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![Official portrait of Rep. Kennedy, Joseph P., III [D-MA-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/56599139b7595009374f55c017465f0d_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
1,663 records where Rep. Kennedy, Joseph P., III [D-MA-4] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2015
Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2015 Includes as part of the Republic of Vietnam its territorial seas for purposes of the presumption of service connection for diseases associated with exposure by veterans to certain herbicide agents while in Vietnam.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2015
Social Security Fairness Act of 2015 Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal the government pension offset requirement applicable to and reducing husband's and wife's insurance benefits, widow's and widower's insurance benefits, and divorced mother's and divorced father's insurance benefits with respect to federal, state, or local government employees who receive a government pension and did not pay Social Security taxes during their years of government service, and so did not earn entitlement to Social Security benefits for those years. Repeals also the windfall elimination requirement with respect to computation of an individual's primary insurance amount under which OASDI retirement or disability benefits are reduced if the individual receives a federal, state, or local government pension, did not pay Social Security taxes during the years of government service, and so did not earn entitlement to Social Security benefits for those years.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2015
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015 Directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to convene a Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force to develop: (1) best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication, and (2) a strategy for disseminating such best practices. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to make grants to: states (with priority to states that provide civil liability protection for first responders, health professionals, and family members administering naloxone to counteract opioid overdoses), local governments, and nonprofit organizations to expand educational efforts to prevent abuse of opioids, heroin, and other substances of abuse, understand addiction as a chronic disease, and promote treatment and recovery; organizations that have received a grant under the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997 to implement comprehensive community-wide strategies that address local drug crises; states (with priority to states that provide civil liability protection for administering naloxone), local governments, Indian tribes, and nonprofit organizations for treatment alternative to incarceration programs for individuals who have come into contact with the juvenile or criminal justice system or have been arrested or charged with an offense, who have a substance use disorder, mental illness, or both, and who have been approved for participation in such a program; state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies to create a demonstration law enforcement program to prevent opioid and heroin overdose death; state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies, manufacturers, distributors, or reverse distributor of prescription medications, retail pharmacies, registered narcotic treatment programs, hospitals or clinics with an on-site pharmacy, eligible long-term care facilities, or any other entity authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration to dispose of prescription medications to expand or make available disposal sites for unwanted prescription medications; states (with priority to states that provide civil liability protection for administering naloxone), local governments, and Indian tribes to implement medication assisted treatment programs through their criminal justice agencies; states, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes for educational programs for incarcerated offenders; state substance abuse and criminal justice agencies, jointly, to address the use of opioids and heroin among pregnant and parenting female offenders in a state to promote public safety, public health, family permanence, and well-being; establish or expand veterans treatment court programs, peer to peer services or programs for qualified veterans, practices that identify and provide treatment, rehabilitation, legal, and transitional services to incarcerated veterans, and training programs to teach criminal justice, mental health, and substance abuse personnel how to identify and appropriately respond to incidents involving veterans; and states to prepare a comprehensive plan for and implement an integrated opioid abuse response initiative. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to award grants to enable state substance abuse agencies, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes or tribal organizations that have a high rate of, or have had a rapid increase in, the use of heroin or other opioids to expand activities, including medication assisted treatment, for the treatment of addiction in the geographical areas affected. Authorizes the Recovery Branch of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to award grants to: (1) enable high schools and colleges with substance abuse recovery programs and nonprofit organizations to provide substance abuse recovery support services to high school and college students, to help build communities of support for young people in recovery, and to encourage initiatives designed to help young people achieve and sustain recovery; and (2) enable recovery community organizations to develop, expand, and enhance recovery services. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit the Department of Education from including any question about the conviction of an applicant for the possession or sale of illegal drugs on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. Directs HHS to establish a bipartisan Task Force on Recovery and Collateral Consequences to: (1) identify collateral consequences for individuals with drug convictions who are in recovery for a substance use disorder, and (2) determine whether such consequences unnecessarily delay such individuals from resuming their personal and professional activities. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to direct the Attorney General to report annually on how grants awarded under such Act are used for family-based substance abuse treatment programs that serve as alternatives to incarceration for custodial parents to receive treatment and services as a family. Expresses the sense of Congress that the amounts expended to carry out this Act should be offset by a corresponding reduction in federal non-defense discretionary spending. Directs the Comptroller General to report on the impact that the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Disease exclusion (defined as the prohibition on federal matching payments under Medicaid for patients who have attained age 22, but have not attained age 65, in an institution for mental diseases) has on access to treatment for individuals with a substance use disorder.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2015
Healthy Families Act Requires certain employers, who employ 15 or more employees for each working day during 20 or more workweeks a year, to permit each employee to earn at least 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Authorizes small employers with fewer than 15 employees to provide the same paid sick time, but allows them to opt out. Requires any small employer that opts out to provide at least 56 hours of unpaid sick time to each employee per calendar year. Declares that an employer shall not be required to permit an employee to earn more than 56 hours of paid sick time in a calendar year, unless the employer chooses to set a higher limit. Allows employees to use such time to: (1) meet their own medical needs; (2) care for the medical needs of certain family members (including a domestic partner or the domestic partner's parent or child); or (3) seek medical attention, assist a related person, take legal action, or engage in other specified activities relating to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Prohibits an employer from interfering with an employee's exercise of such rights. Directs the Secretary of Labor to exercise certain investigative and enforcement authority for employees covered by this Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991. Grants the same authority, for employees under their jurisdiction, to the Librarian of Congress, the Comptroller General, the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance, and the Merit Systems Protection Board. Authorizes civil actions by employees, individuals, or their representatives for damages or equitable relief against employers who violate this Act. Waives a state's sovereign immunity with respect to a suit brought by an employee of a federally-assisted state program or activity for relief authorized under this Act. Requires the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to compile information annually on paid sick time and the Comptroller General to study related matters. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting or retaining more generous leave policies.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2015
CHIP Extension and Improvement Act of 2015 Revises and extends through FY2019 at generally increased levels the program under title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSAct), and adjusts CHIP allotment requirements accordingly, including the rebasing and growth factor update rules for computing state allotments. Makes appropriations for certain allotments. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments to shortfall states from the Child Enrollment Contingency Fund in each of FY2016-FY2019. Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to minimum essential coverage for a targeted pregnant low-income woman under CHIP, to exclude from such coverage, at a woman's option, pregnancy-related assistance. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations to ensure continuity of care for children who: (1) are undergoing an active course of treatment; and (2) involuntarily change coverage under health insurance, the state plan under Medicaid (SSAct title XIX), or the state child health plan under CHIP during such course of treatment for any reason. Amends SSAct title XIX to allow a state Medicaid plan to provide that an adult determined eligible for Medicaid benefits shall remain eligible for those benefits until the end of a period (not to exceed 12 months) following the determination. Makes permanent the express lane option and the CHIP outreach and enrollment grant program. Gives states the option to extend express lane Medicaid eligibility to adults. Makes permanent the program of grants to conduct outreach and enrollment efforts designed to increase the enrollment and participation of eligible children under CHIP. Requires each contract with a managed care entity under Medicaid to require the provision of and payment for language services for enrolled individuals who are limited English proficient. Prescribes additional cost-sharing requirements under CHIP. Amends SSAct titles XIX and XXI to cover preventive services for children or pregnant women without cost-sharing. Amends SSAct title XIX to cover newly approved vaccines within 30 days after the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices approves them. Treats CHIP-eligible children as federally vaccine-eligible children. Extends Medicaid coverage of primary care services through calendar 2019, and expands the types of physicians and health care practitioners eligible for reimbursement for providing such services. Extends increased federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP, or federal matching rate) for additional expenditures for primary care services through calendar year 2019. Amends SSAct title XI to extend the pediatric quality measures program through FY2019. Revises the FMAP for activities related to pediatric quality measures. Extends the technical assistance provided to states in adopting and utilizing certain core sets of child health measures to assistance in building their data collection infrastructures as well. Revises requirements for initial core measures. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on the core set of child health quality measures. Modifies and extends through FY2019: (1) the demonstration projects for improving the quality of children's health care and the use of health information technology, and (2) funding for childhood obesity demonstration projects. Amends SSAct title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to extend funding through FY2019 for maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs. Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to extend through calendar 2019 the Pediatric Accountable Care Organization Demonstration Project. Amends SSAct title XIX to cover therapeutic foster care services.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2015
Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Act Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue up to 50,000 $5 gold coins, 350,000 $1 silver coins, and 300,000 half-dollar clad coins to commemorate the centennial of the founding of Father Flanagan's Boys Town. Requires the design of the coins to be emblematic of the 100 years of Boys Town, one of the largest nonprofit child care agencies in the United States. Permits issuance of such coins only between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2017. Subjects all coin sales to specified surcharges, which shall be paid to Boys Town to carry out its cause of caring for and assisting children and families in underserved communities across America. Directs the Secretary to ensure that: (1) minting and issuing such coins will not result in any net cost to the federal government; and (2) no funds, including surcharges, will be disbursed to Boys Town until the total cost of designing and issuing all authorized coins is recovered by the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2015
Earned Income Tax Credit Improvement and Simplification Act 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the earned income tax credit, to: (1) make permanent the increase in the rate of such credit for taxpayers with three or more qualifying children and the reduction in the amount of the marriage penalty for such credit; (2) allow such credit for an individual with no qualifying children who has attained the age of 21 but not 25 and is not a full-time student, and whose qualifying children do not have valid social security numbers; (3) revise eligibility rules relating to married individuals living apart and qualifying children claimed by another family member; and (4) repeal the denial of such credit for taxpayers with excess investment income.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2015
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015 Provides FY2015 appropriations to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Provides appropriations for Departmental Management and Operations for the Office of the Secretary and Executive Management, the Office of the Under Secretary for Management, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the Office of the Chief Information Officer, Analysis and Operations, and the Office of Inspector General. Provides appropriations for Security, Enforcement, and Investigations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, and the U.S. Secret Service. Provides appropriations for Protection, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery for the National Protection and Programs Directorate, the Office of Health Affairs, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Provides appropriations for Research, Development, Training, and Services for U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Science and Technology, and the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. Sets forth permissible, restricted, and prohibited uses for funds provided by this Act. Rescinds specified amounts previously appropriated to DHS.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2015
Student Non-Discrimination Act of 2015 Prohibits public school students from being excluded from participating in, or subject to discrimination under, any federally-assisted educational program on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity or that of their associates. Considers harassment to be a form of discrimination. Prohibits retaliation against anyone for opposing conduct they reasonably believe to be unlawful under this Act. Authorizes federal departments and agencies to enforce these prohibitions by cutting off the educational assistance of recipients found to be violating them. Allows an aggrieved individual to assert a violation of this Act in a judicial proceeding and recover reasonable attorney's fees should they prevail. Deems a state's receipt of federal educational assistance for a program to constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity for conduct prohibited under this Act regarding such program.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2015
Educating Tomorrow's Engineers Act of 2015 Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states to incorporate engineering design skills and practices into their academic content standards and academic achievement standards and assessments in science. Requires states and local educational agencies (LEAs) to use grants and subgrants under the Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund program to develop and provide professional development and instructional materials for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subject areas, including computer science and engineering. Changes current references to the mathematics and science partnerships program to references to the STEM partnerships program, which provides funding to states, institutions of higher education, and high-need LEAs to recruit and train STEM teachers and improve STEM curricula. Amends the 21st century community learning centers program to include STEM activities (currently, mathematics and science activities) within the before- and after-school activities funded under that program. Amends the rural and low-income school program to include professional development in engineering education among the uses of the funds provided to rural LEAs. Amends the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Education to support research on engineering education and use that research to provide information to the public, and technical assistance to states, on best practices and promising innovations in kindergarten through grade 12 engineering education. Requires the National Center for Education Research to sponsor and conduct research geared toward improving STEM, rather than just mathematics and science, teaching and learning.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2015
