United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2013
Low Value Shipment Regulatory Modernization Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) should encourage other countries, through bilateral, regional, and multilateral fora, to establish commercially meaningful de minimis values for express and postal shipments of articles that are exempt from customs duties and certain entry documentation requirements, as appropriate. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to increase from $200 to $800 for 2014, and to $800 adjusted annually for inflation after 2014, the aggregate retail value in the country of shipment of articles that may be imported duty-free into the United States by one person on one day.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2013
Rural Health Clinic Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend Medicare: (1) electronic health record (EHR) incentives to eligible professionals practicing in rural health clinics, and (2) electronic prescribing (eRx) and quality reporting incentives to such clinics. Revises requirements for incentive payments to such professionals who are meaningful EHR users or who submit to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) satisfactory quality data reports. Directs the Secretary to reduce the applicable incentive payments that would otherwise be determined by a budget-neutral amount calculated according to a specified formula to ensure that estimated aggregate payments are not increased as a result of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2013
United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013 - Declares that Israel is a major strategic partner of the United States. Amends the Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 to extend authority to: (1) make additions to foreign-based defense stockpiles, and (2) transfer certain obsolete or surplus Department of Defense (DOD) items to Israel. Authorizes the President to carry out U.S.-Israel cooperative activities and to provide assistance for cooperation in the fields of energy, water, homeland security, agriculture, and alternative fuel technologies. Amends the the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to extend the grant program for U.S.-Israeli cooperation on research, development, and commercialization of renewable energy or energy efficiency. Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States and Israel should increase cyber-security cooperation. Urges the President to provide assistance for enhancement of the David's Sling Weapon System, the joint United States-Israel Arrow Weapon System, and the Iron Dome short-range rocket defense system. States that it shall be U.S. policy to include Israel in the visa waiver program when Israel satisfies such program's inclusion requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2013
Health Care Conscience Rights Act - Amends title I of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to declare that nothing in such title shall require an individual to purchase individual health insurance coverage that includes coverage of an abortion or other item or service to which the individual has a moral or religious objection, or prevent an issuer from offering or issuing, to that individual, individual coverage excluding such item or service. Makes similar denials about requiring a sponsor to sponsor, purchase, or provide such coverage, or a health insurance issuer or group health plan sponsor to cover an abortion or other item or service to which the sponsor or issuer has a moral or religious objection. Denies also that such title authorizes imposition of a tax, penalty, fee, fine, or other sanction, or imposition of coverage of such an item or service, in relation to health insurance coverage or a group health plan that excludes such an item or service. Amends the Public Health Service Act to codify the prohibition against any action by the federal government and any state or local government receiving federal financial assistance to subject a health professional, a hospital, a provider-sponsored organization, a health maintenance organization, an accountable care organization, a health insurance plan, or any other kind of health care facility, organization, or plan to discrimination on the basis that the entity refuses to participate in abortion-related activities. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to designate the Director of the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to receive and investigate complaints alleging a violation of abortion discrimination prohibition. Creates a cause of action for the Attorney General or any person or entity adversely affected to obtain equitable or legal relief for any violation of this abortion discrimination prohibition. Allows commencement of an action to be commenced and the granting of relief without a prerequisite pursuit of administrative remedies. Allows such an action against a federal or state governmental entity.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2013
Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Technology Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover, as medical and other health services, complex rehabilitation technology items designed and configured for a specific qualified individual to meet that individual's unique: (1) medical, physical, and functional needs related to a medical condition; and (2) capacities for basic activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental ADLs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) designate complex rehabilitation technology items (excluding adaptive equipment to operate motor vehicles or certain prosthetic devices and orthotics); and (2) establish eligibility criteria for them. Prescribes requirements for payments for CRT items. Directs the Secretary to establish standards for clinical conditions for CRT item payment as well as quality standards for suppliers of such items. Directs the Secretary to establish a Healthcare Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) coding subset that uses specified HCPCS codes for CRT items. Requires payment for replacement of a CRT item (or any part of one), without regard to certain continuous use or useful lifetime restrictions established for items of durable medical equipment (DME), if a qualified ordering practitioner determines that a replacement item (or part) is necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2013
National Health Service Corps Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise the definition of "primary health services" for purposes of the National Health Service Corps to include optometry health services. Includes optometrists within: (1) the fellowship program for the delivery of primary health services in health professional shortage areas, (2) the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program, and (3) the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2013
Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Women's History Museum Act of 2013 - Establishes the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Women's History Museum. Requires the Commission to: (1) report recommendations for a plan of action for, and develop a fundraising plan for public contributions to support, the establishment and maintenance of a National Women's History Museum in Washington, D.C.; and (2) submit a legislative plan of action to establish and construct the Museum. Directs the Commission's recommendations to address issues including the impact of the Museum on regional women history-related museums, whether it should be part of the Smithsonian Institution, and the cost of constructing, operating, and maintaining the Museum and acquiring its collections. Prohibits federal funds from being obligated to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2013
Nuclear Iran Prevention Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of State to determine if Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) meets the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization and: (1) if so, designate the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization; and (2) if not, report to Congress concerning those criteria which have not been met. Expresses the sense of Congress regarding the imposition of sanctions on certain Iranian government persons responsible for, or complicit in, human rights abuses, diversion of food and medicine, and censorship. Amends the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 to subject to mandatory sanctions a financial institution that facilitates a significant transaction or provides significant financial services for a person that: (1) is subject to human rights-related sanctions, or (2) exports sensitive technology to Iran and is subject to the prohibition on procurement contracts. Amends the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 to authorize the President to impose sanctions on a foreign person that knowingly conducted or facilitated a significant financial transaction with the Central Bank of Iran or other Iranian financial institution subject to sanctions for the purchase of goods (other than petroleum or petroleum products) or services by or from a person in Iran, or on behalf of a person in Iran. Excludes from such sanctions a transaction for the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine or medical devices to Iran. Directs the President to impose specified sanctions on a foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitated a significant financial transaction on behalf of any person directly or indirectly owned or controlled by an Iranian person included on the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Revises the exception to the imposition of sanctions for purchases of Iranian petroleum or petroleum products. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should coordinate with the European Union (EU) and its member states to restrict Iran's access to the euro currency. Directs the President to develop a National Strategy on Iran that provides strategic guidance for addressing threats posed by Iran. Directs the President to report to Congress every 60 days regarding the Iranian nuclear timetable and the projected economic effects of international sanctions on Iran. Requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report to Congress regarding presidential implementation of specified sanctions on Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2013
Diagnostic Imaging Services Access Protection Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to payments for physician services, to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from applying a multiple procedure payment reduction policy to the professional component of imaging services until the Secretary publishes in the Federal Register: (1) an analysis of the information used in the final rule to implement the physician fee schedule in 2013 to determine what, if any, efficiences exist within the professional component of imaging services when two or more studies are performed on the same patient on the same day; and (2) detailed information on which activities in the vignettes in such rule were assigned specified reduction percentages, how such percentage reductions for the pre-, intra-, and post-service work were determined and calculated, and the clinical aspects that went into those decisions.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2013
Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to discontinue issuing to any new profit or non-profit or governmental entity special wage certificates (which permit individuals with disabilities, including individuals employed in agriculture, to be paid at lower than minimum wages). Prescribes requirements for a three-year phase-out of all certificates. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to repeal authority and requirements for the issuance of such certificates three years after enactment of this Act. Requires revocation of any certificates remaining at that time.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2013
National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013 - Deems a domestic mine that will provide strategic and critical minerals to be an "infrastructure project" as described in Presidential Order "Improving Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infrastructure Projects" dated March 22, 2012. Sets forth the responsibilities of the lead agency (federal, state, local, tribal, or Alaska Native Corporation) with responsibility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine permit with respect to project coordination, agency consultation, project proponents, contractors, and the status and scope of any environmental impact statement. Requires the lead agency to determine that any such action would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) if the procedural and substantive safeguards of the lead agency's permitting process alone, any applicable state permitting process alone, or a combination of the two processes together provide an adequate mechanism to ensure that environmental factors are taken into account. Requires the lead agency's project lead, at a project proponent's request, to enter into an agreement with the project proponent and other cooperating agencies that sets time limits for each part of the permit review process. Applies this Act to a mineral exploration or mine permit for which an application was submitted before enactment of this Act if the applicant so requests in writing. Requires the lead agency to begin implementing this Act with respect to such application within 30 days after receiving such a request. Requires the lead agency, with respect to strategic and critical materials within a federally administered unit of the National Forest System, to: (1) exempt from federal regulations governing Special Areas all areas of identified mineral resources in Land Use Designations (other than Non-Development Land Use Designations); (2) apply such exemption to all additional routes and areas that the agency finds necessary to facilitate the construction, operation, maintenance, and restoration of the areas of the identified mineral resources; and (3) continue to apply such exemptions after approval of the Minerals Plan of Operations for the unit. Declares the priority of the lead agency is to maximize mineral resource development while mitigating environmental impacts, so that more of the mineral resource can be brought to the market place. Prescribes the Federal Register notice process for mineral exploration and mining projects. Authorizes the holder of a mineral exploration or mine permit to intervene as of right in any covered civil action by a person affecting rights or obligations of the permit holder under the permit. Bars a civil action claiming legal wrong caused by an agency action unless it is filed by the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of the final federal agency action to which it relates. Requires the court to hear and determine any covered civil action as expeditiously as possible. Prohibits the court, in a covered civil action, from granting or approving prospective relief unless it finds that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct such violation. Declares inapplicable to such a civil action specified requirements of the Equal Access to Justice Act relating to award of costs and fees to a prevailing plaintiff. Prohibits payment from the federal government for court costs of a party in such a civil action, including attorneys' fees and expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2013
Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to eliminate the annual fee on health insurance providers set to be imposed beginning on January 1, 2013.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2013
Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exclude from the average sales price in calculating Medicare payments for drugs and biologicals any customary prompt pay discounts from manufacturers to wholesalers.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2013
Municipal Advisor Oversight Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to permit a non-registered municipal securities advisor, on behalf of a municipal entity or an obligated person, to: (1) provide advice regarding either municipal financial products or the issuance of such products, and (2) undertake the solicitation of a municipal entity. Prohibits the rules of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) from regulating as municipal advisors the activities of certain persons specifically excluded from the definition of municipal advisor, namely: (1) a broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer serving as an underwriter; (2) an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (or persons associated with such investment advisers who are providing investment advice); (3) a commodity trading advisor registered under the Commodity Exchange Act (or associated persons who are providing advice related to swaps); (4) attorneys providing legal advice or services that are of a traditional legal nature; and (5) engineers providing engineering advice. Limits the fiduciary duty a municipal advisor and any associated person owe to a municipal entity (or associated person) the advisor advises to those times when the advisor acts pursuant to an engagement, for compensation, by the municipal entity or obligated person to advise on either municipal financial products or the issuance of municipal securities. Directs the MSRB to require that a municipal advisor act in accordance with its fiduciary duty to municipal entity clients, but only in connection with specified activities involving those clients. Prohibits the MSRB from barring: (1) principal transactions by municipal advisors, or (2) the receipt of compensation based on standard compensation involving the purchase or sale of a security or other instrument (including deposit or foreign exchange). Authorizes the MSRB to: (1) issue rules requiring a municipal advisor to engage only in transactions or receive compensation consistent with the advisor's fiduciary duty, and (2) prohibit a municipal advisor who has been engaged to provide advice with respect to an underwritten offering of securities from acting concurrently as underwriter of such offering. Redefines "investment strategies" as plans or programs for: (1) investment of the direct proceeds of municipal securities (but not other public funds) which are neither municipal derivatives nor guaranteed investment contracts; and (2) the recommendation and brokerage of municipal escrow investments, where such proceeds and investments are either known to the municipal advisor to comprise funds or investments maintained exclusively in a segregated account, or have been identified in writing as funds or investments constituting the proceeds of municipal securities or municipal escrow investments. Excludes specified practices from "investment strategies" (and, therefore, from regulation under this Act), including: (1) merely acting as a broker or principal for the purchase or sale of a security or other instrument (including deposit or foreign exchange); (2) furnishing a list of, or price quotations for, investment options or securities or other instruments which may be available for purchase or investment or which satisfy investment criteria specified by a municipal entity; (3) acting as a custodian; (4) providing generalized information concerning investments not tailored to the specific investment objectives of the municipal entity; or (5) providing advice with respect to matters other than the investment of funds or financial products. Limits the definition of "municipal advisor" to a person (who is not a municipal entity or obligated person, or an employee of a municipal entity or obligated person) but who is engaged for compensation by a municipal entity to advise on either municipal financial products or the issuance of municipal securities. Excludes from the definition of municipal advisors solely as a result of their performing the following activities: (1) a financial institution engaging in specified excluded activities pursuant to an exemption from registration, when acting as a dealer or principal with respect to deposits, foreign exchange, or identified banking products, providing other traditional banking or trust services otherwise subject to a fiduciary duty under state or federal law, providing administrative or operational services or support, or providing advice that is related to or in connection with any such activities and not for separate compensation; (2) a person providing state-regulated insurance products, services, or advice and not for separate compensation; (3) an accountant providing customary and usual accounting services or advising in connection with such activities and not for separate compensation; and (4) an attorney offering traditional legal advice or services. Redefines "solicitation of a municipal entity" to: (1) eliminate solicitation for the purpose of obtaining or retaining an engagement by an investment adviser providing investment advisory services on behalf of a municipal entity, but (2) state that communications on behalf of a collective investment vehicle (investment fund) shall not be deemed to be on behalf of any investment adviser that advises or manages such collective investment vehicle. Defines "municipal derivative" as a swap or security-based swap in which a municipal entity is a counterparty. Defines providing advice "on behalf of a municipal entity or obligated person" as providing advice to a person known to be engaged by a municipal entity to provide services to the municipal entity in connection with the issuance of municipal securities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2013
Directs the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to arrange for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal to honor collectively the World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) in recognition of their military service and exemplary record during World War II. Requires the Medal's display at the Smithsonian Institution. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Medal should be made available for display elsewhere, particularly at locations associated with the CAP. Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2013
Declares that Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over-the-air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2013
Short Line Railroad Rehabilitation and Investment Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for railroad track maintenance, to: (1) expand the types of maintenance expenditures eligible for such credit, and (2) extend such credit through 2016.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2013
American Fighter Aces Congressional Gold Medal Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a single congressional gold medal in honor of the American Fighter Aces, collectively, in recognition of their heroic military service and defense of the nation's freedom.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2013
Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2013 or the ABLE Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish tax-exempt ABLE accounts to assist an individual with a disability in building an account to pay for qualified disability expenses. Defines "qualified disability expenses" to include expenses for education, including higher education expenses, a primary residence, transportation, obtaining and maintaining employment, health and wellness, and other personal support expenses. Treats a qualified ABLE program and an ABLE account in the same manner as a qualified tuition program for income tax purposes (i.e., allowing a tax exemption for such program and an exclusion from gross income of amounts attributable to a contributor to or a beneficiary of a program account). Defines "qualified ABLE program" as a program established and maintained by a state agency under which a person may make contributions to an ABLE account established to pay for qualified disability expenses. Requires amounts in ABLE accounts to be disregarded in determining eligibility for Medicaid and other means-tested federal programs. Suspends the payment of supplemental security income benefits under title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act to an individual during any period in which such individual has excess resources attributable to an ABLE account.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2013
National Park Service 100th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue gold, silver, and half-dollar clad coins in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the National Park Service (NPS). Authorizes the issuance of coins under this Act only for a one-year period, beginning on January 1, 2016. Requires all sales of coins minted under this Act to include a surcharge of $35 per gold coin, $10 per silver coin, and $5 per half-dollar clad coin. Requires all of the surcharges received from the sale of such coins to be paid to the National Park Foundation for projects and programs to help preserve and protect resources under the stewardship of the NPS and to promote public enjoyment and appreciation of those resources. Prohibits the surcharges paid to the Foundation from being used for land acquisition.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2013
Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research and Education Amendments of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise the muscular dystrophy research program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Expands the range of forms of muscular dystrophy included within the program. Requires the research conducted through Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Centers to include cardiac and pulmonary function research. Requires the Director of NIH to ensure the sharing of data between such centers. Revises the composition of the Muscular Dystrophy Coordinating Committee (MDCC) to include the Social Security Administration and the United States Administration for Community Living. Requires the MDCC to meet at least two times per year. Requires the MDCC Action Plan to provide for: (1) health economic studies to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of providing independent living resources and support to patients with various forms of muscular dystrophy, (2) studies to determine optimal clinical care interventions for adults with various forms of muscular dystrophy, and (3) the development of clinical interventions to improve the health of adults with various forms of muscular dystrophy. Requires the MDCC to develop a plan to expedite the evaluation and approval of emerging therapies and personalized medicines that have the potential to decrease fatal disease progression across the various forms of muscular dystrophy. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in carrying out epidemiological activities regarding Duchenne and other forms of muscular dystrophies, to ensure that data from different racial and ethnic populations is captured and made publicly available to investigators conducting public or private research on muscular dystrophy. Directs the Secretary to foster ongoing engagement and collaboration between the surveillance program and the research centers. Amends the Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research, and Education Amendments of 2001 to authorize the Secretary to: (1) update and disseminate widely existing Duchenne-Becker muscular dystrophy care considerations for pediatric patients, and (2) develop and disseminate widely Duchenne-Becker muscular dystrophy considerations for adult patients and acute care considerations for all muscular dystrophy populations. Directs that such care considerations should build upon existing efforts currently underway for specified forms of muscular dystrophy and incorporate strategies specifically responding to the findings of the national transitions survey of minority, young adult, and adult communities of muscular dystrophy patients.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2013
Public Lands Renewable Energy Development Act of 2013 - Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require amounts received through FY2020 (currently, through FY2010) from leases under the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to be available to the Secretary of the Interior to spend in such amounts as are provided in advance appropriations acts for implementing such Acts. Requires the Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to each establish a wind and solar leasing pilot program under which lease sales are conducted on covered public lands administered by the Secretary concerned to carry out wind and solar energy projects. Requires the Secretaries to jointly determine as to whether to expand the pilot program to apply to all covered public lands. Defines "covered land" to mean land that is: (1) public land administered by the Secretary of the Interior, or National Forest System land administered by the Secretary of Agriculture; and (2) not excluded from development of solar or wind energy under a final land use plan established under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, a final land and resource management plan established under the National Forest Management Act of 1976, or federal law. Establishes in the Treasury the Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior for use in regions impacted by the development of wind or solar energy on public lands. Requires Fund amounts to be used in those regions for: (1) the protection and restoration of important fish and wildlife habitat; and (2) the assurance and improvement of access to federal lands and waters for hunting, fishing, and other forms of outdoor recreation. Requires the Secretaries to determine the feasibility of carrying out a mitigation banking program on federal lands administered by the Secretaries to fully offset the impacts of wind or solar energy on such lands.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2013
Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2013 - Includes as part of the Republic of Vietnam its territorial seas for purposes of the presumption of service connection for diseases associated with exposure by veterans to certain herbicide agents while in Vietnam.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2013
Letting Insurance Benefit Everyone Regardless of Their Youth (LIBERTY) Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to increase the permissible variation based on age for premium rates charged by a health insurance issuer for health insurance coverage offered in the individual or small group market from "3 to 1" for adults to "5 to 1" for adults, or such other ratio for adults as the state involved may provide. (The restrictions on premium variations enacted under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act apply to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2014.)
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2013
Transition toward Excellence, Achievement and Mobility through Education Act of 2013 or TEAM-Education Act of 2013 - Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to allow states to use special education grant funds to contract with entities that have the experience to assist disabled children in accomplishing the transition objectives outlined in their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Conditions a state's eligibility for such grant funds on its having a plan to coordinate state efforts to transition disabled youth into adulthood. Requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide a disabled child and his or her parents, when the child's secondary education ends, with a comprehensive record of the child's work experiences and skills that would be relevant to prospective employers, post-secondary education programs, career placement services, and mentors. Requires IEPs, after a child attains age 14, to describe: (1) the transition services to be provided to assist the child in reaching postsecondary goals, and (2) the training the child will receive to empower the child to act on his or her own behalf. (Currently, IEPs are to address postsecondary goals and transition services when children turn 16.) Requires an IEP team: (1) to include a representative of the state intellectual and developmental disabilities agency after a disabled child attains age 14, if the child is expected to be eligible to receive certain adult services upon reaching adulthood; (2) to consider the transition services necessary to assist the child to attain postsecondary education, integrated employment, independent living, and community participation; (3) at the request of a 14 year old disabled child, to take certain steps to enable his or her parents to advocate at IEP team meetings on the child's behalf; and (4) after the child attains age 14, to evaluate the progress made in meeting, and discuss any additional services that may be needed to meet, the child's transition objectives. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to provide grants to states to assist LEAs in establishing transition service coordinators.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2013
Transition toward Excellence, Achievement, and Mobility through Employment Act of 2013 or TEAM-Employment Act of 2013 - Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to extend from 18 to 48 months the length of time a designated state unit may provide supported employment services, including: (1) activities related to customized employment, or (2) a set of activities implemented during the search for employment leading to an integrated employment outcome for an individual with a disability. Authorizes the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration of the Department of Education to make up to ten grants to or contracts with eligible entities to pay all or part of the cost of special demonstration programs that expand and improve rehabilitation, employment, and other services for adults and youths with disabilities. Authorizes the Assistant Secretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to provide, for FY2014-FY2018, grants to eligible entities to carry out certain activities to help youths between the ages of 14 and 26 with significant disabilities to transition to adulthood. Includes among such activities development and provision of: (1) innovative and effective practices through person-centered planning processes for attaining integrated employment experiences, including customized employment, supported employment services, and employment experiences after school, on weekends, and in the summer months; (2) certain educational-, work-, and family-related objectives and activities based upon the highest expectations of such youths; (3) appropriate and effective curricula and the deployment of professionals with expertise to provide training to school personnel to assist such youths to obtain integrated employment at the greater of minimum or competitive wages; and (4) assistance to such youths and their families to help determine appropriate services under federal and state programs. Limits an eligible entity to one grant or contract during a five-year period. Prohibits the use of grant funds for activities that result in such youths being placed in facility-based segregated services as an employment outcome or post-secondary outcome. Establishes a National Coordination Center on Systems Change and Transformation in the Transition of Youths with Significant Disabilities into Adulthood.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2013
Transition toward Excellence, Achievement, and Mobility through Empowerment Act of 2013 or the TEAM-Empowerment Act of 2013 - Amends the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award competitive grants to states for the development and implementation of an individual transition plan (ITP) for each individual with a developmental disability in the state who is transitioning from secondary school into adulthood. Requires ITPs to assist the developmentally disabled achieve integrated employment, postsecondary education, independent living, and community engagement. Requires each grantee to establish a transition planning and services (TPS) administrative unit within its intellectual and developmental disabilities agency to develop, and assist in the implementation of, ITPs. Requires that unit to offer strategies, training, and information to the developmentally disabled and their families that facilitates their participation in the transition process. States that ITPs are to: (1) apply until an individual's 26th birthday; (2) be reviewed annually and updated as needed; (3) be developed during in-person meetings that include the individual and his or her family; and (4) address the individual's needs in the areas of postsecondary education, career preparation and work-based learning, development and leadership, connecting activities, and family involvement and supports. Requires the TPS administrative unit to use transition brokers to: (1) facilitate coordination among state agencies in the development of ITPs; and (2) assist the developmentally disabled, consistent with their ITPs, in navigating the complex system of supports and services available through federal and state programs.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2013
