United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2017 This bill amends the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 to impose specified sanctions on: (1) foreign persons that knowingly assist in or provide support for fund raising or recruitment activities for Hizballah; (2) agencies of foreign governments that provide Hizballah with financial support, arms, or other assistance; and (3) Hizballah by reason of its narcotics trafficking and significant transnational criminal activities. The bill prescribes reporting requirements or reporting modifications with respect to: (1) foreign persons that knowingly assist or provide significant financial, material, or technological support for foreign persons assisting Hizballah; (2) financial institutions that are owned or organized under the laws of state sponsors of terrorism; (3) Hizballah's racketeering activities; (4) combating illicit tobacco trafficking networks used by Hizballah and other foreign terrorist organizations to finance their operations; (5) the estimated net worth of senior Hizballah officials and how their funds were acquired and used; and (6) revenue from Hizbollah's global logistics networks and legal measures available to target such networks.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Finger Lakes National Heritage Area Study Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating specified counties and other areas in the state of New York as the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 This bill revises education and related benefits provided to veterans, service members, dependents, and survivors. The bill amends the Post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance program to: remove certain time restrictions on program use; increase assistance for reservists, guardsmen, dependents, and surviving spouses and dependents; provide full eligibility for Post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients and certain reservists and guardsmen; provide an extra academic years' worth of benefits for STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degree candidates; establish a five-year pilot program for high technology courses; restore eligibility for service members whose school closes in the middle of a semester; authorize funding to improve claims processing; permit assistance to be used at certain institutions that are not institutions of higher education; and pro-rate the housing stipend for reservists called to active duty. The bill authorizes the Edith Nurse Rogers STEM Scholarship to help veterans complete STEM degrees. The Yellow Ribbon program is extended to Fry Scholarship recipients (surviving dependents of service members who died on active duty) and certain Purple Heart recipients. (The Yellow Ribbon program helps veterans pay for higher education tuition and fee costs not covered by the Post-9/11 program.) The bill: (1) extends the Advisory Committee on Education, (2) increases survivors' and dependents' educational assistance, and (3) extends funding for state educational program approving agencies. The bill provides statutory authority for the veterans success of campus program which provides veterans with on-campus educational and vocational counseling. The Department of Veterans Affairs shall: (1) make a new determination regarding each denied veteran's claim for disability compensation in connection with full-body exposure to mustard gas or Lewisite at specified locations during World War II, and (2) presume such exposure unless there is affirmative evidence otherwise.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Stopping Assault while Flying Enforcement Act of 2017 This bill requires air carriers and foreign air carriers to provide initial and recurrent training for certain flight personnel who are employees or contractors about responding to sexual assault and sexual harassment of passengers, employees, and contractors onboard aircraft. The Department of Transportation must establish a National In-Flight Sexual Assault Task Force, whose duties shall include, with respect to sexual assault and sexual harassment onboard aircraft, reviewing the practices and protocols of air carriers and making recommendations about best practices and minimum standards for training and a streamlined process for reporting incidents.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act This bill revises the methodology for calculating Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits and phases out the cap on compensation subject to Social Security taxation. The bill directs the Bureau of Labor Statistics to prepare and publish a Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E) to track cost-of-living changes for individuals age 62 or older. Beginning in two years after the enactment of this bill, the CPI-E, instead of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, shall be used to calculate the cost-of-living adjustment for OASDI benefits. The bill also includes surplus earnings in the calculation of the primary insurance amount (i.e., the amount received by a beneficiary who elects to receive OASDI benefits at full retirement age). The bill phases out and, after 2023, eliminates the cap on compensation ($128,400 in 2018) subject to Social Security taxation.