higher education (IHEs) for voluntary participation in Competency-Based Education Demonstration Programs that provide participating IHEs with the ability to offer competency-based education that does not meet certain statutory and regulatory requirements that would otherwise prevent them from participating in federal student aid programs. Defines "competency-based education" as an education process that is characterized by the direct assessment and measurement of student learning instead of, or in addition to, measuring students' credit or clock hours. Deems IHEs to be eligible to participate in a Program if they are eligible to participate in title IV programs or have been approved by the Secretary to offer programs that measure student learning through direct assessments rather than credit or clock hours. Requires Program applicants to provide the Secretary with a description of the statutory and regulatory requirements they would like waived and the reasons for seeking each waiver. Directs the Secretary to conduct an annual evaluation of each of the up to 20 Programs authorized by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2013
Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2013 - Amends provisions of federal civil service law to extend employment-related and retirement benefits to domestic partners of federal employees and to set forth requirements for establishing and terminating a domestic partnership, including the filing of an affidavit attesting to the existence and legitimacy of the partnership. Modifies provisions relating to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) to extend eligibility for annuity and survivor benefits to current and former domestic partners of federal employees on the same basis as married employees. Requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to prescribe regulations to provide that domestic partners and former domestic partners shall be considered as spouses or former spouses for purposes of creditable service determinations under CSRS and FERS. Makes domestic partners of federal employees eligible for: (1) the federal employee group life insurance (FEGLI) program, (2) federal employees health benefits (FEHB), (3) dental and vision benefit plans, and (4) long-term care insurance coverage. Grants the head of an federal agency authority to reimburse an employee for taxes incurred by the domestic partner of such employee for travel, transportation, or relocation expense reimbursements. Modifies provisions of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) to make domestic partners of federal employees eligible for worker compensation benefits under such Act. Adds "domestic partner" to the list of relatives subject to restrictions on federal employment of relatives and related prohibitions. Includes a biological, adopted, or foster child of a domestic partner as a "son or daughter" for purposes of federal employee family and medical leave provisions. Allows a federal employee family and medical leave to care for a domestic partner. Requires the President to prescribe regulations necessary to ensure that specified provisions relating to the following are administered in a manner consistent with the purposes of this Act: (1) the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993; (2) travel, transportation, and related payments and benefits under the Foreign Service Act of 1980 and for civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DOD); (3) certain benefits for members of the commissioned officer corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and (4) benefits related to federal employees or annuitants and benefits necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. Amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to make provisions of that Act applicable to domestic partners of federal employees to the same extent as married employees, including provisions relating to financial disclosure, government-wide limitations on outside earned income and employment, gifts to superiors and to federal employees, bribery, acceptance of travel expenses from nonfederal sources, taxes on self-dealing, and disqualification of a justice, judge, or magistrate judge. Requires reporting by: (1) the President on the implementation of this Act, and (2) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the effect of this Act on premiums or other periodic charges under FEHB and the impact of extending benefits to domestic partners on federal employee retention and recruitment efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2013
Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Reauthorization Act - Amends the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998 to extend the authorization of appropriations for the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network through FY2018.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
National Discovery Trails Act of 2013 - Amends the National Trails System Act to establish national discovery trails which shall be extended, continuous interstate trails located so as to provide for outdoor recreation and travel and to connect representative examples of America's trails and communities. Authorizes the designation of such trails on federal lands and, with the consent of the owner, on non-federal lands. Designates as a national discovery trail the 6,000-mile American Discovery Trail which shall extend from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes National Seashore in California, splitting into northern and southern routes at Cincinnati, Ohio, and rejoining at Denver, Colorado. Sets forth requirements for designation of a trail as a national discovery trail. Requires the appropriate Secretary for each national discovery trail to: (1) administer the trail in cooperation with a competent trailwide volunteer-based organization; and (2) submit a comprehensive plan for the protection, management, development, and use of such trail.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
