United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017
Military and Veterans Education Protection Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise a requirement, commonly known as the 90/10 rule, which directs proprietary (for profit) institutions of higher education to derive at least 10% of their revenue from nonfederal financial aid sources, or risk becoming ineligible for title IV funding. Currently the rule allows federal educational assistance for military personnel and veterans to count toward the 10%. This bill defines federal educational assistance to include federal educational assistance for military personnel and veterans. Thus, the bill prohibits proprietary institutions from counting federal educational assistance for military personnel and veterans as nonfederal funding sources.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2017
USS Indianapolis Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill requires the House of Representatives and the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design to the crew of the USS Indianapolis , in recognition of their perseverance, bravery, and service to the United States. Following the award of the gold medal, it shall be given to the Indiana War Memorial Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana, where it will be displayed and made available for research. It is the sense of Congress that the Indiana War Memorial Museum should make the gold medal available for display elsewhere, particularly at other locations and events associated with the USS Indianapolis.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2017
Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017 This bill amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to expand the scope of "covered transaction" subject to the review of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS analyzes the national security implications of foreign investment in the United States. A covered transaction includes: any merger, acquisition, or takeover that could result in foreign control of any U.S. business, the purchase or lease of real estate located in the United States that is in close proximity to a U.S. military installation or to another U.S. government facility or property that is sensitive for reasons relating to national security, other investment in a U.S. critical technology company or U.S. critical infrastructure company, any change in a foreign investor's rights that results in foreign control of a U.S. business, the contribution of intellectual property to a foreign person, or any other transaction, transfer, agreement, or arrangement designed to evade or circumvent the authority of CFIUS. The bill revises other provisions relating to CFIUS, including the length of its review period, special hiring authority and funding, and authority to mandate reviews or take unilateral action.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2017
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that if it creates a presumption of service connection between the occurrence of a disease and exposure to a herbicide agent while serving in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam era at a military base in Thailand, such presumption shall also apply to exposure to a herbicide agent while serving in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam era at any military base in Thailand without regard to where on the base the veteran was located or what military job specialty the veteran performed. The VA may provide to any spina bifida-affected child of a veteran who served on active duty in Thailand beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, and who was exposed to a herbicide agent during such service, the same health care, vocational training and rehabilitation, and monetary allowance required to be paid to a similarly affected child of a Vietnam veteran.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2017
State Veterans Home Program Improvement Act of 2017 This bill sets forth provisions regarding how states can use funds paid by the Veterans Administration for the treatment of veterans at a state home.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2017
LGBT Elder Americans Act of 2017 This bill amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to include the specific needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals among the "greatest social needs" served under that Act. An LGBT individual shall be considered a "minority" for purposes of services provided under the Act. The bill authorizes the Administration of Aging to designate within it a person with responsibility for addressing issues affecting LGBT older individuals. In addition, the administration shall conduct studies and collect data to determine the services needed by LGBT older individuals. The administration shall establish and operate the National Resource Center on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Aging to provide national, state, and local organizations with the information and technical assistance needed by those organizations to effectively serve LGBT older individuals. The Long-Term Care Ombudsman of each state shall, as a condition of receiving certain federal funding under the Act, collect and analyze data related to discrimination against LGBT older individuals in long-term care settings.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2017
Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act or the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to award cooperative agreements: (1) for the establishment or support of national or regional centers of excellence in public health practice in Alzheimer's disease; (2) to state public health departments, Native American tribes, and other entities to promote cognitive functioning, address cognitive impairment and unique aspects of Alzheimer's disease, and help meet the needs of caregivers; (3) for analysis and public reporting of data on the state and national levels regarding cognitive decline, caregiving, and health disparities, and monitoring of objectives on dementia and caregiving in the Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2020 report.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017
Burma Human Rights and Freedom Act of 2017 This bill authorizes assistance to victims of the military's ethnic cleansing campaign targeting the Rohingya people in Rakhine State, Burma (Myanmar), as well as technical assistance to investigate and prosecute crimes related to ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State. The bill imposes restrictions on international financial institution assistance, security cooperation, and trade. It calls on the President to determine whether specified individuals should be included in the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The Departments of State and the Treasury and the U.S. Agency for International Development shall submit to Congress an assistance strategy to promote broad-based economic development in Burma.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017
Kevin and Avonte's Law of 2017 Missing Americans Alert Program Act of 2017 This bill amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to revise, rename, and reauthorize through FY2022 the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program. It directs the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Bureau of Justice Assistance to award grants: to develop or operate programs to prevent wandering and locate missing individuals with dementia or children with developmental disabilities, and to develop tracking technology programs to locate missing individuals with dementia or children with developmental disabilities. The bill amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to specify that, with respect to training and technical assistance provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, cases involving missing and exploited children include cases involving children with developmental disabilities such as autism. DOJ must establish and certain grant recipients must comply with standards and best practices related to the use of tracking technology to locate missing individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities. The bill prohibits the use of data from tracking devices to create a federal database. It also prohibits construing this bill to require a parent or guardian to use a tracking device.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017
Protecting Workers' Freedom to Organize Act This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to modify the definitions of "employee" and "supervisor" under that Act to prevent the misclassification of employees as independent contractors in order to deny them collective bargaining rights. An individual performing any services is deemed to be an employee and not an independent contractor unless such individual is free from control and direction in the performance of such services, the services are performed outside the usual course of the employer's business, and the individual is customarily engaged in an independently established business.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017
Fruit and Vegetables Access for Children Act of 2017 This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to allow the Department of Agriculture Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to include canned, dried, frozen, or pureed fruits and vegetables. (Under current law, the program provides grants to states to make fresh fruits and vegetables available in elementary schools.)
