Education

Commonsense Medicare SGR Repeal and Beneficiary Access Improvement Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2014

Commonsense Medicare SGR Repeal and Beneficiary Access Improvement Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) end and remove sustainable growth rate (SGR) methodology from the determination of annual conversion factors in the formula for payment for physicians' services; (2) freeze the update to the single conversion factor at 0.5% for 2014 through 2018 and at 0.00% for 2019 through 2023, and (3) establish an update of 1% for health professionals participating in alternative payment models (APMs) and an update of 0.5% for all other health professionals after 2023. Directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) to report to Congress on the relationship between: (1) physician and other health professional utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) of items and services for which Medicare payment is made, and (2) total utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance), B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), and D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program). Requires a separate report on the 2014-2018 update to physicians' services under Medicare Revises and consolidates components of the three specified existing performance incentive programs into a merit-based incentive payment (MIP) system the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directed to establish, under which MIP-eligible professionals (excluding most APM participants) receive annual payment increases or decreases based on their performance. Requires specified incentive payments to eligible APM participants. Directs the Secretary to make available on the Physician Compare website certain information, including information regarding the performance of MIP-eligible professionals. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to evaluate the VBP program. Requires the Secretary to study the application of federal fraud prevention laws related to APMs. Directs the Secretary to draft a plan for development of quality measures to assess professionals, including non-patient-facing professionals. Requires the Secretary to establish new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes for chronic care management services. Directs the Secretary to conduct an education and outreach campaign to inform professionals who furnish items and services under Medicare part B and part B enrollees of the benefits of chronic care management services. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) collect and use information on the resources directly or indirectly related to physicians' services in the determination of relative values under the fee schedule; and (2) establish or adjust practice expense relative values using cost, charge, or other data from suppliers or service providers. Revises and expands factors for identification of potentially misvalued codes. Sets an annual target for relative value adjustments for misvalued services. Phases-in significant relative value unit (RVU) reductions. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to promote the use of appropriate use evidence-based criteria for applicable imaging services furnished in an applicable setting by ordering professionals and furnishing professionals. Expands the kinds of uses of Medicare data available to qualified entities for quality improvement activities. Directs the Secretary to provide Medicare data to qualified clinical data registries to facilitate quality improvement or patient safety. Allows continuing renewals of any two-year period for which a physician or practitioner opts out of the Medicare claims process under a private contract with a beneficiary. Declares it a national objective to achieve widespread exchange of health information through interoperable certified electronic health records (EHR) technology nationwide by December 31, 2017. Directs the Secretary to establish related metrics. Requires meaningful EHR professionals and hospitals to demonstrate that they have not knowingly and willfully taken any action to limit or restrict the compatibility or interoperability of the certified EHR technology. Directs GAO to study specified telehealth and remote patient monitoring services. Modifies extensions and other requirements pertaining to the work geographic adjustment as well as Medicare payment for therapy services and ambulance services. Revises requirements for: (1) the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program, (2) the Medicare inpatient hospital payment adjustment for low-volume hospitals, as well as (3) specialized Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for special needs individuals. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to extend the qualifying individual (QI) program, the transitional medical assistance (TMA) program, and express lane program eligibility. Amends SSA title XI with respect to continue funding for pediatric quality measures. Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend certain special diabetes programs. Extends the abstinence education grant program, the personal responsibility education program, and family-to-family health information centers. Extends the health workforce demonstration project for low-income individuals under SSA title XX. Requires each Medicare administrative contractor to establish an improper payment outreach and education program to give service providers and suppliers information on payment errors with a view to reducing improper Medicare payments. Revises requirements for a Medicaid fraud control unit's authority to investigate and prosecute complaints of abuse and neglect of patients in home and community-based settings. Authorizes the HHS Inspector General to receive and retain 3% of all amounts collected pursuant to civil debt collection and administrative enforcement actions related to false claims or frauds involving the Medicare or Medicaid program. Requires valid prescriber National Provider Identifiers on pharmacy claims against prescription drug plans (PDPs). Directs the Secretary to establish a Commission on Improving Patient Directed Health Care. Expands the definition of inpatient hospital services for certain cancer hospitals. Directs the Secretary to provide for the development of one or more quality measures under Medicare to accurately communicate the existence and provide for the transfer of patient health information and patient care preferences when an individual transitions from a hospital to return home or move to other post-acute care settings. Specifies that the minimum level of supervision with respect to outpatient therapeutic critical access hospital services shall be general supervision unless the Secretary specifies otherwise for a particular service. Requires state licensure of bidding entities under the competitive acquisition program for certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS). Recognizes attending physician assistants as attending physicians to serve hospice patients under Medicare. Directs the Secretary to conduct remote patient monitoring pilot projects. Requires the Secretary to establish a Community-Based Institutional Special Needs Plan demonstration project to prevent and delay institutionalization under Medicaid among targeted low-income Medicare beneficiaries. Directs the Secretary to implement a strategic plan to increase the usefulness of data about Medicaid programs reported by states to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Includes podiatrists as physicians under the Medicaid program. Modifies Medicare requirements for inclusion of diabetic shoes under medical and other health services. Directs the Secretary to: (1) publish criteria for a clinic to be certified by a state as a certified community behavioral health clinic, (2) award states planning grants to develop proposals to participate in time-limited related demonstration programs, and (3) select states to participate in such programs. Requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress on payment adjustments to disproportionate share hospitals (DSHs) in order to provide Congress with information relevant to determining an appropriate level of overall funding for such adjustments during and after a certain period in which aggregate reductions in DSH allotments to states are required. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) with respect to enforcing discretionary spending limits under a sequestration to specify diminishing maximum levels of budget authority designated for any of FY2016-2021 as emergency requirements for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO)/Global War on Terrorism. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the annual adjustments to the statutory limits on discretionary spending should be reserved for programs and activities in budget functions 050 (National Defense) and 150 (International Affairs) necessary to meet OCO needs, and (2) the requirements for designating OCO funding provided for under that Act should remain fully in effect. Expresses the sense of the Congress that savings from any reductions in annual adjustments to discretionary spending should be reserved for deficit reduction only. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify or eliminate any point of order that would otherwise be available against legislation that establishes or modifies any limit or adjustment to a limit on discretionary spending.

National Jazz Preservation, Education, and Promulgation Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2014

National Jazz Preservation, Education, and Promulgation Act of 2014 - Establishes a National Jazz Preservation Program, to be carried out by the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution through the Director of the National Museum of American History and in collaboration with other Smithsonian museums, to preserve knowledge and promote education about jazz. Requires the Secretary to: (1) record audio and video interviews with leading jazz artists; (2) acquire, preserve, and interpret jazz artifacts; (3) continue to recognize Jazz Appreciation Month; (4) establish collaborative agreements with specified entities for the sharing of such artifacts; and (5) encourage, consult with, and engage in capacity building with community-based and regional organizations with the potential to establish jazz archival collections. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow certain funds to be made available under the Act for programs to promote jazz education, which may include: (1) a Jazz Artists in the Schools program; (2) a program for the development of lesson plans and other educational materials about jazz, the distribution of such materials, and teacher training on jazz education; and (3) an Ambassadors of Jazz program. Establishes a National Jazz Appreciation Program to be carried by the Secretary through the Director of the National Museum of American History and in collaboration with other Smithsonian museums and affiliates, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), to further the appreciation of jazz music throughout the nation. Requires the Secretary to establish a series of jazz performances at Smithsonian affiliates throughout the nation that provides broad geographic access to jazz and supports public appreciation for the diversity of jazz music.

Creating Access to Residency Education Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2014

Creating Access to Residency Education Act of 2014 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make grants to or enter contracts with eligible entities to support the creation of new medical residency training programs or slots within existing programs in states in which there is a low ratio of medical residents relative to the general population. Requires an eligible entity to be: (1) located in a state with fewer than 25 medical residents per 100,000 population, and (2) a public or nonprofit teaching hospital or an accredited graduate medical education (GME) training program. Allows such entity to enter into a partnership with a state, local government, community health center, local health department, hospital, or other appropriate organization. Requires a grant or contract agreement: (1) in the case of a new or existing medical residency training program in the field of primary care, to require the recipient to provide one-third of the cost of the slots to be funded and to require the Administrator to provide the remaining two-thirds of such cost; and (2) in the case of such a training program in any other field, to require the recipient to provide one-half of the cost of the slots to be funded and the Administrator to provide the remaining half. Directs the Administrator to establish application processes for eligible entities to receive funding, including multiyear commitments to ensure the continued funding of GME slots for residents in training.

