United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2018
Chronic Disease Management Act of 2018 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to health savings accounts (HSAs), to allow the high deductible health plans required for an HSA to provide care for chronic conditions with no deductible. The bill covers care and prescription medicines related to the treatment of medically complex chronic conditions which: (1) are substantially disabling or life threatening, (2) have a high risk of hospitalization or other significant adverse health outcomes, and (3) require specialized delivery systems across domains of care.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2018
This bill treats activities relating to the training and readiness of the reserve components of the Armed Forces (including the National Guard and the Reserves) during a lapse in appropriations as constituting voluntary services that may be accepted by the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2018
Supports: (1) observing National Girls and Women in Sports Day on February 7, 2018, to recognize: (1) the female athletes who represent schools, universities, and the United States in their athletic pursuits; and (2) the vital role that the people of the United States have in empowering girls and women in sports. Supports: (1) marking the observation of such day with legislative efforts to protect young athletes from sexual abuse, and (2) efforts to promote equality in sports and access to athletic opportunities for girls and women and to support the U.S. commitment to expanding athletic participation for all girls and future generations of women athletes.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2018
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) official sponsor support is critical to the success of Team USA at all international competitions, and (2) ambush marketing adversely affects the U.S. olympic and paralympic teams and their ability to attract and retain corporate sponsorships.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2018
Supports: (1) the athletes of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams in competing at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea; and (2) the goals and ideals of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2018
Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018 This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission to establish the Task Force for Meeting Connectivity and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the United States. The task force's duties include: (1) identifying and measuring current gaps in broadband Internet access service coverage of cropland and ranchland; (2) assembling a comprehensive guide of all federal programs and resources working to expand broadband Internet access service on unserved cropland and ranchland; and (3) developing policy recommendations to promote the rapid, expanded deployment of fixed and mobile broadband Internet access service on unserved cropland and ranchland.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2018
Guides and Outfitters Act or the GO Act This bill amends the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to specify the circumstances under which the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) may: (1) issue special recreation permits for federal recreational lands and waters, and (2) change a special recreation permit fee. Interior and USDA may issue special recreation permits: for specialized individual and group use of federal facilities and federal recreational lands and waters; to recreation service providers who conduct outfitting, guiding, and other recreation services on federal recreational lands and waters; and to recreation service providers who conduct recreation or competitive events, which may involve incidental sales on federal recreational lands and waters. USDA and Interior shall implement a program that authorizes temporary permits for new recreational uses of federal recreational lands and waters managed by the Forest Service or the BLM, respectively. Interior and USDA shall revise certain: special land use and special recreation permit regulations to streamline the processes for the issuance and renewal of outfitter and guide special use permits, and cost recovery fee regulations to reduce costs and minimize the burden of cost recovery on small businesses and adverse impacts of cost recovery on jobs in the outfitting and guiding industry and on rural economies.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2018
Native American Livestock Assistance Act of 2018 This bill amends the Agricultural Act of 2014 to authorize disaster assistance payments to members of Indian tribes under the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and the Livestock Forage Program (LFP), including for a horse that is owned by a member of an Indian tribe and is not used for commercial agricultural purposes. (The LFP makes payments to eligible livestock producers who have suffered certain grazing losses due to a drought or on rangeland managed by a federal agency due to a fire. The LIP provides payments to eligible livestock producers on farms that incurred livestock deaths in excess of the normal mortality due to adverse weather or attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law.) The bill also amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to offer a one-time increase in the premium subsidy for members of an Indian Tribe who purchase policies for the Risk Management Agency Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage (PRF) crop insurance program for the first time. (The PRF crop insurance program is intended to help protect a producer's operation from the risks of forage loss due to the lack of precipitation.)