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend to all domestic corporations, including S corporations, provisions allowing deferral of tax on gain from the sale of employer securities to an S corporation-sponsored employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The Department of the Treasury must establish the S Corporation Employee Ownership Assistance Office to foster increased employee ownership of S corporations. The bill also amends the Small Business Act to define "ESOP business concern" and allow such a concern to continue to qualify for loans, preferences, and other programs under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Democracy Restoration Act of 2017 This bill establishes that an individual's right to vote in a federal election may not be abridged due to a criminal conviction unless the individual is incarcerated for a felony sentence at the time of the election. The bill also (1) requires incarcerated individuals to be notified of the restoration of their voting rights upon release, and (2) prohibits states and local governments that do not comply with this bill from receiving federal funds for constructing or improving prisons.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act of 2017 or the DISCLOSE Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to ban campaign contributions and expenditures by corporations that are controlled, influenced, or owned by foreign nationals. The bill redefines the term "independent expenditure" to include an expenditure that is the functional equivalent of express advocacy because it can be interpreted by a reasonable person only as advocating the election or defeat of a candidate. The bill expands the period during which certain communications are treated as electioneering communications. The bill prescribes disclosure requirements for campaign-related disbursements by corporations, labor organizations, and other entities, including a political committee with an account established for the purpose of accepting donations or contributions that do not comply with the contribution limits or source prohibitions under FECA.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission Act This bill establishes the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission to: (1) plan, develop, and carry out programs and activities to honor Frederick Douglass for the bicentennial anniversary of his birth; and (2) recommend the federal government entities appropriate to carry out such programs and activities. Not later than August 1, 2018, the commission must recommend appropriate activities to Congress. A final report detailing commission activities and expenditures must be submitted not later than June 1, 2019.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
LGBT Data Inclusion Act This bill requires federal agencies that collect information through a survey that includes demographic data (where subjects self-report information or a proxy provides information about the subject or responds for all persons in a household) to establish data standards that require: a determination of which existing data sets exclude information about sexual orientation and gender identity; an identification, and a use, of appropriate methods to include questions on sexual orientation and gender identity in surveys that facilitate categorization and voluntary participation and that preserve privacy and confidentiality; and a routine assessment of needed changes in survey methods related to asking such questions. When appropriate, agencies that publish reports relying on survey demographic data must include information on sexual orientation and gender identity. Individuals shall not be: (1) required by this bill to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity to an agency; or (2) subjected to fines or penalties for refusing to answer, or providing a false answer to, any survey question regarding gender identity or sexual orientation. Nothing in this bill shall be construed to permit the use of such collected information in a manner that would adversely affect an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 silver coins in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include a surcharge of $10 per coin, which shall be paid by Treasury to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to support the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Refund Equality Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt certain same-sex couples who were legally married under state law from the three-year time limitation for filing: (1) a claim for a credit or refund of an overpayment of any tax, or (2) an election to file jointly after having filed separate returns. Certain legally married same-sex couples who were first treated as married for federal tax purposes by the application of the holdings of Revenue Ruling 2013-17 may file amended returns for previous years until the due date for the return for the year in which this bill is enacted. The bill applies only to amended returns and claims for a credit or refund that relate to a change in the marital status of the spouses. (In Revenue Ruling 2013-17, the Internal Revenue Service adopted a general rule recognizing, for federal tax purposes, the validity of a same-sex marriage that was valid in the state where it was entered into, regardless of the married couple's place of domicile.)