REVIVING OUR ECONOMY: HOW CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION CAN STRENGTHEN THE WORKFORCE

United States · United States House of Representatives · 18 March 2014

Great Teaching and Leading for Great Schools Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2014

Great Teaching and Leading for Great Schools Act of 2014 - Amends part A (Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund) of title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states to use at least 50% of their part A grant funds that are reserved for state activities for programs and activities to improve principal effectiveness. Requires states to use those funds to develop and implement: a teacher evaluation system that has at least three different performance ratings and is based on student academic outcomes and observations of teacher performance; and a school principal evaluation system that has at least three different performance ratings and is based on student academic outcomes, principal leadership practices, and the recruitment, development, evaluation, and retention of effective teachers. Adds to the permissible uses of such funds the development of teacher and principal licensure systems that provide a single license for entry into the profession for candidates who complete a state-approved teacher or principal preparation program. Requires local educational agencies (LEAs) that receive a subgrant under part A to use at least 10% of the subgrant for programs and activities to improve principal effectiveness. Adds to the educator training, retention, and recruiting efforts those subgrants may fund: the development of strategies that provide differentiated pay and recognition for teachers and principals based on effectiveness and increased responsibilities; efforts to increase the knowledge and skills of principal managers, principals, assistant principals, coaches and teacher leaders; the implementation of the teacher and principal evaluation systems developed by their state; and the implementation of a formal evaluation system to determine the effectiveness of the programs carried out under such systems. Redefines "professional development" as a comprehensive system of professional learning to increase educator effectiveness in improving student learning and achievement that: fosters collective responsibility for improved student performance; is aligned with rigorous state student academic achievement standards and related LEA and school improvement goals; is conducted among educators at the school and facilitated by well-prepared school principals and school-based professional development coaches, mentors, master teachers, or other teacher leaders who have demonstrated success with the given student population; primarily occurs several times per week, or the equivalent of several hours per week, among established teams of teachers, principals, and other instructional staff members that engage in a continuous cycle of improvement; and may be supported by activities such as courses, workshops, institutes, networks, and conferences that are provided by entities outside the school.

E-BOOK Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2014

Electronic Books Opening Opportunity for Knowledge Act of 2014 or the E-BOOK Act of 2014 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to up to 10 institutions of higher education (IHEs) to conduct pilot programs to reduce the cost of attendance for undergraduate students by expanding their access to digital course materials. Directs the Secretary to give a preference to applications that demonstrate a commitment to serving disadvantaged students. Requires grantees to make digital course materials available to undergraduate students in at least two different academic departments. Allows the IHEs to use the grant funds to: purchase and maintain the electronic equipment or software their pilot programs need; purchase and maintain the digital and online content that instructors or students will use; hire staff to administer their pilot programs, with priority given to hiring enrolled undergraduate students; build or acquire extra storage space for pilot program equipment; and revise and adapt academic curricula as needed to implement their pilot programs.

Ryan White Patient Equity and Choice Act

United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2014

Ryan White Patient Equity and Choice Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to report to Congress on whether the allocation of funding under the HIV Health Care Services Program enables areas where the HIV epidemic is growing to meet the need for medical services. Restricts approval of a waiver allowing use of less than 75% of emergency relief, care grant, and early intervention funds for core medical services unless approval of the waiver will positively contribute to all eligible individuals being identified and retained in care. Includes as core medical services HIV care continuum services consisting of early intervention HIV and sexually transmitted disease testing, referral, and case management services. Requires HHS to ensure that: (1) individuals receiving such core medical services have an identified medical home that includes a primary care team led by an experienced HIV medical provider, and (2) those receiving HIV primary care and case management services obtain the care and coordination through the medical home approach. Includes testing for other sexually transmitted diseases among early intervention services. Expands early intervention linkage-to-care services to include the following: education of those with HIV/AIDS at the time of diagnosis about the benefits of HIV care, ensuring attendance at first doctor visits, coordination with medical case managers, assistance to re-engage for those who have dropped out of care, and ensuring the identification of a medical home. Requires states providing drug assistance to offer pharmaceutical services through extensive pharmacy networks, including specialty pharmacies and pharmacies that focus on the HIV population. Adds as a criterion for award of grants for HIV care the degree to which funding will promote the incorporation of principles of patient-centered care into providing support services. Describes "patient-centered care" as care adhering to principles of customization to reflect patient needs, values, and choices; patient safety; transparency; patient control; and caregiver cooperation. Provides guidelines for funding patient-centered model of care projects, to be carried out through individual savings accounts known as Ryan White Savings Accounts.

National Traumatic Brain Injury Research and Treatment Improvement Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2014

National Traumatic Brain Injury Research and Treatment Improvement Act of 2014 - Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to: (1) evaluate existing surveillance and data collections systems that track the incidence and circumstances of traumatic brain injury, including concussion; (2) establish a statistically sound, scientifically credible, and integrated National Traumatic Brain Injury Surveillance System; and (3) ensure that the System is designed in a manner that facilitates further research on brain injury. Authorizes the Director to award grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with, public or private nonprofit entities to carry out activities under this Act. Requires the Director to: (1) make information and analysis in the System available to the public, including researchers, and to other federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Departments of Education, Veterans Affairs (VA), and Defense (DOD); and (2) ensure that privacy and security protections applicable to the System are at least as stringent as those under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Supporting the goals and ideals of "National Middle Level Education Month".

United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2014

Expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Middle Level Education Month. Recognizes the importance of middle level education and the contributions of the those who educate this unique age group. Encourages people to observe National Middle Level Education Month by visiting and celebrating schools that are responsible for educating the nation's young adolescents.

Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act Amendments of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2014

Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act Amendments of 2014 - Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide Indian tribes with technical assistance in planning their energy resource development programs. Makes intertribal organizations eligible for Department of Energy (DOE) Indian energy education planning and management assistance program grants. Allows such grants to be used to increase tribal capacity to manage energy development and efficiency programs. Makes tribal energy development organizations eligible for DOE energy development loan guarantees. Allows leases and business agreements that pool, unitize, or communitize a tribe's energy resources with other energy resources. Requires an energy-related tribal lease, business agreement, or grant of a right-of-way made without the Secretary's approval to: (1) comply with a tribal energy resource agreement between the tribe and the Secretary, or (2) have been entered into with a tribal energy development organization that the Secretary has certified pursuant to a specified process. Alters the process and conditions for the Secretary's approval of tribal energy resource agreements. Makes such agreements effective, if consistent with federal law, until rescinded by the Secretary or by the tribe. Alters the process for determining whether an interested party has a valid claim to be suffering an adverse environmental impact due to a tribe's noncompliance with such agreement. Requires the Secretary to make available to a tribe, upon its request, the amount the Secretary would have had to expend to carry out an activity that the tribe is now carrying out pursuant to a tribal energy resource agreement. Directs the Secretary of Energy to collaborate with the Directors of the National Laboratories in making the full array of DOE technical and scientific resources available for tribal energy activities and projects. Amends the Federal Power Act to include Indian tribes, along with states and municipalities, as having preference for the receipt of preliminary hydroelectric licenses. Amends the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 to direct the Secretary to enter into agreements with Indian tribes for the conduct of demonstration projects to promote biomass energy production on Indian forest land and in nearby communities by providing them with reliable supplies of woody biomass from federal lands. Directs the Secretary, or the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to Forest Service land, to enter into an agreement with Alaska Native corporations to carry out demonstration projects that promote biomass energy production on Alaska Native corporation forest land and in nearby communities by providing the corporations with reliable supplies of woody biomass from federal lands. Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide home weatherization grants directly to Indian tribes if a tribe requests a direct grant and the Secretary of Energy determines that the Indian beneficiaries would not be better served by providing the grant to their state. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to allow the Secretary of the Interior, an affected Indian tribe, or a certified third-party appraiser under contract with the Indian tribe to appraise Indian mineral or energy resources involved in a transaction requiring the Secretary's approval. Sets forth the process by which the Secretary is to review and accept or reject such an appraisal prepared by or for an Indian tribe. Amends the Long-Term Leasing Act to authorize the Navajo Nation to enter into commercial or agricultural leases of up to 99 years on their restricted lands without the Secretary's approval, provided they are executed under tribal regulations approved by the Secretary. Allows the Navajo Nation to enter into mineral resource leases on its restricted lands without the Secretary's approval if such leases are executed under approved tribal regulations and do not exceed 25 years, though such leases may include a renewal option for one additional term not exceeding 25 years. Allows such leases for oil and gas to be for terms of up to 10 years, plus any additional period the Navajo Nation determines to be appropriate if oil or gas is being produced in a paying quantity.

A resolution designating March 2014 as "National Middle Level Education Month".

United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2014

Designates March 2014 as National Middle Level Education Month. Recognizes the importance of middle level education and the contributions of the individuals who educate middle level students. Encourages people to observe National Middle Level Education Month by visiting and celebrating schools that are responsible for educating young adolescents in this country.

