United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2015
21st Century Cures Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through FY2018. The NIH Innovation Fund is established to fund a strategic plan, early stage investigators, and high-risk, high-reward research. The NIH may require scientific data to be shared if the research is fully funded by the NIH. The NIH and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must implement a system that allows further research on clinical trial data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must expand surveillance of neurological diseases. The Council for 21st Century Cures is established to accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of innovative cures, treatments, and preventive measures. The Department of Health and Human Services must monitor the use of antibacterial and antifungal drugs and resistance to these drugs. Requirements are established for interoperability and certification of health information technology. Practices that discourage the exchange of electronic health information are prohibited. This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise the drug approval process, including by: (1) allowing patient experience data to be considered in the risk-benefit assessment of a new drug, (2) requiring the FDA to qualify drug development tools, (3) allowing the FDA to rely upon data previously submitted for a different purpose to expedite the development of certain drugs, and (4) establishing a streamlined data review program for approval of a drug for an additional indication. Manufacturers and distributors of investigational drugs for serious conditions must publish their policies on compassionate use requests. The marketing exclusivity period is extended by six months for a drug approved for a new indication that is a rare disease or condition. The priority review voucher program for rare pediatric diseases is revised and extended. The FDA must: (1) establish a program for priority review of breakthrough medical devices, (2) identify types of devices that do not require a report preceding introduction, and (3) rely on a third-party to determine the safety and effectiveness of changes to medical devices. Regarding medical devices, this bill defines “valid scientific evidence” and makes changes to classification panels and the humanitarian device exemption. “Health software” is defined and, with certain exceptions, exempted from FDA regulations. This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to: (1) increase certain payments for new antimicrobial drugs, (2) establish a payment methodology for certain medical devices, and (3) publish online estimated payments for certain outpatient items and services. A pharmaceutical and technology ombudsman within the CMS must respond to complaints from manufacturers of medical products. Medicare prescription drug plan sponsors may limit the access of certain beneficiaries to frequently abused drugs. This bill amends the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to allow exported controlled substances to be re-exported within the European Economic Area.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2015
Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to authorize the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in addition to qualified primary care physicians and other primary care practitioners, to cover intensive behavioral therapy for obesity furnished by: (1) a physician who is not a qualified primary care physician; (2) an evidence-based, community-based HHS-approved lifestyle counseling program; or (3) any other appropriate health care provider (including a physician assistant, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, a clinical psychologist, and a registered dietitian or nutrition professional). Allows coverage of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity furnished by another appropriate health care provider or program only if it is furnished: (1) upon referral from, and in coordination with, a physician or primary care practitioner in a primary care or other HHS-specified setting; and (2) in an office setting, a hospital outpatient department, a community-based site that complies with the federal regulations concerning the privacy of individually identifiable health information, or another HHS-specified setting. Authorizes HHS 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 related comorbidities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2015
Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act This bill requires the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), with respect to lands under their respective jurisdictions, to provide direction under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to ensure that all existing and future rights-of-way for electrical transmission and distribution facilities on such lands include requirements for utility vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance activities that: are developed in consultation with the holder of the right-of-way; enable the owner or operator of a facility to operate it in good working order and comply with federal, state, and local electric system reliability and fire safety requirements; and minimize the need for case-by-case or annual approvals, and instead provide for expedited review and approval, for routine vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance activities within existing electrical transmission and distribution rights-of-way, as well as utility vegetation management activities necessary to control danger trees within or adjacent to electrical transmission and distribution rights-of-way. Interior and the USDA shall give facility owners and operators the option to submit to the appropriate Department a vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance plan. Interior and the USDA shall apply its categorical exclusion process under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) to plans developed under this Act on existing transmission and distribution rights-of-way located on lands under their respective jurisdictions. (A "categorical exclusion" under NEPA is a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and which have been found to have no such effect in procedures adopted by a federal agency in implementing environmental regulations and for which, therefore, neither an Environmental Assessment nor an Environmental Impact Statement is required.)
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2015
Global Respect Act Directs the President to submit to Congress a list of each foreign person that the President determines is responsible, or acted as an agent, for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against an individual in a foreign country based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Makes a listed foreign person ineligible to enter or be admitted to the United States. Requires revocation of any visa issued for such person. Authorizes the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive such prohibition if in U.S. national security interests or if necessary for compliance with the Agreement between the United Nations (U.N.) and the United States regarding the U.N. Headquarters. Requires congressional notification prior to any such waiver. Directs the Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor to designate a senior officer or officers to track violence, criminalization, and restrictions on fundamental freedoms in foreign countries based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include information on sexual orientation or gender identity violence or restrictions in the annual country reports on human rights practices.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2015
Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 2015 Prohibits the wages or other remuneration earned by an employee who performs employment duties in more than one state from being subject to income tax in any state other than: (1) the state of the employee's residence, and (2) the state within which the employee is present and performing employment duties for more than 30 days during the calendar year. Exempts employers from withholding of tax and information reporting requirements for employees not subject to income tax under this Act. Allows an employer, for purposes of determining penalties related to employer withholding or reporting requirements, to rely on an employee's annual determination of the time such employee will spend working in a state in the absence of fraud or collusion by such employee. Exempts from the definition of "employee" for purposes of this Act professional athletes, professional entertainers, and public figures who are persons of prominence who perform services for wages or other remuneration on a per-event basis.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2015
Lifetime Income Disclosure Act Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require the quarterly pension benefit statement furnished to a participant or beneficiary with the right to direct the investment of assets in his or her account under an individual account plan to include a lifetime income disclosure at least once during any 12-month period. Requires such lifetime income disclosure to set forth the lifetime income stream equivalent of the participant's or beneficiary's total benefits accrued. Defines a lifetime income stream equivalent of the total benefits accrued as the monthly annuity payment the participant or beneficiary would receive if those total accrued benefits were used to provide lifetime income streams to a qualified joint and survivor annuitant. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: issue a model lifetime income disclosure, written in a manner which can be understood by the average plan participant; and prescribe assumptions that plan administrators may use in converting total accrued benefits into lifetime income stream equivalents. Declares that no plan fiduciary, plan sponsor, or other person shall have any liability under ERISA solely by reason of the provision of lifetime income stream equivalents derived in accordance with such assumptions and related rules and including explanations contained in the model lifetime income disclosure.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2015
Constitutional Amendment Declares that women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Prohibits the United States or any state from denying or abridging equal rights under the law on account of sex.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2015
Physical Therapist Workforce and Patient Access Act of 2015 Amends the Public Health Service Act to include physical therapy within the definition of "primary health services" for purposes of the National Health Service Corps. Makes physical therapists eligible for repayment of their educational loans in order to ensure an adequate supply of physical therapists.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2015
Hmong Veterans' Service Recognition Act Authorizes burial in any open national cemetery under the control of the National Cemetery Administration of the remains of any individual: (1) who was naturalized pursuant to the Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act of 2000 and who resided in the United States at the time of death; or (2) who the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines served with a special guerrilla unit or irregular forces operating from a base in Laos in support of the U.S. Armed Forces between February 28, 1961, and May 7, 1975, and who, at the time of death, resided in the United States and was a U.S. citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2015
Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit intentionally engaging in animal crushing in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. (Current law prohibits knowingly creating or distributing an animal crush video.) Adds exceptions for conduct that is for predator or pest control, medical or scientific research, or necessary to protect the life or property of a person from a serious threat caused by an animal.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2015
Eliminates the time limit for ratification of the equal rights amendment (prohibits discrimination on account of sex) proposed to the states in House Joint Resolution 208 of the 92nd Congress, as agreed to in the Senate on March 22, 1972. Declares that such amendment shall be part of the Constitution whenever ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2015
Advancing Research for Hydrocephalus 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 hydrocephalus (a condition in which fluid accumulates in the brain); and (2) incorporate information obtained through those activities into a National Hydrocephalus Surveillance System. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that the System facilitates further research on hydrocephalus. Requires HHS to provide for the collection and storage of information on hydrocephalus, including the incidence, prevalence, and other information, to the extent practicable. Requires HHS to: (1) make information and analysis in the System available 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 May 2015
