United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016
Improving Coal Combustion Residuals Regulation Act of 2016 This bill amends subtitle D (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act to establish a permit program for coal combustion residuals (coal ash) that states may elect to administer. The program outlines the criteria that a state must use if it chooses to adopt and enforce a permit program regulating the management and disposal of coal ash generated by electric utilities and independent power producers. The program applies to the disposal of coal ash into landfills or surface impoundments, sand or gravel pits, quarries, or lateral expansions of the structures. The structural criteria concern: (1) design, location, and integrity; (2) financial assurance; (3) groundwater and surface water protections; (4) closure procedures; and (5) air quality with respect to fugitive dust. A state that chooses to adopt a coal ash program is given sole enforcement authority. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must implement a program for a state if: (1) a state's program fails to meet those criteria, or (2) a state does not implement a program. The bill revises implementation of the EPA rule governing the disposal of coal ash, entitled "Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System; Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities." The rule may be implemented only through the permit program established by the bill. The agency implementing the permit program must ensure that certain information concerning the program is publicly available.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2016
Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2016 This bill declares that it is U.S. policy that all diplomatic and coercive economic means should be used to compel the government of Bashir al-Assad to halt the slaughter of the Syrian people and actively work toward transition to a democratic government. This bill directs the President to impose specified entry and U.S.-based property sanctions against a foreign person that knowingly provides significant financial, material, or technological support: (1) to the government of Syria and the Central Bank of Syria, including Syria's intelligence and security services or its armed forces, including through money laundering or with respect to Syria's gas or petroleum production or civilian aircraft services; and (2) that materially contributes to Syria's ability to acquire or develop ballistic missiles, chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons, or destabilizing numbers and types of advanced conventional weapons. The Syria Human Rights Accountability Act of 2012 is amended to direct the President to impose entry and U.S.-based property sanctions against persons responsible for or complicit in: (1) directing the commission of serious human rights abuses against citizens of Syria or their family members, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Syria; or (2) transferring to Syria certain military items or goods or technologies that may be used to commit human rights abuses. The Department of State and the Agency for International Development shall report on the monitoring and evaluation of ongoing assistance programs in Syria and to the Syrian people. The bill requires the President to: (1) submit an updated list of Syrian officials who are responsible for or complicit in the commission of serious human rights abuses against Syrian citizens, and (2) assess the potential effectiveness of a no-fly zone over Syria. The State Department shall provide assistance to entities taking criminal and evidence gathering actions for prosection of individuals who have committed crimes against humanity or war crimes in Syria since March 2011. The President may suspend sanctions against Syria under specified conditions. The bill: (1) expresses the sense of Congress with respect to a transitional government in Syria, and (2) sets forth activities and transactions that are exempt from sanctions.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2016
Postal Service Financial Improvement Act of 2016 This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to: (1) invest a specified percentage of the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, using one or more qualified professional asset managers, in index funds modeled after those established for Thrift Savings Fund investments; and (2) ensure that the investment replicates the performance of the longest-term target date asset allocation investment fund established by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. The bill establishes the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund Investment Committee, which Treasury shall consult regarding such investments. The "specified percentage" to be invested is defined as 25% of the currently available portions of the fund as are not immediately required for payments from the fund, except that the committee may specify a higher percentage, not to exceed 30%, not earlier than five years after this bill's enactment and as appropriate thereafter. Treasury shall annually engage an independent qualified public accountant to audit the financial statements of such investments and shall submit an annual management report that includes: statements of financial position, operations, and cash flows; a statement on internal accounting and administrative control systems; the report resulting from the audit; and any other comments and information necessary to inform Congress about the operations and financial condition of the investments.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2016
Pre-College Engineering Education Act This bill establishes a grant program to encourage, through public-private partnerships, the development and implementation by states and local educational agencies of sustainable engineering education programs in elementary and secondary schools. The National Science Foundation (NSF) shall administer the program. Grantees may use funds to: research, review, and analyze the effectiveness of existing research-based instructional materials; select or develop new research-based instructional materials; teach students the overall analytical approached used in engineering; prepare students who may pursue engineering studies in college or enter careers related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; increase participation of underrepresented student groups in the engineering pipeline; and provide professional development for teachers to teach pre-college engineering. The NSF shall study and report on program activities and results.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2016
Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act of 2016 This bill prohibits the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from considering the social cost of carbon or methane as part of any cost benefit analysis, unless a federal law is enacted authorizing such consideration. The EPA must report on the number of proposed and final rulemakings, guidance documents, and agency actions since January 2009 that use either of those social costs, including as part of any cost benefit analysis required under Executive Order 12866 and other relevant authorities.
