Budget

ALERT Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2016

All Economic Regulations are Transparent Act of 2016 or the ALERT Act of 2016 This bill requires each federal agency to submit a monthly report to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each rule such agency expects to propose or finalize during the following year. The reports must include: (1) a summary of the nature of the rule, (2) the objectives of and legal basis for issuance of the rule, (3) the stage of the rulemaking as of the date of submission, and (4) whether the rule is subject to periodic review as a rule with a significant economic impact. Each agency must submit a monthly report for any rule expected to be finalized during the following year for which the agency has issued a general notice of proposed rulemaking. The reports must include an approximate schedule for completing action on the rule and an estimate of its cost and economic effects, including any estimate of the net effect of the rule on the number of jobs in the United States. OIRA must make such monthly reports publicly available on the Internet. OIRA must publish, not later than October 1 of each year, in the Federal Register: (1) information that OIRA receives from each agency under this bill; (2) the number of rules and a list of each such rule that was proposed by each agency and each rule that was finalized by each agency; (3) the number of agency actions that repealed a rule, reduced the scope or cost of a rule, or accelerated the expiration date of a rule; (4) the total cost of all rules proposed or finalized; and (5) the number of rules for which an estimate of the cost of the rule was not available. OIRA must make publicly available on the Internet, not later than October 1 of each year: (1) the analysis of the costs or benefits of each proposed or final rule issued by an agency for the preceding year, (2) the docket number and regulation identifier number for each such rule, (3) the number of rules reviewed by OMB for the preceding year, (4) the number of rules for which a review by the head of an agency was completed, (5) the number of rules submitted to the Government Accountability Office, and (6) the number of rules for which a resolution of disapproval was introduced in Congress. The bill prohibits a rule from taking effect until the information required by this bill is posted on the Internet for not less than 180 days unless: (1) the agency proposing the rule claims a "good cause" exemption from notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures under the Administrative Procedure Act; or (2) the President determines by executive order that such rule is necessary because of an imminent threat to health or safety or another emergency, for the enforcement of criminal laws, for national security, or to implement an international trade agreement. Such provision becomes effective 240 days after enactment of this bill.

Budgetary Accuracy in Scoring Interest Costs Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2016

Budgetary Accuracy in Scoring Interest Costs Act of 2016 This bill amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require any cost estimates prepared by the Congressional Budget Office or the Joint Committee on Taxation to include debt servicing costs.

Federal Supervisor Training Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2016

Federal Supervisor Training Act of 2016 This bill requires federal agencies to establish supervisor training programs that: (1) require supervisors and management officials to have individual development plans for training on actions, options, and strategies to use for supervisory functions regarding the performance and productivity of agency employees; (2) train supervisors on prohibited personnel practices and employee rights; and (3) provide experienced supervisor mentors to advise new or underperforming supervisors. The bill expands manager training program requirements for employee performance appraisals, mentoring, and management of unacceptable employee performance into mandatory supervisor and manager training programs that also include supervisor training on: fostering equal opportunities and fairness in the workplace; using probationary periods to examine whether employees are performing at an acceptable level to continue their employment; addressing reports of hostile work environment, retaliation, or harassment; meeting supervisor competencies established by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) or the employing agency; and collaborating with human resources to recruit, select, appraise, and reward employees based on organizational goals, budget considerations, and staffing needs. After initial training on each program component, supervisors must complete subsequent training every three years. Agencies must develop a career track for mission critical technical expert employees that affords such employees the opportunity for career advancement without being required to be appointed to a management or supervisory position. The OPM must issue guidance to agencies on competencies supervisors are expected to meet in order to effectively manage the performance of employees. Each agency must assess the performance of supervisors and the overall capacity of its supervisors.

American Innovation and Competitiveness Act

United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2016

American Innovation and Competitiveness Act This bill requires the National Science Foundation (NSF) to maintain the intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria as the basis for evaluating grant proposals in the merit review process. The NSF shall issue and periodically update policy guidance for both NSF staff and other NSF merit review process participants on the importance of transparency and accountability to the outcomes made through the merit review process. The bill renames the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research as the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and revises program requirements. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shall research information systems for future cybersecurity needs. The bill renames the National High Performance Computing Program as the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program and revises program requirements. The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) shall continue to coordinate federal research in high-energy physics, radiation biology, and fusion energy sciences. NIST shall implement a comprehensive strategic plan for laboratory programs expanding interactions with academia, international researchers, and industry, and commercial and industrial applications. The NSF shall: evaluate the existing and future needs, across all NSF-supported disciplines, for mid-scale projects; strengthen oversight and accountability over the full life-cycle of major multi-user research facility projects; and continue to review its efforts to sustain scientific efforts in the face of logistical challenges for the U.S. Antarctic Program. The Department of Commerce Office of Security shall directly manage NIST's law enforcement and site security programs through an assigned Director of Security for NIST. The Office of Management and Budget shall establish an interagency working group to reduce administrative burdens of federally funded researchers while protecting the public's interest in the transparency of, and accountability for, federally funded activities. The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) shall establish a body under the NSTC to identify and coordinate international science and technology cooperation in order to strengthen U.S. science and technology enterprise, improve economic and national security, and support U.S. foreign policy goals. The NSF, the Department of Education, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shall establish the STEM Education Advisory Panel to advise the NSTC Committee on STEM Education on matters related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The NSF shall award grants to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in STEM fields. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Act is amended to revise requirements for the NIST post-doctoral fellowship program , and the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Federal science agencies may use crowdsourcing and voluntary, collaborative citizen science to advance their missions. The OSTP shall establish an interagency working group to: (1) summarize available research and best practices on how to promote diversity and inclusions in STEM fields, and (2) examine whether barriers exist to promoting diversity and inclusion within federal agencies employing scientists and engineers. Each federal agency shall recommend to the President how it could expand research opportunities for undergraduate students attending institutions of higher education. The NSF shall award grants for: research on computer science education and computational thinking; and Innovation Corps entrepreneurship and commercialization education, training, and mentoring. The OSTP shall arrange with the National Research Council to study technologies employed at institutions of higher education to provide notifications to students, faculty, and other personnel during emergencies.

Tax Technical Corrections Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2016

Tax Technical Corrections Act of 2016 This bill makes technical and clerical amendments to: the Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes Act of 2015; the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016; the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act; the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015; the Stephen Beck, Jr., ABLE Act of 2014; the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012; the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act; the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU); the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004; provisions of the Internal Revenue Code related to partnership audit rules; the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015; the Energy Policy Act of 2005; and other specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. The bill also amends various provisions in the Internal Revenue Code that are not used in computing current tax liabilities (referred to as deadwood provisions).