Helping Hungry Students Learn Act

United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2014

Helping Hungry Students Learn Act - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (Russell Act) to raise the eligibility level for free lunches under the school lunch program to 185% of the poverty level. (Currently it is set at 130%.) Eliminates reduced price lunches, for which eligibility is currently set at 185% of the poverty level. Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require schools participating in the school breakfast program to provide a free breakfast to each student who desires one. Sets the national average payment for each breakfast served to any child at the national average payment for each free breakfast served during the school year. Requires states to provide additional assistance, in the form of higher breakfast reimbursement rates, to schools in which there is an alternative breakfast serving model to increase participation in the school breakfast program, such as by serving breakfast in the classroom or having a school breakfast cart. Amends the Russell Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to award grants to assist states with the initial costs of participating in a summer electronic benefits transfer for children program to improve children's access to food during the summer months. Directs the Secretary to implement a pilot program providing commodities, on a competitive basis, to states to enable nonprofits to serve nutritious food to at-risk school children on weekends and during extended school holidays during the school year. (At-risk school children are those who participate in the school lunch program and reside in an area served by a school in which at least 50% of the students receive free or reduced price meals under the school lunch or breakfast programs.) Includes elementary and secondary schools, school food authorities, food banks or pantries, homeless shelters, and other Secretary-approved emergency feeding agencies as eligible nonprofit program participants. Requires the nonprofits serving such commodities to satisfy safe food storage, handling, and delivery standards established by the Secretary.

Veterans Education Outcomes Act

United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2014

Veterans Education Outcomes Act - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education (IHEs) participating in title IV programs to inform prospective and enrolled students of the percentage of the IHE's full-time students who receive assistance under the All-Volunteer Force or Post 9/11 Educational Assistance programs or the program providing educational assistance for members of the Selected Reserve. Requires those IHEs to disaggregate by the recipients of such assistance information, which they are required to provide to prospective and enrolled students, regarding: their costs of attendance, their completion or graduation rates, their graduates' placement in employment and type of employment, the types of graduate and professional education their graduating students pursue, and their retention rate for undergraduate students.

Veterans Higher Education Opportunity Act

United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2014

Veterans Higher Education Opportunity Act - Amend title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish what is to be considered a year of service for determining the percentage of an individual's Federal Perkins Loan that is to be cancelled for military service that qualifies for special pay for occurring in an area of hostilities. Defines such individual's "year of service" as a qualified tour of duty that: (1) lasted at least six months, or (2) lasted less than six months because the member was discharged or released from active duty due to an injury or disability incurred in or aggravated by the member's military service.

Ensuring Veterans' Resiliency Act

United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2014

Ensuring Veterans' Resiliency Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a three-year pilot program to repay loans used to finance education regarding psychiatric medicine that are obtained from a governmental entity, private financial institution, school, or other authorized entity. Requires an individual, to be eligible to obtain such a loan repayment, to: (1) be either licensed (or eligible for licensure) to practice psychiatric medicine in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or enrolled in the final year of a residency program leading to a specialty qualification in psychiatric medicine that is approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; and (2) demonstrate a commitment to a long-term career as a psychiatrist in the VHA, including through a period of obligated service. Directs the Secretary to select at least 10 individuals to participate in each year of the program. Allows a loan repayment to consist of payment of the principal, interest, and related expenses of such a loan. Prohibits the Secretary from paying more than $60,000 on behalf of the individual for each year of obligated service the individual agrees to serve. Makes an individual who participates in the pilot program who fails to satisfy the service commitment liable for prorated loan repayment. Prohibits an individual who is participating in any other federal program that repays his or her educational loans from participating in the program under this Act. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to conduct a study of pay disparities among VHA psychiatrists.

Student Loan Fair Prepayment Act

United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2014

Student Loan Fair Prepayment Act - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require that when the holder of a borrower's loans under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) or William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (DL) programs receives a prepayment for such loans, it is to be applied first toward any fees due on such loans and then, unless the borrower requests otherwise, toward the principal due on the loan that bears the highest interest rate. Makes that requirement inapplicable to income-based or income contingent repayment plans for FFELs or DLs. Requires an institution of higher education holding a borrower's loans under the Federal Perkins Loan program to first apply any excess payments by the borrower toward any fees due on such loans and then, unless the borrower requests otherwise, toward the principal due on the loan that bears the highest interest rate. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to require a private education loan holder that holds more than one private education loan for a borrower to apply any prepayments on those loans first toward any fees due on such loans and then, unless the borrower requests otherwise, toward the principal due on the loan that bears the highest interest rate.

RAISING THE BAR: THE ROLE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS IN K-12 EDUCATION

United States · United States House of Representatives · 12 March 2014

Responsible Medicare SGR Repeal and Beneficiary Access Improvement Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2014

SGR Repeal and Medicare Beneficiary Access Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) end and remove sustainable growth rate (SGR) methodology from the determination of annual conversion factors in the formula for payment for physicians' services, (2) freeze the update to the single conversion factor at 0.5% for 2014 through 2018 and at 0.00% for 2019 through 2023, and (3) establish an update of 1% for health professionals participating in alternative payment models (APMs) and an update of 0.5% for all other health professionals after 2023. Directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) to report to Congress on the relationship between: (1) physician and other health professional utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) of items and services for which Medicare payment is made; and (2) total utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance), B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), and D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program). Requires a separate report on the 2014-2018 update to physicians' services under Medicare Revises and consolidates components of the three specified existing performance incentive programs into a merit-based incentive payment (MIP) system the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directed to establish, under which MIP-eligible professionals (excluding most APM participants) receive annual payment increases or decreases based on their performance. Requires specified incentive payments to eligible APM participants. Directs the Secretary to make available on the Physician Compare website certain information, including information regarding the performance of MIP-eligible professionals. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to evaluate the VBP program. Requires the Secretary to study the application of federal fraud prevention laws related to APMs. Directs the Secretary to draft a plan for development of quality measures to assess professionals, including non-patient-facing professionals. Requires the Secretary to establish new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes for chronic care management services. Directs the Secretary to conduct an education and outreach campaign to inform professionals who furnish items and services under Medicare part B and part B enrollees of the benefits of chronic care management services. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) collect and use information on the resources directly or indirectly related to physicians' services in the determination of relative values under the fee schedule; and (2) establish or adjust practice expense relative values using cost, charge, or other data from suppliers or service providers. Revises and expands factors for identification of potentially misvalued codes. Sets an annual target for relative value adjustments for misvalued services. Phases-in significant relative value unit (RVU) reductions. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to promote the use of appropriate use evidence-based criteria for applicable imaging services furnished in an applicable setting by ordering professionals and furnishing professionals. Expands the kinds of uses of Medicare data available to qualified entities for quality improvement activities. Directs the Secretary to provide Medicare data to qualified clinical data registries to facilitate quality improvement or patient safety. Allows continuing renewals of any two-year period for which a physician or practitioner opts out of the Medicare claims process under a private contract with a beneficiary. Declares it a national objective to achieve widespread exchange of health information through interoperable certified electronic health records (EHR) technology nationwide by December 31, 2017. Directs the Secretary to establish related metrics. Requires meaningful EHR professionals and hospitals to demonstrate that they have not knowingly and willfully taken any action to limit or restrict the compatibility or interoperability of the certified EHR technology. Directs GAO to study specified telehealth and remote patient monitoring services. Modifies extensions and other requirements pertaining to the work geographic adjustment as well as Medicare payment for therapy services and ambulance services. Revises requirements for: (1) the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program, (2) the Medicare inpatient hospital payment adjustment for low-volume hospitals, as well as (3) specialized Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for special needs individuals. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to extend the qualifying individual (QI) program, the transitional medical assistance (TMA) program, and express lane program eligibility. Amends SSA title XI with respect to continue funding for pediatric quality measures. Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend certain special diabetes programs. Extends the abstinence education grant program, the personal responsibility education program, and family-to-family health information centers. Extends the health workforce demonstration project for low-income individuals under SSA title XX. Requires each Medicare administrative contractor to establish an improper payment outreach and education program to give service providers and suppliers information on payment errors with a view to reducing improper Medicare payments. Revises requirements for a Medicaid fraud control unit's authority to investigate and prosecute complaints of abuse and neglect of patients in home and community-based settings. Authorizes the HHS Inspector General to receive and retain 3% of all amounts collected pursuant to civil debt collection and administrative enforcement actions related to false claims or frauds involving the Medicare or Medicaid program. Requires valid prescriber National Provider Identifiers on pharmacy claims against prescription drug plans (PDPs). Directs the Secretary to establish a Commission on Improving Patient Directed Health Care. Expands the definition of inpatient hospital services for certain cancer hospitals. Directs the Secretary to provide for the development of one or more quality measures under Medicare to accurately communicate the existence and provide for the transfer of patient health information and patient care preferences when an individual transitions from a hospital to return home or move to other post-acute care settings. Specifies that the minimum level of supervision with respect to outpatient therapeutic critical access hospital services shall be general supervision. Requires state licensure of bidding entities under the competitive acquisition program for certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS). Recognizes attending physician assistants as attending physicians to serve hospice patients under Medicare. Directs the Secretary to conduct remote patient monitoring pilot projects. Requires the Secretary to establish a Community-Based Institutional Special Needs Plan demonstration project to prevent and delay institutionalization under Medicaid among targeted low-income Medicare beneficiaries. Directs the Secretary to implement a strategic plan to increase the usefulness of data about Medicaid programs reported by states to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Includes podiatrists as physicians under the Medicaid program. Modifies Medicare requirements for inclusion of diabetic shoes under medical and other health services. Directs the Secretary to: (1) publish criteria for a clinic to be certified by a state as a certified community behavioral health clinic, (2) award states planning grants to develop proposals to participate in time-limited related demonstration programs, and (3) select states to participate in such programs. Requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress on payment adjustments to disproportionate share hospitals (DSHs) in order to provide Congress with information relevant to determining an appropriate level of overall funding for such adjustments during and after a certain period in which aggregate reductions in DSH allotments to states are required. Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to repeal the requirement that individuals maintain minimal essential health care coverage beginning in 2014, subject to a specified tax penalty for failing to do so (individual mandate). Requires the IRC to be applied and administered as if such requirement had never been enacted.

