United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2018
Recognizes and encourages the observance of Small Business Saturday. Supports efforts to: (1) encourage consumers to shop locally, and (2) increase awareness of the value of locally owned small businesses and the impact of such businesses on the U.S. economy.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2018
Condemns: (1) the anti-Semitic attack on the Tree of Life synagogue building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 27, 2018, in which 11 innocent people were killed and 6 were injured, and (2) rising anti-Semitism in the United States and around the world. Honors the memory of those killed in the attack and expresses hope for the recovery for those injured. Reaffirms the commitment of the United States and its allies to defeat anti-Semitism and supports the right of Americans to freely exercise their religious beliefs.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 2018
Welcomes His Holiness, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, to Pennsylvania, Maryland, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, DC, and commends him for courageously condemning extremism and terror in all its forms.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2018
Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act of 201 8 This bill establishes a new formula for adjusting benefits under the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program for individuals who receive pensions based on certain non-covered employment. This formula replaces the existing formula (known as the "windfall elimination provision") for making such adjustments to OASDI benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2018
This bill designates the River Terrace Area of the Anacostia Park in the District of Columbia as the "Illinois' Bicentennial Grove." The Department of the Interior shall furnish and place a plaque near the trees planted in the Illinois' Bicentennial Grove in recognition of the trees as a tribute to the bicentennial of the State of Illinois and to Edward Coles, Mary Brown Davis, and Elijah and Owen Lovejoy, who were prominent abolitionists from Illinois.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2018
Restore the Harmony Way Bridge Act This bill amends the Act of April 12, 1941 (creating the White County Bridge Commission) to transfer a bridge over the Wabash River to the states of Illinois and Indiana without the condition of tolls.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2018
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should support protections in law for individuals with pre-existing conditions and, in the case of a court ruling that would hinder such protections, act swiftly to reinstate such protections.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2018
Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2018 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent several tax provisions that were enacted in 2017 and are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025. The bill makes permanent provisions that: reduce individual tax rates, modify the taxation of the unearned income of children, allow a deduction for qualified business income of pass-through entities, increase the standard deduction, increase and modify the child tax credit, increase the limitation for certain charitable contributions, allow additional contributions to ABLE accounts (tax-favored accounts designed to enable individuals with disabilities to save for and pay for disability-related expenses), allow certain members of the Armed Forces in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt to receive combat zone tax benefits, exclude from gross income discharges of student loan debt due to the death or disability of the student, repeal the deduction for personal exemptions, limit individual deductions for state and local taxes, limit the mortgage interest deduction, double the estate and gift tax exemption amount, increase the alternative minimum tax exemption amount for individuals, and repeal or limit several other deductions and exclusions. The bill also: extends through 2020 the reduction in the adjusted gross income threshold for the medical expense deduction, modifies the capital gains tax brackets, and modifies tax filing requirements for married taxpayers.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2018
Family Savings Act of 2018 This bill modifies the requirements for employer-provided retirement plans and tax-favored savings accounts. With respect to employer-provided retirement plans, the bill modifies requirements regarding: multiple employer and pooled employer plans, nonelective contributions to 401(k) plans, loans, the portability of lifetime income investments, the treatment of custodial accounts upon termination of section 403(b) plans, retirement income accounts for church-controlled organizations, required minimum distributions, retirement plan contributions picked up by government employers for new or existing employees, elective deferrals by members of the Ready Reserve of a reserve component of the Armed Forces, and nondiscrimination rules. The bill modifies requirements for other tax-favored savings account to: treat taxable non-tuition fellowship and stipend payments as compensation for the purpose of an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), repeal the maximum age for traditional IRA contributions, allow individuals to establish tax-favored universal savings accounts, expand the purposes for which qualified tuition programs (commonly known as 529 plans) may be used, and allow certain penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans if a child is born or adopted.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2018
American Innovation Act of 2018 This bill consolidates and expands the existing tax deductions for start-up expenditures and organizational expenditures of taxpayers beginning an active trade or business. For the year in which an active trade or business begins, the bill allows a single deduction equal to the lesser of (1) the aggregate amount of start-up and organizational expenditures paid or incurred in connection with the active trade or business, or (2) $20,000, reduced (but not below zero) by the amount by which the aggregate amount exceeds $120,000. The $20,000 and $120,000 limits must be adjusted for inflation after 2019. The bill also allows a start-up business to use net operating loss carryforwards, net operating losses, and unused general business tax credits after an ownership change without being subject to certain limitations required under current law.