STEM Gateways Act This bill directs the Department of Education to award competitive grants for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) elementary and secondary school programs that: encourage interest in the STEM fields; motivate engagement in the STEM fields by providing relevant hands-on learning opportunities; support classroom success in the STEM disciplines; support STEM workforce training and career preparation for secondary school students; or improve the access of secondary school students to STEM career and continuing education opportunities.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2015
Huntington's Disease Parity Act of 2015 Directs the Commissioner of Social Security, for purposes of determining cognitive, behavioral, and physical disability under titles II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act (SSAct), to amend specified Listings of Impairments by providing medical and evaluation criteria for Huntington's Disease. Amends SSAct title II to waive the 24-month waiting period for coverage under the program under SSAct title XVIII (Medicare) for individuals diagnosed with Huntington's Disease.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2015
Family-Based Foster Care Services Act of 2015 Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to extend medical assistance coverage to therapeutic foster care services. Requires a qualified therapeutic foster care program to be state-licensed and provide: foster care children under 21 with structured daily activities, including the development of age-appropriate social, communication and behavioral skills, trauma-informed and gender-responsive services, crisis intervention and crisis support services, medication monitoring, counseling, and case management; and biological parents, kinship caregivers, and foster care parents with specialized training and consultation in the management of children with mental illness, trauma, other emotional or behavioral disorders, medically fragile conditions, or developmental disabilities, the impact of trauma on child and caregiver, and specific additional training on the needs of each child provided such services.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015
STEM Master Teacher Corps Act of 2015 Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award competitive matching grants to consortia of local educational agencies (LEAs) or states, acting in partnership with institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations to establish a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Master Teacher Corps program. Requires grantees to: select exemplary elementary and secondary school STEM teachers for membership in the STEM Master Teacher Corps; provide those teachers with compensation that supplements their base salaries, with higher compensation going to those teaching at high-need public schools; provide, and track the effectiveness of, research-based training for Corps members; provide discretionary resources for Corps members at high-need schools to use; help coordinate instructional leadership and mentoring roles for Corps members; and facilitate efforts by Corps members to inform STEM education policy at the national, state, and local levels. Gives grant priority to applicants that intend to include: (1) large numbers of teachers in the STEM Master Teacher Corps; and (2) rural schools, particularly high-need rural schools, in the area they serve. Requires grantees to ensure that at least 75% of their STEM Master Teacher Corps are teachers at high-need schools. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, to: (1) evaluate the STEM Master Teacher Corps program; (2) identify optimal strategies for designing and advancing such program; and (3) identify best practices for developing, supporting, and retaining STEM teachers based on lessons learned from the program.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015
Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit: (1) the transfer or possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, except for such a device lawfully possessed within the United States on or before the date of this Act's enactment; and (2) the importation or bringing into the United States of such a device. Exempts: (1) the transfer or possession of such a device by a federal, state, or local agency or law enforcement officer; (2) certain transfers to licensees under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; (3) possession of such a device transferred to an individual upon retirement from a law enforcement agency if such individual is not otherwise prohibited from receiving ammunition; and (4) the manufacture, transfer, or possession of such a device by a licensed manufacturer or importer for authorized testing or experimentation purposes. Sets penalties for violations. Requires a large capacity ammunition feeding device manufactured after this Act's enactment to be identified by a serial number that clearly shows that the device was manufactured after such enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the caps on Medicare outpatient rehabilitation physical therapy services and speech-language pathology services.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015