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2017
Pharmaceutical Regulation Conflict of Interest Act This bill amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to prohibit a pharmaceutical regulator from using his or her position as regulator to influence any matter that provides a direct or substantial pecuniary benefit to a former employer or client. The position of pharmaceutical regulator refers to any officer or employee occupying a supervisory position within the Drug Enforcement Administration or the Food and Drug Administration. The bill also prohibits such a pharmaceutical regulator from participating in matters involving an individual or entity with whom the pharmaceutical regulator is negotiating future employment. The bill expands restrictions on lobbying by such pharmaceutical regulators following separation from employment with a pharmaceutical regulatory agency.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017
Lori Jackson Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to modify the prohibition on firearm sale or transfer to or purchase or possession by an individual who is subject to a court order that restrains the individual from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of an intimate partner. Specifically, the bill revises the elements of a qualifying court order. It also broadens the definition of "intimate partner" to include a dating partner or former dating partner.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017
Security and Financial Empowerment Act of 2017 This bill sets forth various provisions to promote the safety and security of survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, Among other things, the bill does the following: requires employers to provide up to 30 days of safe leave in a 12-month period; and prohibits states from imposing additional restrictions on eligibility for unemployment compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017
Fairness for Korean DMZ Veterans Act of 2017 This bill provides a presumption of herbicide exposure as the service-connected cause of certain diseases notwithstanding that there is no evidentiary record of any such disease during a veteran's service period. The bill defines a "veteran" for purposes of this bill as an individual who, during active military, naval, or air service, served in or near the Korean demilitarized zone during the period beginning on September 1, 1967, and ending on August 31, 1971. The bill specifies such a disease as: (1) a listed disease that becomes manifest, or (2) any additional disease that the Department of Veterans Affairs determines warrants a presumption of service-connection by reason of a positive association with herbicide exposure and that manifests itself within a prescribed period.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2017
National Scenic Trails Parity Act This bill amends the National Trails System Act to require the North Country, Ice Age, and New England National Scenic Trails to be administered as units of the National Park System.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2017
Fair Employment Protection Act of 2017 This bill sets forth employer liability standards to be applied in employee harassment claims under specified provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Revised Statutes, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, employment discrimination laws relating to certain executive branch employees, and the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995. The bill declares that employers under such Acts are liable for the acts of any individual whose harassment of an employee created or continued an unlawful hostile work environment if, at the time of the harassment: (1) such individual was authorized by that employer to undertake or recommend tangible employment actions affecting the employee or to direct the employee's daily work activities, or (2) the negligence of the employer led to the creation or continuation of that hostile work environment (thus modifies the liability standards provided by the Supreme Court in Vance v. Ball State University , which limited the category of supervisors for whom an employer may be held vicariously liable to those individuals who have authority to take tangible employment actions).