United States · United States Congress · 6 July 2016
Sarah's Law This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the detention of an alien: (1) who was not inspected and admitted into the United States, who held a revoked nonimmigrant visa (or other nonimmigrant admission document), or who is deportable for failing to maintain nonimmigrant status; and (2) who has been charged in the United States with a crime that resulted in the death or serious bodily injury of another person. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shall make reasonable efforts to: obtain information about the identity of any victims of the crimes for which such alien was charged or convicted; and provide the victim, or a parent, guardian, spouse, or closest living relative of a deceased victim, with information about such alien, including name, date of birth, nationality, immigration status, criminal history, and a description of any related removal efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 6 July 2016
Recognizes on behalf of the United States the dedicated service and ultimate sacrifice of the 11 African-American soldiers of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion of the United States Army who were massacred in Wereth, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge on December 17, 1944. Calls on the Senate Armed Services Committee to correct the omission in the 1949 report of its subcommittee and appropriately recognize the Wereth 11.
United States · United States Congress · 5 July 2016
Sarah's Law This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the detention of an alien: (1) who was not inspected and admitted into the United States, who held a revoked nonimmigrant visa (or other nonimmigrant admission document), or who is deportable for failing to maintain nonimmigrant status; and (2) who has been charged in the United States with a crime that resulted in the death or serious bodily injury of another person. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shall make reasonable efforts to: obtain information about the identity of any victims of the crimes for which such alien was charged or convicted; and provide the victim, or a parent, guardian, spouse, or closest living relative of a deceased victim, with information about such alien, including name, date of birth, nationality, immigration status, criminal history, and a description of any related removal efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 5 July 2016
This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal to Larry Doby in recognition of his achievements and contributions to American major league athletics, civil rights, and the Armed Forces during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 5 July 2016
Requires both chambers of Congress to assemble annually in the Hall of the House of Representatives to receive a presentation from the Comptroller General on the Government Accountability Office's audited financial statement of the accounts and associated activities of the executive branch, together with an analysis of the financial position and condition of the federal government.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2016
State Sponsors of Terrorism Review Enhancement Act This bill amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Arms Export Control Act, and the Export Administration Act of 1979, with respect to the rescission of a determination of a country as a state sponsor of terrorism, to require that the President has submitted to Congress a report justifying such rescission 90 days (currently 45 days) prior to the rescission taking effect, which certifies that the government concerned has not provided support for international terrorism during the preceding 24 months (currently 6 months). No such rescission under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or the Export Administration Act of 1979 may be made if Congress, within 90 days after receipt of such a presidential report, enacts a joint resolution pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act prohibiting such rescission.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2016
Recognizes the Boy Scouts of America for over 100 years of promoting community service and leadership development. Encourages the Boy Scouts of America to continue to emphasize character building, responsible citizenship, and outdoor stewardship. Applauds the Boy Scouts of America for instilling the values of the Scout Oath and the Scout Law in young Americans. Congratulates the Boy Scouts of America on the 100th anniversary of June 15, 1916, the day it was granted a federal charter.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2016
Caring Recovery for Infants and Babies Act or the CRIB Act This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to allow a state Medicaid program to cover inpatient or outpatient services at a residential pediatric recovery center for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (a postnatal drug withdrawal syndrome) and their families.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2016
This bill redesignates as the "Nancy Reagan Memorial Park" the Gravelly Point Park located along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Arlington County, Virginia.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2016
Protecting Internet Freedom Act This bill prohibits the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information from allowing the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's responsibility for Internet domain name system functions, including the authoritative root zone file and the performance of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority functions, to cease unless a federal statute enacted after enactment of this bill expressly grants the Assistant Secretary such authority. The Assistant Secretary must certify to Congress that the U.S. government has: (1) secured sole ownership of the .gov and .mil top-level domains, and (2) entered into a contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers that provides the U.S. government with exclusive control and use of those domains in perpetuity.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2016
Air Traffic Controller Hiring Improvement Act of 2016 This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in appointing air traffic controllers, to give preferential consideration to qualified individuals maintaining 52 consecutive weeks of experience involving the active separation of air traffic after receipt of an air traffic certification or facility rating within 5 years of application while serving at an FAA air traffic control facility, a civilian or military air traffic control facility of the Department of Defense, or a tower operating under contract with the FAA. The FAA shall consider additional applicants by referring an approximately equal number of employees for appointment among two applicant pools. The number referred from each group shall not differ by more than 10%. Pool one shall consist of applicants who: have successfully completed air traffic controller training and graduated from an institution participating in the Collegiate Training Initiative program and have received an appropriate recommendation or endorsement from such institution, are eligible for a veterans recruitment appointment and provide a Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty within 120 days of the announcement closing, are veterans eligible for veterans' benefits who maintain aviation experience obtained in the course of the individual's military experience, or are preference eligible veterans. Pool two shall consist of applicants who apply under a vacancy announcement recruiting from all U.S. citizens. The FAA: (1) may not use a biographical assessment when hiring, (2) must provide an individual who applied in response to a specified 2014 vacancy announcement and was disqualified as the result of a biographical assessment an opportunity to reapply under the revised hiring practices, and (3) must waive any maximum age limit for such reapplying applicants who met such requirement when they applied under such announcement. Otherwise, the maximum age limit for an original appointment as an air traffic controller under this bill shall be 35 years of age. The FAA shall consider directly notifying secondary schools and institutes of higher learning of a vacancy announcement for pool one applicants.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2016
Certainty for States and Tribes Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to reestablish the Royalty Policy Committee, which should include members representing states and Indian tribes who produce minerals on federal or tribal land. In addition, Interior must establish a State and Tribal Resources Board, a subcommittee to the Royalty Policy Committee. The board and committee must advise Interior as it formulates policies and regulations regarding mineral production on federal and tribal lands. The board can delay the issuance of a final regulation by Interior if the board determines that such regulation will have a negative state or Tribal budgetary or economic impact. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) must complete by January 15, 2019, its programmatic review of the federal coal leasing program as described in Secretarial Order 3338. Secretarial Order 3338 directed the BLM to prepare a discretionary review of the federal coal program. (Interior issued Secretarial Order 3338 on January 15, 2016.) The moratorium on the issuance of new federal coal leases by the BLM shall terminate on January 16, 2019. Additionally, the bill allows leases and modifications to be issued by the BLM for any coal leasing application currently under review. Secretarial Order 3338 prohibited approval of such leases and modifications. The bill also directs the BLM to conduct federal coal lease sales and modifications within one year after it completes an analysis of an application.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2016
DUI Reporting Act of 2016 This bill requires a state or local government that receives funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program to enact a law or policy to ensure that law enforcement agencies report arrests involving driving under the influence to the National Crime Information Center. The Department of Justice (DOJ) must reduce by up to 20% the JAG allocation of a state or local government that fails to comply.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2016
Safe Treatments and Opportunities to Prevent Pain Act or the STOP Pain Act This bill authorizes the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to intensify and coordinate NIH research into the understanding of pain, therapies for chronic pain, and alternatives to opioids (drugs with effects similar to opium) for pain treatments. The prioritization and direction of federally funded pain research must consider recommendations made by the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2016
Reaffirms: that Israel is a major U.S. strategic partner, that it is U.S. policy and law to ensure that Israel maintains its qualitative military edge and self-defense capacity, and support of an Israeli tiered missile defense program. Urges finalization of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Israel. Supports a long-term Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Israel that increases the amount of aid from previous agreements and enhances Israel's military capabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2016
Patient Access to Durable Medical Equipment Act of 2016 or the PADME Act This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish a bid ceiling for durable medical equipment (such as wheelchairs) under Medicare's competitive acquisition program, through which rates are set according to a bidding process rather than by an established fee schedule. Specifically, the bid ceiling for such an item shall not be less than the fee schedule amount that would otherwise be determined. Under current law, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must use payment information from competitive acquisition programs to make payment adjustments for areas outside of such programs. The bill requires CMS, in making these adjustments, to account for stakeholder input. In addition, CMS must account for a comparison of competitive acquisition areas and other areas with respect to the following factors: average travel distance and cost associated with furnishing items and services, barriers to access, average delivery time, average volume of items and services furnished by suppliers, and number of suppliers. In addition, CMS shall delay by 15 months the full implementation of new Medicare payment rates for durable medical equipment. On a monthly basis, CMS must publish on its website the results of the monitoring of health outcomes and Medicare beneficiaries' access to durable medical equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2016
American Manufacturing and Worker Protection Act of 2016 This bill amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to direct the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to distribute semiannually all funds (including any interest earned) from duties assessed pursuant to a countervailing duty order or antidumping duty order or finding (antidumping and subsidy protection amount) to affected domestic producers for qualifying expenditures and cash to eligible employees. The term "affected domestic producer" means a currently operating manufacturer or producer that was a petitioner or interested party in support of a petition for which an antidumping duty order, finding, or countervailing duty order has been entered. The term "eligible employee" of an affected domestic producer means an individual who: (1) has been totally or partially separated from employment with that producer because of dumping or a subsidy for which an antidumping duty order, finding, or countervailing duty order has been entered; or (2) is an employee of the affected domestic producer at the time a distribution is made. The term "qualifying expenditures" means certain expenditures incurred by an affected domestic producer after the issuance of an antidumping duty order, finding, or countervailing duty order. The CBP shall establish in the Treasury a special account for each such order or finding and to deposit in those accounts all funds (including any interest earned) from antidumping or countervailing duties assessed on or after October 1, 2016. The requirements of this bill shall apply with respect to goods from Canada and Mexico.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2016
Food and Fuel Consumer Protection Act of 2016 This bill amends the Clean Air Act by revising the renewable fuel program, which requires transportation fuel to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuel. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must cap the total volume of ethanol blended into the transportation fuel supply at 9.7% of projected gasoline demand as determined by the Energy Information Administration.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2016
Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Coin Act of 2016 This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 350,000 $1 silver coins in commemoration of Christa McAuliffe. The design of the coins shall bear an image of and the name of Christa McAuliffe on the obverse side and a design on the reverse side that depicts the legacy of McAuliffe as a teacher. Treasury may issue the coins from January 1-December 31, 2018. All surcharges received by Treasury from the sale of the coins shall be paid to the FIRST robotics program for the purpose of engaging and inspiring young people, through mentor-based programs, to become leaders in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2016
Assisting America's Dislocated Miners Act of 2016 This bill establishes within the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration a Dislocated Miners Assistance Program. The program shall contract with comprehensive career centers to: identify miners who have been dislocated from their employment in mining jobs across the United States; assess the skills, training, and education such miners need to find and hold new jobs; identify job training programs that would provide such training and education; and provide grants to eligible job training providers to recruit and train such miners and assist them in finding new employment. A comprehensive career center or job training provider eligible to receive a grant under this bill shall be a nonprofit organization with demonstrated success in coordinating or providing necessary training and education to enable dislocated miners to acquire marketable skills to find and hold jobs in areas where they live.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2016
Make America Competitive Act of 2016 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow corporations to elect a 10% tax rate on their taxable income if such corporations: (1) offer their full-time employees group health insurance coverage, (2) offer such employees a defined contribution pension plan, (3) provide their employees with regular pay increases, and (4) make additional social security contributions for employees who do not have a defined benefit pension plan. Such corporations may also elect to repatriate their current and accumulated foreign earnings at a 5% tax rate. The bill amends title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to increase the primary insurance amount (the retirement benefit a social security recipient would receive if benefits are taken at normal retirement age) of employees for whom additional social security contributions are made under this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2016
Jessie's Law This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to permit disclosure of patient records relating to substance abuse with the patient's oral consent or the consent of the patient's parent, legal guardian, or spouse. (Currently, disclosure is permitted only with the patient's written consent.) Interchange of such records is permitted within accountable care organizations, health information exchanges, and integrated care arrangements for purposes of attaining interoperability, improving care coordination, reducing health care costs, and securing or providing patient safety. The Department of Health and Human Services must develop and disseminate standards for hospitals and physicians regarding displaying a patient's history of opioid addiction in the patient's medical records with the patient's consent.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2016
This bill bars the Department of Transportation (DOT) from issuing a foreign air carrier permit, or an exemption from certain economic regulations, to furnish foreign air transportation under the United States-European Union-Norway-Iceland Air Transport Agreement of June 21, 2011, unless DOT: finds that issuing the permit or exemption would be consistent with the intent of the parties, set forth in article 17 bis of the agreement, that opportunities created by the agreement do not undermine labor standards or the labor-related rights and principles contained in the parties' respective laws; and imposes conditions on the permit or exemption necessary to ensure that the foreign air transportation furnished complies with the intent of article 17 bis .
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2016
Clarify Workers Misclassification in the Construction Industry Act This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to initiate an enforcement initiative to increase tax compliance in the construction industry. The initiative must include: consultations with industry experts and leaders on its scope and priorities, targeted tax audits of major construction contractors that may not be in compliance with federal tax laws, civil and criminal tax enforcement actions under existing authorities, and educational efforts aimed at increasing voluntary tax compliance in the construction industry. Treasury must promulgate rules and issue guidance to reclassify individuals who are not currently being treated as employees consistent with the proper classification of employees under common law standards within the construction industry. In implementing this bill, Treasury must: (1) reassign personnel and resources from other activities to carry out this bill, and (2) report to Congress on the implementation and recommendations for further congressional action. The Government Accountability Office must study the various forms of tax fraud (including employee misclassification) in the construction industry, efforts to combat fraud, and recommendations for further action.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2016
Steel Industry Preservation Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend and modify the production tax credit for steel industry fuel. (Under current law, steel industry fuel is a fuel which is: (1) produced through a process of liquefying coal waste sludge and distributing it on coal, and (2) used as a feedstock for the manufacture of coke.) The bill modifies the tax credit for steel industry fuel to: extend the credit period and the placed-in-service date, revise the definition of "steel industry fuel" to allow blends of coal and petroleum coke or other coke feedstock in the fuel, set forth ownership requirements, and specify requirements for treating an owner as producing and selling steel industry fuel. A taxpayer that produces steel industry fuel may elect to accept an increased tax credit in lieu of certain deductions for expenses in connection with the production of steel industry fuel. The bill specifies the treatment of the credit for the purpose of the alternative minimum tax. It also exempts transactions related to steel industry fuel from rules that restrict deductions and other tax benefits for activities that are not engaged in for profit or that do not have economic substance.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2016
Advanced Nuclear Technology Development Act of 2016 This bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to enter into a memorandum of understanding to: ensure that DOE has sufficient technical expertise to support the civilian nuclear industry's timely development and commercial deployment of safe, innovative advanced reactor technology; ensure that the NRC has sufficient technical expertise to support the evaluation of requests for regulatory approval for advanced reactors; use computers and software codes to calculate the behavior and performance of advanced reactors based on mathematical models of their physical behavior; and ensure that the DOE maintains and develops the facilities to support the civilian nuclear industry's timely development and commercial deployment of safe, innovative reactor technology and ensuring that the NRC has access to such facilities, as needed. DOE must submit a report to Congress within 180 days evaluating activities intended to facilitate the testing and demonstration of advanced reactors on DOE land and facilities and the potential for DOE to test and demonstrate on private land. In addition, the NRC is required to develop a regulatory framework for licensing advanced nuclear reactors. This bill amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to require that the aggregate amount of fees collected by the NRC from licensees and certificate holders in a fiscal year be decreased by the amount of appropriations for activities related to the development of regulatory infrastructure for advanced nuclear reactor technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2016
This bill provides that the monthly stipend under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance program for a member of the reserve components of the Armed Forces who is pursuing a program of education using assistance under such program and performing certain active duty service shall be payable on a pro rata basis for the period of such month in which the individual is not performing active duty service.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2016
Free File Act of 2016 This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to continue to operate the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Free File Program. The program must work with state government agencies to enhance and expand the use of the program, while continuing to: provide free commercial-type online individual income tax preparation and electronic filing services to the lowest 70% of taxpayers by income; provide all taxpayers (regardless of income) with a basic, online electronic fillable forms utility; and work with the private sector to provide the free tax preparation and electronic filing services. Treasury must work with the private sector through the program to identify and implement innovative new program features to improve and simplify the taxpayer's experience with completing and filing individual income tax returns. The IRS and members of the tax software and electronic industry involved in the program must support and promote improvements within the program by mutually testing, piloting, and offering innovative solutions to: simplify the tax system, reduce compliance and reporting burdens, increase tax return accuracy through financial data authentication, strengthen the tax system against fraud through cybersecurity collaboration, avoid duplication, and maximize the use of electronic technology.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2016
Biennial Commission on Energy Policy Act of 2016 This bill amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to establish the Biennial Commission on Energy Policy. The commission must be composed of 15 members from a diverse group of industries and political party affiliations with no federal, state, or local officers or employees. The commission must: carry out specific analytical and research tasks related to a broad range of energy issues; and report to Congress on its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for legislative and administrative actions to create an integrated and comprehensive national energy policy for the United States. This bill replaces provisions requiring the President to submit a biennial National Energy Policy Plan.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2016
Kevin and Avonte's Law of 2016 Missing Americans Alert Program Act of 2016 This bill amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to revise and rename the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program as the Missing Americans Alert Program and to reauthorize it through FY2021. It directs the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Bureau of Justice Assistance to award grants to state and local law enforcement or public safety agencies and nonprofit organizations to prevent wandering and locate missing individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities. DOJ must establish and certain grant recipients must comply with standards and best practices related to the use of tracking technology to locate missing individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities. The bill amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to specify that, with respect to training and technical assistance provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, cases involving missing and exploited children include cases involving children with developmental disabilities such as autism.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2016
Making Electronic Government Accountable By Yielding Tangible Efficiencies Act of 2016 or the MEGABYTE Act of 2016 This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue a directive to require the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of each executive agency to develop a comprehensive software licensing policy, which shall: (1) require the CIO of each agency to establish a comprehensive inventory of software licenses; (2) track and maintain such licenses; (3) analyze software usage to make cost-effective decisions; (4) provide software license management training; (5) establish goals and objectives of the agency's software license management program; and (6) consider the software license management life cycle phases to implement effective decision making and incorporate existing standards, processes, and metrics. The CIO of each executive agency must report to OMB, beginning in the first fiscal year after this Act's enactment and in each of the following five fiscal years, on the savings from improved software license management.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2016
Controlling the Unchecked and Reckless Ballooning of Lifeline Act of 2016 or the CURB Lifeline Act of 2016 This bill prohibits the total amount of annual support that may be provided through the Lifeline program of the Federal Communications Commission from exceeding $1.5 billion. Support provided through the Lifeline program may not be applied to: (1) any amount charged to a consumer for the sale, lease, or other provision of a mobile telephone or similar device; or (2) mobile service if the service offering is limited to voice communications service.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2016
Working Families Relief Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase and expand tax incentives for employer-provided dependent care assistance. The bill increases the limit on the amount excludible from the gross income of an employee for employer-provided dependent care assistance and requires annual inflation adjustments to such increased limit after 2017. The bill also establishes tax credits for: (1) small employer dependent care assistance program start-up costs, and (2) employer matching contributions for dependent care assistance programs.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2016
Energy and American Security Act This bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should take appropriate actions to prohibit energy production by the Islamic State and its ability to profit from energy production revenues, and (2) U.S. national energy policy should include consideration of national security. The Department of Energy may provide technical assistance to the Armed Forces regarding Armed Forces activities to address Islamic State energy resources. Such assistance may include identifying: (1) energy resources and related revenue streams; and (2) methods to hinder, destroy, or discourage the development, transportation, and sale of such energy resources. "Islamic State" means the Islamic State, any affiliate, or any immediate successor organization.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2016
Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2016 This bill amends the Clean Air Act by revising the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) program. The bill delays the implementation of the ozone NAAQS that were published in 2015. The bill extends until: (1) October 26, 2024, the deadline for states to submit designations to implement the 2015 ozone NAAQS; and (2) October 26, 2025, the deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate state areas as attainment, nonattainment, or unclassifiable areas with respect to the 2015 ozone NAAQS. States must submit a state implementation plan (SIP) by October 26, 2026, to implement, maintain, and enforce the 2015 ozone NAAQS. The bill also changes the review cycle for criteria pollutant NAAQS from a 5-year review cycle to a 10-year review cycle. The EPA may not complete its next review of ozone NAAQS before October 26, 2025. The EPA may consider, as a secondary consideration, likely technological feasibility in establishing and revising NAAQS for a pollutant if a range of air quality levels for such pollutant are requisite to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety. Prior to establishing or revising NAAQS, the EPA must obtain advice from its scientific advisory committee regarding potential adverse public health, welfare, social, economic, or energy effects which may result from attaining and maintaining NAAQS. The EPA must publish regulations and guidance for implementing NAAQS concurrently with the issuance of a new or revised standard. New or revised NAAQS shall not apply to preconstruction permits for constructing or modifying a major emitting facility or major stationary source of air pollutants until those regulations and guidance have been published. The bill provides that in Extreme Ozone Nonattainment Areas, contingency measures are not required to be included in nonattainment plans. Technological achievability and economic feasibility must be taken into consideration in plan revisions for milestones for particulate matter nonattainment areas.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2016
Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act This bill declares that the proposed or the final rule of the Department of Labor entitled "Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees" shall cease to have any force or effect. The rule revises the "white collar" exemption of executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, and computer employees from minimum wage and maximum hour, or overtime, requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). If the proposed rule is a final rule on the date of enactment of this bill: Labor shall not enforce it based on conduct occurring before that enactment date, an employee shall not have any right of action against an employer for the employer's failure to comply with the final rule at any time before that enactment date, any regulations that were amended by the final rule shall be restored and revived as if the final rule had never taken effect, and nothing in this bill shall be construed to create a right of action for an employer against an employee for the recoupment of any payments made to the employee before the enactment of this bill that were in compliance with that final rule. Labor may promulgate any substantially similar rule only if it has completed certain required actions; but the rule shall not contain any automatic updates to the salary threshold for purposes of exemptions to minimum wage and maximum hour requirements under the FLSA. The requirement that definitions applicable for such exemptions be defined and delimited from time to time by Labor regulations shall be construed to: require Labor to issue a new rule through notice and comment rulemaking for each change in any salary threshold it has proposed; and exclude any rule that would result in changes to any salary threshold for multiple time periods, including through any automatic updating procedure. Labor may not promulgate any final rule that includes any revision to duties tests for exemption from minimum wage and maximum hours requirements unless specific regulatory text for the provision was proposed in the proposed rule.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2016
This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award on behalf of the Congress of a single gold medal to American military personnel who fought in defense of Bataan, Corregidor, Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippine Archipelago between December 7, 1941, and May 10, 1942, and who died or were imprisoned by the Japanese military in the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Wake Island, and Guam from April 9, 1942, until September 2, 1945, in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service to their country. Following its award the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution where it shall be displayed and made available for research. The bill expresses the sense of the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal available for display at other locations, particularly locations associated with these American military prisoners.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2016