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Integrity in Border and Immigration Enforcement Act This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to administer a polygraph examination to all applicants for law enforcement positions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). DHS may not hire those who do not pass the polygraph test. As part of background reinvestigations, DHS shall administer a polygraph examination to ICE and CBP agents who are at risk of corruption or misconduct. Additionally, DHS must randomly administer a polygraph examination each year to at least 5% of CBP and ICE agents who are undergoing background reinvestigations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Small Business Employee Ownership Promotion Enhancement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Small Business Act to require the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) to appoint a SCORE Employee Ownership Director, whose duties shall relate to the various forms of employee ownership. The director shall be responsible for: administering and disbursing materials that contain general information and technical assistance for the establishment of employee ownership structures; coordinating efforts for employee ownership with SCORE chapters located throughout the United States; providing technical assistance relating to a range of business forms and strategies that promote or facilitate employee ownership, including an employee stock ownership plan, a cooperative, and any other approach determined appropriate by the director; and providing the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Office of Entrepreneurial Development with statistics, including regional statistics from a SCORE chapter relating to services provided to small businesses potentially undertaking a form of employee ownership. The director may be an SBA employee on the date of his or her appointment.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to: state that the term "intimate partner" includes a dating partner and any other person subject to a protection order under state domestic or family violence law; and expand the term "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" to include the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, by a current or former intimate partner. The bill makes it a crime to knowingly sell or dispose of a firearm to a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of stalking. It also makes it a crime for such convicted stalker to receive or possess a firearm.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Anti-Voter Suppression Act This bill nullifies Executive Order 13799 (titled "Establishment of Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity") and specifies that no funds shall be made available by any act of Congress to the commission described in the order or to any similar commission established for studying voter fraud.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2017
Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act of 2017 or the Dignity Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to establish requirements for the treatment of prisoners. It directs the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to place prisoners as close to their children as possible, provide videoconferencing free of charge, provide trauma-informed care to prisoners diagnosed with trauma, and make specified health products (e.g., tampons) available free of charge. Additionally, with respect to prisoners who are primary caretaker parents, the BOP must provide parenting classes, allow visitation from family members, and establish a pilot program to allow overnight visits from family members. Finally, the bill allows a prisoner who is pregnant or a primary caretaker parent to participate in a residential substance abuse treatment program, even if the individual failed to disclose a substance abuse problem.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Condemns the violence and persecution in Chechnya. Calls on: Chechen officials to cease the abduction, detention, and torture of individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation and hold accountable those involved in perpetrating such abuses; the government of the Russian Federation to protect the human rights of all its citizens, condemn the violence and persecution, investigate such crimes in Chechnya, and hold accountable those involved in perpetrating such abuses; and the U.S. government to continue to condemn the violence and persecution in Chechnya, demand the release of individuals wrongfully detained, and identify those individuals whose involvement in such violence qualifies for the imposition of sanctions under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 or the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Affirms that the rights to freedom of assembly, association, and expression and freedom from extrajudicial detention and violence are universal human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Designates June 19, 2017, as Juneteenth Independence Day. Recognizes the historical significance and supports the continued celebration of Juneteenth Independence Day, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Helping State and Local Governments Prevent Cyber Attacks (HACK) Act This bill directs the Election Assistance Commission to (1) report to Congress on best practices for election cybersecurity and audits, (2) provide grants to states for implementing such best practices, and (3) develop an online voter-registration platform. The bill also requires states to (1) provide for early voting, either in person or by mail; and (2) count a provisional ballot from an individual eligible to vote, regardless of the precinct or polling place within the state at which the individual cast the ballot.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Merchant Marine Academy Improvement Act of 2017 This bill addresses sexual harassment, dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, including to make the academy subject to title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. (Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities.)