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2018
Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for any person to perform or attempt to perform an abortion if the probable post-fertilization age of the fetus is 20 weeks or more. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. The bill provides exceptions for an abortion: (1) that is necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman, or (2) when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. A physician who performs or attempts to perform an abortion under an exception must comply with specified requirements. A woman who undergoes a prohibited abortion may not be prosecuted for violating or conspiring to violate the provisions of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2018
Custer County Airport Conveyance Act This bill directs the Forest Service, if Custer County in South Dakota offers to acquire approximately 65.7 acres of National Forest System land in the county for market value, to convey such land to the county.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2017
Tax Extender Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend various expiring tax deductions, credits, and rules. The bill extends tax credits relating to: Indian employment, railroad track maintenance, mine rescue team training, qualified zone academy bonds, American Samoa economic development, nonbusiness energy property, new fuel cell motor vehicles, two-wheeled plug-in electric vehicles, alternative fuel vehicle refueling property, second generation biofuel producers, biodiesel and renewable diesel, Indian coal facilities, facilities producing energy from renewable resources, energy efficient new homes, and alternative fuels. The bill extends and modifies the tax credits for: residential energy property, investments in energy property, production from advanced nuclear power facilities, and carbon dioxide sequestration. The bill also extends provisions relating to: the tax exclusion for the discharge of principal residence indebtedness; the treatment of mortgage insurance premiums as qualified residence interest; deductions for tuition and related expenses, income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico, and energy efficient commercial buildings; depreciating or expensing various types of property; timber gains; empowerment zones; the cover over of rum excise taxes to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands; sales or dispositions to implement electric restructuring policies for electric utilities; and the oil spill liability trust fund.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2017
National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018 This bill reauthorizes through FY2023 and modifies the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Program. The bill amends the National Integrated Drought Information System Act of 2006 to require, under NIDIS, that the collection and integration of information on the key indicators of drought and drought impacts includes indicators of precipitation, soil moisture, and evaporative demand. NIDIS shall also: provide timely data, information, and products that reflect watershed differences in drought conditions; through interagency agreements, coordinate and integrate future federal research and monitoring in support of a drought early warning information system; utilize existing forecasting and assessment programs and partnerships, including forecast communication coordinators and cooperative institutes, and improvements in seasonal, subseasonal, and low flow water prediction; and continue ongoing research and monitoring activities related to drought, including research activities relating to the prediction of drought. NIDIS may: engage with the private sector to improve drought forecast and communication if the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determines such partnership is appropriate, cost-effective, and beneficial to the public and the decision-makers specified in the Act; and facilitate the development of one or more academic cooperative partnerships to assist with NIDIS functions. NIDIS shall develop a strategy for a national coordinated soil moisture monitoring network. The bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend through FY2023 certain activities related to the provision of agricultural and silvicultural weather and climate information.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2017
National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act This bill reauthorizes the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for FY2019-FY2023. The NTSB may include any still image obtained from a video recorder for an accident, but must protect from public disclosure any information that readily identifies an individual, including a decedent. The bill permits the NTSB to release confidential information to the public to protect health and safety and may share information with certain protections. The NTSB must report to Congress explaining its methodology to prioritize and select recommendations included on the Most Wanted List. The Most Wanted List sets forth NTSB advocacy priorities. It is designed to increase awareness of, and support for, critical changes needed to reduce accidents and save lives. The bill also requires the NTSB to: (1) expand requirements for providing services to families of accident victims; and (2) review, every five years, its previously issued safety recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2017
Fix NICS Act of 2017 This bill amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to require each federal agency and department, including a federal court, to: certify whether it has provided to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) disqualifying records of persons prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm, and establish and substantially comply with an implementation plan to maximize record submissions and verify their accuracy. The bill amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to: direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish a state implementation plan, including benchmarks, to maximize the automation and submission of mental health and criminal history records to the NICS; waive the grant match requirement under the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) for a state that complies with its implementation plan; reauthorize through FY2022 the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP); establish, as a priority area for NARIP grant funding, a domestic abuse and violence prevention initiative; and create a funding preference under the NARIP program for states that establish an implementation plan and use grant funds to upload felony conviction and domestic violence records. It amends the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 to reauthorize through FY2022 the NCHIP program. If a state complies with its implementation plan, then the federal share of an NCHIP grant may exceed 90% of program costs.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2017
Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2017 This bill directs the House of Representatives and the Senate to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the U.S. merchant mariners of World War II in recognition of their service during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017
Declares that the Senate joins the Small Business Administration in recognizing and encouraging the observance of Small Business Saturday on November 25, 2017. Supports efforts to: (1) encourage consumers to shop locally, and (2) increase awareness of the value of locally owned small businesses and the impact of such businesses on the U.S. economy.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017
National Forest System Vegetation Management Pilot Program Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a limited, voluntary pilot program under which owners and operators of rights-of-way on National Forest System (NFS) land may conduct vegetation management projects on NFS land adjacent to or near those rights-of-way to better protect utility infrastructure from potential passing wildfires. USDA shall give priority to an owner or operator of a right-of-way that has worked with Forest Service fire scientists and used technologies to improve utility infrastructure protection prescriptions. Vegetation management projects shall involve only limited and selective vegetation management activities that: create the least amount of disturbance necessary to protect utility infrastructure from passing wildfires; may include thinning, fuel reduction, creation, and treatment of shaded fuel breaks; are conducted only on NFS land adjacent to the participant's right-of-way or within 75 feet of it; and are not conducted on a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, a designated wilderness area, or an inventoried roadless area. Each vegetation management project, including each of those activities selected, shall be subject to approval by the Forest Service.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017
Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2017 This bill prohibits any further consultation from being required by the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) or the Interior after the approval of land and resource management plans for National Forest System (NFS) lands or land use plans for public lands, respectively, with respect to: (1) the listing of a species as threatened or endangered or a designation of a critical habitat, if such a plan has already been adopted; or (2) any provision of such plan. Interior shall develop one or more categorical exclusions, from requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to conduct environmental assessment and environmental impact statements, for specified vegetative management activities that are carried out to establish or improve habitat for the greater sage-grouse or mule deer. The Forest Service shall prepare an environmental assessment for each ecosystem restoration project, stewardship contracting project, and project under a good neighbor agreement on certain NFS land. Under the assessment, it shall study and describe in each project both the proposed action and a no-action alternative. The Forest Service shall establish an arbitration pilot program as an alternative dispute resolution process in lieu of judicial review for such projects. The Forest Service shall prioritize and carry out ecosystem restoration projects to accomplish one or more of specified objectives. A categorical exclusion is made available for certain forest management activities in order to: (1) expedite specified critical response actions, (2) meet forest plan goals for early seral and early successional forests, (3) improve wildlife habitats, and (4) thin forests. The bill makes permanent USDA's authority to designate treatment areas that are experiencing an insect or disease epidemic.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017
EHR Regulatory Relief Act This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish a 90-day performance period with respect to determining whether an eligible professional or hospital is a meaningful electronic health record (EHR) user. Additionally, the bill: (1) requires the CMS to consider specified findings and recommendations of the Government Accountability Office with respect to assessing whether an eligible professional is a meaningful EHR user, (2) allows the CMS to determine that an eligible hospital is a meaningful EHR user if the hospital meets a specified percentage of the applicable measures established by the CMS, and (3) extends the applicability of the hardship exception with respect to meaningful EHR use.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 2017
This bill requires the Energy Information Administration to include propane export information in certain data published relating to propane inventories.
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
Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for any person to perform or attempt to perform an abortion if the probable post-fertilization age of the fetus is 20 weeks or more. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. The bill provides exceptions for an abortion: (1) that is necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman, or (2) when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. A physician who performs or attempts to perform an abortion under an exception must comply with specified requirements. A woman who undergoes a prohibited abortion may not be prosecuted for violating or conspiring to violate the provisions of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2017
American Prairie Conservation Act This bill amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act and the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to modify provisions, known as sodsaver provisions, that reduce benefits under the Department of Agriculture (USDA) crop insurance and noninsured crop disaster assistance programs for farmers who plant crops on native sod. The bill also amends the Agriculture Act of 2014 to extend the requirement for USDA to submit annual reports to Congress regarding cropland acreage.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 2017
Designates October 2-October 6, 2017, as National Health Information Technology Week, recognizes the value of information technology in transforming health care, and encourages all interested parties to promote the use of information technology.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2017
American Vision for Safer Transportation through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies Act or the AV START Act This bill: (1) establishes a framework for a federal role in ensuring the safety of highly automated vehicles (HAVs) by encouraging the testing and deployment of such vehicles; and (2) preempts states from enacting laws regarding the design, construction, or performance of HAVs or automated driving systems. A state may not issue a motor vehicle operator's license for the use of an HAV in a manner that discriminates based on disability. The bill: (1) sets forth conditions under which HAVs may be introduced into interstate commerce for purposes of testing, evaluation, or demonstration; and (2) applies certain safety exemptions to HAVs. Each manufacturer introducing a new HAV or automated driving system into interstate commerce shall provide a safety evaluation report. The Department of Transportation shall: (1) establish a technical committee to make recommendations for HAV and automated driving system safety, (2) establish a working group on education efforts for advanced driver assist and automated driving systems, and (3) research the traffic safety implications of HAVs. Each manufacturer of an HAV or automated driving system shall execute a written plan for identifying and reducing cybersecurity risks to the motor vehicle safety of such vehicles and systems.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2017
TSA Modernization Act This bill reauthorizes Transportation Security Administration (TSA) programs through FY2020 and modifies the authorities, requirements, and organizational structure for the TSA. The bill codifies the transfer of the TSA from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Homeland Security. It also establishes a five-year term for the TSA Administrator. The bill also requires the TSA to: authorize third-party testing and evaluation of screening technology; develop a validation process for the reciprocal recognition of security equipment technology approvals among international security partners or recognized certification authorities for deployment; make information on wait times at airport security checkpoints publicly available in real time online and at airport terminals; develop and issue certification standards for the use of third-party explosives detection canine teams for screening of individuals, property, and air cargo; establish private sector partnerships to increase the methods and capabilities available for the public to enroll in the PreCheck Program; and meet specified targets for expanding PreCheck enrollment.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2017
Veterans' Disability Compensation Automatic COLA Act This bill provides that whenever there is an increase in benefit amounts payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs shall increase by the same percentage the amounts payable as veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled adult children, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2017
Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2017 This bill amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to include community centers, including tax-exempt houses of worship, as "private nonprofit facilities" for purposes of disaster relief and emergency assistance eligibility under such Act. A church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or other house of worship, and a private nonprofit facility operated by a religious organization, are eligible for federal contributions for the repair, restoration, and replacement of facilities damaged or destroyed by a major disaster, without regard to the religious character of the facility or the primary religious use of the facility. This bill is applicable to the provision of assistance in response to a major disaster or emergency declared on or after October 28, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2017
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of Pete V. Domenici, former member of the U.S.Senate. Declares that when the Senate adjourns September 13, 2017, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late Senator Domenici.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2017
Taxpayer Bill of Rights Enhancement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to provisions affecting taxpayer rights, to: increase penalties for unauthorized disclosure or inspection of taxpayer information and allow punitive damages for willful unauthorized inspection or disclosure; prohibit the disclosure of taxpayer information to any contractor or other agent of a governmental entity without confidentiality safeguards; increase the limit on civil damages for unauthorized collection actions by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees and allow punitive damages for reckless or intentional actions; extend to two years the time limit for contesting a tax levy or for seeking a return of wrongfully levied property; waive user fees for taxpayers who agree to automated installment payments; allow amounts that have been wrongfully levied from retirement accounts to be recontributed without regard to contribution limits; modify the requirements and exceptions that apply to payments of estimated taxes; require the disclosure of collection activities relating to a joint account upon the oral request of either spouse (currently, a written request is required); and require tax-exempt organizations to file their tax returns in electronic form. The IRS must maintain a program that provides free tax preparation and electronic filing services to low-income and elderly taxpayers. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 to require at least one IRS appeals officer and one settlement officer to be located and permanently available in each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2017
Forest Management Improvement Act of 2017 This bill makes categorical exclusions, from requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) to conduct environmental assessment and environmental impact statements, available to the Forest Service to conduct forest management activities on up to 10,000 acres of National Forest System land for each exclusion to: create early seral habitat forests; improve wildlife habitats; commercially thin forest stands on suited timberlands; and salvage trees that are dead and/or dying and were damaged by such events as wind, fire, or construction. For a forest management activity, the Forest Service: in an NEPA-prepared environmental impact statement, shall study, develop, and describe only the activity and the alternative of no action; and in an NEPA-prepared environmental assessment, shall not be required to study, develop, and describe the alternative of no action. The bill makes permanent the authority to designate, at state request, treatment areas in national forests that are experiencing an insect or disease epidemic. The bill revises authorities for watershed restoration and protection services. The Department of Agriculture shall establish a pilot arbitration program under which specified forest management projects challenged in a civil action may be designated for an alternative dispute resolution procedure instead of judicial review.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2017
Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2017 This bill directs the President to: establish a five-year strategy to achieve, with target countries and donors, the goal of ending preventable child and maternal deaths globally and ensure healthy and productive lives by 2030; and provide assistance to implement the strategy. The President shall designate a current U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employee serving in the Senior Executive Service or at the level of a Deputy Assistant Administrator or higher to serve concurrently as the Maternal and Child Survival Coordinator, who shall be responsible for: overseeing such strategy, and all U.S. government funds appropriated or used for international maternal and child health and nutrition programs. Strategy grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements shall include targets for increased implementation of high-impact, evidence-based interventions and strengthening health systems. The President shall report to Congress annually for six years regarding progress made toward achieving the strategy and ending preventable child and maternal deaths.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2017
Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017 This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to specify that communications decency provisions protecting providers from liability for the private blocking or screening of offensive material shall not be construed to impair the enforcement of, or limit availability of victim restitution or civil remedies under, state or federal criminal or civil laws relating to sex trafficking of children or sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. The bill amends the federal criminal code to specify that the violation for benefiting from "participation in a venture" engaged in sex trafficking of children, or by force, fraud, or coercion, includes knowing conduct by any person or entity by any means that assists, supports, or facilitates the violation.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2017
Bob Dole Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Bob Dole in recognition for his service to the nation as a soldier, legislator, and statesman.
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
Firearm Act of 2017 This bill prohibits the federal government from requiring an individual's race or ethnicity to be disclosed in connection with a firearm transfer to that individual.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
This joint resolution nullifies a rule submitted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding arbitration agreements. (The rule regulates the use of arbitration agreements in contracts for specific consumer financial products and services. It prohibits the use of a predispute arbitration agreement to prevent a consumer from filing or participating in certain class action suits. The rule also requires consumer financial product and service providers to furnish the CFPB with particular information regarding arbitrations.)
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 · 13 July 2017
New Economy Works to Guarantee Independence and Growth Act of 2017 or the NEW GIG Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a test for determining if a service provider should be classified as an independent contractor rather than as an employee for tax purposes. If the requirements of the test are met, the provider may not be treated as an employee, the recipient or any payor may not be treated as an employer, and compensation for the service may not be treated as paid or received with respect to employment. The factors of the test include: the relationship between the parties (i.e., the provider incurs expenses; does not work exclusively for a single recipient; performs the service for a particular amount of time, to achieve a specific result, or to complete a specific task; or is a sales person compensated primarily on a commission basis); the place of business or ownership of the equipment (i.e., the provider has a principal place of business, does not work exclusively at the recipient's place of business, and provides tools or supplies); and the services are performed under a written contract that meets certain requirements (i.e., specifies that the provider is not an employee, the recipient will satisfy withholding and reporting requirements, and that the provider is responsible for taxes on the compensation). The bill also: (1) sets forth withholding and reporting requirements for service recipients who meet the requirements of the test, and (2) allows service providers to petition the U.S. Tax Court for a determination of employment status.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
No Human Trafficking on Our Roads Act This bill directs the Department of Transportation to disqualify from operating a commercial motor vehicle for life an individual who uses such a vehicle in committing a felony involving a severe form of human trafficking.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to designate an official to: (1) coordinate human trafficking prevention efforts across DOT modal administrations and with other federal agencies, and (2) take into account the unique challenges of combating human trafficking within different transportation modes. The bill expands the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's outreach and education program and DOT's commercial driver's license financial assistance program to include activities for the recognition, prevention, and reporting of human 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
This bill amends the Agricultural Act of 2014 to modify two Department of Agriculture (USDA) disaster assistance programs: (1) the Livestock Forage Program (LFP), and (2) the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP). (The LFP makes payments to eligible livestock producers who have suffered certain grazing losses due to a drought or a fire. The LIP provides payments to eligible livestock producers on farms that incurred livestock deaths in excess of the normal mortality due to adverse weather or attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law.) The bill modifies the LIP to specify that livestock death losses due to disease in livestock that has been exacerbated by adverse weather are eligible for payments if a licensed veterinarian verifies that the adverse weather created conditions contributing to the livestock death. USDA must determine eligibility for the payments without regard to any management practice, vaccine protocol, or lack of vaccination by the producer relating to the disease. With respect to the LFP, the bill modifies the payment schedule to: (1) allow a one-month payment when a county reaches the severe drought category for four consecutive weeks (eight weeks under current law), and (2) allow an additional monthly payment when the county reaches eight weeks in the severe drought category. The bill also amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to revise the rules regarding the eligibility of national grasslands for grazing leases and permits.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
United States Center for Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 This bill amends the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act to include among the purposes of the U.S. Olympic Committee to promote a safe environment in sports that is free from abuse, including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, of any amateur athlete. The bill designates the United States Center for Safe Sport, which shall: serve as the independent national safe sport organization for the United States; exercise jurisdiction over the committee, each national governing body, and each paralympic sports organization with regard to safeguarding amateur athletes against abuse in sports; maintain an office for education and outreach that shall develop training, oversight practices, policies, and procedures to prevent the abuse of amateur athletes; ensure that such policies and procedures require that all such bodies and organizations follow the center's policies and procedures; maintain an office for response and resolution that shall establish mechanisms that allow for the reporting, investigation, and adjudication of alleged sexual abuse in violation of the center's policies and procedures; and ensure that such mechanisms provide fair notice and an opportunity to be heard and protect the privacy and safety of complainants. The center may utilize a neutral arbitration body and develop policies and procedures to resolve allegations of sexual abuse within its jurisdiction. The center shall: (1) develop training, oversight practices, policies, and procedures for implementation by such body or organization to prevent abuse of any amateur athlete; (2) keep correct and complete records of account; and (3) report annually to Congress. The center, and each national governing body and paralympic sports organization, shall not be liable for damages in any civil action for defamation, libel, slander, or damage to reputation arising from the execution of its responsibilities or functions.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2017 This bill reauthorizes through FY2021 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and specified FAA programs. The bill revises requirements for the airport improvement program and pilot program for passenger facility charges at nonhub airports. Forward Looking Investment in General Aviation, Hangars, and Tarmacs Act of 2017 or the FLIGHT Act of 2017 The Department of Transportation (DOT) shall implement an expedited and coordinated environmental review process for general aviation airport construction or improvement projects. DOT shall establish a public-private partnership program for building or improving hangars, businesses, or other facilities at: general aviation airports, and privately owned airports for public use that do not have scheduled air service. The Government Accountability Office shall review privacy issues and concerns associated with the operation of unmanned aircraft (drones) in the national airspace system. The FAA shall establish a process for the acceptance of risk-based, consensus safety standards for the safe integration of small drones into such system. DOT shall issue guidance for the operation of public drones. The FAA shall develop a plan for the deployment of technologies to detect and mitigate potential airspace safety threats posed by drones. Drone Operator Safety Act The bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to operate a drone that knowingly or recklessly interferes with or disrupts the operation of an aircraft carrying one or more occupants in U.S. airspace. DOT shall establish a Safety Oversight and Certification Advisory Committee. The FAA shall take specified actions to improve airline passenger safety. Commercial Balloon Pilot Safety Act of 2017 The bill directs the FAA to revise federal regulations to apply medical certificate of physical fitness requirements that are applicable to pilot flight crewmembers to operators of air balloons. Fairness for Pilots Act The bill amends the Pilot's Bill of Rights to revise the authorization for appeal to a federal court by a substantially affected individual from a decision of the National Transportation Safety Board to uphold an adverse FAA order or final decision. The bill specifies the suspension or revocation of an airman certificate as the punitive civil action which may be appealed. A U.S. district court shall review de novo an FAA denial, suspension, or revocation of an airman certificate. The bill prescribes certain requirements with respect to improving passenger air service. Transparency Improvements and Compensation to Keep Every Ticketholder Safe Act of 2017 or the TICKETS Act The bill prescribes requirements to prohibit an air carrier from denying an air passenger from boarding a flight without the consent of the passenger cleared to board such flight unless such passenger presents a safety, security, or health risk, to oneself or others, or engages in obscene, disruptive, or unlawful behavior. The bill reauthorizes through FY2021 the essential air service program and the small community air service development program. NextGen Accountability Act The bill amends the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 to direct the FAA to establish annual NextGen (i.e., Next Generation Air Transportation System) performance goals for each of the national airspace system performance metrics to meet identified performance metric baselines with respect to NextGen projects. Saracini Aviation Safety Act of 2017 The FAA shall issue an order requiring the installation of a secondary cockpit barrier on each new aircraft that is manufactured for delivery to a U.S. passenger air carrier.
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