Records
Bill· SS. 25 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2023
Assault Weapons Ban of 2023 This bill makes it a crime to knowingly import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon (SAW) or large capacity ammunition feeding device (LCAFD). The prohibition does not apply to a firearm that is (1) manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, except for certain shotguns; (2) permanently inoperable; (3) an antique; (4) only capable of firing rimfire ammunition; or (5) a rifle or shotgun specifically identified by make and model. The bill also exempts from the prohibition the following, with respect to a SAW or LCAFD: importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession related to certain law enforcement efforts, or authorized tests or experiments; importation, sale, transfer, or possession related to securing nuclear materials; and possession by a retired law enforcement officer. The bill permits continued possession, sale, or transfer of a grandfathered SAW, which must be securely stored. A licensed gun dealer must conduct a background check prior to the sale or transfer of a grandfathered SAW between private parties. The bill permits continued possession of, but prohibits sale or transfer of, a grandfathered LCAFD. Newly manufactured LCAFDs must display serial number identification. Newly manufactured SAWs and LCAFDs must display the date of manufacture. The bill also allows a state or local government to use Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds to compensate individuals who surrender a SAW or LCAFD under a buy-back program.
Bill· SS. 28 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2023
Restaurant Revitalization Tax Credit Act This bill allows certain restaurants affected by the COVID-19 pandemic a credit against payroll tax liability up to 100% of the wages paid to their employees, not to exceed $25,000 in any calendar quarter.
Bill· SS. 40 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2023
Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act This bill establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. The commission must (1) compile documentary evidence of slavery in the United States; (2) study the role of the federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery; (3) analyze discriminatory laws and policies against freed African slaves and their descendants; and (4) recommend ways the United States may recognize and remedy the effects of slavery and discrimination on African Americans, including through a formal apology and compensation (i.e., reparations). The commission consists of individuals from civil society and reparations organizations and individuals appointed by the President and congressional leadership. The commission may hold hearings, subpoena witnesses and records, and contract with other entities to conduct its work. The commission must submit its final report within one year of its first meeting.
Bill· SS. 42 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2023
Build, Utilize, Invest, Learn, and Deliver for Veterans Act of 2023 or the BUILD for Veterans Act of 2023 This bill addresses Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) capital asset management, planning, and investment. Among other requirements, the VA must ensure it has dedicated offices or entities and sufficient staff to conduct relevant critical responsibilities for the life cycle of capital asset management at the local, regional, and central office levels; establish a staffing model to ensure a minimum base level of capital asset staffing; develop goals and metrics to assess and improve the performance of VA capital asset management programs; comprehensively review the climate resilience of its facilities, land, and other relevant capital assets; submit the Strategic Plan to Improve VA's Delivery and Management of Capital Assets; and review all relevant authorities of the VA to determine whether the provisions are meaningful, relevant, and reflect current operational needs, organization structure, and all other necessary requirements for the full life cycle of effective and efficient management of capital assets. The Inspector General of the VA must examine and report on the management and performance of relevant capital asset projects of the VA. The Government Accountability Office must review and report on the VA's progress toward meeting the goals, metrics, and other plans set forth in this bill. The bill also requires various reports from the VA relating to capital asset improvement and the implementation of capital asset directives (e.g., reports on the VA's physical infrastructure and information technology needs).
Bill· SS. 45 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2023
Small Business Tax Fairness and Compliance Simplification Act This bill expands the tax credit for a portion of the employer-paid Social Security taxes for employee cash tips to include beauty service establishments. (Under current law, the credit is limited to tips received for providing, serving, or delivering food or beverages.) The credit applies to tips received in connection with providing beauty services to a customer or client if tipping employees who provide the service is customary. Beauty services include barbering and hair care, nail care, esthetics, and body and spa treatments. The bill also (1) establishes an employer tip reporting safe harbor for beauty service establishments, and (2) specifies reporting requirements for income received from renting space to individuals who provide beauty services. The employer tip reporting safe harbor for beauty service establishments provides an exemption from certain Internal Revenue Service tip examinations for employers who meet certain requirements for educational programs, reporting procedures, compliance with tax law, and recordkeeping. The Government Accountability Office must study and report on the impact of the extension of the employer social security tax credit on employers and employees.