Tax Technical Corrections Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2016

Tax Technical Corrections Act of 2016 This bill makes technical and clerical amendments to: the Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes Act of 2015; the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016; the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act; the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015; the Stephen Beck, Jr., ABLE Act of 2014; the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012; the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act; the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU); the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004; provisions of the Internal Revenue Code related to partnership audit rules; the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015; the Energy Policy Act of 2005; and other specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. The bill also amends various provisions in the Internal Revenue Code that are not used in computing current tax liabilities (referred to as deadwood provisions).

Public Online Information Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 29 November 2016

Public Online Information Act of 2016 This bill establishes a Public Online Information Advisory Committee to: (1) coordinate the government's efforts to make information from all three branches of government available on the Internet, and (2) issue nonbinding guidelines on how the government should make public information available. The government must make public records available on the Internet at no charge, except as imposed by federal law before this bill's enactment. The bill requires: (1) public records to be permanently available on the Internet; (2) current information technology to be applied to the formats and means through which records are made available; and (3) each agency to publish on the Internet a searchable, machine-processable list of all records it makes publicly available. The bill delineates the roles of the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Electronic Government, and the chief information officers of independent regulatory agencies. It allows exceptions to the Internet publication requirement, including a process for an agency's request for an exception to be granted if: (1) there is a clear and convincing reason for the record to not be made available on the Internet, and (2) the harm caused by disclosure significantly outweighs the public's interest in having the record available on the Internet. Inspectors general must periodically review agency compliance. Private individuals or organizations may file a complaint in federal court if an agency denies a request to place public records on the Internet. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) judicial and legislative agencies adopt or adapt the advisory committee's recommendations, and (2) the Government Publishing Office make all of its publications permanently available on the Internet in a multiplicity of formats.

Death Gratuity Equity Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2016

Death Gratuity Equity Act of 2016 This bill requires federal agencies to pay a death gratuity of $100,000 per employee for the death of civilian employees resulting from injuries sustained in the line of duty that did not result from natural causes or the employee's serious and willful misconduct. The bill also allows an additional payment of up to $8,800 for funeral and burial expenses. (Currently, funeral and burial payments may not exceed $800 per employee and the combination of payments for death gratuity, funeral, burial, and other compensation and reimbursements may not exceed $10,000 per employee.) The amounts must be adjusted annually for inflation. For tax purposes, a death gratuity payment shall not be considered gross income to the person receiving payment. The death gratuity remains at $100,000 for an employee who dies of injuries incurred in connection with service with an Armed Force in a contingency operation, except that employees who are noncitizens and nonresidents of the United States or Canada, and their dependents, are subject to the Department of Labor's authority to modify payments that are substantially disproportionate to compensation for disability or death payable in similar cases under local laws or customs at the place outside the continental United States or Canada where the employee is working at the time of injury. The bill also allows such death gratuities in connection with such Armed Force service to be paid in addition to any other amounts paid under U.S. law based on the same death. The Foreign Service Act of 1980 is amended to make death gratuities payable to the surviving beneficiaries (currently, dependents) of U.S. Foreign Service employees, or individuals in a special category serving in an uncompensated capacity for that agency in support of a diplomatic mission, who die as a result of injuries sustained in the performance of duty abroad. But the Foreign Service death gratuity is reduced by the amount of any federal civilian employee death gratuity paid under this bill for the same death. Additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated for death gratuity payments under this bill if an agency and the Office of Management and Budget determine that a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other incident results in the inability of the agency to meet these death gratuity payment requirements. An authorized payment that exceeds the amount available to the agency without additional appropriations may be made only if Congress makes the additional appropriations for that purpose.

Miners Protection Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2016

Miners Protection Act of 2016 This bill amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) to transfer certain funds to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan and the 1974 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Pension Plan to provide health and pension benefits to retired coal miners and their families. The bill expands the group whose retiree health benefits are taken into account in determining the amount that the Department of the Treasury must transfer from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund and the General Fund of the Treasury to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan. (Under current law, transfers are calculated by taking into account beneficiaries that actually enrolled in the plan as of December 31, 2006, and who are eligible to receive benefits under the plan on the first day of the calendar year for which the transfer is made.) The expanded group includes: (1) beneficiaries actually enrolled in the plan as of the date of enactment of this bill and who are eligible for benefits on the first day of the calendar year for which the transfer is made, and (2) beneficiaries whose health benefits would be denied or reduced as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding commenced in 2012 or 2015. A voluntary employees' beneficiary association (VEBA) established as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding described above must transfer to the plan any amounts received as a result of the bankruptcy proceeding, reduced by the amount of the VEBA's administrative costs. Transfers by Treasury are reduced by the amount of the VEBA transfers. Treasury must also transfer additional funds to the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan to pay pension benefits required under that plan if the amounts available for transfer under SMCRA's $490 million annual limit exceed the amounts required to be transferred for other purposes (including to the UMWA Health Plans). The bill also: (1) prohibits the pension plan from making certain changes to benefits during any year in which a transfer is received, and (2) establishes additional reporting requirements for the plan. The bill repeals requirements for current and former signatories to labor agreements with the UMWA to pay unassigned beneficiaries premiums or backstop premiums if transfers under SMCRA are less than the amount required to be transferred. As an offset, the bill amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to extend the authority of Treasury to collect certain customs user fees.

EXAMINING THE SEC'S AGENDA, OPERATIONS, AND FISCAL YEAR 2018 BUDGET REQUEST

United States · United States House of Representatives · 15 November 2016

Afghanistan Accountability Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2016