Head Start Improvement Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2014

Head Start Improvement Act of 2014 - Amends the Head Start Act to eliminate, beginning on the first fiscal year following this Act's enactment, the formula for allotting Head Start program funds to Head Start agencies. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to allot block grants for prekindergarten programs to states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, the Republic of Palau, and each federally recognized Indian tribe on the basis of each jurisdiction's share of children aged five and younger who are from families with incomes below 130% of the poverty level. Requires the Governor or other chief executive of each grantee to certify that all grant funds will be used to directly or indirectly provide comprehensive education and related services to low-income children and their families. Requires grantees to: (1) award subgrants to prekindergarten providers of their choosing, (2) establish rules and standards for those subgrantees to follow, and (3) monitor compliance with those rules and standards. Gives grantees full flexibility to use the grant funds to finance a prekindergarten education provider, service, or program, including to establish a portable voucher system. Requires grantees to provide matching funds from nonfederal sources equal to 20% of their grant.

Native American Seeds Protection Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2014

Native American Seeds Protection Act of 2014 - Amends the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to award grants to, and enter into agreements with, Indian tribes and 1994 Institutions to conduct research and education and training programs concerning the purity of Native American seeds. (1994 Institutions are Native American tribally-controlled colleges and universities that were granted land-grant status in 1994.) Requires grant applicants to certify that any research conducted will be performed under a cooperative agreement with at least one other entity that has the capacity and infrastructure necessary to carry out agricultural research projects. Authorizes the use of the grants to fund research to assess the impact of: (1) public law and policies on traditional ways of life and cultural practices relating to the harvesting and cultivating of Native American seeds, and (2) contaminants that compromise the integrity and purity of those seeds. Authorizes the use of the grants to fund education and training programs on: (1) the methods necessary to conduct such research; and (2) the best methods to continuously test, monitor, and otherwise protect the purity of Native American seeds. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the use of grants under the community facilities grant program to expand, construct, and develop seed storage facilities that are used to protect and preserve Native American seeds.

Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act

United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2014

Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to schools and private or tribal nonprofit organizations to develop and maintain, or improve and expand, programs that support the use by schools, from the prekindergarten through postsecondary level, of Native American languages as their primary language of instruction. Requires grant applicants to present the Secretary with specified assurances and demonstrations that the schools they will support have the capacity to provide education primarily through a Native American language. Requires grantees to: support Native American language education and development; develop or refine instructional curricula for the schools they support, including distinctive teaching materials and activities; fund training opportunities for school staff that strengthen the overall language and academic goals of their schools; and engage in other activities that promote Native American language education and development.

SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2014

SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) end and remove sustainable growth rate (SGR) methodology from the determination of annual conversion factors in the formula for payment for physicians' services; (2) establish an update to the single conversion factor for 2014 through 2018 of 0.5%, (3) freeze the update to the single conversion factor at 0.00% for 2019 through 2023, and (4) establish an update of 1% for health professionals participating in alternative payment models (APMs) and an update of 0.5% for all other health professionals after 2023. Directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) to report to Congress on the relationship between: (1) physician and other health professional utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) of items and services for which Medicare payment is made, and (2) total utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance), B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), and D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program). Directs MEDPAC to report to Congress on: (1) the payment update for professional services applied under Medicare for 2014 through 2018, (2) the effect of such update on the efficiency, economy, and quality of care provided under such program, (3) the effect of such update on ensuring a sufficient number of providers to maintain access to care by Medicare beneficiaries, and (4) recommendations for any future payment updates for professional services under such program to ensure adequate access to care is maintained for Medicare beneficiaries Revises and consolidates components of the three specified existing performance incentive programs into a merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directed to establish, under which MIPS-eligible professionals (excluding most Alternative Payment Model [APM] participants) receive annual payment increases or decreases based on their performance. Applies the MIPS program to payments for items and services furnished on or after January 1, 2018. Requires specified incentive payments to be made to eligible partial qualifying APM participants. Directs the Secretary to make available on the Physician Compare website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) certain information, including information regarding the performance of MIPS-eligible professionals. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to evaluate the MIPS program. Requires GAO to submit to Congress a report that: (1) compares the similarities and differences in the use of quality measures under the original Medicare fee-for-service programs, the Medicare Advantage (MA) program under Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice), selected state Medicaid programs, and private payer arrangements; and (2) make recommendations on how to reduce the administrative burden involved in applying such quality measures. Directs GAO to report to Congress on: (1) whether entities that pool financial risk for physician services can play a role in supporting physician practices in assuming financial risk for treatment of patients, and (2) the transition to an APM of professionals in rural areas, health professional shortage areas, or medically underserved areas. Establishes the Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee to make recommendations to the Secretary on physician-focused payment models. Requires the Secretary to study: (1) the application of federal fraud prevention laws related to APMs; (2) the effect of individuals' socioeconomic status on quality and resource use outcome measures for individuals under Medicare; and (3) the impact of risk factors, race, health literacy, limited English proficiency (LEP), and patient activation, on quality and resource use outcome measures under Medicare. Directs the Secretary to: (1) post on the CMS Internet website a draft plan for the development of quality measures to assess professionals, (2) establish new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes for chronic care management services, and (3) conduct an education and outreach campaign to inform professionals who furnish items and services under Medicare part B and Medicare part B enrollees of the benefits of chronic care management services. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) collect and use information on the resources directly or indirectly related to physicians' services in the determination of relative values under the Medicare physician fee schedule; and (2) establish or adjust practice expense relative values using cost, charge, or other data from suppliers or service providers. Revises and expands factors for identification of potentially misvalued codes. Sets an annual target for relative value adjustments for misvalued services. Phases-in of significant relative value unit (RVU) reductions. Directs GAO to study the processes used by the Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) to make recommendations to the Secretary regarding relative values for specific services under the Medicare physician fee schedule. Makes Metropolitan Statistical Areas in California fee schedule areas for Medicare payments. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a program to promote the use of appropriate use criteria for certain imaging services furnished by ordering professionals and furnishing professionals, and (2) make publicly available on the CMS Physician Compare website specified information with respect to eligible professionals. Expands the kinds and uses of data available to qualified entities for quality improvement activities. Directs the Secretary to provide Medicare data to qualified clinical data registries to facilitate quality improvement or patient safety. Permits continuing automatic extensions of a Medicare physician and practitioner election to opt-out of the Medicare physician payment system into private contracts. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make publicly available through an appropriate publicly accessible website information on the number and characteristics of opt-out physicians and practitioners, and (2) report to Congress recommendations to amend existing fraud and abuse laws, through exceptions, safe harbors, or other narrowly targeted provisions, to permit gainsharing or similar arrangements between physicians and hospitals that improve care while reducing waste and increasing efficiency. Declares it a national objective to achieve widespread exchange of health information through interoperable certified electronic health record (EHR) technology nationwide by December 31, 2017, as a consequence of a significant federal investment in the implementation of health information technology through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR programs. Directs the Secretary to study the feasibility of establishing mechanisms that includes aggregated results of surveys of meaningful EHR users on the functionality of certified EHR products to enable such users to compare directly the functionality and other features of such products. Requires GAO studies on the use of telehealth under federal programs and on remote patient monitoring services. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) with respect to savings from Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism (OCO/GWOT). Establishes caps on any amount of OCO/GWOT budget authority subject to sequestration for FY2016-FY2021. Declares that any amount of OCO/GWOT budget authority for FY2016-FY2021 in excess of such established levels shall be counted in determining whether a breach has occurred in the security category and the nonsecurity category on a proportional basis to the total spending for overseas contingency operation in the security category and the nonsecurity category.