United States · United States Congress · 28 August 2018
Fighting Fraud to Protect Care for Seniors Act of 2018 This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish a pilot program that evaluates the feasibility of using smart card technology to address Medicare fraud. Under the program, smart card technology must be issued free-of-charge to selected Medicare beneficiaries, suppliers, and providers; such technology must support the secure, electronic authentication of beneficiary identity at points of service. In selecting program participants, the CMS must consider the risk of fraud, waste, or abuse among categories of suppliers and providers.
United States · United States Congress · 28 August 2018
Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require private health insurance plans to cover diagnosis and treatment services for congenital anomalies and birth defects, including reconstructive services and prosthetics.
United States · United States Congress · 6 July 2018
This bill modifies the requirements for the premium assistance tax credit and allows all individuals to purchase catastrophic health plans in the individual market. (Under current law, the premium assistance tax credit is provided to eligible individuals and families to subsidize the purchase of health insurance plans on an exchange established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.) The bill modifies the credit to: make the credit available for catastrophic qualified health plans and plans that are not offered through an exchange, but otherwise meet the requirements for qualified health plans; prohibit advance payments of the credit from being made for a health plan that is not enrolled in through an exchange; and prohibit the credit from being used for health plans that cover abortions (other than abortions necessary to save the life of the mother or abortions with respect to a pregnancy that is the result of an act of rape or incest). The bill also modifies the requirements for minimum essential health benefits to allow all individuals purchasing health insurance in the individual market to purchase a lower premium catastrophic plan. (The plans are currently limited to individuals who are under 30 or qualify for a hardship or affordability exemption.)
United States · United States Congress · 6 July 2018
Health Savings Act of 2018 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to health savings accounts (HSAs), to require the bronze and catastrophic health plans described in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to be treated as high deductible health plans, which are required to participate in an HSA.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2018
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the high deductible health plans that are required for a health savings account to cover up to $250 of specified services (twice the amount in the case of family coverage) during a plan year without a deductible. The limit must be adjusted annually for inflation. The specified services covered by this bill include services other than preventive care that are identified under the terms of the plan. (Under current law, high deductible plans are already permitted to provide coverage for preventive care with no deductible.)
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2018
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 5707 South Cass Avenue in Westmont, Illinois, as the "James William Robinson Jr. Memorial Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2018
Preserving America's Battlefields Act This bill reauthorizes though FY2028 the Battlefield Acquisition Grant Program and expands the purposes of the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2002. Specifically, the Act's purposes shall include: the preservation and protection of nationally significant battlefields of not only the Civil War but also the American Revolution and the War of 1812, and the enhancement of visitors' experiences at those battlefields.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2018
Dr. Todd Graham Pain Management, Treatment, and Recovery Act of 2018 This bill establishes several requirements for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and alters requirements under Medicare and Medicare Advantage (MA), related to pain management and opioid use. Among other requirements, the CMS must review payments under Medicare for opioid and non-opioid pain management procedures, specifically with respect to ambulatory outpatient surgical procedures and hospital outpatient department services. The CMS must ensure that there are no payment incentives for using opioids instead of non-opioid alternatives and must make revisions accordingly. The bill also requires payment under Medicare to federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics that have health care practitioners who are newly certified to provide medication-assisted treatment (e.g., buprenorphine). The bill also authorizes the suspension of payments to a pharmacy under the Medicare prescription drug benefit and MA prescription drug plans pending the investigation of a credible allegation of fraud by the pharmacy.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2018
Recognizes the 85th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor) of 1932-1933 and extends sympathies to the victims, survivors, and families of that tragedy. Condemns the systematic violations of human rights of the Ukrainian people by the Soviet government and recognizes the 1988 findings of the Commission on the Ukraine Famine that Joseph Stalin committed genocide against the Ukrainians in 1932-1933.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2018
Palestinian Authority Educational Curriculum Transparency Act This bill directs the Department of State to report annually to Congress on curricula used in schools controlled by the Palestinian Authority (PA) or the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the West Bank and Gaza, including determinations of whether: (1) violent or intolerant content toward other nations or ethnic groups has been removed; (2) the PA and UNRWA are reforming such curricula to conform with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization standards; and (3) the PA or UNRWA is using U.S. assistance to fund dissemination of such curricula. The State Department shall make such reports publicly available.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2018
This bill reauthorizes the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act through FY2023. The Act provides services and support for victims of family violence, domestic violence, or dating violence.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2018
Condemns all forms of physical, mental, and sexual violence against children and youth globally. Commends the End Violence Against Children Solution Summit 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden, for its leadership.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2018
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1355 North Meridian Road in Harristown, Illinois, as the "Logan S. Palmer Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2018
Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2018 This bill requires the Department of Education when reviewing whether there has been a violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance) based on an individual's actual or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic characteristics to consider the definition of "anti-Semitism" as part of its assessment of whether a practice was motivated by anti-Semitic intent. For purposes of this bill, the definition of "anti-Semitism" is the definition set forth by the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism of the Department of State in the Fact Sheet issued on June 8, 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2018
Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2018 This bill requires the House of Representatives and the Senate to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the U.S. merchant mariners of World War II, in recognition of their service during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2018
Post-Surgical Injections as an Opioid Alternative Act This bill temporarily freezes Medicare payment at 2016 levels for specified spinal surgery outpatient procedures that are conducted in ambulatory surgical centers.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2018
Removing Onerous Obstacles in the Tax code for Mainstreet Businesses Act of 2018 or the ROOT for Mainstreet Businesses Act of 2018 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from personal holding company income certain rents and royalties that are derived in the active conduct of a trade or business and are not received from a related person.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2018
Recognizes that the memorials and monuments to the 1940 Katyn Massacre are important historical reminders of the killing of approximately 22,000 Polish prisoners of war at the order of Joseph Stalin. Applauds the contributions of Polish Americans to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2018
Preventing Addiction for Susceptible Seniors Act of 2018 or the PASS Act of 2018 This bill alters several requirements under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Specifically, the bill: (1) requires prescription drug plan sponsors to establish drug management programs for at-risk beneficiaries; (2) requires electronic prescription programs to enable the secure transmittal of prior authorization requests for covered drugs; and (3) establishes individuals who are identified as at-risk beneficiaries for prescription drug abuse as qualifying participants in medication therapy management programs. The bill also requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish a secure online portal to allow: (1) data sharing among the CMS, Medicare prescription drug benefit plans, and Medicare Advantage (MA) plans; and (2) referrals by such plans of substantiated fraud, waste, or abuse in order to initiate or assist investigations by contracted entities under the Medicare Integrity Program. The CMS must also: (1) identify outlier prescribers of opioids under Medicare prescription drug benefit plans and MA plans, based on specialty and geographic area; and (2) annually notify such prescribers of their status and provide them with resources on proper prescribing methods.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2018
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 108 West D Street in Alpha, Illinois, as the "Captain Joshua E. Steele Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2018
Commit to Opioid Medical Prescriber Accountability and Safety for Seniors Act or the COMPASS Act This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to identify outlier prescribers of opioids under the Medicare prescription drug benefit and Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans. Specifically, the CMS must: (1) establish an opioid-prescription threshold for determining whether a prescriber is an outlier compared to other prescribers, based on specialty and geographic area; (2) use National Provider Identifiers (unique provider identification numbers currently included on claims for covered drugs) to identify outlier prescribers; and (3) annually notify identified outlier prescribers of their status and provide them with resources on proper prescribing methods. The CMS may also identify and notify outlier prescribers based on co-prescriptions of covered drugs that have adverse effects when used in combination with opioids.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2018
Benefit Evaluation of Safe Treatment Act of 2018 or the BEST Act of 2018 This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to report on the availability of supplemental health care benefits for the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders under Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, including differences between MA plans for certain individuals with special needs and other MA plans.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2018
This bill requires Medicare prescription drug plan (PDP) sponsors, for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, to establish drug management programs for at-risk beneficiaries. Current law authorizes, but does not require, PDP sponsors to establish such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2018
Better Energy Storage Technology Act of 2018 or the BEST Act of 2018 This bill requires the Department of Energy to establish new goals for its energy storage program and enter into agreements to carry out at least three grid-scale energy storage demonstration projects. (The energy storage program supports the ability of the United States to remain globally competitive in energy storage systems for electric drive vehicles, stationary applications, and electricity transmission and distribution.)
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2018
Iranian Military and Terror Financing Reporting Act This bill directs the Department of State to report to Congress annually on Iranian expenditures supporting foreign military and terrorist activities outside Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2018
Stephen Michael Gleason Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Stephen Michael Gleason.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2018
Never Again Education Act This bill authorizes the Holocaust Education Assistance Program Fund for the Department of Education (ED) to: (1) award grants to eligible entities to carry out Holocaust education programs, and (2) conduct periodic regional workshops to provide teachers with technical assistance on how to incorporate Holocaust education within state and local education standards. The fund may accept donations and in-kind contributions. ED shall: (1) create and maintain a Holocaust education program website containing resources for middle grades and high schools; and (2) establish the Holocaust Education Advisory Board to advise on developing application criteria for the fund's grants, advise on content for the Holocaust education program website, and lead efforts to solicit donations for the fund.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2018
Global Electoral Exchange Act This bill directs the Department of State to establish and administer a Global Electoral Exchange Program to promote the utilization of sound election administration practices in the United States and foreign countries. The State Department shall maintain a publicly available website detailing the Global Electoral Exchange Program.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2018
United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018 This bill extends Military Financing Program grants for Israel through FY2023. The Department of Defense shall conduct a joint assessment with Israel regarding: (1) precision guided munitions needed by Israel in a sustained armed confrontation with Hezbollah and other armed groups and terrorist organizations, and (2) related U.S. assistance and resupply planning. The President may utilize the Special Defense Acquisition Fund to transfer precision guided munitions and related defense articles and services to reserve stocks for Israel. Authorities for loan guarantees and the war reserves stockpile for Israel are extended through FY2023. The Department of Homeland Security shall establish a seven-year grant program with Israel to support: (1) cybersecurity research and development, and (2) commercialization of cybersecurity technology. The U.S. Agency for International Development may enter into memoranda of understanding with Israel to advance common goals on energy, agriculture and food security, democracy, economic growth, education, and health. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shall continue to work with the Israel Space Agency to pursue peaceful space exploration and science initiatives. The President may enter into a cooperative project agreement with Israel to carry out research and joint production of defense articles and services to detect and destroy unmanned aerial vehicles (i.e., drones) that threaten the United States or Israel. The bill states that it is U.S. policy to ensure that Israel maintains its qualitative military edge.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2018
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Economic Exclusion Act This bill expands sanctions against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The President shall report to Congress regarding: foreign and domestic supply chains that significantly aid the IRGC; Iranian state-owned entities that provide support to terrorist entities, including Mahan Air; and foreign persons owned or controlled by the IRGC, including companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange or companies with a value in excess of $100 million. The bill states that it is U.S. policy to prevent Iran's membership in the World Trade Organization and similar international bodies as long as Iran remains a state sponsor of terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2018
Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2018 This bill amends the Global Food Security Act of 2016 to revise policy objectives and to: (1) extend through FY2021 the program to carry out those portions of the global food security strategy that relate to the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and (2) expand requirements for reporting by the President regarding strategy implementation. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended to extend through FY2021 the assistance program for international disaster relief and rehabilitation, including the set-aside for the emergency food security program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2018
Rare disease Advancement, Research, and Education Act of 2018 or the RARE Act of 2018 This bill reauthorizes through FY2023 the Office of Rare Diseases in the National Institutes of Health. The bill requires (1) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to expand infrastructure and activities to track the epidemiology of rare diseases and conditions and to incorporate this information into a National Rare Disease or Condition Surveillance System, and (2) the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to expand its activities to increase providers' awareness of rare diseases and conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2018
Advancing Access to Precision Medicine Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Medicine for the academy to study usage of genetic and genomic testing, including how to reduce barriers to the utilization of such testing. The bill allows states to apply for an exception to Medicaid's federal medical assistance percentage rate to provide whole genome sequencing clinical services to certain children, including those admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit for a chronic or undiagnosed disease and those suspected to have a pediatric-onset genetic disease.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2018
Concentrating on High-Value Alzheimer's Needs to Get to an End (CHANGE) Act of 2018 This bill makes a series of changes to Medicare and the directives of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation in order to address Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, such as incorporating certain cognitive impairment detection tools and diagnostic service referrals into the Medicare annual wellness visit.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2018
Authorizes the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center on April 9, 2018, for a ceremony as part of the commemoration of the days of remembrance of victims of the Holocaust.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2018
Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from requiring a tax-exempt organization to include in annual returns the name, address, or other identifying information of any contributor. The bill includes exceptions for: (1) required disclosures regarding prohibited tax shelter transactions; and (2) contributions by the organization's officers, directors, or five highest compensated employees (including compensation paid by related organizations).