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 2017
Background Check Expansion Act This bill establishes new background check requirements for firearm transfers between private parties (i.e., unlicensed individuals). Specifically, it prohibits a firearm transfer between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check. The prohibition does not apply to certain firearm transfers, such as a gift between spouses in good faith.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 2017
Combating the Opioid Epidemic Act This bill amends the 21st Century Cures Act to provide additional funds through FY2027 for state grants to address the opioid abuse crisis. The bill provides funds to the Department of Health and Human Services through FY2022 for state grants to conduct research on addiction and pain related to substance misuse.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2017
Spurring Business in Communities Act of 2017 This bill amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to: require the Small Business Administration (SBA), in reviewing and processing an entity's application to become a small business investment company (SBIC), to give first priority to an SBIC applicant located in an underlicensed state (i.e., a state in which the number of licensees per capita is less than the median number of licensees per capita for all states) with below median financing; and exempt applicants in underlicensed states from certain SBA capital requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2017
State Public Option Act This bill allows residents not already eligible for Medicaid who are not concurrently enrolled in other health insurance coverage to buy into a state Medicaid plan beginning January 1, 2018. The bill makes such buy-in coverage eligible for premium subsidies and reduced cost sharing under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality shall develop standardized, state-level metrics of access to, and satisfaction with, providers for individuals enrolled in state Medicaid plans. Primary care services furnished under Medicaid by certain providers must be paid at a rate that is not less than the rate under Medicare part B. Beginning in FY2019, the Department of Health and Human Services may award grants to states for the purpose of improving access to services for individuals enrolled in state Medicaid plans. The bill provides the enhanced federal medical assistance percentage to every state that expands Medicaid coverage for individuals who are newly eligible under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, regardless of when such expansion takes place.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2017
Uniting and Strengthening America by Reforming and Improving the Government's High-Tech Surveillance Act of 2017 or the USA RIGHTS Act of 2017 This bill amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to: require a warrant to collect communications of or about a U.S. person or a person inside the United States; require a warrant when a significant purpose of targeting foreigners is to collect communications of persons in the United States; prohibit the use of communications to or from, or information about, U.S. persons or persons in the United States in any criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding or investigation, with the exception of national security-related crimes; allow individuals who have a reasonable basis to believe their communications will be acquired and who have taken reasonable steps to avoid surveillance to challenge the constitutionality of surveillance in court; and require that all forms of technical assistance demanded by the government of electronic communications service providers be approved by a FISA court. The bill expands the mandate of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to include review of all foreign intelligence activities and whistle-blower complaints. The bill extends the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to September 30, 2021.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 2017
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Improvement Act of 2017 This bill increases monthly rates for veterans' dependency and indemnity compensation payable to surviving spouses through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA shall pay to an individual who is eligible for dependency and indemnity compensation predicated on the death of a veteran before January 1, 1993, monthly dependency and indemnity compensation that is the greater of the amount in effect either before or after enactment of this bill. The bill makes VA dependent and survivor income benefits payable to a surviving spouse who remarries after age 55.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 2017
Honest Ads Act This bill expands source disclosure requirements for political advertisements by (1) establishing that paid internet and paid digital communications may qualify as “public communications” or “electioneering communications” that may be subject to such requirements, and (2) imposing additional requirements relating to the form of such source disclosures and the information contained within. The bill also requires certain online platform companies to maintain publicly available records about qualified political advertisements that have been purchased on their platforms.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 2017
Protect Access to Birth Control Act This bill nullifies interim final rules issued by the Department of Labor, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Health and Human Services that allow employers with religious or moral objections to be exempt from the requirement in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to cover contraceptive services without cost-sharing.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 2017
Support Our Start-Ups Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the tax deduction for new business expenditures to organizational expenditures, generally defined as expenditures incident to the creation of a corporation or a partnership. The bill also increases the maximum deduction amount for start-up and organizational expenditures from $5,000 to $20,000 and increases from $50,000 to $120,000 the threshold amount after which the maximum deduction amount for such expenditures is reduced.
United States · United States Congress · 18 October 2017
Renewable Chemicals Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow: (1) a business-related tax credit for the production of renewable chemicals, and (2) a tax credit for investment in renewable chemical production facilities. The bill defines "renewable chemical" as any chemical that: (1) is produced in the United States from renewable biomass; (2) is sold or used for the production of chemical products, polymers, plastics, or formulated products or as chemicals, polymers, plastics, or formulated products; (3) has a biobased content of not less than 95%; (4) is the product of, or reliant upon, biological or thermal conversion of renewable biomass; (5) is not sold or used for the production of any food, feed, or fuel; and (6) is not a chemical for which either of the tax credits established by this bill have been claimed by the taxpayer in any taxable year. The bill requires the Department of the Treasury to establish a program to allocate renewable chemical tax credit amounts to eligible taxpayers and imposes an aggregate limit on the amount of credits that may be allocated to not more than $500 million during the 5-year period after enactment of this bill. The amount of the credits that may be allocated to any taxpayer for any taxable year may not exceed $25 million.