Medicare SGR Repeal and Beneficiary Access Improvement Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2014

SGR Repeal and Medicare Beneficiary Access Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) end and remove sustainable growth rate (SGR) methodology from the determination of annual conversion factors in the formula for payment for physicians' services; (2) freeze the update to the single conversion factor at 0.5% for 2014 through 2018 and at 0.00% for 2019 through 2023, and (3) establish an update of 1% for health professionals participating in alternative payment models (APMs) and an update of 0.5% for all other health professionals after 2023. Directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) to report to Congress on the relationship between: (1) physician and other health professional utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) of items and services for which Medicare payment is made, and (2) total utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance), B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), and D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program). Requires a separate report on the 2014-2018 update to physicians' services under Medicare Revises and consolidates components of the three specified existing performance incentive programs into a merit-based incentive payment (MIP) system the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directed to establish, under which MIP-eligible professionals (excluding most APM participants) receive annual payment increases or decreases based on their performance. Requires specified incentive payments to eligible APM participants. Directs the Secretary to make available on the Physician Compare website certain information, including information regarding the performance of MIP-eligible professionals. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to evaluate the VBP program. Requires the Secretary to study the application of federal fraud prevention laws related to APMs. Directs the Secretary to draft a plan for development of quality measures to assess professionals, including non-patient-facing professionals. Requires the Secretary to establish new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes for chronic care management services. Directs the Secretary to conduct an education and outreach campaign to inform professionals who furnish items and services under Medicare part B and part B enrollees of the benefits of chronic care management services. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) collect and use information on the resources directly or indirectly related to physicians' services in the determination of relative values under the fee schedule; and (2) establish or adjust practice expense relative values using cost, charge, or other data from suppliers or service providers. Revises and expands factors for identification of potentially misvalued codes. Sets an annual target for relative value adjustments for misvalued services. Phases-in significant relative value unit (RVU) reductions. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to promote the use of appropriate use evidence-based criteria for applicable imaging services furnished in an applicable setting by ordering professionals and furnishing professionals. Expands the kinds of uses of Medicare data available to qualified entities for quality improvement activities. Directs the Secretary to provide Medicare data to qualified clinical data registries to facilitate quality improvement or patient safety. Allows continuing renewals of any two-year period for which a physician or practitioner opts out of the Medicare claims process under a private contract with a beneficiary. Declares it a national objective to achieve widespread exchange of health information through interoperable certified electronic health records (EHR) technology nationwide by December 31, 2017. Directs the Secretary to establish related metrics. Requires meaningful EHR professionals and hospitals to demonstrate that they have not knowingly and willfully taken any action to limit or restrict the compatibility or interoperability of the certified EHR technology. Directs GAO to study specified telehealth and remote patient monitoring services. Modifies extensions and other requirements pertaining to the work geographic adjustment as well as Medicare payment for therapy services and ambulance services. Revises requirements for: (1) the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program, (2) the Medicare inpatient hospital payment adjustment for low-volume hospitals, as well as (3) specialized Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for special needs individuals. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to extend the qualifying individual (QI) program, the transitional medical assistance (TMA) program, and express lane program eligibility. Amends SSA title XI with respect to continue funding for pediatric quality measures. Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend certain special diabetes programs. Extends the abstinence education grant program, the personal responsibility education program, and family-to-family health information centers. Extends the health workforce demonstration project for low-income individuals under SSA title XX. Requires each Medicare administrative contractor to establish an improper payment outreach and education program to give service providers and suppliers information on payment errors with a view to reducing improper Medicare payments. Revises requirements for a Medicaid fraud control unit's authority to investigate and prosecute complaints of abuse and neglect of patients in home and community-based settings. Authorizes the HHS Inspector General to receive and retain 3% of all amounts collected pursuant to civil debt collection and administrative enforcement actions related to false claims or frauds involving the Medicare or Medicaid program. Requires valid prescriber National Provider Identifiers on pharmacy claims against prescription drug plans (PDPs). Directs the Secretary to establish a Commission on Improving Patient Directed Health Care. Expands the definition of inpatient hospital services for certain cancer hospitals. Directs the Secretary to provide for the development of one or more quality measures under Medicare to accurately communicate the existence and provide for the transfer of patient health information and patient care preferences when an individual transitions from a hospital to return home or move to other post-acute care settings. Specifies that the minimum level of supervision with respect to outpatient therapeutic critical access hospital services shall be general supervision. Requires state licensure of bidding entities under the competitive acquisition program for certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS). Recognizes attending physician assistants as attending physicians to serve hospice patients under Medicare. Directs the Secretary to conduct remote patient monitoring pilot projects. Requires the Secretary to establish a Community-Based Institutional Special Needs Plan demonstration project to prevent and delay institutionalization under Medicaid among targeted low-income Medicare beneficiaries. Directs the Secretary to implement a strategic plan to increase the usefulness of data about Medicaid programs reported by states to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Includes podiatrists as physicians under the Medicaid program. Modifies Medicare requirements for inclusion of diabetic shoes under medical and other health services. Directs the Secretary to: (1) publish criteria for a clinic to be certified by a state as a certified community behavioral health clinic, (2) award states planning grants to develop proposals to participate in time-limited related demonstration programs, and (3) select states to participate in such programs. Requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress on payment adjustments to disproportionate share hospitals (DSHs) in order to provide Congress with information relevant to determining an appropriate level of overall funding for such adjustments during and after a certain period in which aggregate reductions in DSH allotments to states are required.

Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2014

Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014 - Eliminates, modifies, or consolidates reporting requirements for the: (1) Department of Agriculture, (2) Department of Commerce, (3) Department of Defense (DOD), (4) Department of Education, (5) Department of Energy (DOE), (6) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), (7) Department of Homeland Security (DHS), (8) Department of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUD), (9) Department of Justice (DOJ), (10) Department of Labor, (11) Department of the Interior, (12) Department of State, (13) Department of the Treasury, (14) Department of Transportation (DOT), (15) Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), (16) Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), (17) Corporation for National and Community Service (18) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (19) Federal Trade Commission (FTC), (20) General Services Administration (GSA), (21) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), (22) National Science Foundation (NSF), (23) Office of Personnel Management (OPM), (24) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), (25) Small Business Administration (SBA), (26) Social Security Administration (SSA), (27) Army Corps of Engineers, and (28) Executive Office of the President. Repeals or modifies reports relating to activities conducted by the intelligence community.

National STEM Education Tax Incentive for Teachers Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2014

National STEM Education Tax Incentive for Teachers Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain full-time elementary and secondary school teachers of mathematics, science, engineering, or technology courses a refundable tax credit for 10% of their undergraduate tuition up to $1,000 in any taxable year. Increases such credit amount to $1,500 for teachers in schools serving disadvantaged children. Terminates such credit after the 10th taxable year for which such credit is allowed.

Simplifying Access to Student Loan Information Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2014

Simplifying Access to Student Loan Information Act of 2014 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to require private educational lenders to submit to the Secretary of Education information regarding each private education loan they make. Requires that such information: (1) be placed in the National Student Loan Data System (System), and (2) allow for the electronic exchange of data between the borrowers of those loans and the System. (The System currently contains information regarding loans made, insured, or guaranteed under the Federal Family Education Loan program and loans made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan and Federal Perkins Loan programs.) Requires the private education loan information to include, if determined appropriate by the Secretary: the total amount and type of each loan; the interest rate on each loan; information regarding the borrower that the Secretary deems necessary to ensure the electronic exchange of data between the borrower and the System; contact information regarding the lender and servicer of each loan; information concerning the date of any default on the loan and the collection of the loan, including any information concerning the repayment status of any defaulted loan; and the date the borrower completes repayment. Requires private educational lenders to ensure the privacy of borrowers and update the loan information they submit to the System on the same schedule as information is updated under the System. Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary to ensure that: (1) a cosigner of a private education loan for which information is included in the System has access only to that information, and (2) a private educational lender has access to the System only to submit information regarding the lender's loans. Directs the Secretary to establish a functionality within the System that enables student borrowers of loans made, insured, or guaranteed under title IV to input the information necessary to compare the repayment plans available to them under that title. Requires the Secretary to establish a five-year pilot program awarding competitive grants to institutions of higher education, title IV loan servicers, and nonprofit organizations to: (1) establish or improve non-traditional outreach programs and initiatives to reduce deferments, forbearances, and defaults on student loan repayments; and (2) establish best practices for reducing those deferments, forbearances, and defaults. Allows the Secretary to continue to award competitive grants to such entities after the close of the pilot program if the Secretary deems that program to have been successful in reducing deferments, forbearances, and defaults. Requires recipients of grants after the pilot program to establish either: (1) a Pay-for-Performance project, under which they agree to be reimbursed under the grant primarily on the basis of achieving specified performance measures; or (2) a Pay-for-Success project, under which they partner with a project investor and agree to be reimbursed under the grant only if the project achieves specified performance measures. Directs the Secretary to establish and publish those performance measures no later than six months after the pilot program's completion.

A resolution supporting the goals and ideals of Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day.

United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2014

Recognizes the goals of introducing our daughters and sons to the workplace. Commends all the participants in Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day for their ongoing contributions to education, and for the vital role the participants play in promoting and ensuring a brighter, stronger future for the United States.

A resolution congratulating the Pennsylvania State University IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon ("THON") on its continued success in support of the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital.

United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2014

Congratulates the Pennsylvania State University IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (THON) on its continued success in support of the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. Commends the school's students, volunteers, and supporting organizations for their hard work putting together another record-breaking THON.

Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2014

Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014 - Eliminates or modifies reporting requirements for the: (1) Department of Agriculture, (2) Department of Commerce, (3) Corporation for National and Community Service, (4) Department of Defense (DOD), (5) Department of Education, (6) Department of Energy (DOE), (7) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (8) Executive Office of the President, (9) Government Accountability Office (GAO), (10) Department of Homeland Security (DHS), (11) Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), (12) Department of the Interior, (13) Department of Labor, (14) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), (15) Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), (16) Department of State, (17) Department of Transportation (DOT), (18) Department of the Treasury, and (19) Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

JOBS Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2014

Jumpstart Our Businesses by Supporting Students Act of 2014 or the JOBS Act of 2014 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education, for the award years beginning on July 1, 2014, and ending on June 30, 2020, to award job training Federal Pell Grants to students in job training programs. Makes students eligible for such Grants if they: (1) have not attained a baccalaureate or postbaccalaureate degree; (2) are attending an institution of higher education (IHE) that is eligible to participate in title IV programs; (3) are enrolled in, or accepted for enrollment in, a job training program at that IHE that does not lead to a baccalaureate degree; and (4) meet all the other eligibility requirements for a Federal Pell Grant. Establishes a maximum amount, but no minimum amount, for such a Grant. Defines an eligible "job training program" as a career and technical education program at an IHE that: provides at least 150 clock hours of instructional time over a period of at least 8 weeks, provides training that meets the needs of the local or regional workforce, provides students who complete the program with a recognized educational credential, and the IHE has determined is sufficient to meet the hiring requirements of multiple employers and allow students to apply for any licenses or certifications that may be required for employment in the field for which the job training is offered.

Seniors' Rights to Know Act

United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2014

Seniors' Rights to Know Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) part C (Medicare+Choice) of the Social Security Act to require the information the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides to promote informed choice on available part C coverage options to describe the changes for the plan year made by a Medicare Advantage (MA) organization, with respect to the MA plan it offers, pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Allows such information to assess the effect of such provisions and amendments on MA-eligible individuals who enroll under the plan. Prohibits the Secretary from disapproving the inclusion of any such information in marketing materials or application forms unless it is factually inaccurate for the plan year for which the information is provided or any preceding plan year beginning after March 23, 2010.

FIRST Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2014

Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science, and Technology Act of 2014 or FIRST Act of 2014 - Authorizes appropriations for FY2014-FY2015 to the National Science Foundation (NSF). Specifies policy objectives for the NSF in allocating resources. Directs the NSF to award federal funding for basic research and education in the sciences through a new research grant or cooperative agreement only if it makes, and justifies in writing, an affirmative determination that the grant or agreement is worthy of federal funding and meets certain other criteria. Authorizes the NSF Director to increase funding for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship program (or any successor) over the previous fiscal year's funding level only at the same rate as a corresponding funding increase for the NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program (or any successor). Allows any Education and Human Resources Directorate grant to support informal education to be used to: (1) support the participation of students in nonprofit competitions, out-of-school activities, and field experiences related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects; and (2) broaden secondary school students' access to, and interest in, careers that require academic preparation in STEM subjects. Requires the Director of the NSF to provide merit-reviewed, competitive grants for research on programming that engages underrepresented students in grades kindergarten through 8 in STEM to prepare them to pursue undergraduate and graduate STEM degrees or careers. Requires such grants to be used toward research to advance the engagement of these students in STEM through providing before-school, after-school, out-of-school, or summer activities designed to encourage interest, engagement, and skills development of underrepresented students in STEM. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to study the use of NSF-funded scientific computing resources at institutions of higher education. Requires the NSF Director to place a high priority on designing and administering pilot programs for scientific breakthrough prizes, in conjunction with private entities, that are consistent with Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) guidelines. Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to call on the NSF to collaborate with the Israel Science Foundation. Instructs the NSF to support research activities related to the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative. Directs the President to establish or designate a STEM Education Advisory Panel. Requires the NSF Director to establish a STEM Education Coordinating Office for the coordination of STEM education activities and programs of the federal government. Requires the Office, taking over from the committee to coordinate federal programs and activities in support of STEM education, to update triennially the STEM education strategic plan established in May 2013. Authorizes appropriations for FY2014-FY2015 for OSTP. Requires the Director of OSTP to establish a working group under the authority of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) to review federal regulations that affect research and research universities. Directs the NSTC to deliver a plan to Congress containing policies, procedures, and standards for the federal science agencies to enable archiving and retrieving covered material in digital form for public availability in perpetuity. Requires the OSTP Director to establish a body under such Council to identify and coordinate international science and technology cooperation that can strengthen U.S. science and technology enterprise, improve economic and national security, and support U.S. foreign policy goals. Directs the heads of specified federal science agencies to conduct pilot programs to validate alternative research funding models. Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 regarding prize competitions. Authorizes appropriations for FY2014-FY2015 to the Secretary of Commerce for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (the Act) to authorize the Secretary of Commerce, through the Director of the NIST, to serve as the President's principal advisor on standards policy pertaining to the nation's technological competitiveness and innovation ability. Revises requirements for research fellowships. Authorizes the NIST Director to support, promote, and coordinate activities and efforts to enhance awareness and understanding of measurement sciences, standards, and technology by the general public, industry, and academia in support of the NIST mission. Retains the current post-doctoral fellowship program, but eliminates the manufacturing fellowship program and the teacher science and technology enhancement program. Directs NIST to contract with the National Research Council (NRC) to perform and report on assessments of the technical quality and impact of the work conducted at NIST laboratories (currently, contract with the NRC for advice and studies to assist the NIST to serve U.S. industry and science). Adds as a purpose of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Centers the transfer of best business practices. Amends the Small Business Act to replace the Proof of Concept Partnership pilot program (to accelerate the creation of small businesses and the commercialization of research innovations made by certain institutions) with a requirement that each federal agency already required to establish a small business technology transfer (STTR) program also carry out an Innovative Approaches to Technology Transfer Grant Program to support innovative approaches to technology transfer at institutions of higher education, nonprofit research institutions, and federal laboratories in order to accelerate the commercialization of federally funded research and technology by small businesses, including new businesses. Advancing America's Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2014 - Amends the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 to rename the National High-Performance Computing Program as the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program. Requires the participating federal agencies to develop, and update every three years, a five-year strategic plan to guide activities provided for under the Program, to be accompanied by milestones and road maps for establishing the national research infrastructure required to support the Program. Requires the OSTP Director to encourage and monitor the efforts of participating agencies to allocate the resources and management attention necessary to ensure that the strategic plan is executed effectively and that Program objectives are met. Replaces the National Research and Education Network with a National Coordination Office, and requires the Director of the Office to convene: (1) a workshop to explore mechanisms for carrying out collaborative R&D activities for cyber-physical systems; and (2) through the National Science and Technology Council, an interagency working group to examine how federal science agencies can facilitate the use of cloud-computing for federally-funded science and engineering research. Requires the NIST to develop and propose standards and guidelines needed for assuring the cost-effective security and privacy of information in federal computer systems (under current law, privacy of sensitive information in those systems).

Yellowstone Community Education Fairness Act

United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2014

Yellowstone Community Education Fairness Act - Ratifies and approves all payments made to the school districts serving Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming between the beginning of FY1976 and the enactment of this Act as reimbursement for educational facilities furnished by those districts to certain students who are dependents of persons engaged in the administration, operation, and maintenance of the Park and living at or near it.

Student Testing Improvement and Accountability Act

United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2014

Student Testing Improvement and Accountability Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to eliminate the requirement that students be tested against state academic content and achievement standards in mathematics and reading or language arts in each of grades three through eight. Requires, instead, that those tests be administered at least once during: (1) grades 3 through 5, (2) grades 6 through 9, and (3) grades 10 through 12.

Labor Statistics Improvement Act

United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2014

Labor Statistics Improvement Act - Establishes an independent Commission to Improve Labor Statistics. Directs the Commission to: (1) examine and make an assessment of the process by which the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates statistical data relating to unemployment rates, including the methods used for determining that an individual is considered to be looking for work; (2) formulate recommendations for any improvement to such process and methods, including proposals for any alternative measures of labor force participation, taking into account evidence that the official unemployment rate doesn't always accurately reflect labor market strength; and (3) develop a new method for determining and reporting underemployment that takes into consideration workers who are not in jobs that match their skill set or education and who are earning less than other workers in similar occupations or with similar skill sets and education. Directs the Commission to transmit a report to the President and Congress within 180 days after all of its original members have been appointed. Terminates the Commission 60 days after it submits such report.

America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2014

America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2014 - Establishes, revises, and extends specified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, as well as education, research, and training programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY2015-FY2019 for: (1) the National Science Foundation (NSF), (2) the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and (3) the Department of Energy (DOE) for activities of the Office of Science.

SIGMA Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2014

Special Inspector General for Monitoring the ACA Act of 2014 or the SIGMA Act of 2014 - Establishes the Office of the Special Inspector General for Monitoring the Affordable Care Act to conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the implementation and administration of programs and activities established under, and payment system changes made by, the Affordable Care Act (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010). Requires the Special Inspector General to be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Special Inspector General to appoint an Assistant Inspector General for Auditing and an Assistant Inspector General for Investigations. Places the Special Inspector General under the supervision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), but prohibits federal agencies involved in implementing or administering the Affordable Care Act from preventing or prohibiting the Special Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, or completing any audit or investigation.

Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2014

Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2014 - Amends the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 to repeal the declaration that trade adjustment assistance (TAA) program requirements in effect as of February 13, 2011, under the Trade Act of 1974 shall apply to petitions for certification to apply for TAA for workers, firms, and farmers that are filed before January 1, 2014. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend through December 31, 2020: (1) the TAA program, and (2) the reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) program. Makes funds available through FY2020, and for the period beginning October 1-December 31, 2020 (first quarter of FY2021), for training of adversely affected workers, employment and case management services, and job search expenses and relocation expenses. Reauthorizes appropriations: (1) through December 31, 2020, for the TAA program for workers; and (2) through FY2020, and for the first quarter of FY2021, for the TAA program for firms, communities, and farmers. Prescribes TAA eligibility requirements for adversely affected workers in public agencies. Revises trade readjustment allowance (TRA) program requirements. Limits to 130 weeks the length of TRA payments for an adversely affected worker who requires a program of remedial education or of prerequisite education in order to complete approved training. Increases from 65 to 78 additional weeks of TRA payments in a 78-week period the length of additional time permissible to complete training. Repeals the authority of a state to use funds for employment and case management services and relocation allowances to allow an adversely affected worker who is certified to file an application for a job search allowance and relocation allowance. (Continues to authorize adversely affected workers to apply for the job search allowance as well as the relocation allowance.) Revises the reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) program. Increases from: (1) $50,000 to $55,000 the maximum amount an RTAA-eligible worker may earn in wages from reemployment, and (2) $10,000 to $12,000 the maximum payment of RTAA (or wage subsidy) to an eligible older worker. Specifies criteria the Secretary must use to determine the eligibility of workers to apply for TAA if no determination has been made, upon enactment of this Act, as to whether to certify a group of workers or firms as eligible pursuant to a petition filed between January 1, 2014, and enactment of this Act. Requires the Secretary to reconsider any determination made before enactment of this Act not to certify such workers or firms, and to certify them as eligible if they meet the specified requirements. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through calendar 2021, and increase from 72.5% to 80%, the tax credit for the health insurance coverage costs of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) pension and TAA recipients and their dependents.

Alternative Qualifications for Federal Employment Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2014

Alternative Qualifications for Federal Employment Act of 2014 - Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish a pilot program to appoint individuals with alternative educational experience to positions in the civil service.  Defines an "individual with alternative educational experience" as an individual who does not have a degree from an institution of higher education and has received training or education in one or more subject areas or occupational fields from an educational provider who does not meet specified requirements under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Requires the Director to select not less than 25 positions (from not less than 10 diverse occupational fields) during each of FY2015-FY2019 for which an individual with alternative educational experience may apply.

A resolution supporting the goals and ideals of the Secondary School Student Athletes' Bill of Rights.

United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2014

Expresses support for: (1) the principles and values set forth in the Secondary School Student Athletes' Bill of Rights; and (2) secondary schools that have successfully implemented programs, policies, and practices to emphasize and encourage student athlete safety and well-being. Recognizes the importance of proper safety measures, timely medical assessments, and appropriate environmental conditions, and the role that teachers, parents, coaches, and athletic health care team members play, in ensuring the well-being of secondary school student athletes. Encourages secondary schools to continue to take all available and reasonable efforts to ensure student athlete safety.

Veterans Education Survey Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2014

Veterans Education Survey Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into a contract with a non-government entity to conduct a survey of a statistically valid sample of individuals who have used or are using their entitlement to veterans educational assistance to pursue a program of education or training. Requires: (1) the survey to be submitted to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees not later than one month before the collection of data begins, and (2) the entity to conduct the survey electronically or by other appropriate means and to complete the survey and submit the results to the Secretary not later than 180 days after entering into the contract. Requires the survey to be designed to collect specified types of information about each individual surveyed, including: (1) demographic information, including the highest level of education completed, military occupational specialties while serving in the Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserves, and whether the individual has a service-connected disability; (2) the individual's opinion regarding participation in the transition assistance program and the effectiveness of the program; (3) the nature of the individual's experience with the VA's education benefits processing system; and (4) the individual's employment status and whether such status differs from the individual's status prior to enrolling in the program of education or training. Directs the Secretary to report to the Committees on the results of the survey, including an unedited version of the results submitted, and any recommendations.

Supporting the goals and ideals of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week.

United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2014

Expresses support for the goals and ideals of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week. Reaffirms the nation's commitment to creating a world free of multiple sclerosis by promoting awareness about people affected by the disease, promoting new education programs, supporting research, and expanding access to medical treatment. Recognizes people living with multiple sclerosis and salutes the health care professionals and medical researchers who assist those so affected and continue to work to find ways to stop the progression of the disease, restore nerve function, and end multiple sclerosis.

Children in Families First Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2014

Children in Families First Act of 2014 - Establishes within the Department of State the Bureau of Vulnerable Children and Family Security which shall: (1) support the implementation in foreign countries of child welfare laws and policies; and (2) establish within the Bureau a Senior Coordinator for Permanence who shall lead the implementation of policies to ensure permanent family care for children living without families, including refugee and stateless children. States that the Bureau shall be headed by an Assistant Secretary and have lead responsibility for representing the U.S. government in diplomatic contacts pertaining to intercountry adoptions. Amends the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), to carry out the functions prescribed by the Convention regarding the accreditation of U.S. adoption services providers. Establishes data bases for: (1) internationally adopted children, and (2) adoption service providers. Transfers from the Secretary of State to the Field Operations Directorate of USCIS specified adoption-related functions, including accreditation of agencies and approval of persons to provide adoption services and oversight of provider investigations. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), through USCIS, to: (1) be responsible for processing and case-specific decision making on all intercountry adoption cases, (2) ensure that all intercountry adoption suitability and eligibility determinations of prospective adoptive parents are made in accordance with criteria that comply with the Hague Adoption Convention, (3) ensure that all non-Convention adoption cases undergo specified preprocessing, and (4) be responsible for all case processing steps in Convention and non-Convention adoption petitions on behalf of children whom U.S. parents propose to immigrate to the United States. Establishes within the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) a Center of Excellence on Children in Adversity. Authorizes the President to provide assistance for programs in developing countries for nutrition, education, care, and protection of children. Requires USAID to carry out a priority country demonstration program implementing the (December 2012) Action Plan for Children in Adversity over a period of five years in at least six countries. Prohibits: (1) the authorization of appropriations to carry out this Act, and (2) funds from being awarded to the United Nations (U.N.) or any of its subsidiaries.

Expressing support for designation of the week of March 2, 2014, through March 8, 2014, as "School Social Work Week".

United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2014

Expresses support for the designation of School Social Work Week. Honors the contributions of school social workers to the success of students in schools.

IDEA Full Funding Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2014

IDEA Full Funding Act - Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to reauthorize and make appropriations for the grant program to assist states and outlying areas in providing special education and related services to children with disabilities. Sets the amount to be authorized and the amount to be appropriated for each fiscal year from FY2015-FY2023 as the greater of: (1) a specified amount, or (2) a specified percentage of an amount determined pursuant to a formula that multiplies the number of children receiving special education services by the average per-pupil expenditure in public elementary and secondary schools. Authorizes and appropriates funds for FY2024 and each subsequent fiscal year equal to the greater of a specified amount or 40% of the amount determined using such formula. Requires amounts appropriated to be expended consistent with pay-as-you-go requirements.

Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2014

Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of 2014 - Amends the Small Business Act with respect to the authority of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to use certain SBA programs, including the small business development center (SBDC) program, to provide grants, financial assistance, loans, export assistance, and subcontracting opportunities on federal contracts to specified small businesses, organizations, state governments, universities, companies, and other entities that provide assistance to smaller enterprises. Declares that the SBA shall only use such programs to deliver entrepreneurial development services, entrepreneurial education, business incubation services, growth acceleration services, support for the development and maintenance of clusters, or business training. Makes such program requirements inapplicable to services provided to assist small business concerns owned by an Indian tribe. Directs the SBA to report annually to Congress regarding all entrepreneurial development activities undertaken in the current fiscal year. Requires such report to include: (1) a description of the process used to award grants under each program and activity; (2) a list of all awardees, contractors, and vendors; and (3) the amount of funding obligated for the current fiscal year for each program and activity. Bars the SBA from prohibiting applicants receiving grants under the SBDC program from marketing and advertising their services to individuals and small businesses. Revises privacy requirements under such program to specify that SBDCs (including consortia and affiliated contractors or agents) are prohibited, subject to existing exceptions, from disclosing the name, address, or telephone number of any individual or small business concern receiving assistance to any state, local, or federal agency or third party. Directs the SBA to consult with SBDC associations to develop documents governing data collection activities related to applicants receiving grants. Requires the SBA to report annually to Congress regarding such data collection activities. Prohibits participation in private partnerships and cosponsorships with the SBA from limiting SBDCs from collecting fees or other income related to the operation of such partnerships and cosponsorships. Removes a limitation on the amount of funds the SBA may use to pay the examination expenses of the SBDC accreditation program. Prohibits the SBA from awarding grants (including contracts and cooperative agreements) under the SBDC program to any entity other than those that: (1) received such grants prior to September 30, 2014, and (2) seek to renew such grants after such date. Exempts not-for-profit institutions of higher education from such prohibition.