Bill· SS. 51 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2023
Washington, D.C. Admission Act This bill provides for the admission of the state of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth into the United States. The commonwealth consists of all the territory of the District of Columbia (DC), excluding certain federal property. The excluded property shall be known as the Capital and serve as the seat of federal government; it includes the principal federal monuments, the White House, the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court Building, and the federal office buildings located adjacent to the Mall and Capitol Building. In addition, the bill maintains the federal government's authority over military lands and specified other property and prohibits the commonwealth from taxing federal property except as permitted by Congress. Within 30 days of this bill's enactment, the DC mayor must call for the election of two Senators and one Representative for the commonwealth. The commonwealth shall be admitted into the United States upon a presidential proclamation announcing the results of that election. The bill applies current DC laws to the commonwealth and continues pending judicial proceedings. It also continues certain federal authorities and responsibilities, including regarding employee benefits, agencies, and courts, until the commonwealth certifies that it is prepared to take over those authorities and responsibilities. Further, the bill provides for expedited consideration of a joint resolution to repeal the Twenty-third Amendment to the Constitution (which allows DC citizens to vote in presidential elections). The bill also establishes a commission to advise the President, Congress, and DC and commonwealth leaders on the transition.
Bill· SS. 100 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2023
Better Care Better Jobs Act This bill establishes programs and provides funds for state Medicaid programs to improve home- and community-based services (HCBS), such as home health care, personal care, case management, and rehabilitative services. Specifically, the bill provides funds for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to award planning grants, develop quality measures, and provide technical assistance to states regarding specified HCBS improvements, particularly with respect to access, utilization, and the associated workforce. The bill also increases the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (i.e., federal matching rate) for HCBS in states that develop plans and meet specified benchmarks for improvements. The bill also makes permanent (1) the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration Program (a grant program to help states increase the use of HCBS for long-term care and decrease the use of institutional care), and (2) certain provisions regarding Medicaid eligibility that protect against spousal impoverishment for recipients of HCBS.
Bill· SS. 124 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2023
Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act or the FAIR Act This bill modifies pay rates for federal employees in 2024. Specifically, the bill increases rates under the statutory pay systems and for prevailing rate employees by 4.7% and increases locality pay by 4%.
Bill· SJRESS.J.Res. 4 (118th)open
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2023
This joint resolution provides that the Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, was ratified by three-fourths of the states and is therefore a valid constitutional amendment, regardless of any time limit that was in the original proposal. The Equal Rights Amendment was originally proposed to the states in 1972. The original proposal included a deadline for ratification of March 22, 1979; Congress subsequently extended the deadline to June 30, 1982. Although the requisite 38 states have ratified the amendment, three of these states did so after the deadlines, and five states subsequently rescinded their ratifications. The status of the amendment has been the subject of litigation.
Law· SS. 91 (118th)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2023
Forgotten Heroes of the Holocaust Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to 60 diplomats posthumously in recognition of their brave and vital service of saving Jews during World War II.
Bill· SS. 176 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2023
Expanding Agricultural Exports Act of 2023 This bill expands and extends through FY2029 the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program of the Department of Agriculture.
Bill· SS. 173 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2023
Ethan's Law This bill establishes a framework to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises at the federal, state, and tribal levels. At the federal level, the bill establishes statutory requirements for firearms on residential premises to be safely stored if a minor is likely to gain access without permission or if a resident is ineligible to possess a firearm. An individual who violates the requirements is subject to criminal penalties. A firearm stored in violation of the requirements is subject to seizure and forfeiture. At the state and tribal levels, the bill requires the Department of Justice to award grants to implement functionally identical requirements for the safe storage of firearms.
Bill· SS. 132 (118th)reported
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2023
Daniel J. Harvey Jr. and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act This bill requires the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs to jointly carry out a five-year pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of providing certain services and a module comprised of specified elements as part of the pre-separation transition process for members of the Armed Forces for the purpose of reducing the incidence of suicide among veterans.
Bill· SS. 131 (118th)open
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2023
Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act of 2023 This bill expands the role of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in providing services to injured federal workers under the federal workers' compensation program. Specifically, under the program, nurse practitioners and physician assistants acting within the scope of their practice may (1) prescribe or recommend treatment for injured federal workers; (2) certify the nature of an injury and probable extent of disability; (3) provide prescribed treatment for injured federal workers; and (4) participate, with a physician designated by the Department of Labor, in a mandatory workers' compensation examination of an injured worker. In general, only physicians may fulfill these roles under current law.
Bill· SS. 209 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous Fees Act of 2023 or the FAIR Fees Act of 202 3 This bill directs the Department of Transportation to prescribe regulations (1) prohibiting an air carrier from imposing specified fees relating to a flight in passenger air transportation that are unreasonable or disproportional to the costs it incurs, and (2) establishing standards for assessing whether such fees are reasonable and proportional to those costs.