Afghanistan Accountability Act of 2016 This bill expresses the sense of Congress with respect to U.S. assistance and accountability in Afghanistanment. The bill states that it is U.S. policy: to conduct assistance programs that result in effective development outcomes for the people of Afghanistan while maintaining accountability for U.S. taxpayers; that all U.S. government agencies and entities working in Afghanistan coordinate plans to develop U.S. policy and assistance programming; to support the development of effective government of Afghanistan oversight institutions; to abide by resource commitments made as part of the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework; to provide incentivized assistance to Afghanistan's governing institutions based upon development outcomes and on-budget assistance based upon demonstrated capacity improvements; to support the development of democratic governing institutions in Afghanistan, promote the development of a growing private sector, and strengthen civil society; to support the Afghan efforts to build strong regional economic connectivity with the country's neighbors; to support programs that promote private sector job creation in Afghanistan; and that assistance programs in support of Afghan women and girls remain a U.S. priority. The Department of State shall develop an interagency strategy for U.S. assistance that is sustainable and is not counter-productive to combating corruption in Afghanistan. Such strategy should include: multi-year goals for targeted activities to strengthen selected Afghan official institutions and nongovernmental organizations to prevent and prosecute corruption, an operational plan incorporating all U.S. programming to implement anti-corruption goals, a summary of U.S. efforts to coordinate anti-corruption efforts with international donors, a focus on the development of governmental and nongovernmental Afghan capacity to ensure accountability and combat corruption, and an evaluation of Afghan civil society anti-corruption capacities. The President is authorized to provide technical and financial assistance to government of Afghanistan anti-corruption and audit institutions and Afghan civil society watchdog groups in support of anti-corruption priorities identified by the United States and Afghanistan. The State Department is authorized to provide support for efforts of the government of Afghanistan to improve oversight and accountability of the Afghan National Security Forces, including the Afghan national and local police, and strengthen Afghan civil society and investigative journalists to provide oversight of these institutions. The State Department shall, annually through 2024, submit a report listing each individual who the President determines: is a government of Afghanistan official, a senior associate, or close relative of such an official who is responsible for or complicit in ordering or directing acts of significant corruption, including the expropriation of private or public assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, bribery, or the facilitation or transfer of the proceeds of corruption to foreign jurisdictions; or has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of such an activity. The Government Accountability Office shall submit a report on civilian-military assistance efforts that: describes lessons learned from development programming in Afghanistan to include recommendations to improve coordination between U.S. development agencies and the Armed Forces; assesses the U.S. Agency for International Development's ability to advance development goals within Afghanistan operating alongside providers of U.S. military assistance; and assesses whether funding under the Commander's Emergency Response Program achieved the program's counterinsurgency goals and whether this program had any long term development impact, including any negative unintended consequences.

Hospital Outcomes Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2016

Hospital Outcomes Act of 2016 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to replace the existing methodology for calculating Medicare payment adjustments for subsection (d) hospitals based on outcomes in readmissions and complications with a new methodology based on potentially avoidable outcomes in those areas. (In general, a "subsection (d) hospital" is an acute care hospital that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system.) The bill: (1) establishes a methodology for determining a hospital's financial impact attributable to potentially avoidable outcomes performance with regard to complications and readmissions, and (2) requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to select methodologies for identifying potentially avoidable outcomes in these categories. Subject to both a ceiling and a floor, a hospital's payment adjustment factor for an applicable prospective period shall be based on the ratio of the hospital's financial impact to the aggregate amount of standardized payments made to the hospital with respect to that period. CMS must ensure budget neutrality with respect to application of the payment adjustment factor across all subsection (d) hospitals. CMS shall regularly report to hospitals and to the public on each hospital's performance with regard to potentially avoidable outcomes.

Geospatial Data Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2016

Geospatial Data Act of 2016 This bill establishes: (1) in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the Federal Geographic Data Committee (the committee), which shall be the lead entity in the executive branch for the development, implementation, and review of policies, practices, and standards relating to geospatial data; and (2) in the executive branch the National Geospatial Advisory Committee to provide advice and recommendations to the committee. The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (as defined in this bill) shall ensure that geospatial data from multiple sources is available and easily integrated to enhance the understanding of the physical and cultural world. The committee shall prepare a strategic plan for the implementation of the infrastructure consistent with national security, national defense, and emergency preparedness program policies regarding data accessibility. The committee shall operate GeoPlatform, an electronic service that provides access to geospatial data and metadata for geospatial data. Agencies whose functions involve geospatial data shall implement a strategy for advancing geographic information and related geospatial data activities appropriate to that agency's mission in support of the strategic plan for the infrastructure. Such agencies shall disclose each contract, cooperative agreement, grant, or other transaction that deals with geospatial data. Four years after enactment of this bill, federal funding shall not be made available for the collection, production, acquisition, maintenance, or dissemination of geospatial data that does not comply with applicable standards established by the committee. The committee and agencies using geospatial data shall rely upon and use private individuals and entities for the acquisition of commercially available surveying and mapping and the provision of geospatial services, to the maximum extent practical.

Spending Safeguard Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2016

Spending Safeguard Act This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish spending limits for direct spending programs that: (1) are enacted or reauthorized after enactment of this bill, and (2) do not have a specific level of authorized spending expressed as a dollar amount. The spending limits must be equal to: (1) 120% of the cost of the program for defense, health, Medicare, income security, Social Security, and veterans benefits and services programs; and (2) 110% of the cost for any other program. The OMB must maintain a publicly available scorecard that displays the spending level for any program that is subject to the limits. The OMB and the President must submit specified reports to Congress comparing current spending to the limits. The bill prohibits obligations for programs that have reached the applicable spending limit. Agencies implementing programs listed on the OMB's scorecard must ensure that any contract, offer of benefits, or other material provided to program participants specifies that the program is subject to a spending limit that may impact future availability of funds to pay benefits.

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States which requires (except during time of war and subject to suspension by Congress) that the total amount of money expended by the United States during any fiscal year not exceed the amount of certain revenue received by the United States during such fiscal year and not exceed 20 percent of the gross domestic product of the United States during the previous calendar year.

United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2016

Constitutional Amendment This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting the total amount of money expended by the United States during a fiscal year from exceeding total revenue received for that fiscal year, excluding revenue from the issuance of bonds, notes, or other obligations of the United States. The amendment also: (1) prohibits the total amount of money expended by the United States in any fiscal year from exceeding 20% of the gross domestic product of the United States, and (2) requires the President to submit to Congress an annual budget in which total outlays do not exceed total revenues received. The spending restrictions do not apply during a fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect, or if three-fifths of the Senate and two-thirds of the House of Representatives vote to suspend the restrictions.

Two-Generation Economic Empowerment Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2016

Two-Generation Economic Empowerment Act of 2016 This bill establishes the interagency Council on Multigenerational Poverty to carry out specified objectives and the 2-generation approach, including by providing guidance, and addressing questions pertaining to 2-generation programs and other programs engaging in efforts to break the cycle of multigenerational poverty. The council shall develop, make available for public comment, and submit to the President and Congress, a strategic plan to end and prevent multigenerational poverty that includes activities under the 2-generation approach and other activities consistent with specified objectives. The council shall ensure that specified information is made available to the public and displayed on the official website of the council, including the national strategic plan to end and prevent multigenerational poverty and certain information on the 2-generation program. The Government Accountability Office must study, and report to Congress and the council, on federal block grants under the jurisdiction of council participants to identify barriers and opportunities for collaboration in order to carry out the 2-generation approach. The council shall establish: (1) the 2-generation performance partnership pilot program, and (2) the 2-generation social impact bonds pilot program. The Office of Management and Budget shall designate lead agencies for purposes of carrying out the 2-generation programs.

Medicare Enrollment Protection Act

United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2016

Medicare Enrollment Protection Act This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) create a special Medicare enrollment period for individuals enrolled in, or transitioning out of, continuation coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA); and (2) exempt such individuals from certain monthly premium increases associated with delaying Medicare coverage.

National Trauma Care System Act

United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2016

National Trauma Care System Act This bill establishes the Task Force on Eliminating Preventable Deaths or Disabilities due to Traumatic Injuries, which shall: (1) develop a plan to establish a national trauma care system to facilitate the U.S. ability to eliminate preventable deaths related to injuries, eliminate trauma-related disabilities, and respond to mass trauma incidents; and (2) establish specific goals and milestones, and federal responsibilities, to carry out the plan. The task force shall ensure that each budget of the President submitted to Congress requests sufficient funding to develop and support the system, and that the system: includes mechanisms for accountability and a data-driven research agenda, ensures military and civilian trauma systems collect and share common data, is developed and carried out in a manner that reduces regulatory and legal barriers to the full integration of the trauma continuum of care, and is capable of responding domestically to any mass casualty incident. The task force shall develop and implement a national trauma research action plan. The Department of Health and Human Services shall: develop and publish standards for trauma care in pre-hospital and hospital settings; identify, evaluate, and implement policies to ensure coordination between pre-hospital and hospital trauma care; work to facilitate the collection and sharing of data among federal and non-governmental trauma systems; revise and clarify existing regulations to minimize barriers to the use and disclosure of protected health information with respect to trauma care; and ensure the civilian trauma systems participate in a structured trauma quality improvement process. The Department of Defense (DOD) shall: submit and implement a plan to establish a Joint Trauma System within the Defense Health Agency that promotes improved trauma care, seek to contract with a non-governmental entity to conduct a system-wide review of the military trauma system, establish a Joint Trauma Education and Training Directorate to ensure that the military trauma care providers maintain readiness and are able to be rapidly deployed for future armed conflicts, partner with civilian trauma centers, determine the number of military trauma care providers that must be maintained within DOD to meet the requirements of the combatant commands, and report on the activities of the Secretarial Designee Program.

Accurate Accounting Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2016

Accurate Accounting Act of 2016 This bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 to permit Social Security spending and revenues to be counted in the totals included in the congressional budget resolution and the President's budget. The bill amends the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (PAYGO) to prohibit increases in Social Security revenues or decreases in Social Security spending from being counted as savings for the purpose of PAYGO rules that restrict legislation that increases the deficit. (Under current law, the Social Security trust funds are off-budget and all budgetary effects are excluded from the budget totals and PAYGO calculations.) The President must submit a budget for each department and agency that includes: a description of each activity for which funds were appropriated for the current year or requested for the budget year, the legal basis for each activity, three alternative funding levels and the priorities that could be accomplished with each, and measures of cost efficiency and effectiveness for each activity. The Office of Management and Budget must publish guidelines to require: (1) the baseline budget of each department or agency to be assumed to be zero, and (2) each proposed expenditure to be justified as if it were new. The Government Accountability Office must revise a study of mandatory spending required under current law at least every five years.

CHIP IN for Vets Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2016

Communities Helping Invest through Property and Improvements Needed for Veterans Act of 2016 or the CHIP IN for Vets Act of 2016 This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a pilot program under which it may accept up to five donations from specified non-federal entities of: (1) real property that includes a constructed facility or that is to be used as the site of a facility constructed by the entity, and (2) a facility to be constructed by the entity on real property of the VA. The VA may accept such a donation only if the property is: (1) a property for which funds have been appropriated for a VA facility project, or (2) identified both as meeting a VA need as part of its long-range capital planning process and as the location for a VA facility project that is included on the Strategic Capital Investment Planning process priority list in the most recent budget submitted by the President. Also, the entity must agree to: independently donate the real property, improvements, goods, or services for the VA facility project in an amount acceptable to the VA and at no additional cost to the federal government; conduct all necessary environmental and historic preservation due diligence; comply with all local zoning requirements (except for federally required studies and consultations); obtain all permits required in connection with the construction of the facility; use construction standards required of the VA when designing and building the facility; and provide the real property, improvements, goods, or services in a manner sufficient to complete the construction of the facility, at no additional cost to the federal government. The Government Accountability Office shall report to Congress, at least biennially, on the donation arrangements entered into under the pilot program. The VA's authority to accept donations under the program shall terminate five years after the date of this bill's enactment.

Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for the Defense of Israel, 2016

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2016

Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for the Defense of Israel, 2016 This bill provides FY2016 emergency supplemental appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) and for the Foreign Military Financing Program to assist Israel in addressing security threats from Iran. The bill provides funding to DOD for Procurement and Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation to provide to the government of Israel for the procurement of missile defense systems to address security threats from Iran, subject to previously established transfer procedures and in accordance with U.S-Israeli production agreements. The bill also provides funding to the President for the Foreign Military Financing Program for assistance for Israel to address security threats from Iran. The funds provided by this bill are designated as an emergency requirement, which exempts the funds from discretionary spending limits and other budget enforcement rules. The funds are only available if the President subsequently designates the amounts as emergency spending and transmits the designations to Congress. The bill amends the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 to reauthorize sanctions against Iran until December 31, 2031. (Under current law, the sanctions expire on December 31, 2016.)

Cybersecurity Responsibility and Accountability Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2016

Cybersecurity Responsibility and Accountability Act of 2016 This bill requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to incorporate additional cybersecurity requirements in its computer standards for agency information systems and provide the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with a process for agencies to implement those standards. NIST must also: (1) support development of information security training and certification for agency heads, (2) address agency-identified information security challenges and knowledge gaps, (3) assess information security statutory requirements, and (4) develop security standards for national security systems. The OMB must require the heads of agencies (currently, agencies generally) to: (1) report on the adequacy of their information security procedures, (2) provide for independent evaluations of information security practices, and (3) notify Congress and affected individuals of data breaches. Intelligence community agencies affected by data breaches must notify NIST. Chief information officers of agencies must collaborate with their agency head to designate chief information security officers (positions with job responsibilities to be developed by the OMB and NIST) to replace their current senior agency information security officers. Agencies must develop mandatory annual information security training and certification to ensure that agency heads understand federal cybersecurity policy regarding: (1) agency systems, (2) cyber-attacks and data breaches, and (3) not using private email servers or messaging systems for official communications. Agency heads must certify that their agencies meet information security standards and provide reasons for not meeting any standards. Agency heads must also develop annual plans to implement information security recommendations of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and inspectors general. If an agency head fails to implement such a recommendation, the reasons for the failure must be provided to the OMB for approval. For each OMB-defined "major cybersecurity incident" (e.g., an incident involving classified information) that an agency experiences, the agency head must transmit an inspector general-performed independent evaluation to the OMB, the Department of Homeland Security, NIST, Congress, and the GAO. If the evaluation determines that the incident occurred because the agency head failed to comply sufficiently with NIST certification standards or recommendations of the GAO or agency inspectors general, then the OMB must hold the agency head accountable through an enforcement action, which may include actions under the budgetary or appropriations process, a recommendation for the President to remove or demote the agency head, or actions to ensure that the agency head does not receive cash or pay awards or bonuses for one year.

STOP Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2016

Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act of 2016 or the STOP Act of 2016 This bill amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to make the Postmaster General or Postmaster General designee, including a person holding a valid customs broker's license, the importer of record for non-letter class mail imported into the United States. The term "non-letter class mail" means any product of the U.S. Postal Service or a Universal Postal Union designated operator that is provided pursuant to: the Universal Postal Union's Parcel Post Regulations and Final Protocol; or the Universal Postal Union's Letter Post Regulations and Final Protocol, except small letters, as in effect upon enactment of this bill. The bill amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to impose a duty of $1 on each item of non-letter class mail imported into the United States. The bill amends the Trade Act of 2002 to direct the Department of the Treasury to require the Postmaster General to provide for the advanced electronic transmission to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection of certain information on non-letter class mail imported into the United States.

National Debt and Taxation Transparency Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2016

National Debt and Taxation Transparency Act of 2016 This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to provide each individual who has a valid Social Security number, who received a Form W-2 in the previous taxable year, and who has filed a tax return in any previous taxable year (eligible individual) with a taxpayer account statement. Beginning on October 1, 2017, Treasury must provide the statement to eligible individuals upon request. For individual income tax returns after 2019, Treasury must include the statement in the instructions for the returns. The taxpayer account statement shall include: (1) a summary of the most recent Financial Report of the U.S. government, including the Statement of Long Term Fiscal Projections; (2) a calculation by Treasury of the eligible individual's share of the total obligations of the federal government; and (3) a 30-year calculation of the proportional increase in the federal income tax rates necessary to entirely finance the current fiscal path of the federal government, assuming there are no changes in current fiscal policy and no budget deficit. Within five years of enactment of this bill, Treasury must also provide an estimate of the marginal tax rate and the income and payroll tax liability of the individual under the assumptions stated above.

GROWING RISKS TO THE BUDGET AND THE ECONOMY

United States · United States House of Representatives · 14 September 2016

MGT Act

United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2016

Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2016 or the MGT Act This bill establishes in each covered agency (specified agencies for which there are Chief Financial Officers) an information technology system modernization and working capital fund for necessary expenses for the agency to: improve, retire, or replace existing information technology systems to improve efficiency and effectiveness; transition to cloud computing or to information technology systems shared by multiple agencies; assist and support efforts to provide adequate, risk-based, and cost-effective information technology capabilities that address evolving threats to information security; and reimburse amounts transferred from the Information Technology Modernization Fund (ITMF) (established under this bill). Each agency shall prioritize amounts within such fund to be used initially for cost savings activities approved by the agency's Chief Information Officer. The bill establishes the ITMF for technology related activities, to improve information technology, and to enhance cybersecurity across the federal government. The ITMF shall be administered by the General Services Administration (GSA) in accordance with guidance established by, and with the concurrence of, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The GSA shall: transfer amounts from the ITMF to an agency to improve, retire, or replace existing information technology systems to enhance cybersecurity and improve efficiency and effectiveness; use amounts in the ITMF for the development, operation, and procurement of information technology products, services, and acquisition vehicles for use by agencies to improve efficiency and cybersecurity; and use amounts in the ITMF to provide services or work performed in support of such activities. An agency shall: (1) reimburse the ITMF for any such transfer, and (2) pay a price to be fixed by the GSA forany such product or service the agency uses. The bill establishes an Information Technology Modernization Board, which shall: (1) evaluate proposals submitted by agencies for modernization of information technology used by the government; (2) make recommendations to the GSA to assist agencies in the further development and refinement of select proposals; and (3) monitor progress and performance in executing approved projects and, if necessary, recommend the suspension or termination of funding. The GSA shall support Board activities and provide technical support to, and oversight of, agencies that receive transfers from the ITMF.

BREATH Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2016

Beneficiary Respiratory Equipment Access and Transparency to Home Ventilator Care Act of 2016 or the BREATH Act of 2016 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to establish policies and standards for determining the appropriate use of certain ventilators under the Medicare program. Subject to budget neutrality requirements, the bill: (1) increases the Medicare payment rate for such ventilators for 2017; and (2) for subsequent years, establishes a new base payment rate based on the percentage change, between 2015 and 2017, in the total number of beneficiaries receiving such ventilators under Medicare.

Mandatory BRACC Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 September 2016

Mandatory Bureaucratic Realignment and Consolidation Commission Act of 2016 or the Mandatory BRACC Act This bill establishes within the legislative branch a Mandatory Bureaucratic Realignment and Consolidation Commission to review all direct spending by the federal government and identify changes in law to reduce direct spending. The commission may also review offsetting receipts and discretionary appropriations. The commission must submit to Congress a report including recommendations and proposed legislation to reduce direct spending, such that: total spending is gradually reduced during FY2018-FY2027, total spending does not exceeded total revenues by FY2027 and for each succeeding year, and direct spending does not exceed 50% of total spending by FY2027 and for each succeeding year. Congress must consider the commission's proposal using specified expedited legislative procedures. If a bill to achieve the commission's recommendations is not enacted, the President must order a sequestration to enforce specified limits on the growth of spending. A sequestration is not required if: (1) the Office of Management and Budget determines that, as a result of reductions in budgetary resources required by this bill, total spending for the previous year did not exceed revenues; or (2) changes in law have been enacted that will achieve the requirements for the commission's proposal.

STOP Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 7 September 2016

Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act of 2016 or the STOP Act of 2016 This bill amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to make the Postmaster General or Postmaster General designee, including a person holding a valid customs broker's license, the importer of record for non-letter class mail imported into the United States. The term "non-letter class mail" means any product of the U.S. Postal Service or a Universal Postal Union designated operator that is provided pursuant to: the Universal Postal Union's Parcel Post Regulations and Final Protocol; or the Universal Postal Union's Letter Post Regulations and Final Protocol, except small letters, as in effect upon enactment of this bill. The bill amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to impose a duty of $1 on each item of non-letter class mail imported into the United States. The bill amends the Trade Act of 2002 to direct the Department of the Treasury to require the Postmaster General to provide for the advanced electronic transmission to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection of certain information on non-letter class mail imported into the United States.

Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2016

Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act of 2016 This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop a strategy to expand the use of data analytics in managing government purchase and travel charge card programs for the purpose of: identifying questionable transactions and developing enhanced tools and methods for agency use in identifying questionable transactions and recovering improper payments; identifying potential opportunities for agencies to further leverage administrative process streamlining and cost reduction from purchase and travel card use; developing a set of purchase and travel card metrics and benchmarks for high risk activities to assist agency purchase and travel card management and oversight activities; and developing a plan to create a library of analytics tools and data sources for use by agencies. The OMB must issue guidance on improving information sharing by government agencies, including by: (1) requiring relevant officials to identify and communicate information about high-risk activities; (2) requiring appropriate agency officials to review the reports issued by charge card-issuing banks on questionable transaction activity and suspicious timing or amounts of cash withdrawals or advances; and (3) providing for the appropriate sharing of information related to potential questionable transactions, fraud schemes, and high risk activities with GSA's Office of Charge Card Management and appropriate federal officials. The GSA and the OMB must establish a purchase and travel charge card data management group to develop and share best practices. The GSA shall report on further potential savings opportunities for government agencies under the federal charge card programs.

Public Health Emergency Response and Accountability Act

United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016

Public Health Emergency Response and Accountability Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services, upon determination of a public health emergency, to provide for the convening of a group of federal officials to prepare monthly reports concerning such matters as funding, collaboration, and best practices. The bill makes appropriations to the Public Health Emergency Fund upon determination of an emergency. Funding is subject to a calculation that compares amounts available in the fund to average public health emergency relief expenditures over preceding fiscal years. The bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to exempt the fund from sequestration, a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) must report on: the capacity of the public health system to respond effectively to infectious disease outbreaks, the coordination between federal, state, and local government entities when responding to infectious disease outbreaks, the most effective ways to provide or allocate resources for public health emergency response, and an audit of how funds for public health emergencies have been expended within the last two years. GAO must also issue a post-emergency report on response efforts by government entities.

Pension and Budget Integrity Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016

Pension and Budget Integrity Act of 2016 This bill prohibits provisions that increase or extend an increase of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premiums from being counted as an offset to determine budget points of order for legislation in the House or the Senate. (The PBGC is a federal agency that insures the benefits of private sector, defined benefit pension plans. The PBGC is financed by insurance premiums paid by sponsors of the plans, investment income, assets from pension plans taken over by the PBGC, and recoveries from the companies formerly responsible for the plans. This bill prevents increases in PBGC premiums from being used to pay for provisions that increase the deficit in determining whether a budget point of order applies to legislation.)

To amend the Federal Credit Union Act to require the National Credit Union Administration Board to provide a rationale for any amounts the Board proposes to use from the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016

This bill amends the Federal Credit Union Act to require the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board to submit annually with its detailed business-type budget a report that contains: (1) an analysis of the NCUA's operating expenses and the extent to which those expenses are funded by assessment fees collected from federal credit unions or amounts transferred from the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), and (2) a supporting rationale for proposals to use amounts in the NCUSIF for operating expenses.

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a population based payment demonstration project under which Patient Care Networks are paid prospective monthly capitated payments for coordinated care furnished to Medicare beneficiaries.

United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish a five-year, population-based payment demonstration project through which provider networks are prospectively paid monthly capitated payments for coordinated care furnished to Medicare beneficiaries. To be eligible to participate in the project, a provider network must: be an integrated care system that provides Medicare services directly; include physicians in group practice arrangements, a federally qualified health center, and at least one hospital; enter into, and be responsible for making payments to providers under, appropriate contractual arrangements; be accountable for the quality, cost, and overall care of the network's participating beneficiaries; enter into a participation agreement with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS); and meet other specified requirements. CMS shall establish a process for prospectively assigning Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries to a participating provider network. This process must allow beneficiaries to opt out of such assignment. The bill limits Medicare payment for out-of-network services furnished to a participating beneficiary. To calculate payments to participating networks, CMS shall: (1) determine a base annual prospective population health budget, (2) adjust such budget to account for the number and characteristics of participating beneficiaries with respect to each network, and (3) annually update the budget to account for population changes and Medicare program growth. The bill establishes certain limits on total program expenditures for the program's initial three years. CMS may expand the project's duration and scope under specified circumstances.

Public Online Information Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016

Public Online Information Act of 2016 This bill establishes a Public Online Information Advisory Committee to: (1) coordinate the government's efforts to make information from all three branches of government available on the Internet, and (2) issue nonbinding guidelines on how the government should make public information available. The government must make public records available on the Internet at no charge, except as imposed by federal law before this bill's enactment. The bill requires: (1) public records to be permanently available on the Internet; (2) current information technology to be applied to the formats and means through which records are made available; and (3) each agency to publish on the Internet a searchable, machine-processable list of all records it makes publicly available. The bill delineates the roles of the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Electronic Government, and the chief information officers of independent regulatory agencies. It allows exceptions to the Internet publication requirement, including a process for an agency's request for an exception to be granted if: (1) there is a clear and convincing reason for the record to not be made available on the Internet, and (2) the harm caused by disclosure significantly outweighs the public's interest in having the record available on the Internet. Inspectors general must periodically review agency compliance. Private individuals or organizations may file a complaint in federal court if an agency denies a request to place public records on the Internet. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) judicial and legislative agencies adopt or adapt the advisory committee's recommendations, and (2) the Government Publishing Office make all of its publications permanently available on the Internet in a multiplicity of formats.

Do Your Job Act

United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016

Do Your Job Act This bill amends the rules of the Senate and the House of Representatives to prohibit a recess or adjournment longer than 24 hours until Congress agrees to a budget resolution that establishes a balanced budget no later than FY2026. The bill also amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to create points of order against resolutions providing for: (1) the adjournment of the House for more than three days during August until the House has approved all of the annual appropriation bills, or (2) the adjournment of either the House or the Senate for more than three days between October 1 and the duration of the session of Congress until all of the annual appropriation bills have been presented to the President.

S.O.S. Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2016

S.O.S. Act of 2016 This bill amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to increase the contribution and benefit base for 2017 through 2019. The bill revises the computation of primary insurance amounts to include surplus average indexed monthly earnings (AIME) in determining them, adjust surplus earnings for purposes of determining the surplus AIME, and reduce the third bend point factor. The retirement age shall increase past 67 years by certain formulae. Cost-of-living adjustments shall involve the Chained Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor. The bill formulates a minimum monthly insurance benefit, and establishes an increased benefit for beneficiaries on account of long-term eligibility, starting 20 years after they become eligible for monthly OASDI benefits. The bill revises a certain formula to increase benefit computation years for purposes of calculating primary OASDI insurance amounts. This bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any: budget resolution that sets forth totals for any fiscal year regarding the Social Security Trust Funds that are less than the totals of the Social Security Trust Funds for that fiscal year as calculated in accordance with a current services baseline, or spending or tax legislation that would cause any totals to be less than the Funds totals for the covered fiscal year. The bill declares that this latter point of order shall not apply to Social Security reform legislation.

Agency Accountability Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2016

Agency Accountability Act of 2016 This bill requires any agency that receives a fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement to deposit the amount in the general fund of the Treasury. The funds may not be used unless the funding is provided in advance in an appropriations bill. Any amounts deposited during the fiscal year in which this bill is enacted may not be obligated during the fiscal year and must be used for deficit reduction. The bill amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require offsetting receipts and collections to be treated as revenue. (Offsetting receipts and collections are funds collected by agencies from other government accounts or from the public in businesslike or market-oriented transactions. Under current law, the collections are treated as negative budget authority and outlays rather than revenue and may be used to offset spending for budget enforcement purposes.) The requirements of the bill do not apply to the U.S. Postal Service or the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the USPTO must submit annually to Congress a report describing any fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement collected by the USPTO during the previous year.

BREATH Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2016

Beneficiary Respiratory Equipment Access and Transparency to Home Ventilator Care Act of 2016 or the BREATH Act of 2016 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to establish policies and standards for determining the appropriate use of certain ventilators under the Medicare program. Subject to budget neutrality requirements, the bill: (1) increases the Medicare payment rate for such ventilators for 2017; and (2) for subsequent years, establishes a new base payment rate based on the percentage change, between 2015 and 2017, in the total number of beneficiaries receiving such ventilators under Medicare.

Debt Management and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2016

Debt Management and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2016 This bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury to provide a report to Congress prior to any date on which Treasury anticipates the public debt will reach the statutory limit. The Secretary must appear before the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee to submit a report including: historic, current, and projected levels of debt; historic levels of revenue; the drivers and composition of future debt; how the United States will meet debt obligations if the debt limit is raised; reduction measures Treasury intends to take to fund obligations if the debt limit is not raised; a recommendation regarding a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution; and contingency plans for any default on Treasury securities or downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. The Secretary must also provide a detailed explanation of: proposals to reduce the debt and a progress report on implementing them; the impact an increased debt limit will have on future spending, debt service, and the position of the U.S. dollar as the international reserve currency; projections of the fiscal health and sustainability of major entitlement programs; measures Treasury is taking or intends to take to avoid default, including a plan to publicly disclose the details; and Treasury's capability to pay only principal and interest on the debt if the limit is reached. Treasury must make specified information required by this bill available to the public on its website. Upon request, Treasury must submit to Congress specified financial and economic data relevant to determining the amount of the public debt.

Social Security Guarantee Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2016

Social Security Guarantee Act of 2016 This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to issue a benefit guarantee certificate to each individual entitled to benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act. Any such certificate constitutes budget authority in advance of appropriations Acts, and represents the obligation of the federal government to provide for payment of OASDI benefits named on the certificate, as adjusted (for inflation or otherwise), to the individual to whom it is issued.

Oil and Gas Payments Taxpayer Protection and Deficit Reduction Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2016

Oil and Gas Payments Taxpayer Protection and Deficit Reduction Act This bill amends the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to direct the Department of the Treasury to deposit: (1) 50% of qualified Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) revenues into the general fund of the Treasury, and (2) 50% of qualified OCS revenues into a special account. Furthermore, 75% of available revenues in the special account must be used to reduce the federal budget deficit and 25% must be deposited into the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

One Percent Spending Reduction Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2016

One Percent Spending Reduction Act of 2016 This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to establish and enforce new spending caps. The bill establishes an outlay cap (less net interest payments) for FY2017 of $3.645 trillion, less 1%. For each year from FY2018-FY2021, the bill reduces the outlay cap by 1% of the previous year's outlay cap. For FY2022 and subsequent years, total outlays may not exceed 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP) for that year as estimated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Beginning in FY2023, total projected outlays may not be less than the total projected outlays for the preceding year. The OMB must enforce the spending caps using a sequestration to eliminate any excess spending through automatic cuts. The bill eliminates most of the existing exemptions from sequestration, with the exception of interest payments on the debt. If the OMB projects a sequestration, the congressional budget committees may report a resolution directing congressional committees to change existing law to achieve the spending reductions necessary to meet the outlay limits. The bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish procedures for Congress to enforce the outlay caps established by this bill.

A bill to amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 respecting the scoring of preventive health savings.

United States · United States Congress · 6 July 2016

This bill amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office, upon receiving a request from Congress, to determine if legislation would reduce spending outside of the 10-year budget window through the use of preventive health and preventive health services.

One Percent Spending Reduction Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 6 July 2016

One Percent Spending Reduction Act of 2016 This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to establish and enforce new spending caps. The bill establishes an outlay cap (less net interest payments) for FY2017 of $3.645 trillion, less 1%. For each year from FY2018-FY2021, the bill reduces the outlay cap by 1% of the previous year's outlay cap. For FY2022 and subsequent years, total outlays may not exceed 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP) for that year as estimated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Beginning in FY2023, total projected outlays may not be less than the total projected outlays for the preceding year. The OMB must enforce the spending caps using a sequestration to eliminate any excess spending through automatic cuts. The bill eliminates most of the existing exemptions from sequestration, with the exception of interest payments on the debt. If the OMB projects a sequestration, the congressional budget committees may report a resolution directing congressional committees to change existing law to achieve the spending reductions necessary to meet the outlay limits. The bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish procedures for Congress to enforce the outlay caps established by this bill.

REG Act

United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2016

Reducing Excessive Government Act of 2016 or the REG Act This bill requires Congress, within 60 days after the debt limit is increased or suspended, to enact legislation eliminating rules that results in a reduction of the direct cost of federal regulation during a specified 10-fiscal-year period by at least 15% of the amount of such increase. If the debt limit is increased or suspended, each agency shall submit to the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) a report identifying each major rule of the agency. (A major rule is defined as a rule that has or is likely to result in an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more.) GAO shall subsequently submit a report evaluating whether agencies appropriately identified major rules. Each House and Senate committee shall submit to the Committee on the Budget of its chamber a list of the major rules within the committee's jurisdiction that it recommends should be repealed. Each committee shall consider: whether the rule has been ineffective in achieving its purpose, adverse effects that could materialize if the rule is repealed, whether the costs of the rule outweigh its benefits, and whether the rule has become obsolete or overlaps with another rule. The Budget Committees shall report a joint resolution carrying out all such recommendations without substantive revision. The bill provides for the expedited consideration of such a joint resolution. A repealed rule may not be reissued in substantially the same form. If the Office of Management and Budget determines that legislation has not been enacted under this bill by the prescribed deadline, the public debt limit shall be equal to the sum of the face amount of obligations issued by the United States and the face amount of obligations whose principal and interest are guaranteed by the United States (except guaranteed obligations held by Treasury) outstanding on the date of the determination.

Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act

United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2016

Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to modify loan counseling requirements for an institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in federal student aid programs. Currently, an IHE must provide entrance counseling to a student who is a first-time federal student loan borrower. This bill replaces required entrance counseling with required annual counseling. Also, it expands the required recipients of such annual counseling to include, in addition to student borrowers, Federal Pell Grant recipients and parent PLUS Loan borrowers. Each annual counseling recipient must receive comprehensive information on the terms, conditions, and responsibilities with respect to a grant or loan and general information on a typical student budget, the right to request an annual credit report, average income and employment data, and financial management resources. Additionally, the bill revises and expands the required contents of annual counseling for student borrowers, specifies the authorized contents of annual counseling for Pell Grant recipients, and establishes the required contents of annual counseling for parent PLUS loan borrowers. The bill revises and expands exit counseling information requirements to include an outstanding loan balance summary, the anticipated monthly payments under standard and income-based repayment plans, an explanation of the grace period preceding repayment, the option to pay accrued interest before it capitalizes, the right to request an annual credit report, and loan servicer contact information. It directs ED to maintain a consumer-tested online counseling tool that provides annual and exit counseling. The Institute of Education Sciences must study the impact and effectiveness of exit counseling, annual counseling, and the online counseling tool.

National Strategy for Combating Terrorist, Underground, and Other Illicit Financing Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2016

National Strategy for Combating Terrorist, Underground, and Other Illicit Financing Act This bill directs the President, acting through the Department of the Treasury, to develop a national strategy for combating the financing of terrorism and related forms of illicit finance. The national strategy shall focus upon selected aspects, including: (1) threats, goals, objectives, and priorities; (2) coordination with domestic and international governmental entities; (3) the role of the private financial sector in prevention of illicit finance; (4) project and budget priorities; (5) the use and role of Treasury attaches; (6) illicit finance and cyber crime; and (7) technology.

University Regulation Streamlining and Harmonization Act of 2016

United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2016

University Regulation Streamlining and Harmonization Act of 2016 This bill directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish a Research Policy Board to review proposed federal regulations, as well as major policies and guidance governing the conduct of scientific and engineering research, at specified research institutions. The President shall appoint an Associate Administrator for the Academic Research Enterprise from within the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, who shall serve as a liaison between such office and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). OMB shall exempt prime grant-receiving institutions from the monitoring of a subrecipient's single audit of institutional systems and business practices if certain circumstances exist. A single audit is an audit of a non-federal entity that includes its financial statements and federal awards. The threshold for purchases by research institutions using federal grant funds without requiring competitive quotations shall be at least $10,000. The OSTP shall establish a working group within the National Science and Technology Council to coordinate federal research funding agency policies in developing a central database of researcher information for research institutions to use when applying for research grants from federal scientific funding agencies. OMB shall periodically review estimates of the hours spent by research institutions in meeting the burdens imposed by federal research funding agencies under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 is amended to require the interagency public access committee to examine the procedures of federal science agencies in furnishing public access to the results of federally funded research and identify methods for reducing the burdens of compliance placed on those affected by agency public access policies.

American Innovation and Competitiveness Act

United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2016

American Innovation and Competitiveness Act This bill calls on the National Science Foundation (NSF) to maintain the intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria as the basis for evaluating grant proposals in the merit review process. The NSF shall issue and periodically update policy guidance for both NSF staff and other NSF merit review process participants, emphasizing the importance of transparency and accountability of the outcomes made through such process. The bill renames the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research as the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and revises program requirements. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shall: (1) research information systems for future cybersecurity needs; and (2) develop a process to research and identify, or if necessary, develop cryptography standards and guidelines for future cybersecurity needs, including quantum-resistant cryptography standards. The bill renames the National High Performance Computing Program as the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program and revises program requirements. The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) shall define and coordinate federal research in high-energy physics. NIST shall implement a comprehensive strategic plan for laboratory programs expanding interactions with academia, international researchers, and industry, and commercial and industrial applications. The NSF shall: evaluate the existing and future needs, across all NSF-supported disciplines, for mid-scale projects; and strengthen oversight and accountability over the full life-cycle of large-scale research facility projects; and continue to review its efforts to sustain scientific efforts in the face of logistical challenges for the U.S. Antarctic Program. The Department of Commerce Office of Security shall directly manage NIST's law enforcement and security programs through an assigned Director of Security for NIST. The Office of Management and Budget shall establish an interagency working group to reduce administrative burdens of federally funded researchers while protecting the public's interest in the transparency of, and accountability for, federally funded activities. The NSF, the Department of Education, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shall establish the STEM Education Advisory Panel to advise the NSTC Committee on STEM Education on matters related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The NSF shall award grants to: increase the participation of women and underrepresented groups in STEM fields, for research to advance the engagement of students in grades kindergarten through 8 in STEM, and for establishment of at least one Center of Excellence for the collection, maintenance, and dissemination of information to increase the participation of women and groups underrepresented in STEM fields. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Act is amended to revise requirements for: NIST's post-doctoral fellowship program, and the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Federal agencies may use crowdsourcing and voluntary, collaborative citizen science to advance their missions. The Office of Science and Technology Policy shall establish an interagency working group to: summarize available research and best practices on how to promote diversity and inclusions in STEM fields, and examine whether barriers exist to promoting diversity and inclusion within federal agencies employing scientists and engineers. Each federal agency shall recommend to the President how it could expand research opportunities for undergraduate students attending institutions of higher education. The NSF shall award grants for: research on computer science education and computational thinking; and Innovation Corps entrepreneurship and commercialization education, training, and mentoring.