United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2013
Guard and Reserve Equal Access to Health Act - Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to provide a physical examination to each member of a reserve component who: (1) will not otherwise receive one through that department, and (2) elects to receive such examination. Requires the Secretary concerned to: (1) provide such examination during the 90-day period before such member's scheduled date of separation, and (2) provide such member with a record of the examination. Prohibits a member from being entitled to transitional health care benefits through their department solely by reason of being provided such examination.
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 · 24 July 2013
FHA Alternative Credit Pilot Program Reauthorization Act of 2013 - Amends the National Housing Act to extend from five to 10 years the pilot program to establish for mortgagees an automated process for providing alternative credit rating information on mortgagors and prospective mortgagors under mortgages on 1- to 4-family residences who have insufficient credit histories for determining their creditworthiness.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2013
Pathways Back to Work Act of 2013 - Establishes in the Treasury the Pathways Back to Work Fund, with an initial appropriation of $12.5 billion. Requires the Secretary of Labor to make certain Fund allocations to states with approved plans, qualifying outlying areas (U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of Palau), and Native American program grantees to provide: (1) subsidized employment to unemployed, low-income adults; and (2) summer and year-round employment opportunities to low-income youth. Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants to local entities for work-based training and other work-related and educational strategies and activities of demonstrated effectiveness to provide unemployed, low-income adults and low-income youths with skills that will lead to employment. Subjects activities funded under this Act to federal labor standards and nondiscrimination protections.
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 · 19 July 2013
Redistricting and Voter Protection Act of 2013 - Requires a state that enacts a congressional redistricting plan prior to the next decennial census and apportionment of Representatives to obtain a declaratory judgment or preclearance from the Attorney General that such plan does not have the purpose or effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color or in contravention of the guarantees of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2013
Urges the Majority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, to exercise authority granted under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 by each submitting to the President a recommendation for a candidate to fill their respective vacancies on the Election Assistance Commission. Urges: (1) President Obama to consider such recommendations promptly and to submit to the Senate nominations to fill all four vacancies, (2) the Commission on Rules and Administration of the Senate to hold hearings and vote promptly on those nominations, and (3) the full Senate to provide each nominee who is reported favorably by the Commission with an up-or-down vote on confirmation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2013
Pathways Back to Work Act of 2013 - Establishes in the Treasury the Pathways Back to Work Fund, with an initial appropriation of $12.5 billion. Requires the Secretary of Labor to make certain Fund allocations to states with approved plans, qualifying outlying areas (U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of Palau), and Native American program grantees to provide: (1) subsidized employment to unemployed, low-income adults; and (2) summer and year-round employment opportunities to low-income youth. Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants to local entities for work-based training and other work-related and educational strategies and activities of demonstrated effectiveness to provide unemployed, low-income adults and low-income youths with skills that will lead to employment. Subjects activities funded under this Act to federal labor standards and nondiscrimination protections.