Encouraging people in the United States to recognize March 3, 2014, as Read Across America Day.

United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2014

Honors Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) for his success in encouraging children to discover the joy of reading. Honors the 17th anniversary of Read Across America Day. Encourages parents to read with their children for at least 30 minutes on Read Across America Day.

DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2015

United States · United States House of Representatives · 27 February 2014

Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2014

Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2014 - Title I: Buildings - Subtitle A: Building Energy Codes - Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act (ECPA) to direct the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to: (1) support the development and updating of national model building energy codes for residential and commercial buildings to enable the achievement of aggregate energy savings targets established by this Act, (2) encourage and support the adoption by states and local governments of building energy codes that meet or exceed the national codes, and (3) support full compliance with state and local codes. Subtitle B: Worker Training and Capacity Building - Directs the Secretary to provide grants to establish building training and assessment centers at institutions of higher learning to identify and promote opportunities, concepts, and technologies for expanding building energy and environmental performance. Requires the Secretary to make grants to pay the federal share of career skills training programs to help students obtain a certification to install energy efficient buildings technologies. Subtitle C: School Buildings - Requires the Secretary to act as the lead federal agency for coordinating and disseminating information on existing federal programs and assistance that may be used to help initiate, develop, and finance energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy retrofitting projects for schools. Subtitle D: Better Buildings - Requires the Administrator of General Services (GSA) to develop and publish model leasing provisions and best practices for use in leasing documents that designate a federal agency as a landlord or tenant to encourage building owners and tenants to invest in cost-effective energy efficiency measures. Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) to require the Secretary to study the feasibility of: (1) significantly improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings through the design and construction of separate spaces with high-performance energy efficiency measures, and (2) encouraging owners and tenants to implement such measures in separate spaces. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a voluntary Tenant Star program within the Energy Star program to recognize tenants in commercial buildings that voluntarily achieve high levels of energy efficiency in separate spaces. Requires DOE's Administrator of the Energy Information Administration to collect data on categories of building occupancy that consume significant quantities of energy and on other aspects of the property, building operation, or building occupancy determined to be relevant to lowering energy consumption. Subtitle E: Energy Information for Commercial Buildings - Amends EISA to revise exceptions to the requirement that federal agencies must lease space in buildings that have earned the Energy Star label. Requires a space leased by an agency in a building that has not earned the Energy Star label to be benchmarked under a nationally recognized, online, free benchmarking program, with public disclosure. Exempts from such requirement a space for which owners cannot access whole building utility consumption data. Requires the Secretary to modify and maintain existing databases or create and maintain a new database platform to store and make publicly available energy-related information on commercial and multifamily buildings. Authorizes the Secretary to make awards to utilities, utility regulators, and utility partners to develop and implement programs to provide aggregated whole building energy consumption information to multitenant building owners. Title II: Industrial Efficiency and Competitiveness - Subtitle A: Manufacturing Energy Efficiency - Amends EISA to rename the energy-intensive industries program as the future of industry program. Amends ECPA to require the Secretary: (1) as part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, to conduct on-site technical assessments at the request of a manufacturer to identify opportunities for maximizing the energy efficiency of industrial processes and cross-cutting systems, preventing pollution and minimizing waste, improving efficient use of water in manufacturing processes, and conserving natural resources; and (2) as part of DOE's industrial efficiency programs, to carry out an industry-government partnership program to research, develop, and demonstrate new sustainable manufacturing and industrial technologies and processes that maximize the energy efficiency of industrial systems, reduce pollution, and conserve natural resources. Requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to expedite consideration of applications from eligible small businesses for loans under the Small Business Act to implement recommendations of industrial research and assessment centers. Subtitle B: Supply Start - Establishes within DOE a Supply Star program to identify and promote practices, recognize companies, and recognize products that use highly efficient supply chains that conserve energy, water, and other resources. Subtitle C: Electric Motor Rebate Program - Directs the Secretary to establish rebate programs for expenditures for the purchase and installation of: (1) a new constant speed electric motor control that reduces motor energy use by at least 5%, and (2) certain commercial or industrial machinery or equipment that is manufactured and incorporates an advanced motor and drive system. Subtitle D: Transformer Rebate Program - Directs the Secretary to establish rebate programs for expenditures made by owners of industrial or manufacturing facilities, commercial buildings, and multifamily residential buildings for the purchase and installation of new energy efficient transformers. Title III: Federal Agency Energy Efficiency - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, with respect to federal agency energy management, to require each agency to collaborate with the Director of the Office of the Management and Budget (OMB) to develop an implementation strategy for the maintenance, purchase, and use of energy-efficient and energy-saving information technologies. Requires the OMB Director to establish performance goals for evaluating the efforts of agencies in improving such technology systems. Requires the Chief Information Officers Council to supplement the goals with recommendations on best practices for attaining them. Authorizes the GSA Administrator, for any building project for which congressional approval has been received and the design has been substantially completed, but whose construction has not begun, to use appropriated funds to update the building's design to meet energy efficiency and other standards for new federal buildings. Amends EISA to revise requirements for data center energy efficiency. Designates an information technology industry organization that coordinates the voluntary national information program for such centers. Requires establishment of an open data initiative for federal data center usage data. Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish a demonstration program for energy and water conservation improvements at multifamily residential units. Title IV: Regulatory Provisions - Subtitle A: Third-Party Certification Under Energy Star Program - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to direct the EPA Administrator to revise the certification requirements for the labeling of consumer, home, and office electronic products for program partners that have complied with all requirements of the Energy Star program for a period of at least 18 months. Prohibits such requirements from requiring third-party certification for such a product to be listed. Subtitle B: Federal Green Buildings - Amends EISA to revise requirements for certification of green buildings. Subtitle C: Water Heaters - Amends EPCA to establish additional energy conservation standards applicable to grid-enabled water heaters (those intended for use as part of an electric thermal storage or demand response program). Subtitle D: Energy Performance Requirements for Federal Buildings - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to extend energy performance requirements for federal buildings through FY2017 (from a 30% reduction from 2003 energy consumption level for FY2015 to a 36% reduction for FY2017). Amends ECPA to revise the definition of "federal building" to include buildings altered by federal agencies, and to define "major renovation." Requires the Secretary to establish revised federal building energy efficiency performance standards after the approval of revisions of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 or the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) to meet or exceed such revisions. Repeals a standard on fossil fuel-generated energy use in federal buildings. Requires federal building energy standards to be: (1) reviewed every five years, and (2) upgraded to include all new energy efficiency and renewable energy measures that are technologically feasible and economically justified if significant energy savings would result. Directs the Secretary of HUD to develop and issue guidelines for all federal mortgage agencies to implement enhanced loan eligibility requirements, for use when testing the ability of a loan applicant to repay a covered loan, that account for the expected energy cost savings for a loan applicant at a subject property. Directs the Secretary to issue guidelines for how covered agencies shall determine: (1) the maximum permitted loan amount based on the value of the property for all covered loans made on properties with an energy efficiency report meeting certain requirements, and (2) the estimated energy savings for properties with such a report. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to require standards for the performance of real estate appraisals in connection with federally related transactions to require at a minimum that state certified and licensed appraisers have timely access to information from the property owner and the lender that may be relevant in developing an opinion of value regarding the energy- and water-saving improvements or features of a property. Applies the requirement of state certified appraisers to transactions involving any real property on which the appraiser makes adjustments using an energy efficiency report. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory group on the implementation of the enhanced energy efficiency underwriting criteria established in this Act. Subtitle E: Third-Party Testing - Amends EPCA to require the Secretary of DOE and the EPA Administrator to rely on voluntary certification programs for air conditioning, furnace, boiler, heat pump, and water heater products. Title V: Miscellaneous - Amends EISA to reduce appropriations for the Zero Net Energy Commercial Buildings Initiative.

Handgun Trigger Safety Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2014

Handgun Trigger Safety Act of 2014 - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Justice to make one-year grants to qualified entities (states or local governments, organizations, or institutions of higher education) to develop technology for personalized handguns (a handgun that is manufactured to enable only the authorized user to fire it). Provides that a recipient shall use at least 70% of the grant amount to develop technology for personalized handguns and may use not more than 20% to develop technology for retrofitted personalized handguns and not more than 10% for administrative costs. Prohibits any person: (1) beginning two years after enactment of this Act, from manufacturing in the United States a handgun that is not a personalized handgun; or (2) beginning three years after enactment of this Act, from distributing in commerce any handgun that is not a personalized handgun or a retrofitted personalized handgun. Exempts antique firearms and firearms distributed or sold to the Department of Defense (DOD). Provides for the enforcement of such prohibitions by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and by the states. Requires a handgun manufacturer, upon request of the owner of a handgun manufactured in the United States that is not a personalized handgun or a retrofitted personalized handgun, to retrofit the handgun and return it to the owner within a reasonable period of time as established by the CPSC. Makes the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund available to the Attorney General for payments to reimburse handgun manufacturers for the costs of retrofitting handguns. Amends the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to exclude from the definition of "qualified product" any handgun manufactured after two years after enactment of this Act that is not a personalized handgun or retrofitted personalized handgun.