Animal Welfare in Agricultural Research Endeavors Act or the AWARE Act This bill amends the Animal Welfare Act to apply standards for humane treatment to farm animals at federal research or laboratory animal facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015
Tick-Borne Disease Research Accountability and Transparency Act of 2015 Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct or support epidemiological, basic, translational, and clinical research regarding Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. Directs HHS to establish the Interagency Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Working Group to review all HHS efforts concerning tick-borne diseases to ensure interagency coordination and examine research priorities. Requires the Working Group to: (1) provide a summary of tick-borne disease research, advances, and scientific viewpoints every two years; (2) make recommendations to HHS regarding tick-borne disease activities; and (3) hold annual public meetings. Requires HHS to submit a strategic plan for tick-borne disease research within three years of enactment and every five years thereafter that includes: (1) budgetary requirements; (2) benchmarks for improving tick-borne disease diagnosis, treatment, outcomes, and prevention; and (3) a plan to disseminate Working Group summaries and other relevant information on tick-borne disease to health professionals and the public.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015
Protect Overnight Delivery Act Repeals the service standards for market-dominant products implemented by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on January 5, 2015, and directs USPS to reinstate the service standards that were in effect on December 31, 2011.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015
Congratulates the New England Patriots on their Super Bowl XLIX victory.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015
Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act of 2015 Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to replace the current windfall elimination provision (WEP) (that reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who also have pension benefits from employment not covered by Social Security) for individuals who: (1) become eligible for old-age insurance benefits after 2016 or would attain age 62 after 2016 and become eligible for disability insurance benefits after 2016, (2) subsequently become entitled to such benefits, and (3) have earnings derived from noncovered service performed after 1977. Establishes a new formula for the treatment of noncovered earnings in determining Social Security benefits. Prescribes a second formula to modify the WEP for current beneficiaries. Directs the Commissioner of Social Security to recover overpayments from certain individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015
Stabilize Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Act Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to require a state Medicaid plan to provide 12-month continuous enrollment for an eligible individual, regardless of age. Amends SSAct title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) to require a state CHIP plan also to provide 12-month continuous enrollment for an eligible individual.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015
Special Needs Trust Fairness Act of 2015 Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act with respect to the treatment of revocable trusts for the benefit of an individual for purposes of meeting income requirements for Medicaid coverage. Extends the supplemental needs trust exemption from treatment of a trust as resources available to the individual to supplemental needs trusts for Medicaid beneficiaries established by those beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015
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 to the Freedom Riders in recognition of their contribution to civil rights, which inspired a movement to equality in interstate travel. Requires such medal to be given to the Smithsonian Institution to be available for display and research. Expresses the sense of Congress that the medal should be made available for display elsewhere, particularly at locations associated with the Freedom Riders.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2015
Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act of 2015 This bill states that: the President may not prohibit or otherwise regulate travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents, or any of the transactions incident to such travel, including banking transactions; any regulation in effect on the date of enactment of this Act prohibiting or otherwise regulating such travel or transactions incident to such travel shall cease to have any force or effective; but the prohibitions and requirements of this Act shall not apply if the United States is at war with Cuba, armed hostilities between the two countries are in progress, or there is imminent danger to the public health or the physical safety of U.S. travelers.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2015
U.S. Air Forces Escape and Evasion Society Recognition Act of 2015 Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a gold medal to the U.S. Air Forces Escape and Evasion Society, in recognition of the ceaseless efforts of American aircrew members to escape captivity and evade capture and the resistance organizations and nationals who assisted them.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2015
Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover pharmacist services.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2015
Prevent Interruptions in Physical Therapy Act of 2015 Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require physical therapists furnishing outpatient physical therapy services to use specified locum tenens arrangements for payment purposes in the same manner as such arrangements are used to apply to physicians furnishing substitute physicians services for other physicians. (Locum tenens [place holder], or substitute, physicians usually assume professional practices in the absence of a regular physician for reasons such as illness, pregnancy, vacation, or continuing medical education.)