Resolution· SRESS.Res. 21 (118th)passed
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
This resolution expresses support for observing National Trafficking and Modern Slavery Prevention Month during the period of January 1-February 1, 2023.
Bill· SS. 210 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
Job Protection Act This bill reduces from 12 months to 90 days the employment period required for employees (including federal employees) to become eligible for family and medical leave. Additionally, the bill makes the family and medical leave requirements applicable to all employers (currently, the requirements apply to employers with 50 or more employees).
Bill· SS. 233 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
African American History Act This bill authorizes the National Museum of African American History and Culture to carry out educational programs and related activities. Such activities include developing and making available accurate, relevant, and accessible resources to promote the understanding of African American history; and expanding the collection acquisition and collection access processes, including conservation and digitization. The museum may also develop and maintain on its website content designated for educators, students, and families to improve their awareness and understanding of African American history.
Bill· SS. 242 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Caring for All Families Act This bill expands who is permitted to take qualifying family and medical leave and provides additional leave for parents and family caregivers. The bill grants leave to private sector and federal employees to care for a domestic partner and any individual whose close association with such employees is like a family relationship, regardless of biological or legal relationship, if (1) such individual has a serious health condition, or (2) there is a qualifying exigency due to such employees' active duty in the Armed Forces. The bill entitles an employee who is a domestic partner, next of kin of a member of the Armed Forces, or any individual whose close association is like a family relationship, regardless of biological or legal relationship, to take leave to care for the service member. The bill entitles private sector and federal employees to take additional leave to participate in or attend their children's and grandchildren's school or community organization activities, meet routine family medical care needs, or care for their elderly relatives.
Bill· SS. 260 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Promoting Access to Diabetic Shoes Act This bill allows a nurse practitioner or physician assistant to fulfill documentation requirements for coverage, under Medicare, of special shoes for diabetic individuals. Under current law, such requirements may be satisfied only by a physician.
Bill· SS. 228 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act of 2023 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take various actions to address transparency in contract terms and pricing in the cattle industry. Among these requirements, USDA must maintain a publicly available library or catalog of contracts entered into between meat packers and livestock producers for the purchase of cattle, including any schedules of premiums or discounts associated with the contracts and other specific details. USDA must make this information available to producers and other interested parties in a monthly report. The bill further requires USDA to establish five to seven regions encompassing the entire continental United States that reasonably reflect similar fed cattle purchase practices for processing plants and establish mandatory minimums for each region (i.e., the minimum percentage of cattle purchases that are required to be made through approved pricing mechanisms from producers that are not packers). Under the bill, approved pricing mechanisms are generally purchases of fed cattle made through a negotiated purchase, through a negotiated grid purchase, at a stockyard, or through trading systems or platforms where multiple buyers and sellers can regularly make and accept bids and offers. The bill also establishes a maximum penalty for mandatory minimum violations by covered packers. Under the bill, a covered packer is a packer that has slaughtered an average of 5% or more of the number of fed cattle slaughtered nationally during the immediately preceding five calendar years.
Bill· SS. 261 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Protecting First Responders from Secondary Exposure Act of 2023 This bill expands the allowable uses of grant funds under the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program administered by the Department of Justice. Specifically, the bill allows grants to be used for purchasing containment devices for first responders and training first responders on the use of containment devices to prevent secondary exposure to fentanyl and other potentially lethal substances.
Bill· SS. 249 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Apprenticeship Hubs Across America Act of 2023 This bill requires the Department of Labor to implement a program to award grants to workforce intermediaries (certain national, regional, state, or local entities that facilitate the establishment of registered apprenticeship programs) to enable them to engage a variety of stakeholders to support, develop, and implement registered apprenticeship programs.
Bill· SS. 247 (118th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Extreme Risk Protection Order Expansion Act of 2023 This bill establishes grants to support the implementation of extreme risk protection order laws at the state and local levels, extends federal firearms restrictions to individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders, and expands related data collection. Extreme risk protection order laws, or red flag laws, generally allow certain individuals (e.g., law enforcement officers or family members) to petition a court for a temporary order that prohibits an at-risk individual from purchasing and possessing firearms. Among its provisions, the bill directs the Department of Justice to establish a grant program to help states, local governments, Indian tribes, and other entities implement extreme risk protection order laws; extends federal restrictions on the receipt, possession, shipment, and transportation of firearms and ammunition to individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders; and requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to compile records from federal, tribal, and state courts and other agencies that identify individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders.