United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2012
Pool Safety and Accessibility for Everyone (Pool SAFE) Act - Prohibits any suit brought for violations of the revised regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 concerning the requirements to provide an accessible means of entry to pools for places of public accommodation and commercial facilities that occurred on or after March 15, 2012, and before the date that is one year after enactment of this Act. Bars the Attorney General (AG) from investigating or initiating a compliance review of an alleged violation occurring during such period. Requires dismissal of any suit brought against a place of public accommodation or commercial facility for such a violation brought on or after March 15, 2012, and before the date of enactment of this Act. Directs the AG to revise accessibility regulations to provide that a place of public accommodation or a commercial facility is in compliance with the requirement to have an accessible means of entry to a pool when such a place or facility uses a portable pool lift on request, even if: (1) installation of a permanent lift is readily achievable, and (2) a single portable pool lift is used for multiple pools.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2012
Sets forth the congressional budget for the federal government for FY2013, including the appropriate budgetary levels for FY2012, and FY2014-FY2022. Lists recommended budgetary levels and amounts for FY2012-FY2022with respect to: (1) federal revenues, (2) new budget authority, (3) budget outlays, (4) deficits (on-budget), (5) debt subject to limit, and (6) debt held by the public. Lists the appropriate levels of new budget authority and outlays for specified major functional categories for FY2012-FY2022. Sets forth reconciliation instructions for the House Committees on: (1) Agriculture, (2) Education and the Workforce, (3) Energy and Commerce, (4) Financial Services, (5) Natural Resources, (6) Oversight and Government Reform, and (7) Ways and Means. Requires the House Committee on the Budget to report a reconciliation bill that slows the growth in mandatory spending and achieves deficit reduction. Requires each House Committee to identify savings amounting to 1% of total mandatory spending under its jurisdiction from activities determined to be wasteful, unnecessary, or lower-priority. Establishes discretionary spending limits for FY2013-FY2022. Makes it out of order in the House to consider any legislation that causes discretionary budget authority to exceed such limits. Prohibits House legislation that would require advance appropriations, except for certain FY2013-FY2014 programs, projects, activities, or accounts. Prescribes requirements for legislation reported out of committee and designated as an emergency requirement. Requires the Joint Committee on Taxation to calculate the impact of any proposal to change federal revenues on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), total domestic employment, and other specified economic variables. Allocates $931 billion of new budget authority for FY2013 to the House Committee on Appropriations. Prohibits the chair of the House Committee on the Budget from taking into account the provisions of any piece of legislation which propose to increase revenue or offsetting collections if the net effect of the bill is to increase the level of revenue or offsetting collections beyond the level assumed in this budget resolution. Requires the chair to maintain a Budget Protection Mandatory Account and a Budget Protection Discretionary Account. Requires the Majority Leader to introduce rescission bills quarterly. Prescribes legislative procedures for their floor consideration. Expresses the sense of the House regarding: (1) baseline revenue projections, and (2) long-term budget projections. Amends Rule XXI (Restrictions on Certain Bills) of the House of Representatives to allow an amendment to an appropriations bill that amends existing law if it is a germane amendment to an authorizing provision or a line item appropriation of the bill under consideration. Establishes an earmark moratorium for FY2012-FY2013 for legislation providing or authorizing discretionary budget authority, credit or other spending authority, providing a federal tax deduction, credit, or exclusion, or modifying the Harmonized Tariff Schedule in FY2012-FY2013. Prohibits the House Committee on Rules from reporting a rule or order waiving such moratorium. Declares the policy of this resolution on: (1) health care law repeal, (2) bailouts of state and local governments, (3) means-tested welfare programs, (4) reforming the federal budget process, (5) reforming federal regulations, (6) Medicare reform, (7) deficit reduction through cancellation of unobligated balances, and (8) block granting Medicaid to the states.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2012
Grazing Improvement Act of 2012 - Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (the Act) to double from 10 to 20 years the period of a term for grazing permits and leases for domestic livestock grazing on public lands or lands within national forests in 16 contiguous western states. Permits the issuance of permits and leases for a period shorter than 20 years (under current law, shorter than 10 years). Directs that grazing permits or leases issued by the Secretary of the Interior respecting lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and grazing permits issued by the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) respecting National Forest System lands that expire, are transferred, or are waived after this Act's enactment be renewed or reissued, as appropriate, under the Act, Granger-Thye Act, Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, or California Desert Protection Act of 1994. Excludes the renewal, reissuance, or transfer of a grazing permit or lease by the Secretary concerned from the requirement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) to prepare an environmental analysis if such decision continues current grazing management of the allotment. States that crossing and trailing permits are an administrative decision and shall be excluded from the requirement to prepare an environmental analysis. Makes provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act applicable to appeals made by grazing permittees regarding grazing permits or leases under the Act and the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2012
Sound Dollar Act of 2012 - Amends the Federal Reserve Act (FRA) to direct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to: (1) promote the goal of long-term price stability, and (2) establish metrics to evaluate whether long-term price stability is being achieved. Prescribes procedures for the establishment and evaluation of such metrics. Directs the Board and the FOMC to: (1) make such information available to the public on a website, and (2) report to Congress each time such metrics are set or revised. Directs the Board to include in its semiannual report to Congress: (1) the results of the evaluation process, (2) whether the goal of long-term price stability is being met, (3) the main monetary policy instruments and strategy used by the Board and the FOMC to achieve long-term price stability, and (4) an analysis of how the policies of the Board and the FOMC are affecting the foreign exchange rate value of the U.S. dollar. Directs the Board to clearly articulate its lender-of-last-resort policy. Revamps FOMC membership to consist of one representative from each of the Federal Reserve banks (in addition to members of the Board). Directs the FOMC to release meeting transcripts to the public within three years after each meeting. Redesignates the Department of the Treasury stabilization fund as the Special Drawing Rights Fund. Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to liquidate all property in the Fund (other than Special Drawing Rights) and to use all such amounts to reduce the public debt. Limits the availability of the Fund solely to stabilize exchange rates and arrangements. Repeals the authority of the Secretary to deal in U.S. instruments of credit and securities. Permits only Special Drawing Rights to be deposited into the Fund. Requires funds that would otherwise have been deposited into the Fund to be paid, instead, to the Secretary to reduce the public debt. Amends the FRA to authorize the FOMC, in unusual and exigent circumstances, by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members, to grant any Federal Reserve bank emergency authority to buy and sell U.S. debt obligations and revenue bonds in anticipation of the collection of taxes or the receipt of assured revenues by any state or local governmental entity, as well as obligations of, or guaranteed by, a foreign government or agency. Amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to repeal: (1) funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and (2) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2012
Freedom from Over-Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2012 - Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to repeal the prohibition on importing, exporting, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing in interstate or foreign commerce: (1) fish or wildlife taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of foreign law; or (2) plants taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of foreign law, without the payment of appropriate royalties, taxes, or stumpage fees required by foreign law, or in violation of any limitation under foreign law that governs the export or transshipment of plants. Repeals the prohibition on possessing such fish, wildlife, or plants within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. Establishes a $200,000 maximum limit on a civil penalty for a knowing violation of such Act that involves fish, wildlife, or plants with a market value of $350 or more. Repeals: (1) criminal penalties under such Act, and (2) the authorization to suspend, modify, or cancel specified licenses or permits issued to any person who is convicted of a criminal violation of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2012
Expresses the sense of Congress that, except in response to an actual or imminent attack against the United States, the use of offensive military force by a President without prior and clear authorization of an Act of Congress violates the exclusive power of Congress to declare war under article I of the Constitution, and therefore constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under article II.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2012
United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 - States that it is U.S. policy to: (1) reaffirm the commitment to Israel's security as a Jewish state, (2) provide Israel with the military capabilities to defend itself and help preserve its qualitative military edge, (3) expand military and civilian cooperation, (4) assist in a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that results in two states living side by side in peace and security, and (5) encourage Israel's neighbors to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should take specified actions to assist in Israel's defense.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2012
Affirms that it is a vital national interest of the United States to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability and warns that time is limited to prevent that from happening. Urges increasing economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran to secure an agreement that includes: (1) suspension of all uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, (2) complete cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding Iran's nuclear activities, and (3) a permanent agreement that verifiably assures that Iran's nuclear program is entirely peaceful. Supports: (1) the universal rights and democratic aspirations of the Iranian people, and (2) U.S. policy to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capability. Rejects any U.S. policy that would rely on efforts to contain a nuclear weapons-capable Iran. Urges the President to reaffirm the unacceptability of an Iran with nuclear-weapons capability and oppose any policy that would rely on containment as an option in response to the Iranian nuclear threat.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2012
Pro Football Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 50,000 $5-gold coins, 400,000 $1-silver coins, and 750,000 half-dollar coins emblematic of the game of professional football. Requires all sales of such coins to include specified surcharges, which shall be paid by the Secretary to the Pro Football Hall of Fame to help finance the construction of a new building and the renovation of existing Pro Football Hall of Fame facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2012
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1444 Main Street in Ramona, California, as the "Nelson 'Mac' MacWilliams Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2012
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Jack Nicklaus in recognition of his service to the nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike such gold medal and to strike and sell duplicate bronze medals at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the gold and bronze medals.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2012
Energizing America through Employment Act - Authorizes TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. to construct, connect, operate, and maintain pipeline facilities for the import of crude oil and other hydrocarbons at the United States-Canada Border at Phillips County, Montana, in accordance with a certain application filed with the Department of State on September 19, 2008. Declares that no permit pursuant to Executive Order 13337 or any other similar Executive Order regulating such activities at the U.S. border, and no additional environmental impact statement (EIS), shall be required for such Pipeline. Deems a certain EIS issued by the Department of State to satisfy all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) as well as any other law requiring federal agency consultation or review regarding such cross-border facilities. Sets forth conditions governing construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of the cross-border facilities in connection with the Pipeline. Deems sufficient for the purposes of this Act any route and construction, mitigation, and reclamation measures for the Pipeline in the state of Nebraska that is identified by Nebraska and submitted to the Secretary of State. States that any action taken to implement this Act does not constitute a major federal action requiring an EIS under NEPA. Restricts to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit any federal judicial review over actions and facilities implemented under this Act. Instructs the Secretary of State, for purposes of making a national interest determination under Executive Order 13337 (or any successor Executive Order) regarding a pipeline application, to solicit the views of specified congressional committees regarding such application and pertinent information.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2012
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 8771 Auburn Folsom Road in Roseville, California, as the "Private First Class Victor A. Dew Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2012
Prohibits the use of federal funds to require a person licensed to deal in firearms to report information to the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the sale of multiple rifles or shotguns to the same person.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2012
District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit any person from performing or attempting to perform an abortion within the District of Columbia except in conformity with this Act's requirements. Requires the physician to first make a determination of the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child, or reasonably rely upon such a determination made by another physician, by making inquiries of the pregnant woman and performing such medical examinations and tests as a reasonably prudent physician would consider necessary. Prohibits the abortion from being performed if the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or greater. Makes an exception where necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury, excluding psychological or emotional conditions or any claim or diagnosis that the woman will engage in conduct intended to result in her death. Permits a physician to terminate a pregnancy under such exception only in the manner which provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive, unless termination of the pregnancy in that manner would pose a greater risk of the death or substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including psychological or emotional conditions, of the pregnant woman than would other available methods. Prescribes penalties for violations. Bars prosecution of a woman upon whom an abortion is performed in violation of this Act, but authorizes such a woman or the father or maternal grandparent of the unborn child to obtain appropriate relief through a civil action. Provides for injunctive relief to prevent violations. Sets forth specified privacy protections in court proceedings for the woman upon whom an abortion has been performed. Requires any physician who performs an abortion within the District to report it to the Department of Health of the District of Columbia, which shall issue annual public reports.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2012
Repeals the affirmation in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 that the President's authority under the Authorization for Use of Military Force (P.L. 107-40) includes the authority for the U.S. Armed Forces, pending disposition under the law of war, to detain persons who: (1) planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored those responsible for those attacks; or (2) were a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2012
Budget Before Borrowing Act of 2012 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in both chambers to consider any bill or joint resolution, amendment, or conference report to extend the public debt limit unless a concurrent resolution on the budget has been agreed to and is in effect for the fiscal year during which such measure is being considered. Permits: (1) waiver or suspension of this prohibition in either chamber only by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of its Members, and (2) its successful appeal from the ruling of the Chair in the Senate only by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of its Members.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 2012
Disapproves of the President's appointment of four federal officers or employees during a period when no congressional recess of more than three days was authorized by concurrent resolution. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that those appointments were made in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2011
Amends the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act (the Act) to extend the term of the pilot forest management project for the Plumas, Lassen, and Tahoe National Forests in California. Directs the Regional Forester for Region 5 to initiate the process of amending or revising such plans for the pilot project area (the federal lands within the Plumas and Lassen National Forests and the Sierraville Ranger District of Tahoe National Forest designated as available for group selection). Requires such process to include the preparation of at least one alternative that incorporates the pilot project and area designations, the resource management activities, and other aspects of the Quincy Library Group Community Stability Proposal. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to expand the pilot project area to include all of the National Forest System lands in California or Nevada that lie within the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Province, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, and Humboldt-Toiyabe and Inyo National Forests. Deems those areas that are designated as deferred under the Act, but located in Tehama County, south and west of Lassen Peak, as being designated as available for group selection.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2011
Balancing Our Obligations for the Long-Term Act of 2011 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to establish for FY2030-FY2050: (1) direct spending limits, and (2) total spending limits. Prescribes certain deficit control mechanisms (sequestration and reduction orders) for such period. Requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to: (1) determine common scorekeeping guidelines, and (2) prepare estimates in conformance with such guidelines. Prescribes and/or revises requirements for discretionary, direct, total, and deficit sequestration preview and final reports. Eliminates Pay-As-You-Go reports. Adds the following programs and activities to the list exempted from sequestration orders: (1) obligated balances of budget authority carried over from prior fiscal years; (2) federal obligations required to be paid under the U.S. Constitution or legally contractual obligations; (3) Claims, Judgments, and Relief Acts (20-1895-0-1-808); and (4) intragovernmental transfers. Modifies and/or repeals certain mandatory general and special sequestration rules. Amends the Act to establish the baseline for the three 10-fiscal years beginning after the last such outyear based on enacted law, as an estimate of current year levels of budget authority, outlays, or receipts for: (1) discretionary spending; (2) Medicare; (3) Medicaid and other health-related spending; (4) other direct spending; (5) social security; (6) other categories, as appropriate; and (7) net interest. Amends the Congessional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to require the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to make an annual projection for at least 40 years of total spending, revenue, deficits, and debt beginning with the first fiscal year after the last fiscal year covered in the most recently enacted budget resolution as a percentage of current projected gross domestic product (GDP), based on current law and current law levels as modified to maintain current policy. Requires CBO to issue an annual Spending Review Report on the solvency of the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Fund and the long-range sustainability of the spending levels of Medicare, Medicaid and other health-related spending as well as other direct spending. Prescribes procedures for introduction and expedited consideration in each chamber of spending review legislation if such report indicates OASDI Trust Fund insolvency or the non-sustainability of other specified direct spending. Replaces the requirement that budget resolutions include new budget authority and outlays for each major functional category with a requirement that they include subtotals of new budget authority and outlays for nondefense discretionary spending, defense discretionary spending, Medicare, Medicaid and other health-related spending, other direct spending (excluding interest), contingencies, and net interest. Requires budget resolutions to set forth appropriate levels, as a percent of the current GDP, for total federal revenues, total outlays, debt held by the public, and the surplus or deficit in the budget for the 10th, 20th, and 30th fiscal years after the last fiscal year of the budget resolution (long-term budgeting). Requires inclusion in a budget resolution of specified long-term reconciliation directives. Requires CBO to estimate whether each measure reported from committee (except those under the Committee on Appropriations) causes a net increase in direct spending in excess of $5 billion in any of the four ensuing 10-year periods. Makes it out of order in both chambers to consider any measure that causes such a net increase in deficits. Requires CBO to prepare a specified long-term cost analysis and submit it to the requesting chairman or ranking member of the congressional budget committee or of the committee of jurisdiction for: (1) major legislation reported by any congressional committee, and (2) any bill or resolution requested by such chairman or ranking member. Requires inclusion of specified long-term budgeting in the President's budget submission. Requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report, in the President's budget submission, on the federal government's financial condition, including the long-term unfunded obligations. Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to revise legislative procedures for congressional consideration of the President's proposed legislation in response to a Medicare funding warning (Medicare trigger). Requires the appropriate chairman of the congressional budget committee to adjust the appropriate allocations, aggregates, and other levels to reflect the budget impact achieved by such introduced legislation for CBA purposes, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, the Rules of the House of Representatives, or the Standing Rules of the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2011
Review Every Dollar Act of 2011 - Makes it out of order in both chambers to consider any bill, joint resolution, or other measure that: (1) reauthorizes any federal program for more than seven fiscal years, or (2) establishes a new federal program that exceeds such period. Requires each standing congressional committee with legislative jurisdiction over any direct spending program by July 31 during the second session of each Congress to apply specified criteria to determine whether any such program should be modified, terminated, or reauthorized. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require each of the chairs of the congressional budget committees to maintain a deficit reduction discretionary account and a deficit reduction direct spending account. Prescribes procedures for the crediting to such accounts of the amounts of either discretionary or direct spending deficit reduction in any amendment to a bill that reduces the appropriate budget authority. Requires any measure or Act that transfers funds from the general fund of the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund to be counted as new budget authority and outlays equal to the amount of the transfer in the fiscal year in which it occurs. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to eliminate the authorization of appropriations and the appropriation of additional Pell Grant funds after FY2012 that were to be used to increase the maximum Pell Grant amount. Maintains the amount of a Pell Grant at $5,500 for academic years 2013-2014 through 2017-2018, minus the expected family contribution. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) with respect to adjustments to discretionary spending limits for the budget year and each outyear to reflect changes in concepts. Defines changing a program from direct spending to discretionary spending or from discretionary spending to direct spending as such a change of concept, if it does not cause a net increase in new budget authority or outlays for FY2012-FY2021. Prohibits from taking effect, except according to a specified procedure, any rule made to carry out a direct spending program that would require new budget authority of at least $100 million for the fiscal year it takes effect or for any of the nine ensuing fiscal years. Limits exceptions to this prohibition to rules necessary: (1) because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency, for the enforcement of criminal laws, or for national security; or (2) to implement an international trade agreement. Requires also for such an exception that the new budget authority to carry it out is provided by law. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to: (1) review proposed rules requiring new budget authority before their effective dates, and (2) take specified administrative steps to prevent further agency action pertaining to such rulemaking.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2011
Budget and Accounting Transparency Act of 2011 - Amends the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (FCRA) (title V of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974) to revise the budgetary treatment of federal direct loans and loan guarantees to account for them on a fair value basis (currently, a FCRA accrual basis). Requires the President's budget from FY1992 on to reflect the Treasury discounting component of direct loan and loan guarantee programs. Defines the "Treasury discounting component" as the estimated long-term cost to the federal government of a direct loan or loan guarantee (or modification) calculated on a net present value basis, excluding administrative costs and any incidental effects on governmental receipts or outlays. Revises other requirements for the President's budget, beginning with FY2015, including conditions for new direct loans or loan guarantee commitments. Requires new budget authority for such loans or loan guarantee commitments to be provided in advance in an appropriation Act. Exempts a direct loan or loan guarantee program that constitutes an entitlement (such as the guaranteed student loan program or the veteran's home loan guaranty program) as well as all existing credit programs of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) from: (1) the above requirement, and (2) the prohibition against modification of an outstanding direct loan or loan guarantee in a manner that increases its costs unless budget authority for the additional cost has been provided in advance in an appropriation Act. Repeals the general authorization of appropriations to federal agencies for the cost associated with such direct loan obligations or loan guarantee commitments. Revises requirements for Treasury transactions with financing accounts (nonbudget accounts associated with each program account which holds balances, receives the cost payment from the program account, and also includes all other cash flows to and from the federal government resulting from direct loan obligations or loan guarantee commitments made on or after October 1, 1991). Limits the availability of amounts in liquidating accounts to specified payments resulting from direct loan obligations or loan guarantee commitments made before October 1, 1991. Requires each of the Directors of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to study and make recommendations to the congressional budget committees on the feasibility of applying fair value concepts to budgeting for the costs of federal insurance programs. Requires the receipts and disbursements, including the administrative expenses, of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (government-sponsored enterprises or GSEs) to be counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of: (1) the President's budget, (2) the congressional budget, and (3) the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDC) (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Treats the face amount of obligations issued after the 90th day after the enactment of this Act by the GSEs outstanding at one time as issued by the federal government. (Thus subjects their debt to the public debt limit.) Repeals mandatory off-budget treatment of the receipts and disbursements of the Postal Service Fund. (Thus returns such Fund to an on-budget status.) Repeals the requirement that Competitive Products Fund receipts and disbursements be accorded the same budgetary treatment accorded to Postal Service Fund receipts and disbursements. Requires CBO and OMB to: (1) prepare jointly a study of the history of offsetting collections against expenditures and the amount of receipts collected annually, the historical application of the budgetary terms "revenue," "offsetting collections," and "offsetting receipts"; and (2) review the application of those terms and make recommendations to the congressional budget committees on whether such usage should be continued or modified. Requires a federal agency, whenever it prepares and submits written budget justification materials for any congressional committee, to post them on the same day as its submission on its public website.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2011
Pro-Growth Budgeting Act of 2011 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to prepare for each major bill or resolution reported by any congressional committee (except the congressional appropriations committees), as a supplement to CBO cost estimates, a macroeconomic impact analysis of the costs of such legislation for: (1) the period for which the cost estimate is prepared, and (2) the 10-fiscal year period beginning with the first fiscal year after the last fiscal year for which such estimate was prepared and each of the 2 next 10-fiscal year periods. Defines "major bill or resolution" as any bill or resolution whose budgetary effects, for any fiscal year in the period for which a CBO cost estimate is prepared, is estimated to be greater than .25% of the current projected U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) for that fiscal year. Requires the analysis to describe: (1) the potential economic impact of the bill or resolution on major economic variables, including real GDP, business investment, the capital stock, employment, and labor supply; and (2) the potential fiscal effects of the measure, including any estimates of revenue increases or decreases resulting from changes in GDP.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2011
Baseline Reform Act of 2011 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to revise the formula for establishing the budget baseline. Revises the annual baseline, for any fiscal year, to mean a projection of current-year levels of new budget authority (as under current law), outlays (as under current law), or receipts (instead of revenues) and the surplus or deficit (as under current law) for the current year, the budget year, and the ensuing nine outyears based on laws enacted through the applicable date. Includes estimates for direct spending in the baseline calculation formula for the budget year and each outyear. Revises the formula for calculating the baseline for discretionary spending for the budget year and each outyear to eliminate adjustments for: (1) expiring multiyear subsidized housing contracts; (2) administrative expenses of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, the Unemployment Trust Fund, and the Railroad Retirement account; (3) offsets to federal employees' annual pay; and (4) certain inflators used to adjust budgetary resources in the Act. Amends the Act to define: (1) Medicare as programs within budget function 570; (2) Medicaid and other health-related spending as programs within budget function 550; and (2) other direct spending as programs other than those within budget functions 550 and 570, excluding Social Security and net interest. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), after the President's budget submission and in addition to the baseline projections, to report a supplemental projection to the congressional budget committees, assuming extension of current tax policy for the fiscal year commencing on October 1 of that year, with an alternative projection for that fiscal year, again assuming the extension of current tax policy, excluding emergency provisions, in the previous fiscal year. Requires CBO to report to such committees, on or before July 1 of each year, the Long-Term Budget Outlook for: (1) the fiscal year commencing on October 1 of that year, and (2) at least the ensuing 30 fiscal years.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2011
Legally Binding Budget Act of 2011 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to require joint budget resolutions signed by the President instead of the concurrent resolutions now required (which do not have to be signed by the President). Revises accordingly the congressional procedures for considering joint budget resolutions. Prohibits the consideration of budget-related legislation before the joint budget resolution becomes law. Permits revisions of joint budget resolutions already enacted. Makes a conforming amendment to the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Makes it out of order in both chambers to consider any joint budget resolution, amendment, or conference report that contains certain matter prohibited by the CBA, particularly inclusion in the surplus or deficit totals of any outlays and revenue totals of the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program under title II of the Social Security Act. Deems the aggregates, allocations, and any other matters that pertain solely to Congress specified in a joint budget resolution, to operate and be enforceable in both chambers as if such resolution had been enacted notwithstanding a presidential veto of the resolution. (Thus creates an automatic standing order upon a presidential veto of a joint budget resolution.) Authorizes a joint budget resolution to set forth the public debt limit. Makes conforming amendments to: (1) the Rules of the House of Representatives, and (2) the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2011
Second Amendment Protection Act of 2011 - Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should not adopt any treaty that poses a threat to national sovereignty or abridges the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, such as the right to bear arms, and should cease the provision of financial support to any entity that does so. Prohibits the United States from providing any funding to the United Nations (U.N.) for a fiscal year unless the President certifies to Congress that the U.N. has not taken action to infringe on the rights of individuals in the United States to possess a firearm or ammunition, or abridge any of the other constitutionally protected rights of U.S. citizens.
United States · United States Congress · 2 December 2011
North American Energy Access Act - Prohibits construction, operation, or maintenance of the oil pipeline and related facilities described in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Keystone XL Pipeline Project issued by the Department of State on August 26, 2011 (including any modified version of that pipeline and related facilities), unless it is in compliance with the terms of a permit prescribed under this Act. Instructs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), to issue, within 30 days after receipt of an application, a permit for such pipeline and related facilities implemented in accordance with such Final EIS. Deems a permit to have been issued if FERC has not acted upon a permit application within 30 days after receipt. Declares FERC approval a prerequisite to authorization for a permit applicant to make substantial modifications to either the pipeline route or any other term of the Final EIS. Directs FERC to: (1) enter into a memorandum of understanding with the state of Nebraska for review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 of any modification to the proposed pipeline route, and (2) complete consideration and approval of such modification within 30 days after receiving the governor's approval. Deems approval to have been issued if FERC has not acted within 30 days after receiving an application for approval of a modification. Declares a permit issued under this Act to be the sole legal authority to construct, operate, and maintain the Keystone XL Pipeline Project and related facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 2 December 2011
Social Security Preservation through Individual Choice Enhancement Act - Amends the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 to allow individual taxpayers an election to claim the 2% reduction in employment taxes under such Act in any calendar year beginning in or after 2012. Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to increase the applicable social security retirement age by one month for each calendar year that a taxpayer elects a reduction in employment taxes under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2011
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to prohibit a citizen suit from being commenced against a publicly owned treatment works (POTW): (1) to enforce an effluent standard or limitation unless the POTW is in significant non-compliance as defined in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) guidance document entitled "A General Design for SNC Redefinition Enhancement in PCS," or (2) that is in significant non-compliance based on a manual designation as defined by such guidance document. Prohibits liability for an unlawful discharge of a pollutant from a POTW for a person who can establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the immediate cause of such discharge and any damages was: (1) an act of God; (2) an act of war; or (3) an act or omission of a third party other than an employee or agent of such person or one whose act or omission occurs in connection with a contractual relationship with such person, if such person exercised due care and took precautions against foreseeable acts or omissions of such third party and the consequences that could foreseeably result from such acts or omissions. Requires the Administrator of EPA or a state to provide a 60-day waiting period between the notice of a violation of such Act by a POTW and the issuance of a civil penalty. Prohibits the Administrator from assessing a penalty for a violation if the POTW submits a viable plan for correcting the non-compliance within such period and thereafter implements such plan. Requires any permit issued to the owner or operator of a POTW to discharge a pollutant under such Act to have a 15-year (currently five-year) term. Limits attorney fees with respect to actions involving POTWs to the prevailing fees in the community. Requires any new or increased treatment requirement associated with a permit issued to the owner or operator of a POTW to discharge a pollutant under such Act to be subject to a cost-benefit analysis.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2011
Expedited Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2011 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (CBICA) to authorize the President to propose the rescission (line item veto) of all or any dollar amount of funding provided by any enacted bill or joint resolution. Sets forth requirements for the President's transmittal to Congress of a special message regarding the proposed rescission. Authorizes the President, except for his deferral of budget authority provided in CBICA, to withhold such rescinded funding temporarily from obligation, but only once per proposed rescission. Dedicates the rescinded funds solely to deficit reduction or increase of a surplus. Provides for adjustment of: (1) committee allocations resulting from such a rescission, and (2) applicable limits under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) revised downward by the amount of the rescissions. Sets forth procedures for expedited congressional consideration of a proposed rescission. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the House Committee on the Budget, whenever an approval bill passes the House of Representatives, to reduce the applicable committee allocations immediately by the total amount of reductions in budget authority and in outlays resulting from such approval.
United States · United States Congress · 29 November 2011
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is unconstitutional in its entirety, and (2) the Anti-Injunction Act applies to neither the individual mandate nor to the penalty provision that enforces it and thus does not preclude the federal courts from finding PPACA unconstitutional in its entirety.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2011
Stop Taxpayer Funded Cell Phones Act of 2011 - Prohibits a provider of commercial mobile communications service from receiving universal service support under specified provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 for the provision of such service through the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Lifeline program (a program that provides discounts on monthly telephone service to qualifying low-income consumers).
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2011
Pays tribute to the members of the U.S. Armed Forces and civilians who died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Honors the thousands of men and women of the Armed Forces who paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of freedom and liberty during World War II. Acknowledges the continued peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and Japan. Appreciates the efforts of Japan as one of the most reliable security partners of the United States in the global war on terrorism. Encourages Japan to continue to develop strategic and economic policies, in partnership with the United States, that promote stability throughout Asia and reduce trade barriers between the two countries.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2011
Recreational Shooting Protection Act - Requires National Monument land to be open to access and use for recreational shooting, except as limited by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for one or more of the following: (1) reasons of national security, (2) reasons of public safety, and (3) to comply with an applicable federal statute. Instructs the Director, before a restriction or closure becomes effective, to: (1) publish a public notice of the closure or restriction in a newspaper in the area where it will be carried out, and (2) report to Congress on the location and extent of, and evidence justifying, such closure or restriction. Requires management of BLM National Monument land in a manner that supports, promotes, and enhances recreational shooting opportunities. Prohibits the issuance of closures or restrictions on such land that are substantially similar to those that were previously issued and not approved by federal law.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2011
Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award of congressional gold medals in honor of the men and women who perished as a result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York, and the Pentagon Memorial at the Pentagon. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates of such medals, with amounts received from the sale to be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 2011
Jobs Through Growth Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for individual taxpayers after 2010, (2) allow an individual taxpayer to elect an alternative income tax system in lieu of existing rates, (3) allow an inflation adjustment to the cost of certain capital assets for purposes of determining gain or loss from the sale or exchange of such assets, (4) reduce the top income tax rate on corporations to 25%, (5) extend through 2012 the election allowed to a U.S. corporation to deduct dividends received from a controlled foreign corporation and reduce the amount of such deduction for corporations that fail to maintain specified employment levels for full-time U.S. employees, and (6) repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes and make permanent the maximum 35% gift tax rate and a $5 million lifetime gift tax exemption. Requires the House Committee on Ways and Means to report legislation to broaden the tax base for the corporate income tax and to transition to a territorial tax system (taxation of domestic income but not income earned overseas). Prohibits a federal agency from taking any significant regulatory action (generally, an action having an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or otherwise adversely affecting the economy) until the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports a monthly unemployment rate equal to or less than 7.7%. Authorizes the President to waive such prohibition if the President notifies Congress that a waiver is necessary on the basis of national security or a national emergency. Allows judicial review of a significant regulatory action by a person adversely affected or aggrieved by such action. Exempts businesses with 200 or fewer employees from federal regulation. Revises provisions for congressional review of agency rulemaking to require congressional approval of major rules of the executive branch before they may take effect (currently, major rules take effect unless Congress passes and the President signs a joint resolution disapproving them). Provides that if a joint resolution of approval of a major rule is not enacted by the end of 70 session days or legislative days after the agency proposing the rule submits its report on such rule to Congress, the rule shall be deemed not to be approved and shall not take effect. Sets forth House and Senate procedures for joint resolutions approving major rules and disapproving non-major rules. Amends the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) to revise the regulatory process (rulemaking) with respect to small entities (i.e., small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions). Defines "economic impact" with respect to a proposed or final rule to mean: (1) any direct economic effect of a rule on small entities, and (2) any indirect economic effect on such entities, including potential job creation or job loss. Expands judicial review of agency rulemaking to permit small entities to seek judicial review of initial regulatory flexibility analyses and to obtain an injunction of a proposed rule that is noncompliant with RFA requirements. Requires each federal agency to establish a plan for the periodic review (every eight years) of: (1) its rules that have a significant adverse economic impact on small entities, and (2) any small entity compliance guide required to be published by an agency. Sets forth criteria for review of a rule, including the continued need for the rule, the complexity of the rule, and the impact of the rule on small entities. Terminates any rule if the issuing agency has failed to complete a required periodic review. Expands to all federal agencies the procedures for gathering comments on rules that will have a significant economic impact on small entities. Extends RFA requirements to informal agency guidance documents. Amends the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 to require each federal agency to review on a periodic basis its policies or programs for imposing regulatory penalties on small entities. Allows a small business concern to elect to be exempt from any rule or regulation issued on or after January 1, 2008. Sets forth a deadline for action on certain permit applications under existing Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leases. Amends the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to repeal the moratorium on oil and gas leasing in certain areas of the Gulf of Mexico. Instructs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to offer for leasing areas made available as a result of such repeal. Instructs the Secretary to: (1) offer specified areas for oil and gas leasing pursuant to certain Lease Sale Schedules, (2) conduct OCS lease sales in specified Planning Areas, (3) share OCS receipts derived from all leases with states and local governments, (4) implement a leasing program for certain land within the Arctic Coastal Plain, and (5) issue rights-of-way and easements across the Coastal Plain for oil and gas transportation. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to designate certain Coastal Plain lands, including the Sadlerochit Spring area, as Special Areas requiring special management and regulatory protection. Revokes a specified Secretarial Order relating to protecting wilderness characteristics on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Amends the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 to repeal the prohibition on the use of funds for either a commercial oil shale leasing program or for oil shale lease sales. Directs the Secretary to offer leases for oil shale resources. Confers exclusive jurisdiction upon the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for covered energy projects under this Act. Establishes the Office of the Federal Oil and Gas Permit Coordinator. Instructs the Secretary to establish and maintain, in coordination with the Mayor of the North Slope Borough of Alaska, a separate Alaska Offshore Continental Shelf Coordination Office to coordinate the leasing program. Amends the Clean Air Act to redefine "air pollutant" to exclude carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, or sulfur hexafluoride (greenhouse gases). Declares that nothing in specified statutes addressing pollution control shall be treated as authorizing or requiring the regulation of climate change or global warming. Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to repeal the prohibition against federal procurement of alternative or synthetic fuel. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), upon request of the governor of a state or the governing body of an Indian tribe, to enter into a streamlined refinery permitting agreement. Sets forth deadlines for: (1) approval or disapproval of consolidated permits for construction of new or expansion of existing refineries, and (2) submission of existing refinery permit applications. Requires the EPA Administrator to conduct a research and demonstration program to evaluate the air quality benefits of ultra-clean Fischer-Tropsch transportation fuel, including diesel and jet fuel. Directs the Secretary to extend by one year the term of any lease that was: (1) not producing as of April 30, 2010; or (2) suspended from operations, permit processing, or consideration in accordance with the moratorium set forth in a May 30, 2010, Minerals Management Service Notice, or the Secretary's decision memorandum dated July 12, 2010. Directs the President, acting through the Secretary of Energy (DOE), to coordinate with specified federal agencies to ensure an expedited schedule for construction and operation of the Keystone XL pipeline. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States must decrease its dependence on oil from countries hostile to its interests; and (2) Canada has long been a strong trading partner, and increased access to its energy resources will create jobs in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 2011
Regional Haze Federalism Act - Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate a federal implementation plan in place of a state implementation plan to remedy any impairment to visibility in designated class I areas (international parks, wilderness areas and memorial parks that exceed 5,000 acres, and national parks that exceed 6,000 acres) only if: (1) such state failed to consider the costs of, the time necessary for, and and the energy and non-air quality environmental impacts of compliance with such plan and the remaining useful life of any existing air pollution source; and (2) compliance with federal implementation plan requirements is not required earlier than five years after the date of promulgation. Requires: (1) the Administrator to revoke an existing federal or state implementation plan for a state regarding visibility or any determination made in 2010 or 2011 of best available retrofit technology for a source upon receipt of a request by such state; and (2) such state to submit to the Administrator a visibility plan or a revised retrofit technology determination within a reasonable period of time. Provides that states have sole discretion, after considering certain economic factors, in determining emission limits, schedules of compliance, and other measures for each applicable implementation plan for a state for any area that is listed as contributing to impairment of visibility. Requires the state, in determining best available retrofit technology (or the Administrator in determining emission limitations that reflect such technology), to consider, in addition to other factors, the economic impacts to the state and the degree of improvement in visibility that may reasonably be anticipated to result from measures described in the applicable implementation plan. Provides that a state's determination of such technology for any source may be subject to review by the Administrator or an administrative entity or federal or state court only pursuant to a clearly erroneous standard of review.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 2011
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits the federal government from increasing its debt except for a specific purpose by law adopted by three-fourths of the membership of each chamber.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2011
ACCESS (ADA Compliance for Customer Entry to Stores and Services) Act of 2011 - Amends the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to prohibit an aggrieved person from commencing a civil action for discrimination based on the failure to remove a structural barrier to entry into an existing public accommodation unless the owner or operator of such accommodation: (1) is provided a written notice specific enough to identify such barrier; and (2) has, within specified time periods, either failed to provide the aggrieved person with a written description outlining improvements that will be made to remove such barrier or provided such description and failed to remove such barrier.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2011
Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal: (1) the excise tax credits for alcohol fuel, biodiesel, and alternative fuel mixtures; (2) the tax credits for the purchase of certain plug-in electric vehicles and alternative motor vehicles; (3) the alternative fuel vehicle refueling property tax credit; (4) the tax credits for alcohol used as fuel and for biodiesel and renewable diesel used as fuel; (5) the enhanced oil recovery tax credit and the tax credit for producing oil and gas from marginal wells; (6) the tax credit for carbon dioxide sequestration; (7) the energy tax credit; and (8) the tax credits for investment in qualifying advanced coal projects and qualifying gasification projects. Terminates after 2012 the tax credits for the production of electricity from certain renewable resources and from advanced nuclear power facilities. Repeals the grant program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for payments to invest in alternative and renewable energy property in lieu of tax credits. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe a flat income tax rate for corporations, in lieu of the existing marginal tax rates, based upon the overall revenue savings from the repeal of energy tax subsidies by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 2011
America's Cup Act of 2011 - Authorizes vessels operating in preparation for, or in connection with, the 34th America's Cup competition, that have been certified by the Administrator of the Maritime Administration to be eligible vessels, to position competing vessels and transport individuals, equipment, and supplies utilized for the staging, operations, or broadcast of the competition from and around U.S. ports. Deems such an eligibility certification to be conclusive evidence to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of the qualification of a vessel to participate in the competition. Subjects to specified penalties any vessel participating in the 34th America's Cup as a competing or supporting vessel that has not received an eligibility certification or that is not in compliance with provisions regarding coastwise endorsement to specified penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2011
Transportation Empowerment Act - Declares the purposes of the Act, including returning maximum discretionary authority and fiscal responsibility to the states for all elements of the national surface transportation systems (excluding the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways). Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for FY2014-FY2018 for specified core programs under the federal-aid highway program, including: (1) the interstate maintenance program, (2) emergency relief for highways and roads, (3) the interstate bridge program, (4) the federal lands highways program, (5) highway safety programs, (6) surface transportation research, and (7) administrative expenses. Authorizes a state to transfer and use excess federal-aid highway funds for any surface transportation project (including mass transit and rail). Revises the apportionment of federal-aid highway funds under the interstate maintenance component. Requires 1% of such funds to be apportioned to the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, with the remaining 99% of funds apportioned to the states based on certain formulae. Limits federal assistance to states for highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation to bridges on the federal-aid highway system. Repeals the authorization of federal assistance to states for non-federal bridges and highways. Declares that, beginning with FY2013, a highway construction or improvement project shall not be considered a federal project: (1) unless and until a state expends federal funds for the construction portion of such project, (2) solely by reason of the state expenditure of federal funds before the construction phase of the project (including for any environmental document or design work), or (3) upon state reimbursement to the federal government of the federal costs of such projects. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make amounts in the HTF available for expenditure for core highway programs through FY2018. Requires the Secretary of Treasury to transfer from the HTF amounts equivalent to motorboat and aviation fuel taxes collected before October 1, 2020, to: (1) the Land and Water Conservation Fund, (2) the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, and (3) the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Requires the Secretary to pay from the HTF into the general fund of the Treasury amounts equivalent to the floor stocks refunds made before July 1, 2021. Prescribes a motor fuel tax rate schedule for financing of core highway programs. Terminates, on September 30, 2013, the authority of the Secretary to make certain transfers to the Mass Transit Account. Establishes in the HTF the Infrastructure Special Assistance Fund, $1 billion of which shall be available during FY2014-FY2017 to states for transportation-related program expenditures. Directs the Secretary to allocate to the states for surface transportation projects (including mass transit and rail) any excess highway tax receipts appropriated to the HTF in FY2014-FY2017. Reduces the excise taxes imposed on: (1) gasoline from 18.3 cents to 3.7 cents, (2) diesel fuel or kerosene from 24.3 cents to 5.0 cents, and (3) diesel-water fuel emulsion from 19.7 cents to 4.1 cents. Requires credits or refunds of certain floor stocks taxes on liquids imposed before October 1, 2017. Declares that this Act shall become effective only if the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) certifies that it is deficit neutral.
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 2011
Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness Act or the RELIEF Act - Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to: (1) make such Act inapplicable to any plant that was imported into the United States before May 22, 2008, or any finished plant or plant product the assembly and processing of which was completed before such date; (2) limit the application of plant importation declaration requirements to plants that are entered for consumption; (3) exclude from declaration requirements a plant product that is derived from a tree unless the product is solid wood (requires the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to issue regulations that define the term "solid wood" for such purpose); (4) make the prohibition on asserting an ownership interest in property that it is illegal to possess inapplicable to an imported plant or plant product acquired by an innocent owner; and (5) establish civil penalties for specified first violations involving plant importations. Requires the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Commerce, as program responsibilities are vested pursuant to the provisions of Reorganization Plan Numbered 4 of 1970, to review the implementation of plant declarations with 180 days. Requires the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (currently, the Secretary of Commerce) to report on plant declaration requirements, including an evaluation of the feasibility of creating a publicly available database of laws of foreign countries from which plants are exported. Requires the heads of federal agencies responsible for implementing such Act to allocate sufficient amounts to implement provisions concerning plant declarations from amounts otherwise available. Requires the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the heads of other federal agencies responsible for implementing such Act to issue regulations to establish a standard certification process for plant and plant products legally harvested, imported, or manufactured after May 22, 2008, that considers individual item certification and individual manufacturer, importer, and retailer certification for purposes of sale and resale. Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to review and report on the competitiveness in the domestic market for raw materials for the manufacture of musical instruments and the impact of this Act on such competitiveness.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 2011
Consumer Debit Card Protection Act - Amends the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to repeal the authority granted the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) to prescribe regulations for interchange transaction (swipe) fees that an issuer may receive or charge in connection with an electronic debit transaction (EDT). Declares void, and without force or effect, any regulation or information collection which the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) may propose or prescribe pursuant to the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA). Makes conforming amendments to EFTA.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2011
Prohibits the obligation of federal funds for high-speed rail projects in California until after September 30, 2012. Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress with respect to the California High Speed Rail project.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 2011
Renewable Fuel Standard Flexibility Act - Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): (1) by August 1 and by the end of November each year, to determine and publish the U.S. corn stocks-to-use ratio for the current crop year; and (2) to waive the renewable fuel program's requirements for the rest of the calendar year following the August determination or for the next calendar year following the November determination by reducing the national quantity of renewable fuel otherwise required by specified amounts based on the ratio determined. Prohibits: (1) waivers granted under this Act from affecting the volume of advanced biofuel under such program, or (2) the Administrator from allowing any volume of conventional biofuel to be used to satisfy the requirement for advanced biofuel.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2011
EDA Elimination Act of 2011 - Terminates the Economic Development Administration (EDA). Repeals the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to take such actions as necessary and appropriate to conclude the outstanding affairs of the EDA, including dispositions of personnel, assets, and obligations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2011
Reducing the Size of the Federal Government Through Attrition Act of 2011 - Requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to take appropriate measures to ensure that: (1) the total number of federal employees, beginning in FY2015, does not exceed 90% of the total number of such employees as of September 30, 2011; (2) agencies do not appoint, until the end of FY 2014, more than one employee for every three employees retiring or otherwise separating from government service; and (3) there is no increase in the procurement of service contracts due to this Act unless a cost comparison demonstrates that such contracts would be financially advantageous to the federal government. Requires OMB to continuously monitor all agencies and make a determination whether the total number of federal employees exceeds the limitation imposed by this Act. Prohibits a federal agency from filling any vacancy unless OMB provides written notice to the President and Congress that the number of federal employees does not exceed the limitation established by this Act. Allows the President to waive the workforce limitations imposed by this Act if the President determines that the existence of a state of war or other national security concern or the existence of an extraordinary emergency threatening life, health, public safety, property, or the environment so requires. Allows the President additional discretion to waive such workforce limitations if the President determines that the efficiency of a federal agency or the performance of its critical mission so requires.
![Official portrait of Rep. McClintock, Tom [R-CA-5]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m001177_200.jpg)