College Savings Enhancement Act of 2013 - Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to revise specified regulations so as to include: (1) qualified prepaid tuition programs under the definition of a qualified institutional buyer (with respect to private resales of securities to institutions), and (2) as accredited investors any qualified prepaid tuition programs whose total assets exceed $5 million (with respect to Regulation D, governing the limited offer and sale of securities without registration under the Securities Act of 1933). Defines, for purposes of such revisions, a "qualified prepaid tuition program" as a qualified tuition program (under which a person may purchase tuition credits or certificates on behalf of a designated beneficiary which entitle the beneficiary to the waiver or payment of the beneficiary's qualified higher education expenses), which is established and maintained by a state or state agency or instrumentality that satisfies certain other requirements of the Internal Revenue Code.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Markets and Trading Reorganization Act - Establishes the Securities and Derivatives Commission as an independent regulatory body. Directs the Commission to establish the following principal divisions: (1) a Markets and Trading Division with oversight of market conduct and utilities, the conduct of market professionals, and self-regulatory organizations with regard to such market professionals (including related examination functions); (2) an Issuers and Financial Disclosures Division exercising oversight of the issuance of securities (including investment companies and related rules and examinations); and (3) an Enforcement Division to enforce all Commission rules. Transfers to such Commission all functions of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including their respective officers and components.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal in honor of President Shimon Peres of Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Runaway and Homeless Youth Inclusion Act of 2013 - Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to revise requirements for services provided under grants from the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for centers for runaway and homeless youth and their families. Requires the plan proposed by grant applicants for a runaway and homeless youth center to: provide services to persons in a minority category related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, include demographics on the sexual orientation and gender identity or expression of the youth it serves within its statistical records, and serve youth in a manner that is culturally competent. Revises requirements for: transitional living programs for homeless youth to require such programs to serve them in a manner that is culturally competent, and sexual abuse prevention programs to require certification to HHS that these programs have systems in place to ensure services to all youth in such a manner. Requires the HHS report on periodic estimates of incidence and prevalence of youth homelessness to include data on the demographics of such individuals (except identity), including whether they are sexual and gender minority youth. Prohibits any person in the United States, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability, from being excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under: (1) any program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds made available under the Act; or (2) any program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds appropriated for grants, agreements, and other assistance administered with such funds. Grants the Attorney General and the Office of Justice Programs the same authority to enforce this Act as granted under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to include as a health care provider behavioral and mental health professionals, substance abuse professionals, psychiatric hospitals, certain community mental health centers, and residential or outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment facilities. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), with respect to incentives for meaningful use of certified electronic health records (EHR) technology under the pay schedule for physician's services, to include as additional eligible professionals clinical psychologists providing qualified psychologist services. Subjects any additional eligible professionals, including those under a MedicareAdvantage (MA) plan, to reductions in incentive payments after a certain date for failure to be a meaningful EHR user. Makes inpatient psychiatric hospitals eligible for payment for inpatient hospital services. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to treat as Medicaid providers: (1) public and certain private hospitals that are principally psychiatric hospitals, (2) certain community mental health centers, and (3) certain residential or outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment facilities. Makes eligible professionals under the Medicaid program certain clinical psychologists providing qualified psychologist services. Authorizes a covered entity to submit to a patient safety organization information on electronic health record (EHR)-related adverse events with respect to certified EHR technology. Specifies covered entities as certain EHR users, health information exchange entities, and health care professionals who use EHR technology. Defines an EHR-related adverse event as a defect, malfunction, or error in the certified health information technology or EHR used by a provider, or in the input or output of data maintained through such technology or record, that results or could reasonably result in harm to a patient. Limits electronic discovery (e-discovery) in any health care lawsuit against a covered entity relating to an Reallotted adverse event involving certified EHR technology to information: (1) related to that event, and (2) from the period in which the event occurred. Prohibits a claimant from commencing a lawsuit more than three years after the manifestation of injury or one year after the claimant discovers, or should have discovered, the injury, whichever occurs first. Requires tolling of this limitation, however, to the extent that the claimant is able to prove: (1) fraud; (2) intentional concealment; or (3) the presence of a foreign body, with no therapeutic or diagnostic purpose or effect, in the injured person. Subjects each party to such a lawsuit which is not a covered entity to proportionate liability only. Allows punitive damages against a covered entity only upon proof by clear and convincing evidence that the entity acted with reckless disregard for the claimant's health or safety. Shields covered entities, employees, agents, and representatives from civil liability for libel or slander arising from information or entries made in certified EHR technology, or transferred to another eligible provider, if the information, entries, or transfer were made in good faith and without malice.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
United States Coast Guard Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue in commemoration of the United States Coast Guard: (1) $5 gold coins, (2) $1 silver coins, and (3) half-dollar clad coins. Requires the design of such coins to be emblematic of the traditions, history, and heritage of the Coast Guard, and its role in securing our nation since 1790. Prescribes design requirements. Restricts the issuance of such coins to the one-year period beginning on January 1, 2017. Prescribes the sale price of the coins and coin surcharges. Requires such surcharges to be paid by the Secretary to the National Coast Guard Museum Foundation to help finance the design and construction of the National Coast Guard Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Prohibits the United States or any state from denying or abridging equal rights under the law on account of sex.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2013
Real Estate Investment and Jobs Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from 5% to 10% the allowable ownership interest in real estate investment trust (REIT) stock for purposes of tax exemptions allowed by the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act relating to foreign investment in United States real property interests.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2013
Wounded Warrior Service Dog Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretaries of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) to jointly establish the K-9 Companion Corps program for the awarding of grants to assist nonprofit organizations in establishing, planning, designing, and/or operating programs to provide assistance dogs to certain members of the Armed Forces and veterans who have certain disabilities. Defines "assistance dog" to mean a dog specifically trained to perform physical tasks to mitigate the effects of such a disability, except that such term does not include a dog specifically trained for comfort or personal defense.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2013
Captive Primate Safety Act - Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to add nonhuman primates to the definition of "prohibited wildlife species" for purposes of the prohibition against the sale or purchase of such species in interstate or foreign commerce. Makes it unlawful for a person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase a live animal of any prohibited wildlife species in interstate or foreign commerce (i.e., for pet trade purposes). Modifies exceptions to such prohibition, including by making it inapplicable to a person who is: (1) a licensed and inspected person who does not allow direct contact between the public and prohibited wildlife species, and (2) transporting a single primate of the genus Cebus that was obtained from and trained by a charitable organization to assist a permanently disabled individual with a severe mobility impairment. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties for violations of the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2013
Restore Honor to Service Members Act - Requires appropriate military record correction boards or discharge review boards to review the discharge characterization of any former members of the Armed Forces requesting a review who were discharged because of their sexual orientation. Permits such boards to change a characterization to honorable if such characterization is any characterization except honorable. Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to ensure that any such changes are carried out consistently and uniformly across the military departments using specified criteria, including that: (1) the original discharge was based on the policy of Don't Ask Don't Tell (as in effect before it was repealed pursuant to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010) or a similar earlier policy; and (2) the discharge characterization will be changed if, with respect to the original discharge, there were no aggravating circumstances, such as misconduct, that would have independently led to any discharge characterization except honorable. Prohibits "aggravating circumstances" from including: (1) an offense of sodomy committed by the member against a consenting person of the same sex; or (2) statements, consensual sexual conduct, or consensual acts relating to sexual orientation or identity, or the disclosure of such statements, conduct, or acts, that were prohibited at the time of discharge but that became permitted after such discharge. Directs the Secretary of each military department to ensure that oral historians of the department: (1) review discharges between World War II and September 2011 based on sexual orientation, and (2) receive oral testimony of individuals who personally experienced discrimination and discharge because of actual or perceived sexual orientation so that such testimony may serve as an official record of such discriminatory policies and their impact on American lives. Requires the reissuance of specified military personnel records and discharge forms in a manner that shall not reflect the sexual orientation of the member. Amends the Uniform Code of Military Justice to remove from the offense of sodomy specified activity referred to as unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2013
Part D Beneficiary Appeals Fairness Act - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to a prescription drug plan (PDP) that provides for any tiered cost-sharing within a formulary (including a structure that provides for different co-payment or coinsurance amounts for drugs in different tiers included within the formulary), to authorize a Medicare part D eligible individual enrolled in the plan to request an exception to the tiered cost-sharing structure. States that in no case may the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) allow a PDP sponsor to make any formulary tier of the tiered cost-sharing structure (including a formulary tier used for very high cost or unique items) ineligible for lower-cost sharing through an exception.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2013
Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax deduction for charitable contributions by individuals and corporations of real property interests for conservation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2013
Dr. R. Adams Cowley Congressional Gold Medal Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for a posthumous presentation of a congressional gold medal in commemoration of Dr. R. Adams Cowley, recognizing his lifelong commitment to the advancement of trauma care. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell duplicates in bronze of such medal.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2013
Education for All Act of 2013 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to state that it is U.S. policy to work with foreign countries and international and civil society organizations to achieve universal basic education by: (1) assisting developing countries and nongovernmental and multilateral organizations to provide all children with a quality basic education, and (2) promoting education as the foundation for communities' development. Directs the President to develop a comprehensive U.S. strategy to promote quality universal basic education. Authorizes the President to provide funds and other assistance to qualifying foreign countries to create the policies, processes, and infrastructure to develop national basic quality education plans. Directs the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to designate a Coordinator of United States Government Actions to Provide Basic Education Assistance who shall have primary responsibility for the oversight and coordination of all U.S. government resources and international activities to promote quality universal basic education.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2013
Energy Savings Through Public-Private Partnerships Act of 2013 - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to direct each federal facility energy manager to consider, not later than two years after completion of a comprehensive energy and water evaluation of a federal agency's facilities: (1) implementing any energy- or water-saving or conservation measure that the agency identified in the evaluation that is life cycle cost-effective, and (2) bundling individual measures of varying paybacks together into combined projects. (Under current law, the energy manager is not required to consider such actions.) Requires the energy manager, as part of the Web-based compliance certification system, to provide reasons for not implementing life cycle cost-effective measures. Requires each agency to: (1) use the benchmarking systems selected or developed for the agency under the Act to track energy savings realized by the agency through the implementation of energy- or water-saving or conservation measures and submit information regarding such savings for publication on a website of the Department of Energy (DOE), and (2) consider using energy savings performance or utility energy service contracts to implement such measures. Establishes a goal of entering into energy savings performance contracts or utility energy service contracts equal to $1 billion in each year during the 5-year period beginning on January 1, 2014. Requires each agency to report annually to DOE, and DOE to report to Congress, on progress towards achieving such goal.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2013
Airline Pilot Pension Fairness Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), with regard to both single-employer and multiemployer plan guaranteed benefits, to require the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), in the case of commercial airline pilots required by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulation to retire before age 65, to compute the actuarial value of monthly benefits in the form of a life annuity commencing at the required retirement age.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2013
Made in America Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish: (1) a voluntary America Star Program under which manufacturers may have products certified as meeting the standards of labels that indicate to consumers the extent to which the products are manufactured in the United States; and (2) such America Star labels, including the content of the labels and the standards that a product shall meet in order to bear a particular label. Requires the labels to be consistent with public perceptions of the meaning of descriptions of the extent to which a product is manufactured in the United States. Requires the Secretary, after receiving an application, to certify a product as meeting a label's standards, notify the manufacturer, conduct monitoring and compliance review to ensure that a product continues to meet such standards, notify a manufacturer of any corrective action needed, and withdraw certification of a product if such action is not taken. Provides for an expedited appeals procedure for actions that adversely affect a person. Prohibits a person from placing an America Star label on a product, using such label in marketing such product, or in any other way representing that such product meets the standards of such label unless a certification by the Secretary is in effect. Bars the Secretary from certifying the product for a five-year period after determining that a manufacturer has violated the purposes of the Program.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2013
21st Century Health Care for Heroes Act - Amends the Wounded Warrior Act to direct the Secretaries of Defenseand Veterans Affairs, in implementing electronic health record systems that provide for the full interoperability of personal health care information between the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), to ensure that: (1) a health data authoritative source is created within 180 days, (2) the ability of patients of both Departments to download their medical records is achieved within 365 days, (3) seamless integration of personal health care information between the Departments is achieved within 365 days, (4) standardization of health care data of the Departments is achieved within 365 days, (5) acceleration of the exchange of real-time data between the Departments is achieved within 365 days, (6) the upgrade of the graphical user interface to display the new standardized health care data of the Departments is achieved within 365 days, (7) incoming members of the Armed Forces and their dependents may elect to receive an electronic copy of their health care records beginning not later than October 1, 2014, and (8) current members of the Armed Forces and their dependents may elect to receive an electronic copy of their health care records beginning not later than October 1, 2015. Requires such Secretaries to study the feasibility of establishing a secure, remote, and network-accessible computer storage system (commonly referred to as cloud storage) to: (1) provide members of the Armed Forces and veterans the ability to upload their health care records, and (2) allow DOD and VA medical providers to access such records.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2013
Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Reauthorization Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize through FY2018 cancer research programs under the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2008. Replaces the current pediatric cancer research and awareness grant program carried out by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) with a comprehensive children's cancer biorepositories program. Authorizes the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to make awards to eligible applicants to build upon existing initiatives to collect biospecimens and clinical and demographic information (including date of diagnosis, age at diagnosis, and patient's gender, race, and ethnicity) for at least 90% of all children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer in Comprehensive Children's Cancer Biorepositories for the purpose of achieving a better understanding of the cause of such cancers and the effects of treatments. Permits award amounts to be used to: (1) acquire, preserve, and store high quality, donated biospecimens and associated clinical and demographic information on children, adolescents, and young adults diagnosed with cancer in the United States; (2) maintain a secure searchable database for scientists and qualified health care professionals to research such biospecimens and data; and (3) make available and distribute such biospecimens and data to researchers and professionals for peer-reviewed research. Revises