United States · United States Congress · 18 October 2017
This bill prohibits any federal agency funds, resources, or fees from being used to implement or enforce Executive Order 13780 and the presidential proclamation of September 24, 2017. Among the order's major provisions are restrictions on the entry of nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen and additional limitations on refugee admissions to the United States. The proclamation revised such order to include entry restrictions on nationals from Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela, and remove such restrictions on nationals of Sudan. The proclamation additionally provides for enhanced U.S. vetting capacities.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2017
This bill repeals two sections of the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016 and the amendments made by such sections to the Controlled Substances Act. The repealed sections modified registration and enforcement authorities of the Drug Enforcement Administration with respect to manufacturers, distributors, and dispensers of controlled substances.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2017
Condemns the attack at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 1, 2017, and honors the memory of the victims killed. Expresses hope for the recovery of those injured, and applauds the efforts of law-enforcement and counterterrorism officials and emergency-medical and healthcare professionals in response to the attack.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 2017
Stronger Way Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to establish a program, through grant agreements with state and local government agencies, that provides eligible unemployed or partially-employed individuals with opportunities to work in a transitional job for the purpose of enabling them to gain, through wage-paying jobs, the experience and skills needed to move into regular employment. The bill also amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the formula for the earned income tax credit and make the child tax credit fully refundable.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 2017
Smarter Sentencing Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to expand the safety valve to allow a court to impose a sentence below the statutory mandatory minimum for an otherwise eligible drug offender who has three or fewer (currently, one or fewer) criminal history points. The bill amends the Controlled Substances Act to reduce the mandatory minimum prison term for defendants who manufacture, distribute, or possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Specifically, it reduces mandatory minimums: from 10 years to 5 years for a first-time high-level offense (e.g., one kilogram or more of heroin), from 20 years to 10 years for a high-level offense after one prior felony drug offense, from life to 25 years for a high-level offense after two or more prior felony drug offenses, from 5 years to 2 years for a first-time low-level offense (e.g., 100 to 999 grams of heroin), and from 10 years to 5 years for a low-level offense after one prior felony drug offense. Additionally, the bill amends the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to modify the application of mandatory minimum prison terms for certain defendants who import or export a controlled substance. Specifically, it: makes existing mandatory minimums inapplicable to a defendant who functions as a courier; and establishes new, shorter mandatory minimum prison terms for a courier. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 applies retroactively to allow a court to reduce the prison term of a convicted crack cocaine offender sentenced before August 3, 2010. The Department of Justice must report on and publish all federal criminal statutory offenses. Specified federal agencies, departments, and entities must report on and publish criminal regulatory offenses that they enforce.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2017
Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a trigger crank, a bump-fire device, or any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment, or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle but not convert the semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun. The bill does not prohibit, with respect to such firearm accessories, the importation or manufacture for, sale or transfer to, or possession by a federal, state, or local government. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to 10 years, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2017
Sensible, Timely Relief for America's Nuclear Districts' Economic Development Act of 2017 or the STRANDED Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to enter into an arrangement under which the National Academy of Sciences must conduct a study to determine whether opportunities exist for affected communities to consider alternatives to nuclear facilities, generating sites, and waste sites. DOE must also: (1) establish the Stranded Nuclear Waste Task Force to study existing public and private resources and funding for affected communities, and (2) establish a grant program to assist localities near nuclear power plants to offset the impacts of stranded nuclear waste in affected communities. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for tax incentives for investment in nuclear affected communities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2017
Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act of 2017 This bill amends the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 to extend through FY2022 and make appropriations for enhanced funding for the community health centers program and the National Health Service Corps.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2017
Veteran Partners' Efforts to Enhance Reintegration Act or the Veteran PEER Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a program to establish not fewer than two peer specialists in patient aligned care teams at VA medical centers to promote the use and integration of services for mental health, substance use disorder, and behavior health in a primary care setting. The VA shall ensure that the needs of female veterans are specifically addressed and that female peer specialists are included in the program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2017
We the People Democracy Reform Act of 2017 This bill amends various provisions related to elections, including by: expanding the ban on election contributions by foreign nationals to include corporations subject to specified levels of ownership or control by foreign nationals or governments; expanding and otherwise revising various disclosure and reporting requirements related to campaign communications; imposing penalties for willfully violating limits related to campaign contributions for coordinated expenditures; revising notification requirements for campaign contributions of $1,000 or more from any contributor during a calendar year; replacing the Federal Election Commission with the Federal Election Administration, which shall enforce specified election-related laws and formulate related policies; imposing restrictions on covered financial-services regulators, such as by prohibiting them from using their position to influence any matter that provides a direct and substantial pecuniary benefit to certain former employers or clients; requiring the President and Vice President to disclose financial interests, including tax returns, to Congress and the Office of Government Ethics; modifying the system for the public financing of presidential elections, including by providing for 600% matching funds for smaller campaign contributions and requiring a candidate who accepts public financing to agree not to accept certain bundled contributions; requiring each state to conduct redistricting through a plan developed by an independent commission or, if such a commission plan is not enacted, a plan developed and enacted by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; and directing states to permit same-day voter registration.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2017
Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) cover marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare, (2) exclude such services from the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system, and (3) authorize marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors to develop discharge plans for post-hospital services.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2017
VA Provider Equity Act This bill: (1) makes a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) doctor of podiatric medicine eligible for any supervisory position to the same degree as a VHA physician, and (2) increases the pay grade of podiatric surgeons to match the compensation of other VHA surgeons, physicians, and dentists. The Department of Veterans Affairs shall establish standards to ensure that specialists appointed to supervisory VHA positions do not provide direct clinical oversight for purposes of peer review or practice evaluation for providers of other clinical specialties.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2017
Designates September 2017 as National Workforce Development Month. Supports federal initiatives to promote workforce development. Acknowledges that workforce development plays a crucial role in supporting workers and growing the economy.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2017
Cultivating Revitalization by Expanding American Agricultural Trade and Exports Act or the CREAATE Act This bill amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to extend through FY2023 the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program, which are programs administered by the Department of Agriculture to promote exports of U.S. agricultural products.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2017
Protecting Workers and Improving Labor Standards Act This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to allow labor agreements to require membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment regardless of state law (thus preempting state laws that prohibit such agreements).