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Put Trafficking Victims First Act of 2017 This bill directs the Office for Victims of Crime within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to publish a report on state safe harbor laws, including: (1) the impact of state safe harbor laws on victims of trafficking, and (2) best practices and recommendations on the development and implementation of effective state safe harbor laws. The bill amends the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 to modify requirements with respect to the allocation of trafficking victim services grant funds for training and technical assistance. Specifically, it requires training and technical assistance to be provided in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, it broadens the areas of training and technical assistance to include, among others, investigating, prosecuting, and preventing human trafficking through a trauma-informed and victim-centered approach. The National Institute of Justice must: establish a working group to identify and recommend best practices for collecting data on human trafficking; report on efforts to develop methodologies to determine the prevalence of human trafficking in the United States; and coordinate with federal, state, local, and tribal governments, and private organizations, to survey survivors to estimate the prevalence of human trafficking in the United States. DOJ must report on efforts to increase mandatory restitution orders and asset forfeiture to provide restitution to victims of trafficking. The bill encourages states to implement certain protections for victims of trafficking.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 50,000 $5 coins, 400,000 $1 coins, and 750,000 half-dollar coins emblematic of the game of basketball. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include specified surcharges, which shall be paid by Treasury to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to fund an endowment for increased operations and educational programming.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
21st Century Strengthening Hands On Programs that Cultivate Learning Approaches for Successful Students Act or the SHOP CLASS Act This bill amends the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to require state leadership activities funded under such Act to include: (1) professional development programs to ensure that public school teachers of career and technical education develop a higher level of academic and industry knowledge and skills in maker education (a hands-on-learning approach that encourages students to imagine, create, innovate, tinker, and collaborate through the process of manufacturing, testing, and demonstrating their ideas); and (2) support for maker education and makerspaces (a community space that provides access to tools, technology, and knowledge for learners and entrepreneurs, that result in the prototyping or creation of physical goods, and that supports the development of educational opportunities for personal growth, workforce training, and early stage business ventures). The bill requires local educational agencies' use of funds under such Act to include support for career and technical education programs designed to train teachers in the effective use and application of maker education and makerspaces.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Smithsonian American Women's History Museum Act This bill establishes a comprehensive American women's history museum within the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, to provide for: (1) the collection, study, and establishment of programs related to women's contributions that have influenced the direction of the United States; (2) collaboration with other Smithsonian museums and facilities, outside museums, and educational institutions; and (3) the creation of exhibitions and programs that recognize diverse perspectives on women's history and contributions. The bill establishes a council within the Smithsonian Institution to: (1) make recommendations to the Smithsonian's Board of Regents for the construction of the museum; (2) advise and assist the board on the administration and preservation of the museum; (3) recommend annual operating budgets for the museum; and (4) report annually to the board on the acquisition, disposition, and display of objects related to women's art, history, and culture. The council shall have sole authority to: (1) acquire artifacts for the museum's collections, (2) dispose of any part of the collections but only if funds generated are used for additions to the collections, (3) specify criteria for the use of the museum's collections and resources, and (4) preserve and maintain the collections. The museum's director may carry out educational and liaison programs in support of its goals.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Expresses the sense of Congress that the final rule issued on May 23, 2016, by the Department of Labor titled "Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees": (1) would provide more than 13 million workers with greater economic security, (2) was created through the legally valid exercises of the congressionally delegated authority of the Department of Labor under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and (3) should be defended and enforced with due haste.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2017
Marketplace Certainty Act This bill expands eligibility for additional cost-sharing reductions that apply to certain enrollees of qualified health plans.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2017
Voter Empowerment Act of 2017 Voter Registration Modernization Act of 2017 This bill amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require states to make available online voter registration. The federal criminal code is amended to prohibit hindering, interfering with, or preventing voter registration. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended to require states to promote access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must support pilot programs enabling individuals with disabilities to register and vote at their residences. The bill reauthorizes support for state and local governments to ensure voting access for individuals with disabilities. States must notify individuals convicted of a criminal offense under state law, upon release or upon sentence to probation, of their right to vote in federal elections. Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2017 This bill revises auditing requirements for voting systems. Voting systems must use individual, durable, voter-verified paper ballots. The National Science Foundation must support the study and development of accessible ballot voting and best practices to enhance the accessibility of voting for certain individuals. With exceptions, states must audit federal election results. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is amended to extend the guarantee of voting residency to family members of absent military personnel. The EAC must support poll-worker recruitment and training and develop materials for a model program. The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is amended to prohibit a chief state election administration official, unless the official or a family member is a candidate, from taking part in political management or in a political campaign for federal office over which the official has supervisory authority. The EAC is reauthorized and its exemption from certain contracting requirements is repealed.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2017
Availability of Child Care for Every Servicemember and Spouse Act or ACCESS Act This bill declares that the hours of operation of each childcare development center of the Department of Defense shall, to the extent practicable, be set and maintained in a manner that takes into account the demands and circumstances of members of the Armed Forces who use such center to facilitate the performance of their military duties. Each military department must: (1) provide for a childcare coordinator at each military installation at which are stationed significant numbers of members of the Armed Forces with accompanying dependent children, and (2) carry out a pilot program on collaboration between commanders of such military installations with private providers of childcare services.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Patsy T. Mink Gender Equity in Education Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to establish an Office for Gender Equity to support state and local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and elementary and secondary schools in fully implementing title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs or activities. The office may provide grants and perform activities to reduce or prevent discrimination, bias, harassment, or violence based on actual or perceived sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions or stereotypes in all areas of education. The office must provide technical assistance and annual training to title IX coordinators and develop a handbook for conducting self-evaluations of title IX compliance. The training must address "compound discrimination" (defined as discrimination based on sex and other characteristics, including race, ethnicity, national origin, disability status, religion, or age). The office may award grants to educational entities and partnerships to: train students, teachers, faculty, and personnel; increase campus resources, facilities, and course offerings; support title IX coordinators in performing outreach, advocacy, and education; identify patterns or systemic problems in title IX compliance; strengthen prevention education and awareness programs; conduct campus climate and victimization surveys; identify gender inequities; and improve data collection and reporting of gender equity indicators from academic assessments, civil rights data, campus data, employment data, attendance and absenteeism data, or title IX coordinator-to-student ratios. ED must coordinate with the Institute of Education Sciences and other federal offices and entities to investigate, identify, and disseminate best practices to: (1) reduce and prevent sex stereotyping, bias, and discrimination in curricula and educational materials; (2) address sex-based harassment and violence on campuses; (3) develop counseling and career guidance training; (4) mitigate implicit bias in teaching and discipline; and (5) address the needs of students who face compound discrimination.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Lavender Offense Victim Exoneration Act of 2017 or the LOVE Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of State to review employee terminations at the State Department in the 1950s and 1960s to determine who was wrongfully terminated due to their actual or perceived sexual orientation (known as the Lavender Scare). The bill contains an apology from Congress for its role in encouraging the termination of State Department employees based on sexual orientation. The State Department is required to: create a reconciliation board to change the employment records of those affected, to receive oral testimony of those affected, and to allow former employees to bring a grievance if they believe their termination was due to their sexual orientation; create an advancement board to address employment issues of current LGBTQI Foreign Officers; establish a permanent exhibit about the terminations in the State Department's U.S. Diplomacy Center; report to Congress about countries refusing to issue visas to spouses of Foreign Service personnel because of their sexual orientation.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to allow a representative official of an Indian tribe, with authorization from the governing body of the tribe, to request one or more polling places to be located on tribal lands. The state or political subdivision shall provide each requested polling place at no expense to the Indian tribe if certain criteria are met. A federal court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce constitutional voting guarantees, but also certain violations of the Act as well as of any federal prohibition against discrimination on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, for an appropriate period to prevent commencement of new devices to deny or abridge the right to vote. Any state (and all of its political subdivisions) shall be subject to certain requirements for a 10-year period if: 15 or more voting rights violations occurred there during the previous 25 years; or 10 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years, at least one of which was committed by the state itself (as opposed to a political subdivision within it). A state or political subdivision that obtains a declaratory judgment that it has not used a device to deny or abridge the right to vote shall be exempt from such requirements unless as specified. This bill prescribes transparency requirements regarding any changes to specified matters. Department of Justice authority to assign observers receives new extensions. Courts shall grant preliminary injunctive relief if a complainant raises a serious question whether the challenged covered practice violates the Act or the Constitution and, on balance, the hardship imposed upon the defendant by the relief will be less than the hardship on the plaintiff if the relief were not granted.