the national childhood cancer registry grant program to require the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to award grants to state cancer registries to enhance and expand infrastructure to track the epidemiology of cancer in children, adolescents, and young adults. Requires a Comptroller General (GAO) report regarding the barriers to conducting pediatric studies of oncologic therapies in applications for new drugs or biological products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, including recommendations to improve development and access to new therapies as well as assessments of: (1) the feasibility of requiring studies for a pediatric oncologic indication if the therapeutic target of a drug or biologic product for an adult oncologic indication is highly relevant to any pediatric cancer to which it could apply, and (2) the impact of altering the current exemption for orphan drug designations relating to rare diseases or conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Computer Science Education Act of 2013 - Amends title IX (General Provisions) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to define "computer science" as the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including the study of computing principles, computer hardware and software design, computer applications, and the impact of computers on society. Makes computer science a core academic subject. Includes computer science teachers in professional development activities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Stop Targeting Our Politics IRS Act or the STOP IRS Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 to expand existing grounds for termination of the employment of an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee to include performing, delaying, or failing to perform (or threatening to perform, delay, or fail to perform) any official action (including any audit) with respect to a taxpayer for purpose of extracting personal gain or benefit or for a political purpose.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Federal Adjustment in Reporting Student Credit Act of 2013 or the FAIR Student Credit Act of 2013 - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act, with respect to the responsibilities of furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies, to provide for the removal of a previously reported default regarding a qualified education loan from a consumer report if the consumer of the loan meets the requirements of a loan rehabilitation program, where the number of consecutive on-time monthly payments are equal to the number of payments specified in a default reduction program under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Permits a consumer to obtain such rehabilitation benefits only once per loan. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to report on any hurdles borrowers experience with the private loan rehabilitation program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Prioritizing Energy Efficient Renewables Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the tax credit for producing electricity from wind, geothermal and solar energy, hydropower, and marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy facilities; (2) repeal the tax deduction for intangible drilling and development costs for oil and gas wells; (3) repeal the tax deduction for income attributable to the production, refining, transportation, or distribution of oil, natural gas, or any primary product thereof; and (4) repeal the percentage depletion allowance for oil and gas wells.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Calls on China (PRC) to end the practice of organ harvesting from prisoners, and particularly from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups. Calls for a Department of State investigation into organ transplant practices in China, and for the prosecution of those found to have engaged in such practices. Demands an end to the persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice by the Communist Party of China and the release of all Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience. Recommends that: (1) the Department issue a travel warning for U.S. citizens traveling to China for organ transplants informing them that the organ source for their operation may be a prisoner of conscience; and (2) the U.S. government condemn organ transplantation abuses in China, ban the entry of those who have participated in such activities, and prosecute such individuals should they be found on U.S. soil.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2013
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 · 26 June 2013
Duplication Elimination Act of 2013 - Requires the President, within 90 days after publication of the annual Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on duplication, consolidation, and elimination of duplicative government programs, to send Congress a proposed joint resolution accompanied by a special message specifying: any recommendations outlined in the GAO report that are excluded from the proposed joint resolution; in detail why they were excluded; and the outlined GAO recommendations included in the proposed joint resolution. Limits the proposed joint resolution to one that: (1) makes legislative changes needed to carry out the recommendations contained in the GAO report for a year that the President did not exclude, and (2) requires that any savings attributable to the legislative changes be transferred to the General Fund of the Treasury and be used to reduce the deficit. Sets forth procedures for expedited congressional consideration of the proposed joint resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2013
Tax Parity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) exclude from an employee's gross income employer-provided accident and health plan benefits extended to a domestic partner or non-dependent, non-spouse beneficiary eligible to receive such benefits under an employer plan (i.e., "eligible beneficiary"); (2) exempt such benefits paid to eligible beneficiaries from otherwise applicable employment and unemployment taxes; (3) allow self-employed individuals a tax deduction for the health insurance costs of their eligible beneficiaries; (4) allow tax-exempt voluntary employees' beneficiary associations to provide sick and accident benefits to the domestic partners and non-dependent, non-spouse beneficiaries of their members; (5) allow reimbursement of the medical expenses of an eligible beneficiary from a health savings account (HSA); and (6) extend tax-exempt medical benefits to the eligible beneficiaries of retired employees Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide guidance relating to reimbursements from a flexible spending arrangement and a health reimbursement arrangement attributable to an eligible beneficiary as defined by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2013
Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 to make the J-1 visa waiver (Conrad state 30/medical services in underserved areas) program permanent. Excludes from numerical immigration limitations alien physicians who have completed national interest waiver requirements by working in a health care shortage area (including alien physicians who completed such service before the date of enactment of this Act and any spouses or children of such alien physicians). Sets forth specified employment protections and contract requirements for alien physicians working in underserved areas. Increases the number of alien physicians that a state may be allocated from 30 to 35 per fiscal year in specified circumstances. Provides for additional increases or decreases based upon demand. Provides up to three visa waivers per fiscal year per state for physicians in academic medical centers. Permits dual intent for an alien coming to the United States to receive graduate medical education or training, or to take examinations required for graduate medical education or training. Exempts H-1B nonimmigrant aliens seeking to enter the United States to pursue graduate medical education or training from specified entry limitations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2013
Renewable Energy Parity Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the energy tax credit to solar energy, fuel cell, microturbine, combined heat and power system, small wind energy, and thermal energy properties the construction of which begins before January 1, 2017.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2013
Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to include information on the coverage of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity in the "Medicare and You Handbook." Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to allow other physicians, registered dietitians, certified diabetes educators, and instructors trained and certified by the National Diabetes Prevention Lifestyle Coach Training program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide, and be independently reimbursed for, intensive behavioral therapy for obesity furnished outside of the primary care setting, so long as any such nonphysician provider or instructor furnishing the therapy must communicate any recommendation or treatment plan for an individual to the individual's primary care physicians or practitioner. Authorizes the Secretary to cover under Medicare part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) medication for treatment of obesity or for weight loss management for an overweight individual with one or more comorbidities.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2013
Food Security Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to require that supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) benefits be calculated with reference to the cost of the low-cost food plan. Sets forth required adjustments. Authorizes SNAP appropriations through FY2015. Revises funding provisions for consolidated block grants for Puerto Rico and American Samoa. Extends the availability of commodities for the emergency food assistance program through FY2015.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2013
Encourage New Legalized Immigrants to Start Training Act or the ENLIST Act - Authorizes the enlistment in the armed forces of aliens unlawfully present in the United States on December 31, 2011, who: (1) have been continuously present in the United States since such date; (2) were younger than 15 years of age when they initially entered the United States; and (3) are otherwise eligible for original enlistment in a regular component of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to adjust the status of an alien enlisted under such authority to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act applicable to aliens who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1972. Rescinds such lawful permanent resident status if the alien is separated from the armed forces under other than honorable conditions before serving the term of enlistment.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2013
World War I American Veterans Centennial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) mint and issue $1 silver coins in commemoration of the centennial of America's involvement in World War I, and (2) hold a competition and provide compensation for its winner to design the obverse and reverse of the coins. Requires the design of such coins to be emblematic of the centennial of America's involvement in World War I. Permits the Secretary to issue such coins only during calendar year 2018. Subjects the coin sales to a surcharge of $10 per coin, payable by the Secretary to the World War I Centennial Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2013
Time Off to Vote Act - Entitles an employee to two hours of paid leave on the day of any federal election in order to vote. Gives the employer the right to determine the two-hour-period, excluding any lunch break or other break. Prohibits the loss of benefits for any employee taking such leave under this Act. Makes it unlawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise, the right to take leave under this Act, or to discriminate against an employee in any manner for taking leave under this Act. Makes it unlawful for any employer to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any individual for: (1) opposing any practice made unlawful by this Act; (2) filing any charge, or instituting or causing to be instituted any proceeding, under or related to this Act; or (3) testifying or preparing to testifying in any inquiry or proceeding relating to any leave provided under this Act. Specifies the penalties for any employer who violates this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2013
Freedom from Discrimination in Credit Act of 2013 - Amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to prohibit discrimination on account of sexual orientation or gender identity when extending credit. Defines: (1) "gender identity" as the gender-related identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual with or without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth; (2) "person" as a natural person, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, trust, estate, partnership, cooperative, or association; and (3) "sexual orientation" as homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2013
To Aid Gifted and High-Ability Learners by Empowering the Nation's Teachers Act or the TALENT Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require state assessments of student proficiency to measure individual academic achievement, including above grade level achievement. Requires states to: (1) recognize local educational agencies (LEAs) that significantly increase the proportion of their students, overall and in specified student subgroups, that score at or above the advanced level of achievement on such assessments; (2) assist their LEAs and schools in providing additional educational assistance to advanced, gifted, and talented students; and (3) report annually a comparison of the performance of students between different LEAs at each level of achievement, disaggregated by specified student subgroups. Requires LEAs receiving school improvement funds to identify gifted and talented students and support their learning needs. Requires LEAs and partnerships that receive funding under the Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund program to train educators to identify gifted and talented students and implement instructional practices that support their education. Authorizes LEAs to use funding under: (1) the small rural school achievement program to support gifted and talented students, and (2) the rural and low-income school program to train teachers to meet the unique learning needs of gifted and talented students. Directs the Secretary, through the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, to: (1) continue research and development activities regarding the education of gifted and talented students; (2) support a National Research and Dissemination Center on the Gifted and Talented; (3) administer demonstration grants that enhance the ability of educators to support gifted and talented students; and (4) ensure that statistical data regarding the education of gifted and talented children is collected, reported, analyzed, and disseminated. Amends the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 to require the committee established to coordinate federal STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education programs to encourage participating agencies to develop and implement programs for advanced students. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to require the Secretary of Energy to use academic achievement as the basis for student participation in the Department of Energy's (DOE's) mathematics and science education programs for elementary and secondary school students and its prefreshman science, mathematics, and technology enrichment program for middle school students. Amends the America COMPETES Act to give Advanced Placement (AP) program and International Baccalaureate (IB) program grant priority to eligible entities that are part of a statewide strategy to increase the availability of AP or IB mathematics, science, and critical foreign language courses by making such courses available earlier than usual to students who are prepared for the work.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2013
Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures Act of 2013 or PRIME Act of 2013 - Amends part D (Prescription Drug Benefits) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to prohibit sponsors of prescription drug plans (PDPs) from paying claims for prescription drugs that do not include the valid National Provider Identifier for the drug's prescriber. Requires the Secretary's annual report to Congress on the use of recovery audit contractors under the Medicare Integrity Program to: (1) describe the types and financial cost of improper payment vulnerabilities identified by recovery audit contractors and how the Secretary is addressing them, and (2) assess the effectiveness of changes made to Medicare payment policies and procedures in order to address those vulnerabilities. Requires the Secretary to address improper payment vulnerabilities in a timely manner, prioritized based on the risk to the Medicare program. Authorizes the Secretary, under recovery audit contracts under both Medicare and Medicaid (SSA title XIX), to retain a certain portion of the recovered amounts for a program management account for activities addressing problems that contribute to improper payments and fraud. Requires the Secretary, under such contracts, to retain an additional 5% of the recovered amounts to be made available to the HHS Inspector General to investigate improper payments or audit internal controls associated with Medicare or Medicaid payments. Directs the Secretary to develop a plan to revise the incentive program under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 for the reporting of fraud and abuse to encourage greater participation by individuals reporting Medicare fraud and abuse. Requires the plan to include certain recommendations for: (1) ways to enhance rewards for individuals reporting, and (2) extention of the incentive program to the Medicaid program. Amends SSA title XIX to cover the costs of equipment, salaries and benefits, and travel and training in appropriations for the Medicaid Integrity Program. Allows the Secretary to increase Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) staff whose duties consist solely of protecting the integrity of the Medicare program by a number determined necessary to carry out the Program (currently, by 100). Directs the Secretary to provide incentives for Medicare administrative contractors to reduce the improper payment error rates in their jurisdictions. Requires imprisonment for up to 10 years or a fine of up to $500,000 ($1 million in the case of a corporation), or both, for knowingly, intentionally, and with the intent to defraud purchasing, selling, distributing, or arranging for the purchase, sale, or distribution of a Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP beneficiary identification number or billing privileges under SSA titles XVIII, title XIX, or title XXI (Children's Health Insurance Program). Amends SSA title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) with respect to the Federal Parent Locator Service to give the CMS Administrator access to information in the National Directory of New Hires to determine the eligibility of an applicant for, or enrollee in, the Medicare program or an applicable state health subsidy program under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Requires the Secretary to disclose to the HHS Inspector General information on individuals and their employers in the National Directory of New Hires if the HHS Inspector General gives the Secretary their names and Social Security account numbers. Restricts the use of such information to: (1) determining the eligibility of an applicant for, or enrollee in, the Medicare program or an applicable state health subsidy program; or (2) evaluating the integrity of such programs. Sets forth rules for the use and disclosure of such information by state agencies. Directs the Secretary to establish a plan to encourage and facilitate the participation of states in the Medicare-Medicaid Data Match Program (Medi-Medi Program). Revises Medi-Medi Data Match Program purposes. Amends SSA title XIX, as amended by PPACA, and XXI with respect to claims processing and detection of fraud within the Medicaid and CHIP programs.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2013
All Students Achieving through Reform Act of 2013 or the All-STAR Act of 2013 - Revises subpart 1 (Charter School Programs) of part B (Public Charter Schools) of title V (Promoting Informed Parental Choice and Innovative Programs) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, including by subsuming subpart 2 (Credit Enhancement Initiatives to Assist Charter School Facility Acquisition, Construction, and Renovation) under subpart 1. Replaces the current charter school grant program with a program awarding grants to states, authorized public chartering agencies, or local educational agencies and, through them, subgrants to charter school developers to open new charter schools and expand and replicate high-quality charter schools. Requires grantees to: (1) use 10% of the grant funds to provide technical assistance to subgrantees and authorized public chartering agencies, and (2) work with those agencies to improve the charter school authorization process. Requires the Secretary of Education to award credit enhancement grants to applicants that have the highest-quality applications, after considering the diversity of such applications. (Currently, the Secretary is required to award at least three grants, including at least one to a public entity, one to a private nonprofit entity, and one to a consortium of such entities, provided an application from each merits approval.) Revises the per-pupil facilities aid program (under which the Secretary makes competitive matching grants to states to provide per-pupil financing to charter schools) to allow states to: (1) partner with organizations to provide up to 50% of the state share of funding for the program; and (2) receive more than one program grant, so long as the amount of the grant funds provided to charter schools increases with each successive grant. Directs the Secretary to conduct national activities that include: (1) disseminating best practices and technical assistance to this Act's grantees; (2) developing, in partnership with the Institute for Education Sciences, performance metrics to evaluate charter school startup, replication, and expansion efforts; and (3) awarding competitive grants directly to charter school developers or charter management organizations to open new charter schools and expand and replicate high-quality charter schools. Allows charter schools to: (1) admit students through a lottery that gives added weight to impoverished students, if authorized by state law and the school's charter; and (2) serve prekindergarten or postsecondary school students. Reauthorizes appropriations through FY2019.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2013
Amends the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Development Act to extend the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission until 10 years after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2013
Spending Reduction Act - Requires the head of each executive agency to submit to the President and Congress a report on the implementation of recommendations made by specified Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports on reducing duplication in government programs, achieving savings, and enhancing revenue. Requires: (1) such agency reports to include recommendations by the agency heads for actions that should be taken as a result of such GAO reports; and (2) agency heads to begin implementation of such recommendations in order to eliminate, consolidate, streamline, or better coordinate government programs and agencies with duplicative, overlapping, or fragmented missions identified in the GAO reports, unless Congress enacts a joint resolution disapproving them.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Servicemember Assistance for Lawful Understanding, Treatment, and Education Act or the SALUTE Act - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to award grants for developing, implementing, or enhancing veterans' treatment courts or expanding operational mental health or drug courts to serve veterans to ensure that such courts effectively integrate substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, sanctions and incentives, and transitional services, in a judicially supervised court setting with jurisdiction over offenders who are veterans. Authorizes the Attorney General to award such grants to states, state courts, local courts, local governments, and Indian tribal governments for court programs that involve: (1) continuing judicial supervision over offenders who are veterans with substance abuse or mental health problems; (2) coordination with appropriate federal, state, or local prosecutors; (3) coordination with the Veterans Health Administration; and (4) the integrated administration of other sanctions and services, including substance abuse and mental health treatment, supervised release involving the possibility of prosecution, confinement, or incarceration based on non-compliance with program requirements or failure to show satisfactory progress, and offender management. Prohibits the use of grant funds to provide judicial supervision over, treatment of, or other services to violent offenders. Sets forth application and reporting requirements. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study to assess the effectiveness and impact of such grant program.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2013
Partnership to Build America Act of 2013 - Establishes the American Infrastructure Fund (AIF) as a wholly-owned government corporation to provide bond guarantees and make loans to state and local governments and non-profit infrastructure providers for transportation, energy, water, communications, or educational facility infrastructure projects (Qualified Infrastructure Projects [QIPs]). Requires AIF also to make equity investments in QIPs such entities sponsor. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, acting through the AIF, to issue American Infrastructure Bonds with an aggregate face value of $50 billion. Requires proceeds from the sale of the bonds to be deposited into the AIF. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow U.S. corporations to exclude from gross income qualified cash dividend amounts received during a taxable year from a foreign-controlled corporation equal to the face value of qualified infrastructure bonds the corporation has purchased. Prohibits allowance of a foreign tax credit to the excluded portion of any dividend received by a U.S. corporation. Prohibits also the allowance of a deduction for expenses related to that excludable portion.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2013
Pay As You Rate Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), prior to adjudicating a claim which requires decisions with respect to two or more disabilities, to make interim payments based on any disability for which the Secretary has already made a decision. Requires the Secretary, upon claim adjudication, to pay the benefits awarded less the amount of the interim payments.
![Official portrait of Rep. Delaney, John K. [D-MD-6]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000620_200.jpg)