Functional Gastrointestinal and Motility Disorders Research Enhancement Act of 2015 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the National Institutes of Health to expand, intensify, and coordinate its activities with respect to functional gastrointestinal and motility disorders (FGIMDs), including by: expanding basic and clinical research into FGIMDs by implementing the research recommendations of the National Commission on Digestive Diseases, providing support for the establishment of centers of excellence on FGIMDs, supporting innovative approaches to educating health care providers and patients regarding strategies that improve patient-provider relationships and care, directing the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to provide the necessary funding for the continued expansion and advancement of the FGIMDs research portfolio, and directing NIDDK and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to expand research into FGIMDs that impact children. The Department of Health and Human Services may engage in public awareness and education activities to increase understanding and recognition of FGIMDs.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2015
Parental Bereavement Act of 2015 or the Sarah Grace-Farley-Kluger Act Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to entitle an eligible employee to up to 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period because of the death of a son or daughter. Allows such an employee to substitute any available paid leave for any leave without pay. Applies the same leave entitlement to federal employees.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2015
Federal Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2015 Requires each public building constructed, substantially altered, or acquired by the General Services Administration (GSA) to meet the following standards: at least 90% of the exposed facade material from ground level to 40 feet shall not be composed of glass or shall be composed of glass employing elements that preclude bird collisions without completely obscuring vision, ultraviolet (UV) patterned glass that contains UV-reflective or contrasting patterns that are visible to birds, patterns on glass designed in accordance with a rule that restricts horizontal spaces to less than 2 inches high and vertical spaces to less than 4 inches wide, opaque, etched, stained, frosted, or translucent glass, orany combination of these methods (modified glass); at least 60% of the exposed facade material above 40 feet shall meet such glass standard; there shall not be any transparent passageways or corners; all glass adjacent to atria or courtyards containing water features, plants, and other materials attractive to birds shall meet the modified glass standard; and outside lighting shall be appropriately shielded and minimized. Directs GSA to: (1) ensure that actual bird mortality is monitored at each public building; and (2) reduce exterior building and site lighting for each public building, where practicable. Exempts historic buildings of national significance, the White House and its grounds, the Supreme Court building and its grounds, or the U.S. Capitol and its related buildings and grounds.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2015
This bill amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act with respect to the treatment of certain municipal obligations to direct the federal banking agencies to treat as a high-quality level 2A liquid asset any municipal obligation that is liquid, readily marketable, and investment grade as of the calculation date. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Comptroller of the Currency are directed to amend the rule titled "Liquidity Coverage Ratio: Liquidity Risk Measurement Standards; Final Rule" to implement this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2015
Municipal Bond Market Support Act of 2015 Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the small issuer exemption from interest expense allocation rules for financial institutions to: (1) permanently increase from $10 million to $30 million the annual limit on the amount of tax-exempt obligations that a small issuer may issue, and (2) allow an inflation adjustment to such increased limit amount after 2015.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2015
Raise the Wage Act This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage for employees to: (1) $8.00 an hour on January 1, 2016, or, if later, on the first day of the third month after enactment of this Act; (2) $9.00 an hour after one year; (3) $10.00 an hour after two years; (4) $11.00 an hour after three years; (5) $12.00 an hour after four years; and (6) the amount the Department of Labor determines (based on increases in the median hourly wage of all employees) after five years, and annually thereafter. The federal minimum wage for tipped employees shall increase to $3.15 an hour for one year on January 1, 2016, or the first day of the third month after enactment of this Act, whichever is later. Subsequent annual adjustments of the wage increase, according to a specified formula, shall ensure that it remains equal to the wage in effect under FLSA for other employees. Employers must notify their employees of the right to retain any received tips. The separate minimum wage requirements for tipped employees shall end, effective one day after the hourly wage established for them under this Act takes effect. The Department must publish any increase in the minimum wage in the Federal Register and on the Department's website 60 days before it takes effect.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2015
Redistricting Reform Act of 2015 Prohibits a state that has been redistricted after an apportionment from being redistricted again until after the next apportionment of Representatives, unless the state is ordered by a court to conduct a subsequent redistricting in order to comply with the U.S. Constitution or enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Requires such redistricting to be conducted in accordance with the plan developed and enacted into law by the independent redistricting commission established in the state or, if such a plan is not enacted into law, with the redistricting plan developed and enacted into law by a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Sets forth provisions relating to: (1) the establishment by a nonpartisan agency of a state independent redistricting commission (including requirements for holding each of its meetings in public and maintaining a public Internet site); (2) the development and publication of a preliminary redistricting plan and the holding of at least three public hearings on such plan; (3) the enactment of a redistricting plan, under specified conditions, by a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; (4) redistricting conducted under a federal court order; and (5) Election Assistance Commission payments to states for carrying out redistricting. Authorizes the Department of Justice to bring a civil action to enforce this Act, which shall be given expedited consideration.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2015
Medicare Access to Rural Anesthesiology Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide payment under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) on a reasonable cost basis for anesthesia services furnished by a physician who is an anesthesiologist in certain rural hospitals in the same manner as payment is made for anesthesia services furnished by a certified registered nurse anesthetist in such hospitals.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2015
Partnerships to Advance Revolutionary Technology and Novel Entrepreneurial Research Act or the PARTNER Act Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the definition of "passive activity," for purposes of the passive loss tax rules, any qualified research activity carried on by a high technology research small business pass-thru entity. Defines "high technology research small business pass-thru entity" as any domestic pass-thru entity if: (1) more than 75% of the entity's expenditures are paid or incurred in connection with qualified research, or (2) more than 50% of the entity's expenditures constitute qualified research expenses. Designates a high technology research entity as a small business if such entity has 250 or fewer full-time employees and does not have aggregate gross assets in excess of $150 million.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2015
Empowering Mass Participation to Offset the Wealthy's Electoral Role Act or the EMPOWER Act Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to revise the system of public financing for presidential primary and general elections occurring after January 1, 2016. Increases the amount of matching funds for presidential primaries from a one-to-one match to a six-to-one match for contributions of $250 or less from individuals, with a limit on aggregate individual contributions of $1,000. Limits the total amount of payments to a presidential primary candidate to $300 million. Provides for an inflation adjustment to matching contributions beginning after 2015. Requires presidential primary candidates who opt to participate in the public financing system to certify to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that they have raised $25,000 (currently, $5,000) in each of 20 states, with individual contributions limited to $250. Requires such candidates to commit to accept public financing in both the primary and general elections. Prohibits presidential primary candidates or their authorized committees from accepting contributions or bundled contributions (i.e., combining small contributions into one large contribution) from lobbyists or political action committees (PACs). Eliminates expenditure limitations for presidential primary and general elections. Changes the period for payment of matching funds to presidential primary candidates from January 1 of the election year to six months prior to the date of the earliest state primary election. Revises financing provisions for general elections to: (1) limit individual contributions to participating candidates to $1,000; and (2) extend matching payments to general elections at a six-to-one rate for contributions of $250 or less, to a maximum amount of $300 million in total matching payments to a publicly-financed general election candidate. Increases to $100 million the limit on coordinated spending by a national party and its presidential candidate in a general election campaign. Establishes a uniform date for the release of payments to eligible general election candidates.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2015
Real Estate Investment and Jobs Act of 2015 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from 5% to 10% the stock ownership threshold in a real estate investment trust for purposes of exempting proceeds from dispositions of such stock from withholding requirements under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (FIRPTA). Exempts from FIRPTA withholding requirements U.S. real property interests held by: (1) a qualified foreign pension fund created or organized outside the United States, or (2) any entity all of the interests of which are held by a qualified foreign pension fund.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2015
Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend to all domestic corporations, including S corporations, provisions allowing deferral of tax on gain from the sale of employer securities to an S corporation-sponsored employee stock ownership plan (ESOP); and (2) allow a tax deduction for 50% of the interest incurred on loans to S corporation-sponsored ESOPs for the purchase of employer securities. Directs the Department of the Treasury to establish the S Corporation Employee Ownership Assistance Office to foster increased employee ownership of S corporations. Amends the Small Business Act to define "ESOP business concern" and allow such a concern to continue to qualify for loans, preferences, and other programs under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2015
Protecting America's Workers Act Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to expand its coverage to federal, state, and local government employees. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor, under specified conditions, to cede OSHA jurisdiction to another federal agency with respect to certain occupational standards or regulations for such agency's employees. Declares OSHA inapplicable to working conditions covered by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. Increases protections for whistle blowers under OSHA. Prescribes requirements relating to: a employer's duty to furnish a place of employment free from recognized hazards causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm that the employer creates or controls or in which the employer exposes any individual (not just an employer's employee) performing work there; the posting of employee rights; a site-controlling employer's duty to keep a site log for recordable injuries and illnesses of all employees, including employees of the site-controlling employer or others (including independent contractors) performing work there; employer reporting of employee work-related deaths or hospitalizations; a prohibition against employers adopting or implementing policies or practices that discourage or discriminate against employee reporting of work-related injuries or illnesses; a prohibition against the loss of wages or employee benefits due to an employee participating in a workplace inspection; investigations of incidents resulting in death or the hospitalization of two or more employees which occur in a place of employment; and a prohibition against the issuing, modifying, or settling of unclassified citations for occupational health and safety standard violations. Continues requirements relating to: (1) the