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
CFPB Rural Designation Petition and Correction Act - Amends the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to establish an application process under which a person who lives or does business in a state may apply to have a county designated as a rural area for purposes of a federal consumer financial law. Prescribes criteria for the CFPB to consider when evaluating such an application. Requires the CFPB to enter each such application into a sortable, downloadable database publicly accessible through its website.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2013
Community-Based Gang Intervention Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should acknowledge and address social conditions such as poverty, homelessness, inadequate educational systems, and limited economic opportunities in developing a comprehensive gang violence reduction strategy. Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to: (1) require the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to award grants to nonprofit community-based gang intervention agencies to provide services for reducing and stopping gang-related and gang-motivated violence and crime, (2) include representatives of community-based gang intervention agencies in juvenile justice and delinquency prevention advisory groups established by state plans, and (3) include community-based gang intervention and prevention activities in state and local grant programs for delinquency prevention.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2013
Emergency Information Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to include public broadcasting facilities within the definition of a "private nonprofit facility" that provides essential services of a governmental nature to the general public, and to include broadcast and telecommunications within the definition of "critical services" provided by such a facility, for purposes of eligibility for certain disaster assistance. Makes this Act applicable to a major disaster declared by the President under such Act on or after October 28, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2013
Thirteenth Amendment Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue the following coins in commemoration of the sesquicentennial anniversary of the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution (formally abolished slavery in the United States): up to 250,000 $50 bi-metallic platinum and gold coins, up to 250,000 $20 gold coins, and up to 500,000 $1 silver coins. Requires such coins to be considered legal tender and numismatic items. Permits the Secretary to issue such coins only during the calendar year beginning January 1, 2016, except that sales may be initiated, without issuance, before such date. Requires specified surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale of such coins to be paid to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Directs the Secretary to ensure that: (1) the minting and issuing of such coins will not result in any net cost to the U.S. government; and (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, are disbursed to the Museum until the total cost of designing and issuing all such coins is recovered by the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2013
Keep Student Loans Affordable Act of 2013 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend the 3.4% interest rate on Direct Stafford loans first disbursed to undergraduate students between July 1, 2011, and July 1, 2013, to Direct Stafford loans first disbursed to undergraduate students between July 1, 2011, and July 1, 2014. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify rules for required distributions from tax-exempt pension plans to an employee who dies before such employee's entire interest is distributed to require such interest to be distributed within five years after the death of such employee, subject to exceptions for an eligible designated beneficiary and surviving spouse of such employee. Defines "eligible designated beneficiary" to include a disabled or chronically-ill individual. Exempts from such modification a binding annuity contract in effect on the enactment date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2013
Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and the Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act of 2013 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to: (1) expand the juvenile accountability block grant program with respect to programs for the prevention of bullying to include intervention programs, and (2) authorize appropriations for such grant program for FY2014-FY2018. Encourages the use of best practices for all activities under such grant program.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2013
Right to Rent Act of 2013 - Grants eligible mortgagors subject to foreclosure proceedings the right to continue to occupy foreclosed properties subject to the payment of fair market rent for a period of five years that begins upon the commencement of occupancy of such property. Instructs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to: (1) monitor compliance with this Act, (2) provide assistance to eligible mortgagors in exercising their rights under this Act, and (3) conduct outreach activities to inform eligible mortgagors of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Community College to Career Fund Act - Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to: (1) institutions of higher education for educational or career training programs for workers, (2) state or local organizations in partnership with community colleges and other training providers for pay-for-performance projects and pay-for-success job training projects, (3) state or local governments to provide job training or recruiting activities necessary to provide skilled workers for businesses that have relocated or are considering relocating operations outside the United States but may instead relocate them to areas served by those governments, and (4) institutions of higher education in partnership with local or regional economic development entities to provide training in starting a small business and entrepreneurship.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Biliteracy Education Seal and Teaching Act or the BEST Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award renewable two-year grants to states to establish or improve a Seal of Biliteracy program to recognize student proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in both English and a second language. Requires students who wish to participate in such a program to submit an application to their state that includes assurances that they: (1) will receive a secondary school diploma or its equivalent in the year they apply; and (2) have met the state's criteria for demonstrating proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in both English and a second language. Requires states to provide participating students who demonstrate that proficiency: (1) a permanent seal or other marker on their secondary school diploma or its equivalent, and (2) documentation of that proficiency on their official academic transcript. Allows students who gain proficiency in a second language outside of school to participate in such programs. Prohibits states from charging students an application fee.