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2017
Strong Families Act of 2017 This bill amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to reauthorize through FY2022, and otherwise revise, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. Under current law, grantees were required, after three years of program implementation, to demonstrate improvement in specified benchmark areas. The bill requires grantees to continue to track and demonstrate, on a triennial basis, improvement in applicable benchmark areas. A grantee that fails to do so must develop and implement a corrective action plan, subject to approval by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS shall terminate a program grant made to a grantee that implements such a plan but continues to fail to demonstrate improvement. As a condition for receiving grant funds under the program, a state must review and update its statewide needs assessment by October 1, 2020. A grantee may use a portion of program grant funds to support a "pay-for-outcomes initiative" (a performance-based grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, awarded by a public entity, in which a commitment is made to pay for improved outcomes that result in social benefit and public-sector cost savings). HHS must designate data-exchange standards applicable to the program.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2017
This bill alters provisions relating to the determination of geographic adjustment factors for the payment of physician services under Medicare, and makes permanent certain adjustments for services furnished in Wisconsin and Iowa.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Freedom from Equifax Exploitation Act This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to revise fraud alert provisions required of consumer reporting agencies. A fraud alert must be placed in a consumer's file upon request if the consumer suspects harm from an unauthorized disclosure. The time period for fraud alerts is extended from 90 days to 1 year. The bill also revises provisions relating to 7-year renewable fraud alerts in cases of identity theft. The bill establishes a credit freeze process. A consumer reporting agency must place a free credit freeze on the consumer's file upon a consumer's request, prohibiting a consumer reporting agency from releasing any credit information without the consumer's permission. Consumer reporting agencies must provide procedures for temporarily and permanently lifting the freeze at no charge to the consumer. Consumers are allowed a free credit report when requesting a credit freeze. While the file is subject to a freeze, a consumer reporting agency is prohibited from including the consumer in lists provided to third parties for credit or insurance offers. A consumer reporting agency must provide on the Internet policies and procedures for consumers to: (1) place, temporarily lift, or fully remove a credit freeze; and (2) make required statements for fraud alerts or credit freezes. The bill requires consumer reporting agencies to issue a refund of fees to any consumer who requested a credit freeze beginning September 7, 2017, through the day before enactment of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to qualified tuition programs (known as 529 plans), to allow distributions from the plans to be used for expenses required for programs to obtain a recognized postsecondary credential or occupational license. A "recognized postsecondary credential" is a credential consisting of an industry-recognized certificate or certification, a certificate of completion of an apprenticeship, a license recognized by the state involved or federal government, or an associate or baccalaureate degree.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Equal Employment for All Act of 2017 This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit an employer from using a consumer report containing credit information for either employment purposes or for making an adverse employment action. The bill makes exceptions to the prohibition when: (1) the consumer applies for, or currently holds, employment that requires a national security clearance, or (2) a consumer report is otherwise required by law.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Middle School Technical Education Program Act or the Middle School STEP Act This bill directs the Department of Education to: create a pilot program for career and technical education exploration programs; and award grants to eligible partnerships (local educational agencies, area career and technical education schools, educational service agencies, and other organizations) to develop a middle school career and technical education exploration program that transition to career and technical education programs of study.
![Official portrait of Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b001230_200.jpg)