rights of an employee (including a former employee or family member in lieu of an employee) who has sustained a work-related injury or illness that is the subject of an inspection or investigation; (2) an employer's right to contest citations and penalties; and (3) periods permitted for an employer to correct serious, willful, or repeated violations pending an employer's contest to a citation and procedures for stays of the time period for abatement of those violations. Increases civil and criminal penalties for certain OSHA violators. States that pre-final order interest on any penalties owed shall begin to accrue on the date a party contests a citation, at an interest rate calculated at the current underpayment rate. Prescribes requirements for the Secretary's evaluation of state occupational safety and health plans as well as workplace health hazard evaluations by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Revises requirements for state plans for the development and enforcement of state occupational safety and health standards in lieu of applicable federal occupational safety and health standards. Requires the Secretary to approve plans that provide for state consideration of repeated occupational safety and health violations committed by an employer within the state as well as those committed under other occupational safety and health plans in states where the Secretary has jurisdiction. Requires a state that has an approved plan for the development and enforcement of occupational safety and health standards to amend its plan to conform to the requirements of this Act within 12 months after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Iran should release all detained U.S. citizens and provide any information it possesses regarding any U.S. citizens who have disappeared within its borders.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2015
Equitable Access to Care and Health Act or the EACH Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the religious conscience exemption under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to exempt individuals who rely solely on a religious method of healing and for whom the acceptance of medical health services would be inconsistent with their religious beliefs from the requirement to purchase and maintain minimum essential health care coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2015
National Park and Wilderness Waters Protection Forever Act Withdraws federal lands within the Rainy River Drainage Basin in Minnesota from all forms of: (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and (3) operation under the mineral leasing and mineral material laws. Deems the approval of any lease or permit for activities relating to mining on federal lands in the Basin to be a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Requires an environmental impact statement conducted for such an action to include consideration of any potential impacts to units of the National Park System (NPS) or land in the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) located in the Basin. Conditions the issuance or renewal of any such lease or permit on a requirement that the permittee or lessee seasonally monitor water quality on such lands throughout the Basin. Requires all mining activities to be suspended if any mining related contamination is detected in any NPS unit or NWPS land in the Basin until all contamination has been remediated. Bars a federal agency from approving any mining related activities on federal lands in the Basin until the entity holding a lease or permit for that activity has submitted: (1) an acceptable contamination remediation plan, and (2) a full reclamation and performance bond sufficient to return the affected area to its original condition and treat any potential contamination for 50 years following the conclusion of any mining activities. Exempts sand, gravel, and granite operations that exist on the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2015
Prescription Drug Accountability Act This bill provides for Department of Veterans Affairs participation in state prescription drug monitoring programs.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 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 Edwin Cole "Ed" Bearss in recognition of his contributions to the preservation of American Civil War history and his continued efforts to bring our nation's history alive for new generations through his interpretive storytelling.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Condemns the government of Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights. Calls on the government of Iran to release the 7 imprisoned Baha'i leaders, the 12 imprisoned Baha'i educators, and all other prisoners held on account of their religion. Urges the President and the Secretary of State to utilize available authorities, including the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, to impose sanctions on officials of the government of Iran and other individuals directly responsible for serious human rights abuses, including abuses against the Baha'i community.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015 This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise the nutritional information that restaurants and retail food establishments must disclose. The nutrient content disclosure statement on the menu or menu board must include: (1) the number of calories contained in the whole menu item; (2) the number of servings and number of calories per serving; or (3) the number of calories per common unit of the item, such as for a multi-serving item that is typically divided before presentation to the consumer. Nutritional information may be provided solely by a remote-access menu (e.g., an Internet menu) for food establishments where the majority of orders are placed by customers who are off-premises. Establishments with self-serve food may comply with the requirements for restaurants or place signs with nutritional information adjacent to each food item. An establishment’s nutrient content disclosures have a “reasonable basis” if they are within acceptable allowances for variation, including variations in serving size or ingredients and inadvertent human error in formulation. Establishments with standard menu items that come in different flavors, varieties, or combinations, that are listed as a single menu item can determine and disclose nutritional information using specified methods or methods allowed by the Food and Drug Administration. Regulations pursuant to this Act or the clause amended by this Act cannot take effect earlier than two years after final regulations are promulgated pursuant to this Act. Nutritional information disclosure requirements apply to establishments that derive more than 50% of their total revenue from the sale of food.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Fitness Integrated Into Teaching Kids Act or the FIT Kids Act This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to reauthorize and amend the Carol M. White Physical Education Program. The program is administered by the Department of Education (ED) and awards grants to local educational agencies, community-based organizations, and states to initiate, expand, and improve physical education programs for kindergarten through 12th grade students. Of the funds appropriated for the program, ED must reserve a portion to award competitive grants for states to implement comprehensive programs based on: (1) scientifically valid research, and (2) an analysis of need that considers indicators in a state system measuring conditions related to physical fitness, physical education, student health, and nutrition. A state applying for a competitive grant must submit: (1) an analysis of needs in the areas of physical activity, physical education, fitness, and nutrition; (2) a plan for improvement; and (3) a description of how the state will implement a measurement system, coordinate with other state and federal programs, assist local educational agencies, and award subgrants. States receiving competitive grants must: (1) reserve no more than 5% of the funds for administration, technical assistance, professional development for teachers, and a measurement system; and (2) use the remaining funds for competitive subgrants. States receiving grants must also: establish a statewide physical education requirement, implement a measurement system, provide a public report including data from the measurement system, award subgrants using specified criteria, use the measurement system to assist subgrantees in addressing needs, provide professional development for teachers, and monitor subgrants.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Healthy Kids Outdoors Act of 2015 Authorizes the Department of the Interior to issue one cooperative agreement per state to eligible entities to implement and update a five-year Healthy Kids Outdoors State Strategy for encouraging Americans, especially children, youth, and families, to be physically active outdoors. Requires eligible entities to provide a 25% match of the funding that they receive under this Act through in-kind contributions or cash. Directs the President to issue a national strategy for encouraging Americans to be physically active outdoors. Directs Interior and the Department of Health and Human Services to carry out a study of national significance on the health impacts of the strategies under this Act. Requires Interior to provide technical assistance to grantees and to disseminate best practices that emerge from the state strategies funded by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Social Security and Medicare Parity Act of 2015 Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act with respect to the determination of a valid marriage to account for marriages in jurisdictions other than a state. Authorizes the courts of any state to find that an OASDI benefit applicant and an insured individual were validly married in a jurisdiction other than a state at the time the applicant files a benefit application or, if the insured individual is dead, at the time the individual died. Waives the nine-month marriage requirement to make eligible for widow or widower benefits certain widows or widowers whose marriage to a deceased individual would not have been treated as a marriage for federal law purposes before June 26, 2013. Waives the same requirement for anyone who became a stepchild of the deceased individual as a result of such a marriage. Waives the one-year marriage requirement to make eligible for husband's or wife's OASDI benefits certain husbands and wives whose marriage to an individual would not have been treated as a marriage for federal law purposes before June 26, 2013. Waives the same requirement for anyone who became a stepchild of the individual as a result of such a marriage. Directs the Commissioner of Social Security to conduct a comprehensive and effective three-year outreach campaign to encourage benefit applications by individuals newly eligible for OASDI benefits as a result of changes in law relating to same-sex marriage and occurring on or after June 26, 2013.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Benefits) of the Social Security Act to direct the Social Security Administration (SSA) to: (1) provide information on all deceased individuals that is furnished to or maintained by SSA, subject to appropriate safeguards against unauthorized use or disclosure, to federal or state agencies providing benefits or administering a federal program; and (2) provide for the use of such information by federal agencies to operate the Do Not Pay working system and to carry out tax administration or debt collection duties. Directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to analyze and report to Congress on potential alternative sources of death data maintained by non-federal sources. Amends the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 to require the OMB to: (1) issue guidance to agencies that operate or maintain a database of information relating to beneficiaries, annuity recipients, or other purposes for which improved data matching with databases would be relevant and necessary; (2) develop a plan to assist states and local agencies, and Indian Tribes and tribal organizations, to provide information, in an electronic format, to the federal government on the deaths of individuals; and (3) submit to Congress a plan to improve data matching with the federal government on the death of individuals who are benefit recipients and an annual report on the implementation of such requirements. Directs the SSA to submit a plan to ensure the accuracy and completeness of death data of individuals who are not eligible for or receiving social security benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
College Options for DREAMers Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow Dreamer students to receive federal financial aid for higher education. A "Dreamer student" is an individual who was under age 16 upon entering this country, has provided a list of secondary schools the individual attended in this country, and, in this country: has earned a high school diploma or the equivalent, is scheduled to complete the requirements for a high school diploma or equivalent before the next academic year begins, has acquired a degree from an institution of higher education, has successfully completed at least two years of a program for a baccalaureate or higher degree, is a beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or has served honorably in the uniformed services for at least four years. The Department of Education must provide for a hardship exception to the age and secondary school list requirements. States are allowed to offer unlawful aliens postsecondary benefits on the basis of their residence in the state (e.g., in-state tuition).
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Year-Round Pell Grant Restoration Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Department of Education to award an additional Pell Grant to a student who has received a Pell Grant for an award year and is enrolled in a program of study for payment periods during the same award year that are not covered by the Pell Grant. The total amount of the Pell Grants awarded to such a student for the award year may exceed the total maximum Pell Grant.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Pell Grant Cost of Tuition Adjustment Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to set the maximum Pell Grant at a specified amount, increased for inflation each year, plus any additional amount specified in the last enacted appropriation Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Pell Grant Protection Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to appropriate for each fiscal year beginning with FY2016 the funding necessary to provide each eligible student with the maximum Pell Grant amount, minus the student's expected family contribution. (Currently, funds for the Pell Grant program come from a combination of mandatory and discretionary spending. This bill converts the Pell Grant program into a mandatory spending program.)
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Military and Veteran Caregiver Services Improvement Act of 2015 Expands eligibility for the family caregiver program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to include members of the Armed Forces or veterans who are seriously injured or who became ill on active duty prior to September 11, 2001 (currently, limited to service after September 11, 2001). Expands services to caregivers of veterans under such program to include child care services, financial planning services, and legal services. Terminates the support program for caregivers of covered veterans on October 1, 2020, except that any caregiver activities carried out on September 30, 2020, shall be continued on and after October 1, 2020. Authorizes the transfer of entitlement to post 9/11 education assistance to family members by veterans who are retired for a physical disability or who are seriously injured veterans in need of family caregiver services, without regard to length-of-service requirements. Authorizes the VA Secretary to pay monthly special compensation to seriously injured or ill veterans in need of personal care services and to their caregivers. Excludes from gross income, for income tax purposes, such compensation paid to injured or ill veterans. Authorizes flexible work schedules or telework for federal employees who are caregivers of veterans. Amends the Public Health Service Act to designate a veteran participating in the program of comprehensive assistance for family caregivers as an adult with a special need for purposes of the lifespan respite care program. Establishes in the executive branch an interagency working group to review and report on policies relating to the caregivers of veterans and members of the Armed Forces. Directs the Secretary to provide for studies on members of the Armed Forces who commenced service after September 11, 2001, and veterans who have incurred a serious injury or illness, including a mental health injury, and their caregivers.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Supreme Court Ethics Act of 2015 Requires the Supreme Court to promulgate a code of ethics for the Justices of the Supreme Court that shall include the five canons of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States, with any amendments or modifications that the Supreme Court determines appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Trade and Environment Enforcement Act or the Green 301 Act Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to take certain discretionary trade action against foreign countries that engage in unreasonable acts, policies, or practices that fail to enforce their environmental laws effectively. Directs the USTR to identify foreign country trade practices that affect negatively the environment of the United States, the foreign country, a third country, or internationally.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Supplemental Trade Review, Oversight, Noncompliance and General Enforcement Resources Act of 2015 or the STRONGER Act of 2015 Establishes in the U.S. Treasury the Trade Agreements Enforcement Trust Fund. Directs the Department of the Treasury to transfer to the Trust Fund an amount equal to $15 million of the countervailing duties and antidumping duties received in the Treasury for each fiscal year beginning after enactment of this Act. Limits the total amount of funds in the Trust Fund to $30 million. Authorizes the President to make sums in the Trust Fund available to: (1) the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to take specified actions relating to enforcement of free trade agreements; and (2) the USTR, the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Labor, and other departments and agencies with relevant expertise to take specified actions relating to implementation assistance and local capacity building under such agreements. Prohibits amounts made available in the Trust Fund from being used to negotiate any new free trade agreement. Directs the President to establish a permanent interagency committee to ensure that actions taken under under this Act relating to implementation assistance and local capacity building are effectively prioritized, targeted, coordinated, and implemented. Requires the United States to promote aid effectiveness and accountability through transparency, monitoring, evaluation, learning, and fostering local ownership and implementation of U.S. assistance through such activities by requiring the interagency committee to: (1) publish timely, comprehensive, and detailed information regarding such activities on a quarterly basis, consistent with the U.S. commitment to full compliance with the International Aid Transparency Initiative; (2) conduct evaluations that are independent, methodologically