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Teachers Are Leaders Act This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize grants for the establishment of professional development programs for teachers who remain in the classroom while also carrying out formalized leadership responsibilities.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
This bill amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 to require of detailed trial and defense counsel in a court-martial that there be adequate supervision and oversight to ensure effective prosecution and defense in the court-martial. The military department concerned may assign the function of supervising and overseeing prosecution or defense in courts-martial by less experienced judge advocates to civilian employees of the department or the Department of Homeland Security, as applicable, who have extensive litigation experience. The bill revises requirements concerning pilot programs on the professional development process for judge advocates to direct the military department concerned to assess the feasibility and advisability of a military justice career track for judge advocates under the department's jurisdiction.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Recognizes the increase in educational opportunities, including in sports, for women and girls since the passage of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Encourages the Department of Education and Department of Justice to ensure that students have a safe learning environment by working to ensure schools prevent and respond to discrimination and harassment on the basis of sex including sexual assault, harassment, domestic and dating violence, pregnancy, sex-stereotyping, and actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. Recognizes that progress remains to ensure that no educational institution that receives federal funding discriminates against any persons because of their sex. Recognizes the progress in education opportunities for women and girls since the passage of title IX of the Education Amendments. Expresses the need to ensure students have a safe learning environment through schools' prevention efforts and responses to forms of discrimination and harassment based on one's sex.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2017
Stop the Asian Carp Now Act of 2017 This bill directs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release for public comment the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study - Brandon Road interim report that was scheduled for release on February 27, 2017. (The interim report is a feasibility study that assesses the viability of establishing a single point to control the upstream transfer of aquatic nuisance species from the Mississippi River Basin into the Great Lakes Basin in the vicinity of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois.)
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2017
Schedules That Work Act This bill grants an employee the right to request that the employee's employer change the terms and conditions of employment relating to: the number of hours or times the employee is required to work or be on call; the location; the amount of notification the employee receives of work schedule assignments; and minimizing fluctuations in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The employer, if the request is made, shall engage in a timely, good faith interactive process with the employee that includes a discussion of potential schedule changes that would meet the employee's needs. The bill outlines the process for either granting or denying a change. The employer shall grant a request, unless there is a bona fide business reason for denying it, if the request is made because of the employee's serious health condition, the employee's responsibilities as a caregiver, or enrollment in a career-related educational or training program, or if a part-time employee requests such a change for a reason related to a second job. An employer, if an employee requests a change for any other reason, may deny it for any reason that is not unlawful. The employer shall give the employee the reason for the denial, including whether it was a bona fide business reason. The bill outlines employer requirements for paying reporting time and split shift pay and for giving advance notice of work schedules to retail, food service, or cleaning employees, or the Department of Labor's designated employees, except for those in bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacities. The bill makes it unlawful for any employer or other person to: (1) interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise or the attempt to exercise any right of an employee specified in this bill; (2) retaliate against an employee for exercising the rights granted employees by this bill; or (3) interfere with proceedings or inquiries with respect to violation of an individual's rights under this bill. The bill sets forth administrative enforcement procedures and civil remedies for violation of these prohibitions. Labor must give information and technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning compliance with this bill. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of the Census shall: (1) include in the Current Population Survey questions on, among other things, the amount of fluctuation in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis; and (2) conduct at regular intervals the Contingent Worker Supplement, the Work Schedules and Work at Home Supplement, and other relevant supplements to the Current Population Survey. This bill is inapplicable to any employee covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement if its terms govern work scheduling practices.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Working Families Tax Relief Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the earned income tax credit, to: (1) increase the credit and reduce the phaseout percentage for taxpayers with no qualifying children, (2) reduce from 25 to 21 the qualifying age for individuals with no children, (3) revise eligibility rules relating to married individuals living apart and qualifying children claimed by another family member, and (4) repeal the denial of such credit for taxpayers with excess investment income. This bill modifies the child tax credit to: (1) increase the amount of the credit and the portion of the credit that is refundable for taxpayers with children under the age of six, and (2) require the dollar amounts of the credit to be adjusted for inflation after 2017.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Stop Price Gouging Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on pharmaceutical companies that sell prescription drugs that are subject to price spikes that exceed the annual percentage increase in the medical care consumer price index detailed expenditure category for all urban consumers (U.S. city average). For each taxable prescription drug, the excise tax ranges from 50% to 100% of price spike revenue received by the company, depending on the size of the price spike and including an adjustment for revenue that is due solely to an increase in the cost of the inputs necessary to manufacture the drug. Pharmaceutical companies must submit specified data regarding drug prices and revenue to the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the IG must submit an assessment of the data to the Internal Revenue Service. HHS, upon the recommendation of the IG, may exempt certain drugs from the excise tax if: (1) a for-cause price increase exemption should apply, or (2) the drug has an average manufacturer price of not greater than $10 for a 30-day supply and is marketed by at least 3 other holders of applications approved under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The Government Accountability Office must examine: (1) how drug manufacturers and health plans establish initial launch prices for newly approved drugs, and (2) alternative methods that have been proposed for setting the price of new drugs.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Restore Honor to Service Members Act This bill requires appropriate military record correction boards or discharge review boards to review the discharge characterization of any former members of the Armed Forces requesting a review who were discharged because of their sexual orientation. Such boards to change a characterization to honorable if such characterization is any characterization except honorable. The Department of Defense (DOD) shall ensure that any such changes are carried out consistently and uniformly across the military departments using specified criteria, including that: (1) the original discharge was based on the policy of Don't Ask Don't Tell (as in effect before it was repealed pursuant to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010) or a similar earlier policy; and (2) the discharge characterization will be changed if, with respect to the original discharge, there were no aggravating circumstances that would have independently led to any discharge characterization except honorable. The bill prohibits "aggravating circumstances" from including: (1) an offense of sodomy committed by the member against a consenting person of the same sex; or (2) statements, consensual sexual conduct, or consensual acts relating to sexual orientation or identity, or the disclosure of such statements, conduct, or acts, that were prohibited at the time of discharge but that became permitted after such discharge. Each military department shall ensure that oral historians of the department: (1) review discharges between World War II and September 2011 based on sexual orientation, and (2) receive oral testimony of individuals who personally experienced discrimination and discharge because of actual or perceived sexual orientation so that such testimony may serve as an official record of such discriminatory policies and their impact on American lives. Specified military personnel records and discharge forms must be reissued in a manner that shall not reflect the sexual orientation of the member.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
National Museum of the American Latino Act This bill establishes the National Museum of the American Latino in the Smithsonian Institution. The purposes of the museum are to: (1) illuminate Latino contributions to the story of the United States; (2) provide for the collection, study, research, publication, and establishment of exhibitions and programs related to Latino life, art, history, and culture; and (3) provide for collaboration with Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers and other museums and educational institutions in the United States and abroad to promote the study and appreciation of Latino life, art, history, culture, and its impact on society in the United States. The bill establishes a Board of Trustees for the museum to advise and assist the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian on all matters related to the administration and preservation of the museum. The Director of the museum shall manage the museum and may carry out educational and liaison programs in support of its goals. The Board of Regents shall designate a site for the museum and is authorized to design and construct it.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Improving Access to Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists to supervise cardiac, intensive cardiac, and pulmonary rehabilitation programs.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Recognizes: U.S. Capitol Police Special Agents David Bailey, Crystal Griner, and Henry Cabrera for responding to and ultimately ending the threat to Members of Congress, their staff, and others during the shooting at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 14, 2017; the Police Department, the Office of the Sheriff, and the Fire Department of Alexandria, Virginia, and the first responders who reported to the scene; victims Steve Scalise, Zachary Barth, and Matthew Mika, who survived the shooting; and the U.S. Capitol Police for their professionalism, vigilance, and self-sacrifice in protecting Members of Congress and congressional employees, visitors, and facilities. Recognizes that threats to Members of Congress also threaten the foundations of our representative democracy.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2017
Apprenticeship and Jobs Training Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a business-related tax credit for up to $5,000 for the training of a qualified individual in a qualified apprenticeship program or multi-employer apprenticeship program. A "qualified individual" is an individual who: (1) is an apprentice participating in a qualified apprenticeship program or multi-employer apprenticeship program, (2) has been employed in either program for a period of at least seven months that ends within the taxable year, and (3) is not a highly compensated employee or a seasonal worker. A "qualified apprenticeship program" is a program that: (1) provides qualified individuals with on-the-job training and instruction for a qualified occupation (i.e., a skilled trade occupation in a high-demand mechanical, technical, health care, or technology field); (2) is registered with the Office of Apprenticeship of the Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship agency recognized by the office; and (3) maintains records relating to the qualified individual. A "qualified multi-employer apprenticeship program" is a program in which multiple employers are required to contribute and that is maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements. The bill also allows certain distributions, without penalty, from retirement and pension plans to an employee who is serving as a mentor. A "mentor" is a working individual who: (1) has attained age 55; (2) works reduced hours and engages in mentoring activities for at least 20% of such hours; and (3) is responsible for the training and education of employees or students in an area of expertise for which such individual has a professional credential, certificate, or degree.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2017
Stopping the Pharmaceutical Industry from Keeping Drugs Expensive (SPIKE) Act of 2017 This bill amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Social Security Act to require manufacturers of drugs with specified percentage increases in their wholesale costs to submit to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) written justification for certain increases in drug prices. The CMS shall publish each submission, together with an easily understandable summary, on its website. Certain proprietary information may be excluded from publication, as specified by the bill. A manufacturer that does not comply with the bill's requirements shall be subject to civil monetary penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2017
Children Don't Belong on Tobacco Farms Act This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to redefine "oppressive child labor," for purposes of child labor prohibitions, to include the employment of any employee under age 18 who has direct contact with tobacco plants or dried tobacco leaves.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2017
Commemorates the victims killed in the attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016. Honors the survivors of the attack and pledges continued support for their recovery.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Fair and Equal Housing Act of 2017 This bill amends the Fair Housing Act (FHA) under the Civil Rights Act of 1968 to add sexual orientation and gender identity as classes protected against discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing. (Currently, the FHA prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.) The bill defines: (1) "gender identity" as gender-related identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth; and (2) "sexual orientation" as homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. The bill also extends prohibitions against housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, handicap, familial status, or national origin to include discrimination based on: (1) an individual's association with another person who is a member of such a protected class; and (2) a perception or belief, even if inaccurate, that an individual is a member of such a protected class.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Disarm Hate Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to prohibit firearm sale or transfer to and receipt or possession by an individual who has: (1) been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor hate crime, or (2) received from any court an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence. The term "convicted in any court of a misdemeanor hate crime" means a conviction for a misdemeanor offense that has, as an element, that the conduct was motivated by hate or bias because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person. The term "received from any court an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence" means the imposition of an enhanced sentence for a misdemeanor that involves violence and is based, in whole or in part, on conduct motivated by hate or bias because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2017
Abolish Human Trafficking Act of 2017 This bill sets forth a variety of measures to address the prevention and punishment of human trafficking and to assist trafficking victims. Included among these are provisions concerning: restitution for victims; funding of investigations of offenses relating to sexual abuse of children; grants to states and localities and other entities for victim service assistance; training of health, victim service, and federal law enforcement personnel, including through the use of a victim screening protocol by the Department of Homeland Security; penalties imposed for slavery offenses, sex trafficking of children, and repeat convictions for transportation for illegal sexual activity and related crimes; travel for the purpose of engaging in any illicit sexual conduct; designation of additional Department of Justice resources for prosecution and service coordination; penalties for offenses involving organized human trafficking, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or transportation for prostitution or any illegal sexual activity; and studies of the physical and psychological effects of serious harm to victims.
![Official portrait of Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/g000555_200.jpg)