Primary Care Workforce Access Improvement Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct a pilot project under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to test models for providing payment for direct graduate medical education (GME) and indirect medical education (IME) to medical education entities (MEEs), not otherwise eligible to receive such payments, for the costs of training primary care residents. Requires testing of two of the following model MEEs: (1) a community-based independent corporate entity collaborating with two or more hospitals to operate one or more primary care graduate medical residency training programs (training hospitals); (2) a MEE, with at least one community representative on its board, which is established by two or more training hospitals which may be the sole corporate members of the MEE; (3) a hospital subsidiary or independent corporation, with community participation in its governance, that operates one or more training programs for a hospital; or (4) a MEE (including a university or school of medicine) independent of any hospital but collaborating with one in operating one or more primary care graduate medical residency training programs.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2013
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to commemorate the lives of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley (children who lost their lives in the September 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, an incident recognized as a catalyst for the civil rights movement). Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates of such medals, with amounts received from the sale to be deposited in the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2013
Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act of 2013 - Repeals sections of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care (PPACA) (and restores provisions of law amended by such sections) related to the establishment of an Independent Payment Advisory Board to develop and submit detailed proposals to reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending to the President for Congress to consider.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2013
Tax Code Termination Act - Terminates the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 after December 31, 2017, except for self-employment taxes, Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes, and railroad retirement taxes. Requires a two-thirds majority vote in Congress to change such termination date. Declares that any new federal tax system should be a simple and fair system that: (1) applies a low rate to all Americans, (2) provides tax relief for working Americans, (3) protects the rights of taxpayers and reduces tax collection abuses, (4) eliminates the bias against savings and investment, (5) promotes economic growth and job creation, and (6) does not penalize marriage or families. Requires that the new federal tax system be approved by Congress in its final form by July 4, 2017.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2013
Requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of Congress, of two gold medals to the First Special Service Force (a joint American-Canadian volunteer unit), collectively, in recognition of their World War II service. Directs one such gold medal to be given to the Smithsonian Institution and the other to the First Special Service Force Association in Helena, Montana. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates with proceeds deposited in the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund. Declares that medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of specified coins and currency provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2013
Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to increase from 5,000 to 10,000 kilowatts the size of small hydroelectric power projects which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) may exempt from its license requirements. Amends the Federal Power Act to revise the limitation on the maximum installation capacity of qualifying conduit hydropower facilities that are eligible for an exemption from licensing requirements. Requires any person, state, or municipality proposing to construct a qualifying conduit hydropower facility to file with FERC a notice of intent to do so. Requires FERC, within 15 days after receiving such a notice of intent, to make an initial determination as to whether the facility meets the qualifying criteria. Waives license requirements for any conduit hydroelectric facility that: (1) uses for electric power generation only the hydroelectric potential of a non-federally owned conduit, (2) has a maximum installed capacity of 5 megawatts, and (3) is not currently licensed or exempted from license requirements. Redefines "conduit" to specify any tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or similar manmade water conveyance operated for the distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or industrial consumption and not primarily for the generation of electricity. Authorizes FERC to: (1) exempt from license requirements any electric power generation facility that utilizes for such generation only the hydroelectric potential of a conduit, and has an installed capacity or 40 megawatts or fewer; and (2) extend the preliminary permit period for up to 2 additional years beyond the 3 years otherwise allowed if it finds that the permittee has implemented activities under the permit in good faith and with reasonable diligence. Directs FERC to: (1) investigate the feasibility of issuing a license for hydropower development at nonpowered dams and closed loop pumped storage projects during a two-year period, and (2) hold workshops and develop hydropower pilot projects. Directs the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to study: (1) the technical flexibility that existing pumped storage facilities can provide to support intermittent renewable electric energy generation, including the potential for such facilities to be upgraded or retrofitted with advanced commercially available technology; and (2) the technical potential of existing pumped storage facilities and new advanced pumped storage facilities to provide grid reliability benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2013
National Pediatric Research Network Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in carrying out the Pediatric Research Initiative, to act through the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to provide for the establishment of a National Pediatric Research Network. Authorizes the Director of the Institute to award funding to public or private nonprofit entities for: (1) planning, establishing, or strengthening pediatric research consortia; and (2) providing basic operating support for such consortia, including to meet unmet needs for pediatric research through basic, clinical, behavioral, or translational research and the training of researchers in pediatric research techniques. Authorizes the Director of NIH to make awards for not more than 20 pediatric research consortia, which must be formed from a collaboration of cooperating institutions, coordinated by a lead institution, agree to disseminate scientific findings, and meet requirements prescribed by the Director of NIH. Allows such support to be for a period of five years, with additional extensions at the discretion of the Director of NIH. Requires the Director of NIH to provide for the coordination of activities among the consortia and to require the periodic preparation and submission of reports on their activities. Requires each pediatric research consortium receiving an award to assist the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the establishment or expansion of patient registries and other surveillance systems as appropriate and upon request by the CDC. Requires the Director of NIH to ensure that an appropriate number of such awards are awarded to consortia that agree to: (1) focus primarily on pediatric rare diseases or conditions; and (2) conduct or coordinate multi-site clinical trials of therapies for, or approaches to, the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of pediatric rare diseases or conditions. Requires the Director of NIH to establish a data coordinating center to: (1) distribute such findings; (2) provide assistance in the design and conduct of collaborative research projects and the management, analysis, and storage of data associated with such projects; and (3) organize and conduct multi-site monitoring activities. Requires the Director of NIH to: (1) require the data coordinating center to provide regular reports to the Director of NIH and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA) on research conducted by consortia, including information on enrollment in clinical trials and the allocation of resources with respect to such research; and (2) incorporate such information into NIH's biennial reports.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2013
Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Service (HHS) from providing any federal family planning assistance to an entity unless the entity certifies that, during the period of such assistance, the entity will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion. Excludes an abortion where: (1) the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or an act of incest; or (2) a physician certifies that the woman suffered from a physical disorder, injury, or illness that would place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy. Excludes hospitals from such requirement so long as the hospital does not provide funds to any non-hospital entity that performs an abortion. Requires the Secretary to annually provide Congress: (1) information on grantees who performed abortions under the exceptions, and (2) a list of entities to which grant funds are made available.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2013
Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to provide transportation on scheduled and unscheduled military flights within the United States and on scheduled overseas flights on a space-available basis for veterans with a service-connected, permanent disability rated as total.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2013
Elects specified named Members to the following House Committees: (1) Agriculture; (2) Appropriations; (3) Armed Services; (4) Education and the Workforce; (5) Energy and Commerce; (6) Financial Services; (7) Foreign Affairs; (8) Homeland Security; (9) the Judiciary; (10) Natural Resources; (11) Oversight and Government Reform; (12) Science, Space, and Technology; (13) Small Business; (14) Transportation and Infrastructure; (15) Veterans' Affairs; and (16) Ways and Means.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2013
Health Care Safety Net Enhancement Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to deem a hospital or an emergency department and a physician or physician group of such hospital or emergency department to be an employee of the Public Health Service for purposes of any civil action that may arise due to providing emergency and post-stabilization services on or after January 1, 2014.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2013
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits total outlays for a fiscal year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding total receipts for that fiscal year (except those derived from borrowing) unless Congress, by a three-fifths rollcall vote of each chamber, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires a three-fifths rollcall vote of each chamber to increase the public debt limit. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to Congress annually. Prohibits any bill to increase revenue from becoming law unless approved by a majority of each chamber by rollcall vote. Authorizes waivers of these provisions when a declaration of war is in effect or under other specified circumstances involving military conflict. Requires any such waiver to identify and be limited to the specific excess or increase for that fiscal year made necessary by the identified military conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2013
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits total outlays for a fiscal year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding total receipts for that fiscal year (except those derived from borrowing) unless Congress, by a three-fifths rollcall vote of each chamber, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Limits total outlays for any fiscal year to one-fifth of the U.S. economic output, unless two-thirds of each house of Congress provides for a specific increase above this amount. Requires a three-fifths rollcall vote of each chamber to increase the limit on U.S. debt held by the public. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to Congress annually. Prohibits any bill to increase revenue from becoming law unless approved by three-fifths of each chamber by rollcall vote. Authorizes waivers of these requirements and prohibitions when a declaration of war is in effect or under other specified circumstances involving military conflict. Requires any such waiver to identify and be limited to the specific excess or increase for that fiscal year made necessary by the identified military conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2013
Elects specified Members to the House Committees on: (1) Agriculture; (2) Appropriations; (3) Armed Services; (4) the Budget; (5) Education and the Workforce; (6) Energy and Commerce; (7) Ethics; (8) Financial Services; (9) Foreign Affairs; (10) Homeland Security; (11) House Administration; (12) the Judiciary; (13) Natural Resources; (14) Oversight and Government Reform; (15) Rules; (16) Science, Space, and Technology; (17) Small Business; (18) Transportation and Infrastructure; (19) Veterans' Affairs; and (20) Ways and Means.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2013
Elects the following officers of the House of Representatives: (1) Karen L. Haas as Clerk, (2) Wilson S. Livingood as Sergeant at Arms, (3) Daniel J. Strodel as Chief Administrative Officer, and (4) Father Daniel P. Coughlin as Chaplain.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2012
Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to exempt decorative hearth products from consideration as direct heating equipment subject to the Act's energy efficiency standards. Defines a "decorative hearth product" as a vented gas fireplace, stove, gas fireplace insert, or gas log set that is: (1) not certified to the ANSI Z21.88 standard and, in the case of vented gas fireplaces, stoves, and gas fireplace inserts, is certified to the ANSI Z21.50 standard; and (2) sold without a thermostat and with a warranty provision expressly voiding manufacturer warranties in the event the product is used with a thermostat.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2012
Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), upon a request by the chairman or ranking minority member of either congressional budget committee, to determine if a proposed measure would result in reductions in budget outlays in budgetary outyears through the use of preventive health and preventive health services. Requires CBO, if the measure would result in such substantial reductions, to include in any CBO projection a description and estimate of such reductions and a description of the basis for such conclusions. Authorizes CBO to prepare a budget projection that includes some or all of the budgetary outyears.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2012
Guaranteed Access to Health Insurance Act of 2012 - Repeals the health insurance and health coverage expansion provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and related provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Restores provisions of law amended or repealed by them. Amends the Public Health Service Act to expand the program to establish state high risk health insurance pools to include qualified reinsurance programs and other innovative methods implemented by a state to provide access to health insurance coverage for eligible individuals that will: (1) mitigate the cost of providing such coverage better than a qualified high risk pool; and (2) ensure that individuals receive consumer protections that are similar to those required for a qualified high risk pool. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to a state for its costs for creating and initially operating a qualified reinsurance program or an innovative method. Makes states that establish a qualified reinsurance program or an innovative method eligible for grants for losses incurred in connection with its operation. Revises requirements for a qualified high risk pool. Prohibits lifetime limits as well as premiums greater than 150% of the average premium in the individual market for health insurance coverage in the state. Eliminates bonus grants for supplemental consumer benefits for current or potential enrollees in qualified high risk pools. Requires the Secretary, in awarding competitive grants for federal funding for which only states are eligible, to give preference to any state that has received a grant to create and operate a qualified high risk pool in the year during which that grant is awarded. Requires the Secretary to establish a federal fallback high risk pool program to provide health insurance coverage for eligible individuals in a state that: (1) has not established a high risk pool, qualified reinsurance program, or innovative method at any point in the five-year period before October 1, 2015; or (2) has failed to operate such a pool, program, or method for two consecutive years after such date. Terminates the federal program if the state establishes such a pool, program, or method.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2012
Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2012 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise the nutritional information that restaurants and retail food establishments must disclose. Requires the nutrient content disclosure statement on the menu or menu board to include: (1) the number of calories contained in the whole product; (2) the number of servings and number of calories per serving; or (3) the number of calories per the common unit division of the product, such as for a multi-serving item that is typically divided before presentation to the consumer. Permits such information to be provided by a remote-access menu, such as through the internet, for food establishments where the majority of orders are placed by customers who are off-premises at the time the order is placed. Defines “reasonable basis” for a restaurant or similar food establishment’s nutrient content disclosures to mean that the nutrient disclosure is within acceptable allowances for variation in nutrient content, which shall include allowances for variations in serving size, inadvertent human error in formulation of menu items, and variations in ingredients. Sets forth the methods a restaurant or similar food establishment may use to determine nutritional content for disclosure, including ranges, averages, individual labeling of flavors or components, or labeling of one preset standard build. Defines "preset standard build" as the finished version of a menu item most commonly ordered by consumers. Applies the nutritional disclosure requirements to retail food establishments that derive more than 50% of their total revenue from the sale of food.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2012
Declares that no presidential permit shall be required for the pipeline application filed on May 4, 2012, by TransCanada Corporation for the northern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline from the Canadian border to the South Dakota/Nebraska border. Deems the final environmental impact statement issued by the Secretary of State on August 26, 2011, to satisfy all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Declares that this Act does not affect the ongoing work of the state of Nebraska with regard to the fully intrastate portion of the Keystone XL pipeline.
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