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Credit Access and Inclusion Act - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act, with respect to the responsibilities of furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies, to declare that nothing in the Act or related regulations shall be construed as to prohibit a person from furnishing to a consumer reporting agency certain consumer identifying information, including: (1) a consumer's full name, telephone number, mother's maiden name, address, zip code, date of birth, any generational designation, or Social Security number; (2) information solely as to transactions or experiences between the consumer and the person furnishing the information; (3) public record information; and (4) information about the performance of a consumer making payments under a real property lease or pursuant to a utility or telecommunications service contract. Defines "utility or telecommunication service" as an entity that provides utility services to the public through pipe, wire, landline, wireless, cable, or other connected facilities, or radio, electronic, or similar transmission, including the extension of such facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Notes that further energy exploration in the Caspian Sea region will enhance the energy security of European allies. Affirms that it is in the U.S. national interest to support Europe's energy security by opening up the Southern Gas Corridor. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that it is in the U.S. national interest to support Europe's energy security by working with the governments of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and other regional partners to make available additional gas and oil supplies to that market in a cost effective and secure manner.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Applauds the U.N. General Assembly for honoring President Mandela's contribution to international peace and freedom. Recognizes the global impact of President Mandela's legacy and commitment to nonviolence, respect, and dialogue. Supports the international community's recognition of Nelson Mandela International Day. Urges all U.S. citizens to reflect on the importance of peace, tolerance, democracy, human rights, and reconciliation in honor of Nelson Mandela International Day.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2013
Families Learning and Understanding English Together Act of 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to providers of family literacy services to improve the literacy and English skills of limited English proficient individuals who are parents or children in families where each parent is at least 16 years old and where at least one child is under age 8. Directs the Secretary to reserve certain funds to: (1) make grants to, or enter contracts with, national organizations that have family literacy service expertise to provide grantees with technical assistance and training; and (2) evaluate and improve the family literacy grant program. Requires grantees to meet specified outcome measures.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2013
Providing Resources to Improve Dual Language Education Act of 2013 or the PRIDE Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award up to five grants to partnerships of local educational agencies (LEAs), early childhood education programs, and technical assistance providers for the implementation of dual language demonstration programs designed to enhance and assess the biliteracy and bilingualism skills of low-income minority and limited English proficient children from preschool through grade five. Directs the Secretary to: (1) arrange for an entity that has dual language program experience to provide technical assistance to LEA grantees and evaluate the programs funded by this Act, and (2) disseminate information on model practices implemented under such programs that are appropriate for use by early childhood education providers to improve the school readiness of limited English proficient children.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2013
Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise conditions of and limitations on payment for home health care services. Allows payment for home health services to Medicare beneficiaries by: (1) a nurse practitioner, (2) a clinical nurse specialist working in collaboration with a physician in accordance with state law, (3) a certified nurse-midwife, or (4) a physician assistant under a physician's supervision.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2013
Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality and Access Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require alignment of updates for ambulatory surgical center (ASC) services under a revised prospective payment system (PPS) with updates for hospital outpatient department (OPD) services. Revises requirements for the reporting and applying of quality measure data by ASCs and hospital OPDs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish an ASC value-based purchasing program under which each ASC that the Secretary determines meets (or exceeds) performance standards established, with respect to selected quality measures, for the performance period for a calendar year is eligible for shared savings in the form of a payment increase determined according to a specified formula. Revises requirements for the composition of the expert outside advisory panel the Secretary is required to consult during the annual review of the clinical integrity of the groups and payment weights in the PPS for hospital OPD services. Requires the panel to include suppliers subject to the PPS as well as at least one ASC representative. Requires the Secretary, when excluding from a final rule updating ASC lists a procedure whose inclusion was requested during the public comment period, to cite in the final rule specific criteria based on which the procedure was excluded. Requires the Secretary also to identify the peer reviewed research or the evidence upon which the exclusion is based if certain of those criteria are cited for it. Prohibits the Secretary from using or citing as a criterion or a basis for an exclusion that the procedure can only be reported using a Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) unlisted surgical procedure code.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2013
Medicare Beneficiary Preservation of Choice Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to repeal the allowance for disenrollment, between January 1 and March 15 of each year, only from an MedicareAdvantage plan to elect enrollment in the original Medicare fee-for-service program. Restores the option under previous law to elect to change from a MedicareAdvantage to the original Medicare fee-for-service plan, or from the original Medicare fee-for-service to a MedicareAdvantage plan, once a year during the first three months.