Unauthorized Spending Accountability Act This bill establishes a three-year reauthorization, rescission, and termination schedule for unauthorized programs funded through the annual appropriations process. The schedule applies to programs included in the Congressional Budget Office's annual report listing programs that are funded through the appropriations process and have an authorization of appropriations that has either expired or will expire during the year. After a program's authorization has expired, the bill limits the program's funding in the first year to 90% of the funds provided in the expiring year, reduces the limit to 85% for the second and third years, and terminates the program at the end of the third year. The bill enforces the limits by rescinding any funds that exceed the limit. The Office of Management and Budget must reduce discretionary spending limits by the amount of any rescissions. Programs that are reauthorized during the three-year period are exempt from the limits, rescissions, and termination if the reauthorization includes a provision limiting the authorization of appropriations period to no more than three years. The bill establishes the Spending and Accountability Commission to recommend a reauthorization schedule for discretionary spending programs and review all mandatory spending programs. The commission may recommend legislation to replace the funding limits and rescissions required by this bill with reductions in mandatory spending. The commission's reauthorization schedule must limit reauthorizations to three years, include the funding limits and rescissions established by this bill, and establish a mechanism for replacing the limitations and rescissions with reductions to mandatory spending programs. The House of Representatives must consider the proposal using expedited legislative procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2016
Advancing CCUS Technology Act This bill amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to direct the Department of Energy (DOE) to carry out research and develop technology to improve the conversion, use, and storage of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels. It also revises the program of research and commercial application for coal and power systems to require DOE, during each fiscal year after FY2016, to identify cost and performance goals for technologies allowing large-scale demonstration and the continued cost-competitive commercial use of coal. DOE must annually evaluate and make recommendations regarding any project it has entered into with a public or private entity to develop carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration technologies. DOE must report to Congress, within two years and every three years thereafter, regarding the project evaluations it has conducted and the progress it has made in advancing carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2016
Merrill's Marauders Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design to the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), commonly known as Merrill's Marauders, in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service in the jungles of Burma during World War II. Following its award the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution where it will be displayed and made available for research. It is the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received under this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly at other locations and events associated with Merrill's Marauders.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2016
School-Based Asthma Management Program Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to add requirements that states must meet to receive a preference for asthma grants. (Currently, the preference is given to states that meet requirements regarding administration of epinephrine to students having severe allergic reactions.) To receive the preference, states must additionally: (1) provide civil liability protection to trained school personnel who administer asthma-related rescue medication to a student with asthma; and (2) require schools to permit trained school personnel to administer asthma-related rescue medication to students with asthma, maintain a supply of asthma-related rescue medication, and have a comprehensive asthma management program.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2016
Stop Postal Closures Act of 2016 This bill prohibits the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from: (1) closing or consolidating any postal facility without the approval of the Postal Regulatory Commission, or (2) closing or consolidating any postal facility or carrying out any network rationalization activity until the Commission has certified that the USPS has met the national service standards that were in effect on July 1, 2012, and that are reinstated by this Act. For purposes of such prohibitions, "postal facility" means a USPS facility that is primarily involved in the preparation, dispatch, or other physical processing of mail but does not include: (1) any post office, station, or branch; or (2) any facility used only for administrative functions. Before making a determination to close or consolidate a postal facility, the USPS must conduct an area mail processing study, which includes: (1) a plan to reduce the capacity of the facility without closing it; and (2) an analysis of the effects of the closure or consolidation on the community, on small businesses, and on specified postal services to individuals. If the USPS makes a determination to close or consolidate a postal facility after completing such study, it shall: (1) provide specified notice to Congress, the Commission, the public, and each person in the zip code served by such facility; (2) conduct at least three meetings to receive public comments; and (3) publish a justification of such determination. The Commission shall have 90 days to approve or disapprove the closure or consolidation. The Commission shall determine annually if the USPS is meeting the national service standards for market-dominant products. If the Commission finds that the USPS is not meeting such standards, it may recommend corrective actions and reasonable performance targets. The Postmaster General shall respond within 60 days after receiving such recommendations on how the USPS will change operations to achieve them.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2016
Building Rail Access for Customers and the Economy Act or the BRACE Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax credit for railroad track maintenance.
![Official portrait of Rep. McKinley, David B. [R-WV-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m001180_200.jpg)