rigorous, made public in their entirety, and transmitted to the International Aid Transparency Initiative Registry; and (3) develop and implement procedures for ensuring that data and evaluation results inform decisionmaking and lead to the revision and promotion of best practices among relevant executive branch agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Inspectors General Transparency Act of 2015 Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to require an Inspector General who issues a work product in carrying out his or her duties and responsibilities to submit such work product to: (1) the head of each establishment reviewed in the work product, (2) the House Committees on Appropriations and Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committees on Appropriations and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; (3) the congressional committees of jurisdiction, (4) any individual or entity who initiated a request for such work product, and (5) any Member of Congress, upon request. Requires the posting of such work product on the website of the Office of Inspector General not later than three days after such work product is submitted in final form to the head of the establishment.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2015
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to eliminate the consumptive demand exception to the prohibition on the importation of goods made with convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
This bill amends the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 to repeal provisions providing for the sale of federal property and assets supporting the Department of Homeland Security's Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Indian Health Service Health Professions Tax Fairness Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income amounts received under the Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program and the Indian Health Professions Scholarships Program.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2015
Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to make permanent the authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Requires not less than 1.5% of the annual authorized funding amount or $10 million, whichever is greater, to be used for projects that secure recreational public access to existing federal public land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2015
Crude-By-Rail Safety Act This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to: establish, by regulation, an interim national standard for the maximum volatility (measured by the vapor pressure) of crude oil transported by rail within the United States; study the best methods for reliably measuring that volatility as well as the level of volatility consistent with the safest practicable shipment of crude oil by rail; issue a final rule establishing the maximum volatility of crude oil transported by rail; and issue also a final rule, based on specified safety standards, which requires that all new tank cars designed to transport a Class 3 flammable liquid meet or exceed the design standards set forth in a related Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. DOT shall prohibit immediately the shipment of oil or ethanol in: (1) any DOT-111 tank car that does not meet the requirements of Casualty Prevention Circular 1232, issued by the Association of American Railroads on August 31, 2011; or (2) any unjacketed CPC-1232 tank car. Tank cars retrofitted to meet or exceed certain design standards may, however, continue to transport oil or ethanol, but they must also be equipped with electronically controlled pneumatic brakes. Rail carriers must perform at least two additional internal rail inspections per calendar year than required by specified law as well as at least four track geometry inspections on routes that: (1) the rail carrier owns or has been assigned maintenance responsibility, and (2) over which one or more high-hazard flammable trains are operated. Any person offering oil for transportation shall complete spot inspections on 5% of all individual rail cars loaded with crude oil to: test and record the volatility of the crude oil in the cars, and ensure that the crude oil meets the interim national standard for maximum volatility established under this Act or any more restrictive volatility standard subsequently enacted. DOT shall also complete spot inspections on crude oil volatility to ensure that volatility standards are being met. Knowing violators of hazardous materials transportation law, of energy product inspections, and of rail inspections shall be subject to specified civil penalties. DOT shall: establish or expand safety programs relating to the transportation of energy products and other Class 3 flammable liquids by rail, pipeline, highway, and waterway; and publish a final rule revising certain oil spill prevention and response plan regulations to include specified requirements. No rail carrier may operate any high-hazard flammable train in any state until it has given specified information, including emergency response and contact information, to the Emergency Response Commission for that state and any local emergency planning committee along the route the train will operate. Rail carriers must collaborate to develop an inventory of emergency response resources along routes over which one or more high-hazard flammable trains operate for responding to worst case discharges resulting from accidents involving unit trains or blocks of tank cars transporting Class 3 flammable liquids. DOT shall: promulgate requirements for a railroad carrier to follow in establishing a confidential close call reporting system program meeting specified criteria, contract with the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences to study high-hazard flammable train liability, and conduct a comprehensive review of existing regulations for energy products transported by all modes of transportation.
![Official portrait of Rep. Kind, Ron [D-WI-3]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/116_rp_wi_3_kind_ron_200.jpg)