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 · 17 June 2013
Recognizes the historical significance to the nation, and supports the continued celebration, of Juneteenth Independence Day. Declares the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) history should be regarded as a means for understanding the past and solving the challenges of the future, and (2) the celebration of the end of slavery is an important and enriching part of the history and heritage of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2013
Honors the entrepreneurial spirit of small businesses during National Small Business Week. Applauds the efforts and achievements of small business owners and their employees. Recognizes the work of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its resource partners in providing assistance to entrepreneurs and small businesses. Recognizes the importance of ensuring that: (1) guaranteed loans, including microloans and venture capital, are made available to all qualified small businesses; (2) management assistance programs delivered by SBA resource partners are provided with the federal resources necessary to provide invaluable counseling services to entrepreneurs; (3) SBA small business disaster assistance is provided in a timely and efficient manner; (4) affordable Internet access is available to all people in the United States so that small businesses can utilize such access; (5) regulatory relief is provided to small businesses through the reduction of duplicative or unnecessary regulatory requirements; and (6) leveling the playing field for small business contracting opportunities remains a primary focus.
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 · 12 June 2013
Children's Act for Responsible Employment of 2013 or CARE Act of 2013 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to define "oppressive child labor," for purposes of the Act's child labor prohibitions, as the employment of any employee who is: (1) 16 or 17 in any occupation found by the Secretary of Labor to be particularly hazardous for their employment or detrimental to their health or well-being; (2) 14 or 15, unless the employment is confined to periods which do not interfere with the employee's schooling, health, or well-being; or (3) under 14. Revises the Act's exemptions to make the restrictions on oppressive child labor inapplicable to the following: (1) employment in agriculture of an employee under age 18 by his or her parent, or by a person standing in the place of the parent, on a farm owned by the parent or person (current law uses an age- and consent-based scheme); and (2) employment of an employee under age 16 by a parent, or a person standing in place of a parent, other than in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, or any other employment the Secretary finds to be particularly hazardous for the employment of children age 16 or 17 or detrimental to their health or well-being. (Current law applies the child labor restrictions to particularly hazardous agricultural employment, except where the child is employed by a parent or a person standing in place of the parent on a farm owned or operated by such person). Eliminates any waiver of such prohibitions for hand-harvesting of certain crops. Increases civil and establishes criminal penalties for child labor violations. Directs the Secretary to revise federal child labor regulations to prohibit the employment of children under age 18 in duties involving the handling of pesticides.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2013
Wireless Tax Fairness Act of 2013 - Prohibits states or local governments from imposing any new discriminatory tax on mobile services, mobile service providers, or mobile service property (i.e., cell phones) for five years after the enactment of this Act. Defines "new discriminatory tax" as a tax imposed on mobile services, providers, or property that is not generally imposed on other types of services or property, or that is generally imposed at a lower rate, unless such tax was imposed and actually enforced prior to the date of enactment of this Act. Amends the federal judicial code to grant jurisdiction to federal district courts to grant injunctive and other appropriate relief to prevent, restrain, or terminate any acts in violation of this Act. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to conduct a study of the impact of state and local taxes on mobile services, providers, or property on the costs consumers pay for mobile services.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2013
Recognizes the Scaling Up Nutrition movement as a global partnership to support country-led efforts to improve maternal and child nutrition. Supports U.S. leadership to improve nutrition outcomes for pregnant and lactating women and young children. Calls on relevant federal agencies to consider developing a nutrition strategy to further coordination efforts to improve nutrition funding and outcomes across U.S. government global nutrition programs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2013
Prohibits the Secretary of the Treasury from requiring a payor of interest to file an information return on interest that is not effectively connected with a trade or business within the United States and that is paid to a nonresident alien on a deposit maintained at an office within the United States.
