United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2013
CLEANER Act of 2013 or the Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act of 2013 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act, with respect to the regulation of wastes associated with the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy, to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), within one year, to: determine whether drilling fluids, produced waters, and other wastes associated with such activities meet the criteria promulgated for the identification or listing of hazardous waste; identify or list as hazardous waste any of such energy-associated wastes that the Administrator determines meet the identification or listing criteria; and promulgate regulations regarding standards applicable to generators, transporters, and owners and operators of facilities for the treatment, storage, or disposal of wastes described under this Act (except that the Administrator may modify the requirements for such regulations to consider such wastes' special characteristics so long as the requirements protect human health and the environment). Directs the Administrator to promulgate revisions of the criteria regarding sanitary landfills and practices of open dumping for facilities that receive the energy-associated wastes described under this Act not identified as hazardous waste. Requires such revisions to: be those necessary to protect human health and the environment, allowing consideration of the practicable capability of such facilities; and include, at minimum, groundwater monitoring as necessary to detect contamination, criteria for the acceptable location of new or existing facilities, and provision for corrective action and financial assurance.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2013
Guard and Reserve Equal Access to Health Act - Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to provide a physical examination to each member of a reserve component who: (1) will not otherwise receive one through that department, and (2) elects to receive such examination. Requires the Secretary concerned to: (1) provide such examination during the 90-day period before such member's scheduled date of separation, and (2) provide such member with a record of the examination. Prohibits a member from being entitled to transitional health care benefits through their department solely by reason of being provided such examination.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2013
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny a tax deduction for any business expenses for marketing directed at children (age 17 or younger) to promote the consumption of food of poor nutritional quality and for related expenses, including for travel, goods or services constituting entertainment, amusement, or recreation, gifts, or other promotion expenses. Defines "food of poor nutritional quality" to mean food and beverages that are determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to be inconsistent with the most recent government dietary guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2013
Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax deduction for charitable contributions by individuals and corporations of real property interests for conservation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2013
Military Reserve Jobs Act - Grants hiring preferences for federal employment to members of a reserve component of the Armed Forces who: (1) have successfully completed officer candidate training or entry level and skill training and have incurred, or are performing, a 6-year commitment with a reserve component (3 point preference); (2) have completed at least 10 years of service with a reserve component and have earned at least 50 retirement points per year (4 point preference); or (3) are retired from service in a reserve component and are eligible for, but have not yet begun receiving, retired pay for non-regular service (5 point preference). Extends the appeals process for veterans employed by the Veterans Health Administration for violations of preference rights.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2013
Education for All Act of 2013 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to state that it is U.S. policy to work with foreign countries and international and civil society organizations to achieve universal basic education by: (1) assisting developing countries and nongovernmental and multilateral organizations to provide all children with a quality basic education, and (2) promoting education as the foundation for communities' development. Directs the President to develop a comprehensive U.S. strategy to promote quality universal basic education. Authorizes the President to provide funds and other assistance to qualifying foreign countries to create the policies, processes, and infrastructure to develop national basic quality education plans. Directs the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to designate a Coordinator of United States Government Actions to Provide Basic Education Assistance who shall have primary responsibility for the oversight and coordination of all U.S. government resources and international activities to promote quality universal basic education.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2013
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to repeal the exclusion from medical assistance under the Medicaid program of items and services for patients in an institution for mental diseases.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2013
Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act Reauthorization of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and revise a research, training, and technical assistance resource center to prevent suicides (the Suicide Prevention Resource Center). Expands the program's focus from youth suicides to suicides among all ages, particularly among groups that are at high risk for suicide. Repeals authority for grants to establish research, training, and technical assistance centers related to mental health, substance abuse and the justice system. Reauthorizes a program of grants for the development of state or tribal youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies. Reauthorizes and revises a grant program to enhance services for students with mental health or substance use disorders at institutions of higher education. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) (who currently is merely authorized), acting through the Director of the Center for Mental Health Services, to award grants to enhance such services and to develop best practices for the delivery of such services. Permits grant funds to be used for the provision of such services to students and to employ appropriately trained staff. Requires the Secretary to give special consideration to applications for grants that describe programs that demonstrate the greatest need for new or additional mental and substance use disorder services and the greatest potential for replication.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2013
Long-Term Care Veterans Choice Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to transfer a veteran for whom the Secretary is required to provide nursing home care to a medical foster home that meets VA standards pursuant to a contract or agreement with the VA, at such veteran's request. Requires such veteran to agree, as a transfer condition, to accept VA home health services.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2013
Global Democracy Promotion Act - States that, with respect to eligibility for assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, foreign nongovernmental organizations shall not be ineligible for such assistance solely on the basis of health or medical services provided by such organizations with non-U.S. government funds if such services do not violate the laws of the country in which they are being provided and would not violate U.S. federal law if provided in the United States. Declares in addition that foreign nongovernmental organizations shall not be subject to requirements relating to the use of non-U.S. government funds for advocacy and lobbying activities other than those that apply to U.S. nongovernmental organizations receiving assistance under part I of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2013
Food and Drug Administration Safety Over Sequestration Act of 2013 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to exempt from sequestration calculations (mandatory across-the-board spending cuts) user fees that fund salaries and other administrative expenses of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2013
Clean Water Compliance and Ratepayer Affordability Act of 2013 - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to carry out a pilot program to work cooperatively with and facilitate the efforts of municipalities to develop and implement integrated plans to meet their wastewater and stormwater obligations under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) in a cost-effective and flexible manner and consistent with the Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Approach Framework issued by EPA in May 2012. Directs the Administrator, in consultation with states that have approved National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System programs, to select at least 15 municipalities to participate in the program. Sets forth selection factors, including by giving a priority to those with a history of knowledgeable, detailed, and comprehensive efforts to develop integrated and adaptive clean water management practices, without regard to the municipality's status in the process of planning or implementing them. Provides standards for approval of a municipality's integrated plan under the pilot program, including concerning financial capability, prioritization of obligations under the Clean Water Act, and the use of innovative and flexible approaches to meet obligations. Allows priority to be given to municipalities seeking to develop and implement approaches that adapt to changed or future uncertain circumstances. Provides additional authorities regarding selected municipalities concerning: (1) extension of the allowable national pollutant discharge elimination system permit term, (2) modification of implementation terms of a consent decree, and (3) additional regulatory flexibility in approving and implementing an integrated plan that includes adaptive approaches.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2013
Saving America's Pollinators Act of 2013 - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend the registration of imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, dinotafuran, and any other members of the nitro group of neonicotinoid insecticides to the extent such insecticide is registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for use in seed treatment, soil application, or foliar treatment on bee attractive plants, trees, and cereals until the Administrator has made a determination that such insecticide will not cause unreasonable adverse effects on pollinators. Requires such a determination to be based on: (1) an evaluation of the published and peer-reviewed scientific evidence on whether the use or uses of such neonicotinoids cause unreasonable adverse effects on pollinators, including native bees, honeybees, birds, bats, and other species of beneficial insects; and (2) a completed field study that meets the criteria required by the Administrator and evaluates residues, including residue build-up after repeated annual application, chronic low-dose exposure, and cumulative effects of multiple chemical exposures. Prohibits the Administrator from issuing any new registrations of the pesticides listed in this Act for any seed treatment, soil application, and foliar treatment on bee attractive plants, trees, and cereals under FIFRA until the Administrator has made such determination with respect to such insecticide. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the Administrator, to: (1) regularly monitor the health and population status of native bees, (2) identify the scope and likely causes of unusual native bee mortality, and (3) submit to Congress and make public an annual report on such health and population status.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2013
No Child Left Inside Act of 2013 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to direct the Secretary of Education to award grants to states and, through them, competitive subgrants to eligible partnerships to support the implementation of state environmental literacy plans that include environmental education standards and teacher training. Includes in the eligible partnerships a local educational agency (LEA) and at least one institution of higher education, another LEA, an elementary or secondary school, or a government or nonprofit entity experienced in environmental literacy. Requires use of the subgrants for one or more of the following activities: providing targeted, job-embedded professional development that improves teachers' environmental content knowledge and pedagogical skills; establishing and operating environmental education summer workshops or institutes for teachers; developing or redesigning more rigorous environmental education curricula; designing programs that prepare teachers to provide environmental education mentoring and training to other teachers in their school; establishing and operating programs to bring teachers and students into contact with working professionals in environmental fields; creating initiatives that incorporate environmental education within teacher training programs or accreditation standards; and promoting the integration of outdoor environmental education lessons into the regular school curriculum and schedule. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to eligible partnerships for one or more of the following activities: developing and implementing state curriculum frameworks for environmental education that meet challenging state academic content and achievement standards for environmental education, replicating or disseminating information about proven and tested model environmental education programs, and developing and implementing new approaches to advancing environmental education and the adoption and use of environmental education content standards. Amends part B (Mathematics and Science Partnerships) of title II of the ESEA to: (1) include nonprofit environmental education organizations and government science, environmental, or natural resource management agencies among the entities eligible to participate in part B partnerships; and (2) allow the use of part B funds to train teachers to use environmental education to enhance student understanding of science and mathematics. Amends part B (21st Century Community Learning Centers) of title IV of the ESEA to include environmental literacy activities among the before and after school activities that such program funds at community learning centers. Directs the Secretary to: request all federal departments and agencies to provide information on any environmental literacy assistance program that they operate, sponsor, or support; make that information searchable and accessible through the Department of Education's website and cross-referenced with the United States Green Ribbon School application information; coordinate environmental literacy activities between the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Commerce; and appoint an advisory panel of stakeholders to advise and support interagency environmental literacy planning and assessment activities.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2013
Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2013 - Directs the President to establish guidelines for the establishment of measurable goals, performance metrics, and monitoring and evaluation plans for U.S. foreign assistance. Requires such guidelines to provide direction to federal departments and agencies that administer U.S. foreign assistance relating to: (1) resource monitoring, (2) project and program evaluation, and (3) analysis of findings and generalizations and their applicability to proposed project and program design. Requires: (1) each appropriate federal department or agency to begin using such guidelines within one year after their establishment, and (2) the President to submit a related report to Congress within 18 months. Directs the President to require the Secretary of State to establish and maintain an Internet website to make publicly available comprehensive and accessible information on U.S. foreign assistance programs on a country-by-country and program-by program basis. Requires the head of a federal department or agency to brief Congress if specified information requirements are not met. Authorizes a department or agency to use up to 5% of its foreign development assistance funds for activities under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 2013
Medicare Respiratory Therapist Access Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare coverage of pulmonary self-management education and training services furnished by a qualified respiratory therapist in a physician practice to patients with chronic lung disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], including emphysema and bronchitis, as well as asthma, pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary fibrosis, and cystic fibrosis).
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Community College to Career Fund Act - Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to: (1) institutions of higher education for educational or career training programs for workers, (2) state or local organizations in partnership with community colleges and other training providers for pay-for-performance projects and pay-for-success job training projects, (3) state or local governments to provide job training or recruiting activities necessary to provide skilled workers for businesses that have relocated or are considering relocating operations outside the United States but may instead relocate them to areas served by those governments, and (4) institutions of higher education in partnership with local or regional economic development entities to provide training in starting a small business and entrepreneurship.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
End Discriminatory State Taxes for Automobile Renters Act of 2013 - Prohibits states or local governments from levying or collecting a discriminatory tax (generally, a tax or tax assessment that is applicable to the rental of motor vehicles or motor vehicle businesses or property, but not to the majority of other rentals of tangible personal property within a state or locality) on the rental of motor vehicles, motor vehicle rental businesses, or motor vehicle rental property.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Computer Science Education Act of 2013 - Amends title IX (General Provisions) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to define "computer science" as the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including the study of computing principles, computer hardware and software design, computer applications, and the impact of computers on society. Makes computer science a core academic subject. Includes computer science teachers in professional development activities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Colorado Wilderness Act of 2013 - Amends the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to add specified lands in Colorado managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) (proposed as the Powderhorn Wilderness Addition) to the Powderhorn Wilderness. Designates specified lands in Colorado managed by the BLM or the U.S. Forest Service as wilderness and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Designates specified lands in Colorado administered by the BLM, Forest Service, and Bureau of Reclamation as wilderness and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Incorporates such lands into the West Elk Wilderness. Allows the Secretary of the Interior to continue authorizing competitive running events currently permitted in the Redcloud Peak Wilderness and Handies Peak Wilderness Areas. Authorizes the Colorado Army National Guard, through the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, to conduct aerial navigation training maneuver exercises over the wilderness areas designated by this Act. Designates specified lands managed by the BLM as: (1) potential wilderness areas, and (2) as the Deep Creek Wilderness and the Pisgah Mountain Wilderness upon publication by the Secretary of a notice in the Federal Register that all nonconforming uses of such lands authorized by this Act for the conduct of such exercises and overflights of military helicopters in violation of the Wilderness Act have ceased. Provides for the securing, adjudication, and use of U.S. water rights for certain of the wilderness areas designated by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2013
Calls on China (PRC) to end the practice of organ harvesting from prisoners, and particularly from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups. Calls for a Department of State investigation into organ transplant practices in China, and for the prosecution of those found to have engaged in such practices. Demands an end to the persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice by the Communist Party of China and the release of all Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience. Recommends that: (1) the Department issue a travel warning for U.S. citizens traveling to China for organ transplants informing them that the organ source for their operation may be a prisoner of conscience; and (2) the U.S. government condemn organ transplantation abuses in China, ban the entry of those who have participated in such activities, and prosecute such individuals should they be found on U.S. soil.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2013
Extends a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program of counseling and care and services for veterans for sexual trauma that occurred during active duty or active duty for training to veterans who experienced such trauma during inactive duty training.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2013
Respect for Marriage Act - Amends the Defense of Marriage Act to repeal a provision that prohibited a state, territory, possession, or Indian tribe from being required to recognize any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a same sex marriage. Amends the federal rules of construction added by such Act concerning the definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" to provide that, for purposes of any federal law in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered married if that individual's marriage is valid in the state where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into outside any state, if the marriage is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in a state. Removes the definition of "spouse" (currently, a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife).
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2013
Motorcoach Safety, Accountability, and Technology Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to issue regulations to ensure that an individual conducts a brake performance inspection before each motorcoach trip to ensure that the brake performance satisfies all federal law requirements. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations to: (1) establish minimum performance standards for onboard electronic air brake monitoring systems for motorcoaches, (2) require motorcoaches to be equipped with automatic emergency braking and collision warning systems, (3) require motorcoaches with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds to be equipped with a lane departure warning system, and (4) require motorcoaches to be equipped with a device to limit maximum speed to 70 miles per hour. Requires the Secretary to make such technologies tamper resistant. Directs the Secretary to study the feasibility of requiring motorcoaches be retrofitted with such technologies. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations to establish standards for motorcoaches to use regrooved, recapped, or retreaded tires. Revises Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program requirements. Requires the Secretary to approve plans under which states agree to assume responsibility for improving motor carrier safety and adopt and to enforce commercial motor vehicle safety, hazardous materials transportation safety, or compatible regulations, standards, and orders if the plan ensures that (except in the case of an imminent or obvious safety hazard) an inspection of a passenger motorcoach is conducted at a station, terminal, border crossing maintenance facility, and destination (as under current law), but also a weigh station, rest stop, turnpike service area, or other location where adequate food, shelter, and sanitation facilities are available for passengers as well as passengers with disabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2013
Civil Justice Tax Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow: (1) an exclusion from gross income for amounts received on account of a judgment or settlement resulting from a claim of unlawful discrimination, (2) income averaging for backpay and frontpay amounts received from such claims, and (3) an exemption from the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for any tax benefit resulting from the income averaging of amounts received from an unlawful discrimination claim.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2013
Helping Homeless Veterans Act of 2013 - Extends the following Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs and services through FY2014: (1) homeless veterans reintegration programs, (2) referral and counseling services for veterans at risk of homelessness who are transitioning from certain institutions (including penal institutions), (3) financial assistance for supportive services for very low-income veteran families in permanent housing, and (4) a grant program for homeless veterans with special needs. Extends the following VA programs and services through 2014: (1) treatment and rehabilitation for seriously mentally ill and homeless veterans, (2) housing assistance for homeless veterans, and (3) the Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2013
Renewable Energy Parity Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the energy tax credit to solar energy, fuel cell, microturbine, combined heat and power system, small wind energy, and thermal energy properties the construction of which begins before January 1, 2017.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2013
Safe Streets Act of 2013 - Requires each state to have in effect within two years a law, or each state department of transportation and metropolitan planning organization (MPO) an explicit policy statement, that requires all federally-funded transportation projects, with certain exceptions, to accommodate the safety and convenience of all users in accordance with certain complete streets principles. Defines "complete streets principles" as federal, state, local, or regional level transportation laws, policies, or principles which ensure that the safety and convenience of all users of a transportation system, including pedestrians, bicyclists, public transit users, children, older individuals, motorists, freight vehicles, and individuals with disabilities, are accommodated in all phases of project planning and development. Allows such law or policy to make project-specific exemptions from such principles only if: (1) affected roadways prohibit specified users by law from using them, the cost of a compliance project would be excessively disproportionate to the need, or the population, employment densities, traffic volumes, or level of transit service around a roadway is so low that the expected roadway users will not include pedestrians, public transportation, freight vehicles, or bicyclists; and (2) all such exemptions are properly approved. Requires the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to establish a method for evaluating compliance by state departments of transportation and MPOs with complete streets principles. Requires the Access Board to issue final standards for accessibility of new construction and alterations of pedestrian facilities for public rights-of-way. Requires the Secretary to conduct research regarding complete streets to: (1) assist states, MPOs, and local jurisdictions in developing and implementing complete streets-compliant plans, projects, procedures, policies, and training programs; and (2) establish benchmarks for, and provide technical guidance on, implementing complete streets policies and principles.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2013
Women's Preventive Health Awareness Campaign - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) provide for the planning and implementation of a national public outreach and educational campaign to raise public awareness, including provider awarenesss, of women's preventive health; and (2) establish a national media campaign and maintain and update an appropriate Internet website as part of such campaign.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2013
Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to include information on the coverage of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity in the "Medicare and You Handbook." Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to allow other physicians, registered dietitians, certified diabetes educators, and instructors trained and certified by the National Diabetes Prevention Lifestyle Coach Training program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide, and be independently reimbursed for, intensive behavioral therapy for obesity furnished outside of the primary care setting, so long as any such nonphysician provider or instructor furnishing the therapy must communicate any recommendation or treatment plan for an individual to the individual's primary care physicians or practitioner. Authorizes the Secretary to cover under Medicare part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) medication for treatment of obesity or for weight loss management for an overweight individual with one or more comorbidities.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2013
Honors the entrepreneurial spirit of small businesses during National Small Business Week. Applauds the efforts and achievements of small business owners and their employees. Recognizes the work of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its resource partners in providing assistance to entrepreneurs and small businesses. Recognizes the importance of ensuring that: (1) guaranteed loans, including microloans and venture capital, are made available to all qualified small businesses; (2) management assistance programs delivered by SBA resource partners are provided with the federal resources necessary to provide invaluable counseling services to entrepreneurs; (3) SBA small business disaster assistance is provided in a timely and efficient manner; (4) affordable Internet access is available to all people in the United States so that small businesses can utilize such access; (5) regulatory relief is provided to small businesses through the reduction of duplicative or unnecessary regulatory requirements; and (6) leveling the playing field for small business contracting opportunities remains a primary focus.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2013
Prioritizing Urgent Claims for Veterans Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), in processing veterans claims for compensation, to provide priority over other claimants to: (1) veterans who have attained age 70, (2) veterans who are terminally ill, and (3) veterans who have life-threatening illnesses.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2013
World War I American Veterans Centennial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) mint and issue $1 silver coins in commemoration of the centennial of America's involvement in World War I, and (2) hold a competition and provide compensation for its winner to design the obverse and reverse of the coins. Requires the design of such coins to be emblematic of the centennial of America's involvement in World War I. Permits the Secretary to issue such coins only during calendar year 2018. Subjects the coin sales to a surcharge of $10 per coin, payable by the Secretary to the World War I Centennial Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2013
Get Relief from Academic Debt Act of 2013 or the GRAD Act of 2013 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow borrowers of Direct Stafford Loans to opt to extend the period before they must begin to repay such loans to one year after they cease to carry at least one-half the normal full-time academic workload. (Currently, the repayment period for Direct Stafford Loans begins six months after borrowers cease to carry at least one-half the normal full-time academic workload.) Subsidizes the interest that accrues on Direct Stafford Loans for the first six months of that extended grace period. Makes this Act applicable to Direct Stafford Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2013.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2013
Recognizes the Scaling Up Nutrition movement as a global partnership to support country-led efforts to improve maternal and child nutrition. Supports U.S. leadership to improve nutrition outcomes for pregnant and lactating women and young children. Calls on relevant federal agencies to consider developing a nutrition strategy to further coordination efforts to improve nutrition funding and outcomes across U.S. government global nutrition programs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2013
Hospice Evaluation and Legitimate Payment Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the face-to-face encounter framework in hospice care. Allows a clinical nurse specialist, physician assistant, or other health professional (in addition to a hospice physician or a nurse practitioner, as under current law) to conduct the face-to-face encounter with the individual to determine continued eligibility for hospice care before the first 60-day (currently 180-day) recertification period and each subsequent recertification. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a Medicare Hospital Payment Reform demonstration program to test any revisions to the methodology for determining payment rates for routine home care and other hospice care services. Sets at every three years the frequency of surveys of certified hospice programs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2013
Commuter Parity Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the exclusion from gross income, for income tax purposes, of certain transportation benefits provided by an employer to an employee, to allow a monthly exclusion amount of: (1) $220 for transportation in a commuter highway vehicle from home to work and any transit pass, (2) $220 for qualified parking, and (3) $35 for qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement. Allows an annual cost-of-living adjustment to such exclusion amounts after 2014.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Programs Reauthorization Act of 2013 - Extends through FY2018 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) homeless veterans reintegration programs (job training, counseling, and placement services to expedite the reintegration of homeless veterans into the labor force).
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
21st Century STEM Competitive Jobs Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award matching grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Requires grantees to use grant funds to collaborate with institutions of higher education and local, regional, or national employers in STEM fields to: (1) carry out dual-credit courses that offer both secondary school and college credit and incorporate STEM education and STEM workplace training, (2) assist students in being placed in internships or apprenticeships with those employers, and (3) develop STEM curricula and metrics. Permits grantees to use grant funds for: (1) STEM tutoring and mentoring programs; (2) STEM outside-the-classroom, after-school, or summer programs; and (3) STEM instructional materials or equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Families for Foster Youth Stamp Act of 2013 - Requires the United States Postal Service, for a period of at least four years, to provide for the issuance and sale of a semipostal in order to increase funding for effective programs targeted at improving permanency outcomes for youth in foster care. Divides the amount received from such sales equally between: (1) programs and activities under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 that specifically target improvement in permanency outcomes for youth in foster care through adoption, guardianship, or kinship care; and (2) the program for state courts to assess and improve handling of proceedings relating to foster care and adoption.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2013
Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2013 - Requires: (1) there to be an independent anti-doping organization with responsibility for ensuring the integrity and safety of horse races that are the subject of interstate off-track wagers, and (2) the independent anti-doping organization designated pursuant to the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006 to serve as such organization. Sets forth as the duties of such organization: (1) developing, publishing, and maintaining rules regarding substances, methods, and treatments that may and may not be administered to a horse participating in such a race; (2) implementing programing relating to anti-doping education, research, testing, and adjudication to prevent any horse participating in such a race from racing under the effect of any prohibited substance, method, or treatment; and (3) excluding from participation in any such race any person who is determined to have violated such a rule or who is subject to a suspension from horse racing activities by any state racing commission. Prescribes conditions under which such organization may: (1) suspend the period a person is excluded from participation; and (2) permit the use of furosemide by a horse participating in such a race during the two-year period following enactment of this Act. Permits a host racing association to conduct a horse race that is the subject of an interstate off-track wager, and permits an interstate off-track wager to be accepted by an off-track betting system, only if consent is obtained from such organization. Requires such organization to ensure that all costs incurred in carrying out its duties are defrayed pursuant to agreements for such consent.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2013
Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act - Authorizes the State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico to provide for a ratification vote on the admission of Puerto Rico as a state of the United States on an equal footing with the several states in all respects. Requires (if a majority of votes cast in the ratification vote are for the admission of Puerto Rico as a state): (1) the President to submit to Congress legislation to admit Puerto Rico as a state, and (2) Congress to act, through legislation, to admit Puerto Rico as a state.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2013
Seniors Fraud Prevention Act of 2013 - Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish an office within the Bureau of Consumer Protection to advise the FTC on the prevention of fraud targeting seniors and to assist the FTC in monitoring the market for mail, television, Internet, and telemarketing fraud including recorded message telephone calls (robocalls) targeting seniors. Requires the FTC, through such office, to: (1) disseminate to seniors and their families and caregivers information on the most common fraud schemes, including methods of reporting complaints either to the FTC's national toll-free telephone number or to the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network, where complaints become immediately available to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), state attorneys general, and other appropriate law enforcement agencies; (2) provide, in response to a specific request about a particular entity or individual, publicly available information regarding the FTC's enforcement action; and (3) maintain a website as a resource for information on fraud targeting seniors. Directs the FTC to establish procedures through such office to: (1) log and acknowledge the receipt of complaints by individuals who believe they have been a victim of such fraud in the Consumer Sentinel Network, and to make such complaints immediately available to federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities; and (2) provide individuals with information on such fraud as well as the most common schemes.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2013
DSH Reduction Relief Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to delay from FY2014 to FY2016 commencement of the period during which the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is required to pay to any "subsection (d) hospital": (1) 25% of the amount of the disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payment that would otherwise be made to it for the fiscal year, plus (2) an additional payment amount according to a specified formula. (Generally, a subsection [d] hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system [IPPS] when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.) Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to delay from the beginning of FY2014 until the beginning of FY2016 (and so eliminate for FY2014 and FY2015) aggregate reductions in DSH allotments for all states.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2013
Keeping All Students Safe Act - Directs the Secretary of Education (Secretary) to establish minimum standards that: prohibit elementary and secondary school personnel from managing any student by using any mechanical or chemical restraint, physical restraint or escort that restricts breathing, or aversive behavioral intervention that compromises student health and safety; prohibit such personnel from using physical restraint or seclusion, unless such measures are required to eliminate an imminent danger of physical injury to the student or others and certain precautions are taken; require states and local educational agencies (LEAs) to ensure that a sufficient number of school personnel receive state-approved crisis intervention training and certification in first aid and certain safe and effective student management techniques; prohibit physical restraint or seclusion from being written into a student's education plan, individual safety plan, behavioral plan, or individual education program as a planned intervention; and require schools to establish procedures to notify parents in a timely manner if physical restraint or seclusion is imposed on their child. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to states and, through them, competitive subgrants to LEAs to: (1) establish, implement, and enforce policies and procedures to meet such standards; (2) improve their capacity to collect and analyze data related to physical restraint and seclusion; and (3) implement school-wide positive behavior supports. Requires LEAs to allow private school personnel to participate, on an equitable basis, in activities supported by such grants and subgrants. Directs the Secretary to conduct a national assessment of this Act's effectiveness. Gives Protection and Advocacy Systems the authority provided under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 to investigate, monitor, and enforce this Act's protections for students. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish standards for Head Start agencies that are consistent with the minimum standards for the management of elementary and secondary school students. Authorizes the Secretary to allocate funds to the Secretary of HHS to assist Head Start agencies in establishing, implementing, and enforcing policies and procedures to meet such standards.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2013
Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2013 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act [CWA]) to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make grants to nonprofit organizations to provide: (1) technical assistance to rural and small municipalities and tribal governments for planning, developing, and financing eligible state water pollution control revolving fund projects; and (2) technical assistance and training to enable rural, small, and tribal publicly owned treatment works and decentralized wastewater systems to protect water quality and comply with the CWA. Authorizes annual appropriations for FY2014-FY2018 for: (1) grants to states for administering programs for the prevention, reduction, and elimination of pollution; (2) watershed pilot projects (currently called wet weather watershed pilot projects); (3) grants to states for water pollution control revolving funds; (4) a pilot program for alternative water source projects; and (5) sewer overflow control grants. Expands the types of watershed pilot projects eligible for technical assistance and grants. Revises: (1) the eligibility requirements for grants for sewage collection systems; and (2) provisions concerning state water pollution control revolving funds, including by expanding the types of projects eligible for assistance. Requires states to: (1) establish affordability criteria to identify municipalities that would experience a significant hardship raising revenue for state water pollution control revolving fund projects, (2) establish a list of such projects that prioritizes water quality improvement projects for FY2015 and thereafter, and (3) provide financial assistance to only projects on such list. Requires the Administrator to report annually on the performance of the projects and activities carried out with assistance made available by a state water pollution control revolving fund. Prohibits state water pollution control revolving funds from being used for a project for the construction of treatment works unless the steel, iron, and manufactured goods used in such project are produced in the United States, with specified exceptions. Requires the Administrator to prohibit the use of steel, iron, and manufactured goods produced in a foreign country in a project funded with amounts made available from such fund if such country is in violation of the terms of an agreement with the United States by discriminating against such goods that are produced in the United States. Authorizes the Administrator to waive the requirement that a state deposit an amount equal to 20% of the state's annual capitalization grant into the state's water pollution control revolving fund if the Administrator determines that the state is experiencing economic hardship and that providing such a deposit would adversely impact the state's ability to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of its waters. Revises provisions concerning: (1) state water pollution control revolving fund amounts reserved for Indian tribes, and (2) the use of such amounts. Changes the tonnage duty (currently, a tax) on specified vessels entering or returning to a U.S. port. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the Clean Water Trust Fund for: (1) capitalization grants to states for water pollution control revolving funds; (2) grants to states for water pollution control programs; (3) grants for research for the prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution; and (4) direct loans or guaranteeing obligations authorized under provisions of this Act entitled the Water Pollution Control Investment Act. Water Pollution Control Investment Act - Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) make a direct loan to a state infrastructure financing authority for use in the same manner as a capitalization grant made under the CWA for state water pollution control revolving funds, and (2) guarantee obligations for construction of large water infrastructure projects.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2013
Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with respect to the Coast Guard, or any of the military departments to investigate allegations of retaliatory personnel actions taken in response to making protected communications to such Inspector General regarding alleged instances of rape, sexual assault, or other forms of sexual misconduct in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2013
Partnerships for Achieving Student Success Act or the PASS Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive, renewable, five-year grants to partnerships between low-income local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools offering graduate programs in school counseling, school social work, school psychology, or psychology to increase the number of program graduates employed by low-income LEAs. Defines "low-income LEAs" as those that: (1) serve students at least 20% of which are from low-income families; (2) have ratios of school counselors, school social workers, and psychologists to students that fall at least 10% below specified target ratios; and (3) have been identified as needing improvement or corrective action or that include at least one school identified as needing improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Requires the use of the grant funds to: provide program graduate students with field training at partnership LEA schools; contribute to program graduates' salaries at such schools for up to three years after they graduate; increase the number of school counselors, school social workers, and psychologists per student in such schools; recruit, hire, and retain culturally or linguistically under-represented graduate students in school counseling, school social work, or school psychology; enhance the capacity of partnership graduate schools to train such professionals; develop course work designed to facilitate such graduates' service to low-income LEAs and at-risk students; and provide tuition credits to such graduate students and student loan forgiveness to program graduates employed as school counselors, school social workers, or psychologists by low-income LEAs for at least five consecutive years. Directs the Secretary to establish a program providing student loan forgiveness to non-participants in this Act's grant program who have been employed for at least five consecutive years as school counselors, school social workers, or psychologists by low-income LEAs. Requires the Secretary to identify a formula for future use in designating regions as eligible for benefit programs due to their having a shortage of such school personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2013
Email Privacy Act - Amends the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 to prohibit a provider of remote computing service or electronic communication service to the public from knowingly divulging to any governmental entity the contents of any communication that is in electronic storage or otherwise maintained by the provider. Revises provisions under which the government may require, pursuant to a warrant, the disclosure by such a provider of the contents of such communications. Eliminates the different requirements applicable under current law depending on whether such communications were stored for fewer than, or more than, 180 days. Requires a law enforcement agency, within 10 days after receiving the contents of a customer's communication, or a governmental entity, within 3 days, to provide the customer a copy of the warrant and a notice that such information was requested by, and supplied to, the government entity. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the authority of a governmental entity to use an administrative or civil discovery subpoena to: (1) require an originator or recipient of an electronic communication to disclose the contents of such communication to the governmental entity; or (2) require an entity that provides electronic communication services to employees or agents of the entity to disclose the contents of an electronic communication to or from such employee or agent to a governmental entity if the communication is held, stored, or maintained on an electronic communications system owned or operated by the entity. Authorizes a governmental entity that is: (1) seeking a warrant for the contents of communications to include in the application a request for an order delaying the notification required for up to 180 days, in the case of a law enforcement agency, or up to 90 days, in the case of any other governmental entity; and (2) obtaining the contents of a communication, or information or records, to apply to a court for an order directing a provider of electronic communication service or remote computing service to which a warrant, order, subpoena, or other directive is directed not to notify any other person of the existence of the directive for up to 180 days, in the case of of a law enforcement agency, or up to 90 days, in the case of any other governmental entity. Provides for extensions. Requires service providers, after such extension, to provide the government three business days' notice of their intent to inform a customer or subscriber that the provider has disclosed the individual's electronic communications information to the government. Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress by September 30, 2015, regarding the disclosure by electronic communication service providers of customer communications and records, including an analysis and evaluation of such disclosure under provisions: (1) as in effect before the enactment of this Act, and (2) as amended by this Act.
![Official portrait of Rep. Negrete McLeod, Gloria [D-CA-35]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/n000187_200.jpg)