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2015
Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids Act of 2015 or the ACE Kids Act of 2015 Amends titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) of the Social Security Act to allow a state, at its option, to elect to provide medical assistance for items and services furnished to eligible children with medically complex conditions enrolled in a Medicaid Children's Care Coordination (MCCC) program. Requires an MCCC program, among other things, to coordinate, integrate, and provide for the furnishing of the full range of MCCC program services to enrolled children, as well as designate pediatric care management services and pediatric focused care coordination and health promotion. Requires a state to enroll eligible children prospectively in an MCCC program through an initial 90-day assignment to a nationally designated children's hospital network, unless the child opts not to participate in any MCCC program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to restore mail delivery service standards in effect as of July 1, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2015
STEM Opportunities Act of 2015 Directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to provide federal science agencies with guidance on establishing specified policies to accommodate the needs of caregiver researchers who receive their research awards. Requires each federal science agency to annually collect and submit to the National Science Foundation (NSF) institution-level data on demographics, primary field, award type, review rating (as practicable), budget request, funding outcome, and awarded budget for all applications for merit-reviewed research and development grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) and federal laboratories. Requires NSF to publish a statistical summary of that data. Directs OSTP, in collaboration with NSF, to identify and disseminate to federal science agencies information and best practices useful in educating program officers and members of standing peer review committees at federal science agencies about: (1) research on implicit gender, race, or ethnic bias; and (2) methods to minimize the effect of such bias in federal research grant reviews. Requires federal science agencies to maintain or develop and implement policies and practices to minimize the effects of implicit bias in federal research grant reviews. Directs NSF, within three years of this Act's enactment and at least every five years thereafter, to conduct a survey to collect institution-level data on the demographics of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty, by broad fields of STEM, at different types of IHEs. Requires NSF to publish a statistical summary of that data. Requires NSF to develop written guidance for IHEs on the best practices for: (1) conducting periodic campus culture surveys of STEM departments; and (2) educating STEM faculty and administrators about implicit bias in recruiting, evaluating, and promoting STEM students and faculty. Directs NSF to broadly disseminate that guidance to IHEs that receive federal research funding. Directs OSTP to develop written guidance for federal laboratories to develop and implement practices and policies to: (1) conduct periodic laboratory-wide culture surveys of research personnel at all levels; and (2) educate STEM research personnel about implicit bias in recruiting, evaluating, and promoting researchers at federal laboratories. Requires federal science agencies to maintain or develop and implement such policies for their laboratories. Directs NSF to recommend a uniform policy for federal science agencies to carry out workshops to educate STEM department chairs at IHEs, senior managers at federal laboratories, and other federally funded researchers about methods of minimizing the effects of implicit bias in the career advancement of academic and federal STEM researchers. Requires NSF to award research grants and conduct dissemination activities consistent with this Act's goal of ensuring that federal science agencies and IHE research grant recipients are fully engaging their talent pool. Directs NSF to award competitive grants to IHEs to develop innovative reform efforts designed to increase the recruitment, retention, and advancement of individuals from underrepresented minority groups in academic STEM careers. Requires NSF to award competitive grants to IHEs to implement or expand research-based reforms in undergraduate STEM education to recruit and retain minority students who are underrepresented in STEM fields, with a priority focus on the natural science and engineering fields. Requires each grant to include an education research component so that reform efforts can be evaluated and, if shown to be effective, replicated to improve the participation of minority students in STEM fields at other schools.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2015
This bill directs the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal to the Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March during March of 1965, which served as a catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2015
Constitutional Amendment Declares that: (1) the rights protected by the Constitution are intended to be the rights of natural persons; and (2) the words "people," "person," or "citizen" as used in the Constitution do not include corporations, limited liability companies, or other corporate entities established by the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state, and that such corporate entities are subject to such regulation as the people, through their elected state and federal representatives, deem reasonable and are otherwise consistent with the powers of Congress and the states. Prohibits this Amendment from limiting the rights of freedom of speech, the press, exercise of religion, association, and all such other unalienable rights of the people.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2015
Women's Health Protection Act of 2015 This bill prohibits any government from imposing on abortion services: a requirement that a medical professional perform specific tests or medical procedures; a requirement that the same clinician who performs a patient's abortion also perform additional tests, services or procedures; a limitation on an abortion provider's ability to prescribe or dispense drugs or provide services via telemedicine; a requirement or limitation concerning the physical plant, equipment, staffing, or hospital transfer arrangements of facilities where abortions are performed, or the credentials, hospital privileges, or status of personnel at those facilities; a requirement that, prior to obtaining an abortion, a patient make medically unnecessary in-person visits to any individual or entity; a limitation on medical training for abortion procedures; a prohibition prior to fetal viability; a prohibition after fetal viability when continuation of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the woman's life or health; a restriction on a woman's ability to obtain an immediate abortion when a delay would pose a risk to the woman's health; or a restriction on obtaining an abortion prior to fetal viability based on a woman's reasons or perceived reasons or that requires her to state her reasons before obtaining an abortion. A measure or action that is similar to a requirement or limitation listed above is prohibited if it singles out abortion services or makes abortion services more difficult to access and does not significantly advance women's health or the safety of abortion services.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2015
Government By the People Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to allow a refundable credit of 50% of qualified congressional House campaign contributions paid or incurred during the taxable year (contributions of cash by an individual to a House candidate or a political committee established and maintained by a national political party if the contribution is not prohibited under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 [FECA], to be known as "My Voice Federal" contributions). Directs the Government by the People Oversight Commission, established by this Act, to launch a pilot program under which it shall select three eligible states to operate a voucher pilot program. Requires a state under a voucher pilot program to provide each qualified individual during the election cycle, upon his or her request, with a "My Voice Voucher" worth $50, which will be assigned a routing number. Authorizes the individual to submit the My Voice Voucher to qualified federal election candidates, allocating a portion of its value in $5 increments. Requires the Commission to pay any candidate who transmits a My Voice Voucher that portion of its value which the individual allocated to the candidate. Considers this transaction a contribution by the individual to the candidate for purposes of FECA. Requires a state operating a voucher pilot program also to permit an individual to revoke a My Voice Voucher within two days after submitting it to a candidate. Requires such a state to establish a commission or designate an existing entity to oversee and implement the program in the state, except that no such commission or entity may be composed of elected officials. Amends FECA with respect to: benefits for participating House of Representatives candidates; Federal Election Commission (FEC) payments to such candidates; candidate use of payments; qualified small dollar contributions, expenditures, and fundraising requirements; certification of participating candidates; campaign administration; prevention of the unnecessary spending of public funds; establishment of the Freedom From Influence Fund in the Treasury and of a Government by the People Oversight Commission in the FEC; remittal of unspent funds to the Freedom From Influence Fund after an election; eligibility of participating candidates for additional payments; civil penalties for violation of contribution and expenditure requirements; a Commission action appeals process; and contributions and expenditures by multicandidate and political party political committees on behalf of participating candidates. Prohibits a certified participating candidate's authorized committee from establishing a joint fundraising committee with any political committee other than another authorized committee of the candidate. Prohibits a certified participating candidate from establishing, financing, maintaining, or controlling a leadership PAC (political action committee). Prohibits use of contributions by a participating candidate for any purposes other than an election campaign. Revises bundler disclosure requirements to repeal a specified exception and so require disclosure of persons who provided bundled contributions to the reporting committee. Amends FECA to empower the FEC to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to appeal a civil action to enforce the Act. Requires all political committee designations, statements, and reports required to be filed under FECA to be filed: (1) directly with the FEC; and (2) in electronic form accessible by computers. Reduces to 24 hours after their receipt the deadline for the FEC to make designations, statements, reports, or notifications available to the public in the FEC office and on the Internet. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to set a station's lowest unit price for preemptible use as the charge for a broadcast by the national committee of a political party for an affiliated candidate. Authorizes the FEC to revoke a broadcast station license or construction permit only for at least three willful failures to allow reasonable access to, or to permit purchase of reasonable amounts of time for the use of, a broadcasting station or cable system by a legally qualified candidate for federal office. Amends the IRC to allow taxpayers to designate overpayments of tax for contribution to the Freedom From Influence Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2015
Amends the Indian Reorganization Act to apply the Act to all federally recognized Indian tribes, regardless of when any tribe became recognized. (This effectively overrules the Supreme Court's decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, which held that the Secretary of the Interior could not take land into trust for a specified tribe because that tribe had not been under federal jurisdiction when the Act was enacted.) Ratifies and confirms any action taken by the Secretary pursuant to such Act for any Indian tribe that was federally recognized on the date of that action.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2015