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
Developing Innovative Partnerships and Learning Opportunities that Motivate Achievement Act or the DIPLOMA Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award renewable five-year grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local consortia that include a local educational agency and other community partners to: (1) ensure the academic, physical, social, emotional, and civic development of disadvantaged youth; and (2) strengthen their families and communities. Requires each state grantee to develop and implement a state child and youth strategy that assesses children's needs and the assets within the state that can be mobilized, coordinated, and integrated to achieve quantifiable progress toward goals that include ensuring that: (1) children are ready for school; (2) students are engaged and achieving in school; (3) students are physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally healthy; (4) schools and neighborhoods are safe and provide a positive climate for learning; (5) families and communities are supportive and engaged in their children's education as equal partners; (6) students are ready for postsecondary education and 21st Century careers; (7) students are contributing to their communities; and (8) students are not chronically absent. Directs the consortia to develop and implement a local child and youth strategy that integrates multiple private and public services into a comprehensive, coordinated continuum of services directed toward achieving quantifiable progress toward such goals. Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants directly to local consortia if appropriated funds fall below a specified amount.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Jack Nicklaus in recognition of his service to the nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike such gold medal and to strike and sell duplicate bronze medals at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the gold and bronze medals.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Promise Neighborhoods Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive, matching Promise Neighborhood Partnership grants to nonprofit organizations that partner with a local educational agency (LEA) to implement a comprehensive continuum of supports and services that engage community partners in improving the academic achievement, health and social development, and college and career readiness of children who live in distressed neighborhoods with underperforming schools. Directs the Secretary to award competitive, matching Promise School grants to LEAs that partner with nonprofit organizations, and Indian or charter schools that partner with nonprofit organizations or institutions of higher education, to implement school-centered strategies and integrated student supports that leverage community partnerships to improve student achievement and development in schools with high concentrations of low-income children. Authorizes the Secretary to renew Promise Neighborhood Partnership grants and Promise School grants if the grantees demonstrate significant success in: (1) ensuring children's school readiness; (2) improving their academic outcomes; (3) increasing their college and career readiness; and (4) improving their health, mental health, and social and emotional well-being. Requires this Act's grantees to evaluate their programs continuously and improve them based on data and outcomes. Directs the Secretary to evaluate this Act's grant programs and disseminate research on best practices for improving the academic achievement of children living in our most distressed communities. Authorizes the Secretary to award matching planning grants to entities eligible for this Act's other grants.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Fitness Integrated with Teaching Kids Act or FIT Kids Act - Requires the Secretary of Education to award grants to states to implement comprehensive programs to promote physical activity, education, and fitness and nutrition that are based on scientifically valid research, and an analysis of need that considers, at a minimum, physical education indicators. Limits a grant award to a maximum of five years. Prescribes certain activities under a grant, including that states must: (1) develop and implement a physical education indicators measurement system; (2) collect and publish information on physical activity, education, and fitness and nutrition at the school level; (3) use indicators to identify and address student needs; (4) encourage local education agencies to integrate physical activity, education, and fitness into a range of subjects throughout the school day and locations within schools; and (5) award sub-grants based on identified needs. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, to establish program performance metrics to measure the effectiveness of the grant program's activities. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require the compact with parents under the school-level parental involvement policy to include a description of the school's responsibility to support their children in leading a healthy and active life, such as by providing health meals and snacks, encouraging participation in physical education, and sharing in physical activity outside the school day to support successful academic achievement. Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require the Secretary to promote equal opportunities for students with disabilities to be included and participate in physical education and extracurricular athletics implemented in, or in conjunction with, elementary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education, by ensuring the provision of appropriate technical assistance and guidance for schools and institutions and their personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Educator Preparation Reform Act - Amends title II (Teacher Quality Enhancement) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise the Teacher Quality Partnership grant program. (The grant program provides funds to partnerships of high-need local educational agencies [LEAs], high-need schools, institutions of higher education [IHEs], and, as applicable, high-need early childhood education programs which are to use the funds for a pre-baccalaureate teacher preparation program, a teaching residency program, or a combination of such programs. Partnerships may also use grant funds for a leadership development program.) Allows grant funds to be used for pre- or post-baccalaureate teacher preparation programs. Allows grant funds to be used for teaching or principal residency programs. Requires principal residency programs to prepare principals for success in the high-need schools in the partnership by engaging residents in rigorous graduate-level coursework to earn an appropriate advanced credential while they undertake a guided principal apprenticeship alongside a trained and experienced mentor principal. Requires principal residents to have prior prekindergarten through grade 12 teaching experience. Provides them with a living stipend or salary during the one-year residency program in exchange for at least three years of service as a principal in a high-need school immediately following their successful completion of the residency program. Replaces the leadership development program with an educator development program that addresses a partnership's need to train and retain educators other than teachers or principals, such as specialized instructional support personnel and other school staff who provide or support instruction. Authorizes a partnership to receive more than one grant during a five-year period if one of the grants is used to establish a teaching or principal residency program that was not established with the prior grant. Applies certain partnership accountability and evaluation requirements to teachers, principals, and other educators. Revises teacher preparation program accountability requirements. Applies them not only to IHEs, but also to other organizations approved by the state to prepare teachers for classrooms. Requires those programs to train prospective teachers to teach diverse populations and core academic subjects. Requires states to: (1) establish a period of improvement and redesign for teacher preparation programs they identify as at-risk, and (2) provide such programs with technical assistance for up to three years before identifying those that fail to make sufficient improvement as low-performing and closing them down. Reauthorizes appropriations for the Teacher Quality Partnership grant program through FY2019. Amends part A (Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund) of title II (Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require states to develop, implement, and publicly disclose their criteria for identifying a teacher preparation program as low-performing or at risk of being identified as such. Requires those criteria to include multiple measures of teacher performance. Replaces the program under subpart 3 (Subgrants to Eligible Partnerships) of part A of title II of the ESEA with a program under which states, directly or through subgrants to certain educational entities, use funds reserved under part A to: (1) provide technical assistance to and close low-performing teacher preparation programs identified under the HEA, and (2) develop a system for assessing the quality and effectiveness of professional development offered throughout the state. Permits states to use such funding, directly or through subgrants: (1) to develop and implement a teacher performance assessment for teacher preparation programs, LEAs, and the state agency responsible for licensing teachers; and (2) for certain professional development activities currently funded under subpart 3. Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the HEA to prohibit IHEs that offer a teacher preparation program that is projected to close from awarding new TEACH grants. (The TEACH grant program provides tuition assistance to students who commit to teaching a high-need subject in a high-need elementary or secondary school for four years.) Makes students who are completing a postbaccalaureate teacher education program eligible to participate in the TEACH grant program.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
American Dream Accounts Act of 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to eligible entities so each can establish and administer American Dream Accounts for a group of at least 30 low-income public school students who, at the time the entities apply for a grant, are attending a grade no higher than ninth grade. Lists as eligible entities: (1) state educational agencies, (2) local educational agencies, (3) charter schools, (4) charter management organizations, (5) institutions of higher education (IHEs), (6) nonprofit organizations, (7) entities experienced in educational savings or assisting low-income students attain higher education, and (8) consortia of two or more of these entities. Describes an American Dream Account as a personal online account for low-income students that monitors their progress toward higher education and includes a college savings account that provides some tax-preferred accumulation. Requires American Dream Accounts to provide students with opportunities, either online or in person, to: (1) attain financial literacy; (2) learn about preparing for enrollment in an IHE; and (3) identify their skills or interests, including career interests. Requires grantees, subject to federal privacy laws and regulations, to allow vested stakeholders to have secure Internet access to an American Dream Account, but not the college savings account portion of that Account. Prohibits grantees from using their grant to provide the initial deposit into the college savings account portion of a student's American Dream Account. Prohibits the funds in those college savings accounts from being considered in making federal student financial aid determinations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2013 - Amends the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 to extend from December 31, 2014, through December 31, 2024, the Terrorism Risk Insurance program. Extends to September 30, 2027, the deadline by which the Secretary of the Treasury is required to collect all mandatory premiums for any act of terrorism occurring on or after January 1, 2012. Requires reports in 2017, 2020, and 2023 on the findings of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets pursuant to an ongoing analysis regarding the long-term availability and affordability of (market conditions for) terrorism risk insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to define a teacher who works in a Head Start program for at least 700 hours during a school year as an eligible educator for purposes of the tax deduction for educational supplies (books, computer equipment, and other equipment and supplementary materials used in the classroom).
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2013
Expanding Patients' Access to Quality Care Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to: (1) the limitation on certain physician referrals to hospitals in which the physician or an immediate family member has an ownership or investment interest exceeding a specified amount; and (2) the rural provider and hospital exception to the physician ownership or investment prohibition. Extends the rural provider and hospital exception to hospitals that were under construction or development as of December 30, 2010, and hospitals in financial distress. Defines "financial distress" for a cost reporting period as one in which a hospital has had an overall negative combined Medicare inpatient prospective payment system and outpatient prospective payment system operating margin for the most recent three consecutive cost reporting periods for which data are available. Eliminates the process for applying for such an exception for expansions of hospital facility capacity. Limits increases in facility capacity to those hospitals that have had a previous increase.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2013
Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2013 - Directs the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services to require each location of a covered program to meet specified minimum standards if individually or together with other locations it has an effect on interstate commerce. Defines "covered program" as one operated by a public or private entity that with respect to one or more children unrelated to the program owner or operator: (1) provides a residential environment; and (2) operates with a focus on serving children with emotional, behavioral, or mental health problems or disorders, or problems with alcohol or substance abuse. Directs the Assistant Secretary to: (1) implement an ongoing review process for investigating and evaluating reports of child abuse and neglect; (2) establish public websites with information about each covered program, as well as a national toll-free telephone hotline to receive complaints; (3) establish civil penalties for violations of standards; and (4) establish a process to ensure that complaints received by the hotline are promptly reviewed by persons with appropriate expertise. Requires the Assistant Secretary to refer any violation of such standards to the Attorney General for appropriate action. Authorizes the Attorney General to file such a complaint on his or her own initiative regardless of whether such a referral has been made. Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to establish additional eligibility requirements for grants to states to prevent child abuse and neglect at residential programs. Requires such states to develop policies and procedures to prevent child abuse and neglect at covered programs consistent with the standards specified by this Act. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to study outcomes for children in both private and public covered programs under this Act encompassing a broad representation of treatment facilities and geographic regions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2013
Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act - Authorizes the State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico to provide for a ratification vote on the admission of Puerto Rico as a state of the United States on an equal footing with the several states in all respects. Requires (if a majority of votes cast in the ratification vote are for the admission of Puerto Rico as a state): (1) the President to submit to Congress legislation to admit Puerto Rico as a state, and (2) Congress to act, through legislation, to admit Puerto Rico as a state.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2013
Transparent Rules Allow Direct Exporting for Small Businesses and Jobs Act or TRADE for Small Businesses and Jobs Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to collect information on changes in foreign tariff and non-tariff laws, regulations, and practices affecting exports of U.S. goods and services other than U.S. agricultural commodities. Requires the Secretary to make such information available to U.S. exporters on the Export.gov website.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2013
DSH Reduction Relief Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to delay from FY2014 to FY2016 commencement of the period during which the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is required to pay to any "subsection (d) hospital": (1) 25% of the amount of the disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payment that would otherwise be made to it for the fiscal year, plus (2) an additional payment amount according to a specified formula. (Generally, a subsection [d] hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system [IPPS] when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.) Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to delay from the beginning of FY2014 until the beginning of FY2016 (and so eliminate for FY2014 and FY2015) aggregate reductions in DSH allotments for all states.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2013
Brewers Excise and Economic Relief Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) reduce from $18 to $9 (the pre-1991 level) the per-barrel tax on beer; and (2) further reduce the rate of such tax on brewers who produce not more than 2 million barrels of beer during the calendar year.
![Official portrait of Rep. Hinojosa, Ruben [D-TX-15]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h000636_200.jpg)