Constitutional Amendment - Authorizes Congress and the states to set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections. Grants Congress and the states the power to implement and enforce this amendment by appropriate legislation. Allows them to distinguish between natural persons and corporations or other artificial entities created by law, including by prohibiting such entities from spending money to influence elections. Declares that nothing in this amendment shall be construed to grant Congress or the states the power to abridge the freedom of the press.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2015
Paying a Fair Share Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require an individual taxpayer whose adjusted gross income exceeds $1 million (high-income taxpayer) to pay a minimum tax rate of 30% of the excess of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income over the taxpayer's modified charitable contribution deduction for the taxable year (tentative fair share tax). Establishes the amount of such tax as the excess (if any) of the tentative fair share tax over the excess of: (1) the sum of the taxpayer's regular tax liability, the alternative minimum tax (AMT) amount, and the payroll tax for the taxable year; over (2) certain tax credits. Provides for a phase-in of such tax. Requires an inflation adjustment to the $1 million income threshold for taxable years beginning after 2016. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should enact tax reform that repeals unfair and unnecessary tax loopholes and expenditures, simplifies the tax system, and makes sure that the wealthiest taxpayers pay a fair share of taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the United States Postal Service should issue a postage stamp honoring the holiday of Diwali, and (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2015
Advancing Research for Neurological Diseases Act of 2015 Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to: (1) enhance and expand infrastructure and activities to track the epidemiology of neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease; and (2) incorporate information obtained through those activities into a National Neurological Diseases Surveillance System. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that the System facilitates further research on neurological diseases. Requires HHS to provide for the collection and storage of information on neurological diseases, including the incidence, prevalence, and other information, to the extent practicable. Requires HHS to: (1) make information and analysis in the System available to federal agencies and to the public, including researchers; and (2) ensure that privacy and security protections applicable to the System are at least as stringent as the protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2015
Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act or the FAIR Act Increases the rates of basic pay for federal employees under the statutory pay systems (relating to the General Schedule, the U.S. Foreign Service, and the Veterans Health Administration) for calendar year 2016, and for prevailing rate employees for FY2016, by 3.8%.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all businesses and residential customers.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act Amends the Internet Tax Freedom Act to make permanent the ban on state and local taxation of Internet access and on multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Amends the Indian Reorganization Act to make it applicable to all federally recognized Indian tribes, regardless of when any tribe became recognized. (This effectively overrules the Supreme Court's decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, which held that the Secretary of the Interior could not take land into trust for a specified tribe because that tribe had not been under federal jurisdiction when the Act was enacted.)
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act Designates approximately 1,559,538 acres of land within Alaska in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Respect for Peace Corps Volunteers Act Amends the Peace Corps Act to allow former volunteers or applicants for enrollment as a volunteer to use the seal, emblem, or name "Peace Corps" on death announcements, plaques, grave stones, or other grave markers.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Firearm Safety Act of 2015 Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act to remove from the definition of "consumer product" the exclusion for any article sold by a manufacturer, producer, or importer that would be subject to a firearms sales tax under the Internal Revenue Code for pistols, revolvers, and other firearms, including shells and cartridges, thereby permitting the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue safety standards for such articles.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Requires the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service to report annually to Congress on the effects of gun violence on public health and the status of actions taken to address those effects.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce Act or the Small BREW Act Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the rate of the excise tax on beer produced within or imported into the United States for brewers who produce not more than 6 million barrels of beer a year.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2015
Respect for Marriage Act Amends the Defense of Marriage Act to repeal a provision that prohibited a state, territory, possession, or Indian tribe from being required to recognize any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a same sex marriage. Amends the federal rules of construction added by such Act concerning the definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" to provide that, for purposes of any federal law in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered married if that individual's marriage is valid in the state where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into outside any state, if the marriage is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in a state. Removes the definition of "spouse" (currently, a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife).