Education

Veterans Jobs Corps Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2012

Veterans Jobs Corps Act of 2012 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) (Secretary) to establish a veteran jobs corps to employ veterans: (1) in conservation, resource management, and historic preservation projects on public lands and maintenance and improvement projects for cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the National Cemetery Administration; and (2) as firefighters and law enforcement officers. Requires priority employment for veterans who served on active duty on or after September 11, 2001. Provides for such employment in coordination with the Attorney General, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, and the Interior. Directs the Secretary to establish a steering committee for assistance in providing such employment. Directs the head of each federal agency to develop a plan for exercising, during the five-year period beginning on the enactment of this Act, current Department of Defense (DOD) and VA authority to hire qualified veterans for positions within the federal government. Includes as qualified veterans those who: (1) are disabled or recently separated; (2) served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized; or (3) while serving on active duty, participated in a military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded. Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to ensure that, under such plans, agencies shall appoint no less than 10,000 qualified veterans during the five-year period. Requires the Director to report to the congressional veterans and oversight committees on activities carried out under this section. Requires a state, as a condition for receipt of a grant or contract from the VA for support of disabled veterans' outreach specialists and local veterans' employment representatives, to establish a program which issues a license or credential to a veteran without requiring any training or apprenticeship if such veteran: (1) receives a satisfactory score on completion of an examination administered by that state, and (2) has at least 10 years of experience in a military occupational specialty that is similar to the civilian occupation for which such license or credential is required. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) furnish each one-stop (job search) center with a list of all Internet websites and applications identified as beneficial for veterans in pursuit of employment; (2) coordinate with public and private entities to identify websites and applications not included on such list that match veterans seeking employment with available jobs based on skills acquired as members of the Armed Forces, and allow employers to post information about available jobs; and (3) report on such websites and applications to the veterans and education committees. Directs the Secretary, as a condition of a grant or contract to a state for certain veterans' employment and training programs, to require the state to demonstrate the consideration of any military training received by a veteran when approving or denying a license or certification as a nursing assistant, certified nursing assistant, commercial driver, emergency medical technician EMT-B or EMT-1, or emergency medical technician-paramedic. Directs the Secretaries of Labor and Education to jointly conduct and report to Congress on a study to determine the value and utility of a registry of recognized postsecondary credentials valued by employers, individuals, providers of education and training, economic development professionals, state and local officials, and other relevant stakeholders. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish minimum funding levels for specified veterans' benefits contracts and grants to ensure that each state receives sufficient funding to support at least one disabled veterans' outreach program specialist and one local veterans' employment representative per 5,000 square miles of service delivery area within the state. Directs the Secretary of Labor, during the three-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, to provide the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) to veterans and their spouses at locations other than military installations in at least three and up to five states selected by the Secretary based on the highest rates of veteran unemployment. Requires reports from such Secretary and the Comptroller General to Congress on such TAP training. Expands VA small business contracting goals to include small businesses fully, but conditionally, owned by one or more veterans. Treats the surviving spouse of a service-disabled veteran who acquires the ownership interest in a small business of the deceased veteran as such veteran, for purposes of eligibility for VA service-disabled small business contracting goals and preferences, for a period of: (1) 10 years after the veteran's death, if such veteran was either 100% disabled or died from a service-connected disability; or (2) 3 years after such death, if the veteran was less than 100% disabled and did not die from a service-connected disability. Treats a small business acquired by the surviving spouse or dependent from a member of the Armed Forces killed during active duty as a small business owned and controlled by a service-disabled veteran, for purposes of VA small business contracting goals and preferences. Continues such treatment for the period beginning on the date of the member's death and ending on the earlier of: (1) the date on which the surviving spouse remarries or relinquishes such ownership interest or ten years after the member's death, or (2) the date on which the surviving dependent relinquishes such ownership interest or ten years after the member's death. Provides that if the Secretary determines, for purposes of VA small business contracting goals, that an individual would have had a greater degree of ownership of a small business in a state other than a community property state, then the Secretary shall treat such small business as licensed in a non-community property state. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a 100% continuous levy upon the property and rights of Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) providers and suppliers neglecting or refusing to pay taxes. Permits the Secretary of State to deny, revoke, or limit a passport to any individual upon receiving certification from the Secretary of the Treasury that such individual has a delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of $50,000. Extends through March 31, 2017, the current $90 limit on VA pension paid to veterans residing in nursing homes when their nursing costs are paid through title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Increases, for corporations with assets of at least $1 billion, the required estimated income tax payments otherwise due in the third quarter of: (1) 2013 by 0.25%, and (2) 2017 by 0.50%. Requires the next required installment to be appropriately reduced to reflect the amount of this increase.

Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2012

Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act of 2012 - Directs the Secretary of Education to make grants to states to prevent teacher layoffs and support the creation of additional jobs in early childhood, elementary, and secondary public education in the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school years. Directs the Secretary to allocate grant funds based on each state's: (1) population of individuals aged 5 through 17 relative to all other states, and (2) total population relative to all other states. Sets forth application requirements, including assurances with respect to maintenance of state support for early childhood, elementary, and secondary education at no less than FY2011 levels. Requires a state to: (1) reserve 10% of grant funds for awards to state-funded early learning programs; and (2) allocate remaining funds to local educational agencies (LEAs) based on each LEA's enrollment, and the amount of funds received by the LEA for basic programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, relative to the enrollment of and amounts received by all other LEAs in the state. Requires early learning programs and LEAs to use such funds only to pay compensation, benefits, and other expenses necessary to retain existing employees, recall or rehire former employees, or hire new employees to provide early childhood, elementary, or secondary educational and related services. Directs: (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to make competitive grants to hire, rehire, and retain firefighters pursuant to the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 and to maintain resources for fire departments; and (2) the Attorney General to make competitive grants to hire, rehire, and retain career law enforcement officers pursuant to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. Authorizes additional appropriations for FY2012-FY2013 for such grants.

Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2012

Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to distribution of additional resident positions as they affect calculation of payments for direct graduate medical education (DME) costs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), for each of FY2013-FY2017 (and each succeeding fiscal year if additional residency positions are available to distribute), to increase the otherwise applicable resident limit for each qualifying hospital. Directs the Secretary to determine the total number of additional residency positions available for distribution, in accordance with guidelines for allocating 33% to hospitals already operating over the resident limit, and generally setting the aggregate number of increases in the resident limit to 3,000 in each year. Specifies the process for distributing positions. Directs the National Health Care Workforce Commission established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to study the physician workforce. Directs the Comptroller General to study strategies for increasing the diversity of the health profession workforce.

Local Schools and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2012

Local Schools and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2012 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a second advance refunding of an original tax-exempt private activity bond.

A resolution supporting "Lights on Afterschool", a national celebration of afterschool programs.

United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2012

Expresses the Senate's support for "Lights On Afterschool," a national celebration of after-school programs held on October 18, 2012.

A resolution designating October 4, 2012, as "Jumpstart's Read for the Record Day".

United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2012

Designates October 4, 2012, as Jumpstart's Read for the Record Day. Commends Jumpstart's Read for the Record on its seventh year. (Jumpstart is a national nonprofit early childhood education organization.) Encourages adults to: (1) join children in creating the world's largest shared reading experience, and (2) show their support for literacy and Jumpstart's early education programming for young children in low-income communities.

A resolution designating the week of September 24 through September 28, 2012, as "National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week".

United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2012

Designates the week of September 24-September 28, 2012, as National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week.

A resolution celebrating the 50th anniversary of the signing of Public Law 87-788, an Act commonly known as the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Act.

United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2012

Celebrates the 50th anniversary of the signing of the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Act. Affirms the importance of the state-supported institutions of higher education conducting forestry research and training supported by such Act. Requests that the Secretary of the Senate transmit to the National Association of University Forest Resources Programs an enrolled copy of this resolution.

Voter Empowerment Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2012

Voter Empowerment Act of 2012 - Voter Registration Modernization Act of 2012 - Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) to require each state to make available official public websites for online voter registration. Authorizes automated voter registration of certain individuals and establishes other initiatives to promote voter registration, such as same day registration and voter registration of individuals under 18 years of age. Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit hindering, interfering with, or preventing voter registration. Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) to establish requirements for states to promote access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities, including a single office for providing related information. Directs the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to make grants to eligible states to conduct pilot programs enabling individuals with disabilities to register to vote and vote privately and independently at their own residences (including by telephone). Amends HAVA to reauthorize the program of grants to state and local governments to assure voting access for individuals with disabilities. Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit state or local election officials from preventing an individual from registering or voting in any federal election (voter caging), or from permitting a formal challenge under state law to an individual's registration status or eligibility to vote, if the basis for such decision is evidence consisting of: (1) a voter caging document or voter caging list, (2) an unverified match list, (3) an error or omission on voter application or registration documents that is not material to an individual's eligibility to vote, or (4) any other evidence so designated by the Commission. Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit a person, including an election official, from knowingly and willfully attempting to or depriving or defrauding the residents of a state of their free and fair exercise of the right to vote by the communication of election-related information that is known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent. Increases the penalty for voter intimidation. Declares that the right of an individual U.S. citizen to vote in any federal election shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has been convicted of a criminal offense unless he or she is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution at the time of the election. Prescribes enforcement of this right by public or private civil action. Requires each state to notify in writing any individual convicted of a criminal offense under state law, upon release from state custody or upon sentence to probation, that he or she has the right to vote in a federal election and so may register to vote. Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2012 - Amends HAVA to revise requirements for the audit capacity of voting systems, particularly those for a permanent paper record. Requires the voting system to require the use of an individual, durable, voter-verified paper ballot of the voter's vote that shall be marked and made available for inspection by the voter before the voter's vote is cast and counted, and which shall be counted by hand or read by an optical character recognition device or other counting device. Requires the voting system to provide the voter with an opportunity to correct any system-made error in the voter-verified paper ballot before it is permanently preserved. Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to make grants to eligible entities to study, test, and develop accessible ballot voting, verification, and casting mechanisms and devices and best practices to enhance the accessibility of paper ballot voting and verification mechanisms for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary language is not English, and for voters with difficulties in literacy. Prescribes requirements for: (1) publication of poll tapes, (2) treatment of ballots cast at early voting sites and of absentee ballots, and (3) the counting of provisional ballots that will be treated as votes. Prescribes laboratory conflict-of-interest requirements and prohibitions. Requires the NSF Director to make grants to eligible entities to conduct research on the development of election-dedicated voting system software. Requires each state, except when the winning candidate had no opponent or received 80% or more of the votes, to administer audits of federal election results, without advance notice to the precincts selected, consisting of random hand counts of the voter-verified paper ballots. Requires the Election Auditor of a state, as soon as practicable after the completion of an audit, to submit the results to EAC for publication. Prohibits certification of the results of any election until completion of audits. Amends HAVA to: (1) add requirements for counting provisional ballots, (2) require each state to allow early voting and facilitate the ability of voters to vote by mail. Amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to extend the guarantee of voting residency to family members of absent military personnel. Amends the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) with respect to pre-election reports on availability and transmission of absentee ballots. Revises the 45-day absentee ballot transmission rule. Permits: (1) use of a single absentee ballot application for subsequent elections, and (2) application of the UOCAVA to Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. Entitles to leave a federal employee who serves as a poll worker. Directs the EAC to: (1) make a grant to each eligible state for poll-worker recruitment and training, and (2) develop materials for a model state poll worker training program. Amends HAVA to make available to any person aggrieved by a violation of uniform and nondiscriminatory election technology and administration requirements the option to file a complaint with the Attorney General or pursue a private right of action to enforce such requirements. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to make it unlawful for a chief state election administration official, unless he or she or a family member is a candidate, to take an active part in political management or in a political campaign for federal office over which such official has supervisory authority. Amends the NVRA to treat universities as voter registration agencies. Amends the HAVA to establish minimum notification requirements on behalf of voters affected by polling place changes. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) coordinate the establishment of a state-based response system for responding to questions and complaints from individuals voting or seeking to vote, or registering to vote or seeking to, in federal elections; (2) establish and operate a toll-free telephone service to connect directly to such response system; and (3) appoint a Voter Hotline Task Force. Amends HAVA to: (1) reauthorize and extend the EAC, and (2) repeal its exemption from certain government contracting requirements

School Food Modernization Act

United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2012

School Food Modernization Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to issue loan guarantees to local educational agencies, tribal organizations, or consortia of such entities to finance the construction, remodeling, or expansion of infrastructure or the purchase of durable equipment that will facilitate their provision of healthy meals through the school breakfast and lunch programs. Favors loan guarantee applicants that demonstrate a substantial or disproportionate need (as compared with other applicants) for food service infrastructure or durable equipment. Prohibits a loan guarantee from covering more than 90% of a loan's principal. Directs the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to experienced third-party training institutions to provide school food service personnel with the training and technical assistance they need to meet updated school lunch program nutrition standards.

Student Financial Aid Simplification Act

United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2012

Student Financial Aid Simplification Act - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to determine students' need and eligibility for title IV assistance, unless they qualify for the simplified needs test or expect no family contribution, by using tax return information regarding those students or their parents that this Act authorizes the Secretary of Education to obtain from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Requires those students to submit to the Secretary certain supplementary information not available from the IRS. Requires the Secretary to provide institutions of higher education and states with that tax return information, without charge, for the purposes of processing loan applications and determining need and eligibility for institutional and state financial aid. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to disclose tax return information to the Department of Education regarding taxpayers or their dependents whose need and eligibility for assistance under title IV of the HEA is based in whole or part on their income or their parents' income.

College Cost Reduction Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2012

College Cost Reduction Act of 2012 - Directs the Secretary of Education to establish the Higher Education Regulatory Reform Task Force to prepare a report, that is to be submitted to Congress and made available on a publicly accessible website, on federal regulatory requirements for institutions of higher education (IHEs). Requires the report to contain: (1) a list of rules that are determined to be outmoded, duplicative, ineffective, or excessively burdensome; (2) an analysis of how the costs of such rules outweigh their benefits; (3) recommendations to consolidate, modify, simplify, or repeal such rules and a description of the justification for and impact of such recommendations; and (4) recommendations on establishing a permanent entity to review new regulatory requirements affecting IHEs. Requires the President to submit to Congress a legislative proposal for carrying out some or all of the recommendations contained in the report. Includes, as part of that proposal, a requirement that the Secretary promulgate regulations requiring IHEs to control annual tuition increases and penalizing noncompliant schools. Establishes congressional procedures to expedite consideration of the President's proposal.

Campus Safety for Children Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2012

Campus Safety for Children Act of 2012 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in title IV (Student Assistance) programs to include in their annual campus security reports, provided to current and prospective students and employees, statistics on sexual offenses against minors that were reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies over the three preceding calendar years. Prohibits those IHEs from exempting school employees from their campus sexual assault prevention programs.

STEM Network Act

United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2012

STEM Network Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award matching grants to state-based STEM networks or similar organizations to increase elementary and secondary school students' achievement in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines, particularly in rural and low-income schools. Includes among grant uses: testing, sharing, and scaling up STEM education research, promising practices, and exemplary programs; identifying state STEM education weaknesses and prioritizing strategies to address them; implementing rigorous common STEM education content standards; developing and implementing innovative STEM assessments; promoting and developing pre- and in-service STEM teacher training; developing STEM career pathways and workforce education and training programs that reflect 21st century workforce needs; and facilitating the implementation of extended STEM learning times on school sites. Requires grantees to conduct periodic independent evaluations of their effectiveness in accomplishing those activities. Prohibits the Secretary from: (1) endorsing or approving any STEM curriculum designed for use in an elementary school, secondary school, or institution of higher education; or (2) requiring a state, local educational agency, or school to adopt a specific STEM program or instructional materials.

Student Loan Prepayment Standardization Act

United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2012

Student Loan Prepayment Standardization Act - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require that when the holder of a borrower's private education loans or loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) or 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 interest and principal due on the loan with the highest interest rate. Makes that requirement inapplicable to income-based repayment plans for FFELs or DLs.

Understanding the True Cost of College Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2012

Understanding the True Cost of College Act of 2012 - Amends the Higher Education Opportunity Act to refer to the Secretary of Education's model institution of higher eduction (IHE) financial aid offer form as the standard form. Requires the standard form to include certain additional items, such as: (1) information concerning work study assistance, including its dependence on the availability of employment opportunities; (2) the disclosure that federal student loans offer generally more favorable terms and repayment options than private education loans; (3) the deadline for and a summary of the financial aid acceptance process; (4) the academic period covered by the offer and whether the aid is based on full-time or part-time enrollment; and (5) the IHE's most recent cohort default rate compared to the national average cohort default rate, if more than 30% of the school's students take out student loans. Requires more detailed information to be included on the form. Includes among those details, with respect to federal education loans, information: (1) identifying the type and amount of loan recommended for the applicable student; (2) clearly indicating that such loans need to be repaid; (3) disclosing the student's right to borrow less than the recommended amount; and (4) detailing the interest rates, fees, expected monthly repayment amounts, and sums to be paid over the life of such loans. Requires that certain steps be taken to improve the clarity of the form and provide recipients with access to additional information. Directs the Secretary, before finalizing the standard form, to submit it to consumer testing among students, their families, IHEs, secondary school and postsecondary counselors, and nonprofit consumer groups. Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require each IHE receiving federal financial assistance under the Act to use the standard form in providing written or electronic financial aid offers to students enrolled in, or accepted for enrollment in, the IHE.

Detroit Economic Competitiveness Act

United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2012

Detroit Economic Competitiveness Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the Detroit Jobs Trust Fund to finance economic development in Detroit, Michigan. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to make annual distributions from such Fund to the city of Detroit for payment of debt obligations and for job development, public safety, education, and business and public infrastructure. Prohibits any distributions unless the city of Detroit: (1) does not impose an income tax during a period of distribution, (2) has made specified reductions in aggregate property taxes, (3) has used prior distributions as required under this Act, (4) has provided required information to the Comptroller General (GAO), and (5) has implemented a five-year plan describing development goals for Detroit and detailing how distributions from the Trust Fund will be spent. Terminates such Fund five years after enactment of this Act. Requires GAO to submit annual reports to Congress describing the use of distributions from the Trust Fund, the extent to which progress has been made in meeting the plan's development goals, and Comptroller General recommendations for improving the program established under this Act. Excludes from gross income capital gain from the sale or exchange of investment property used in trade or business in Detroit.

Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act of 2012 - Authorizes any person, entity, or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to propose the regulation of nonnative wildlife taxa. Requires FWS to determine whether the proposal should be approved within 180 days. Requires FWS to promulgate regulations to: (1) specify the criteria for regulating a nonnative taxon as an Injurious I taxon or Injurious II taxon that is injurious to humans, agriculture, horticulture, forestry, wildlife, or wildlife resources; (2) establish a process for assessing and analyzing the risks of taxa that may have been imported into or found in interstate commerce; and (3) designate a wildlife taxon that was previously designated as injurious by statue or the Secretary of the Interior as an Injurious I or Injurious II taxon. Requires the Secretary, five years after enactment of this Act, to: (1) define the phrase “non-native wildlife taxa novel to the United States”; (2) establish a process to ensure that all such taxa are thereafter reviewed by FWS to determine whether they should be regulated as Injurious I or Injurious II taxa prior to allowing their importation; and (3) seek to avoid, in promulgating such regulation, creating a new incentive for animal importers to import novel taxa prior to the effective date of such regulation. Requires FWS, prior to designating a taxon as an Injurious I or Injurious II taxon, to prepare a risk determination. Authorizes FWS to immediately and temporarily designate a nonnative wildlife taxon as Injurious I if an emergency exists because such unregulated taxon poses an imminent threat of harm to individuals in, or wildlife of, the United States or to the U.S. economy or environment. Requires FWS to: (1) establish an electronic, publicly available database that describes all quantities of imports of all live wildlife and the regulatory status of such wildlife; (2) monitor and report on the identities and quantities of nonnative wildlife taxa being imported; and (3) make more rapid determinations on proposals for regulation of importations or shipments of injurious mammals, birds, fish, amphibia, and reptiles under the Lacey Act by requiring the Secretary to forego time-consuming optional administrative steps that are not essential and by authorizing the Secretary to forego economic impact analyses. Gives the Secretary the primary authority to prevent the importation of, and interstate commerce in, wildlife pathogens and harmful parasites. Requires the Secretary to promulgate regulations to impose import restrictions to prevent the importation of, and commerce in, such pathogens and parasites. Establishes exemptions to such requirement. Prohibits any person from: (1) importing or knowingly possessing such an Injurious I or Injurious II taxon, or the descendant of such an animal, that was imported in violation of this Act; (2) engaging in interstate commerce for or knowingly possessing such an animal that was transported in interstate commerce in violation of this Act; and (3) releasing any such taxon into the wild. Sets forth exemptions from such prohibitions. Authorizes FWS to issue permits to qualified institutions to authorize actions otherwise prohibited for such taxon. Establishes civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act. Requires the Secretary to adopt a fee to be charged on imported live wildlife shipments, excluding shipments made by qualified institutions for scientific, veterinary, or medical research, education, conservation outreach, or display purposes. Establishes the Injurious Wildlife Prevention Fund to carry out this Act.

Improving Dementia Care Treatment for Older Adults Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Improving Dementia Care Treatment for Older Adults Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to establish and implement prescriber education programs to promote high quality evidence-based treatment through the development and dissemination of objective, educational, and informational materials to physicians and other prescribing practitioners, including such a program developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Amends SSA titles XVIII and XIX (Medicaid) with respect to the review and reporting of antipsychotics prescribed to skilled nursing facility (SNF) and nursing facility residents with dementia. Directs the Secretary to develop a standardized protocol for such facilities to obtain informed consent from an older adult with dementia before prescribing an antipsychotic to him or her for a use not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Directs the Comptroller General to study state laws and regulations concerning informed consent with respect to the administration of a psychoactive medication with regard to the effectiveness of such laws and practices in changing the frequency of prescribing of such medications to older adults with dementia. Directs the Secretary to include a measure of the utilization of antipsychotics for each such facility for inclusion on the Nursing Home Compare Website as part of the quality measures or health inspection measures, or both such measures, under the Five-Star Quality Rating System. Directs the Comptroller General to study the impact of the standardized protocol for obtaining informed consent under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies to study appropriate prescribing of antipsychotics for hospital inpatients and whether documentation of antipsychotic use in patients with dementia is provided during transitions of care from hospitals to other care settings.

Careers through Responsive, Efficient, and Effective Retraining Act

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Careers through Responsive, Efficient, and Effective Retraining Act - Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1988, with respect to funds for statewide youth activities which are allocated to a local area for eligible youth seeking assistance in achieving academic and employment success, to require the use of such funds for training programs, with priority consideration given to those that lead to an industry-recognized, nationally portable, and regionally relevant credential. Requires the operator of a state one-stop system for delivery of training services to adults and dislocated workers also to give priority consideration to training programs that lead to the same kind of credential. Requires the program of a provider of training services that leads to such a credential to meet quality criteria as established by the state governor. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish in at least five states, including at least one rural state, a Pay for Performance pilot program to provide a portion of training services for adults and dislocated workers under a plan meeting specified criteria. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to prepare a plan to reorganize federal job training programs to increase their efficiency, integration, and alignment. Requires the plan to propose a decrease in the number of federal job training programs without decreasing services or accessibility to them for eligible job training participants, including individuals with specified barriers to employment such as economic disadvantage, limited English proficiency, age, a need for remedial education, or completion of a criminal sentence. Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to disclose pertinent employment information in the National Directory of New Hires to any state agency administering part D that transmits to the Secretary the names and Social Security account numbers of individuals. Prescribes restrictions on state use of such information.

Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection Act of 2012 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to include as a purpose of such Act to achieve the goals established in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan (Action Plan), the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy (Strategy), and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978 (Agreement) through: (1) improved organization and definition of mission on the part of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); (2) the funding of grants, contracts, and interagency agreements for protection, restoration, and pollution control in the Great Lakes area; and (3) improved accountability. Expands the duties of the Great Lakes Program Office to include coordinating with the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force (Task Force), established by this Act. Requires the Administrator of EPA to establish the Great Lakes Advisory Board to provide advice and recommendations to the Administrator on matters pertaining to Great Lakes restoration and protection. Finds that the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (Initiative), which commenced in 2010, is designed to: (1) identify programs and projects that are strategically selected to target the most significant environmental problems in the Great Lakes ecosystem; (2) be based on the work of the Task Force and the Advisory Board, stakeholders, and nongovernmental partners; and (3) represent the government's commitment to significantly advancing Great Lakes protection and restoration. Requires the Initiative to prioritize work done by non-federal partners using funding made available for the Great Lakes for priority areas for each fiscal year, such as: (1) the remediation of toxic substances and areas of concern, (2) the prevention and control of invasive species and their impacts, (3) the protection and restoration of near-shore health and the prevention and mitigation of nonpoint source pollution, and (4) habitat and wildlife protection and restoration. Requires that: (1) Initiative funds be used to strategically implement federal projects and projects carried out in coordination with states, Indian tribes, municipalities, institutions of higher education, and other organizations; and (2) Initiative projects be carried out on multiple levels, including local, Great Lakes-wide, and Great Lakes basin-wide. Prohibits funding made available to implement the Initiative from being used for any water infrastructure activity (other than a green infrastructure project that improves habitat and other ecosystem functions in the Great Lakes) that is implemented using funds made available under the clean water or drinking water state revolving fund program. Requires federal agencies to: (1) maintain the base level of funding for their Great Lakes activities, and (2) identify new activities to support the environmental goals of the Initiative. Authorizes appropriations for the Initiative for FY2013-FY2017. Establishes the Task Force to: (1) collaborate with Canada, provinces of Canada, and binational bodies involved in the Great Lakes region regarding policies, strategies, projects, and priorities for the Great Lakes System; (2) coordinate the development of federal policies, strategies, projects, and priorities for addressing the restoration and protection of the System consistent with the Agreement, the Action Plan, and the Strategy; (3) assist in the appropriate management of the System; (4) develop goals for the System that focus on outcomes such as cleaner water, sustainable fisheries, and biodiversity and ensure that federal policies, strategies, projects, and priorities support measurable results and are consistent with the Strategy and Action Plan; (5) exchange information regarding policies, strategies, projects, and activities of the agencies represented on the Task Force relating to the System, the Strategy, the Agreement, and the Action Plan; (6) coordinate government action associated with the System; (7) ensure coordinated federal scientific and other research associated with the System; (8) provide assistance and support to agencies represented on the Task Force in activities relating to the System; (9) establish annual priorities with respect to Great Lakes protection and restoration; and (10) review and update such Strategy and Action Plan every five years. Requires the Administrator to submit to Congress annually a comprehensive report on the overall health of the Great Lakes, including a description of the achievements in implementing the Agreement, a list of the Initiative's accomplishments, and recommendations for streamlining work of existing advisory and coordinating committees. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit to Congress, annually, a financial report certified by each agency that has budget authority for Great Lakes restoration activities that contains: (1) an interagency budget crosscut report, (2) a detailed accounting of all funds received and obligated by all federal agencies and state agencies using federal funds for Great Lakes restoration activities during the current and previous fiscal years, (3) a budget for the proposed projects to be carried out in the subsequent fiscal year, and (4) a listing of projects to be undertaken in the subsequent fiscal year. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) remediation of sediment contamination in areas of concern in the Great Lakes, and (2) the Great Lakes Program.

Educator Preparation Reform Act

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Educator Preparation Reform Act - Amends title II (Teacher Quality Enhancement) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise the Teacher Quality Partnership grant program. (The grant program provides funds to partnerships of high-need local educational agencies [LEAs], high-need schools, institutions of higher education [IHEs], and, as applicable, high-need early childhood education programs which are to use the funds for a pre-baccalaureate teacher preparation program, a teaching residency program, or a combination of such programs. Partnerships may also use grant funds for a leadership development program.) Allows grant funds to be used for pre- or post-baccalaureate teacher preparation programs. Allows grant funds to be used for teaching or principal residency programs. Requires principal residency programs to prepare principals for success in the high-need schools in the partnership by engaging residents in rigorous graduate-level coursework to earn an appropriate advanced credential while they undertake a guided principal apprenticeship alongside a trained and experienced mentor principal. Requires principal residents to have prior prekindergarten through grade 12 teaching experience. Provides them with a living stipend or salary during the one-year residency program in exchange for at least three years of service as a principal in a high-need school immediately following their successful completion of the residency program. Replaces the leadership development program with an educator development program that addresses a partnership's need to train and retain educators other than teachers or principals, such as specialized instructional support personnel and other school staff who provide or support instruction. Authorizes a partnership to receive more than one grant during a five-year period if one of the grants is used to establish a teaching or principal residency program that was not established with the prior grant. Applies certain partnership accountability and evaluation requirements to teachers, principals, and other educators. Revises teacher preparation program accountability requirements. Applies them not only to IHEs, but also to other organizations approved by the state to prepare teachers for classrooms. Requires those programs to train prospective teachers to teach diverse populations and core academic subjects. Requires states to establish a period of improvement and redesign for teacher preparation programs they identify as low-performing before terminating their approval or funding. Reauthorizes appropriations for the Teacher Quality Partnership grant program through FY2018. Amends part A (Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund) of title II (Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require states to develop, implement, and publicly disclose their criteria for identifying a teacher preparation program as low-performing or at risk of being identified as such. Requires those criteria to include multiple measures of teacher performance. Replaces the program under subpart 3 (Subgrants to Eligible Partnerships) of part A of title II of the ESEA with a program under which states directly or through subgrants to certain educational entities: (1) develop and implement a teacher performance assessment for teacher preparation programs, LEAs, and the state agency responsible for licensing teachers; (2) provide technical assistance to and close low-performing teacher preparation programs identified under the HEA; and (3) develop a system for assessing the quality and effectiveness of professional development offered throughout the state. Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the HEA to prohibit IHEs that offer a teacher preparation program that has been, or is at risk of being, identified as low-performing by its state for a year from awarding TEACH grants for that year. (The TEACH grant program provides tuition assistance to students who commit to teaching a high-need subject in a high-need elementary or secondary school for four years.)

Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act of 2011 - Revises and reauthorizes programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Title I: Ensuring College and Career Readiness for All Students - Amends title I of the ESEA to revise the school improvement program under part A. Eliminates the requirement that local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools make adequate yearly progress toward state academic performance standards or be subject to specified improvements, corrective action, or restructuring. Requires states to adopt college and career ready academic content and achievement standards and assessments in reading, mathematics, science, and English language proficiency. Requires states to adopt and implement assessments of student progress toward those standards that measure the overall performance of students in each public school and the performance of their poor, minority, disabled, and English learner subgroups. Allows states to adopt alternate academic achievement standards and assessments for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Allows states to measure student growth toward those standards and to develop and administer computer adaptive assessments that determine whether each student is meeting or exceeding the on-track level of performance for his or her grade level. Requires states to provide for the improvement of all schools that are low-performing overall or have low-performing student subgroups on those assessments or, in the case of high schools, low graduation rates. Subjects schools to improvement strategies if they are identified as persistently low-achieving or achievement gap schools due to their students overall or one or more of their student subgroups having among the lowest reading and mathematics scores or lowest high school graduation rates in the state. Requires each LEA that serves an achievement gap school to develop and implement a measurable and data-driven correction plan to improve the performance of the school's low-achieving subgroups. Requires LEAs to conduct a data-driven needs analysis of each of their persistently low-achieving schools and use it to select and implement, as appropriate for each school: (1) a transformation strategy, (2) a strategic staffing strategy, (3) a turnaround strategy, (4) a whole school reform strategy, (5) a restart strategy, or (6) a school closure strategy. Requires LEAs to allow students at persistently low-achieving schools to transfer to another of its public schools that has not been identified as persistently low-achieving, unless that option is prohibited by state law. Replaces the School Support and Recognition program with the Blue Ribbon Schools program that allows states to award their highest performing schools with increased autonomy, flexibility in using ESEA funds, and monetary rewards. Requires teachers to be highly-qualified if teaching a core academic subject in a program supported with school improvement funds, but makes this requirement applicable only to new teachers if the state has fully implemented a teacher and principal evaluation system. Requires LEAs to show that: (1) combined state and local per-pupil expenditures in each of their schools served under part A are not less than the average combined state and local per-pupil expenditures for their schools not served under part A; or (2) the average combined state and local per-pupil expenditures at its high-poverty schools are no less than those expenditures at its low-poverty schools, if LEAs serve all of their schools under part A. Directs the Secretary to award grants to states to develop, improve, or administer their college and career ready academic standards and assessments. Replaces part B (Student Reading Skills Improvement Grants) of title I with new Pathways to College grant programs that: (1) assist schools in implementing innovative and effective secondary school reform strategies, and (2) cover part or all of the Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) examination fee low-income students incur. Amends the program, under part C (Education of Migratory Children), providing grants to states for the education of migratory children. Requires migratory children to be given the opportunity to meet the same college and career readiness standards as other children. Amends part D (Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk)I. Requires states to ensure that students who have been placed in the juvenile justice system are promptly re-enrolled in secondary school or placed in re-entry programs that best meet their educational and social needs. Replaces part E (National Assessment of Subchapter I) with a new part E (Educational Stability of Children in Foster Care) program to facilitate the educational transition of children that move to a new school attendance area as the result of being placed in foster care, changing their foster care placement, or leaving foster care. Eliminates parts F (Comprehensive School Reform), G (Advanced Placement Programs), and H (School Dropout Prevention). Title II: Supporting Excellent Teachers and Principals - Replaces title II (Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals) with a new title II (Supporting Excellent Teachers and Principals). Strikes parts A (Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund), B (Mathematics and Science Partnerships), C (Innovation for Teacher Quality) and D (Enhancing Education Through Technology) of title II. Transfers responsibility for the operation and administration of the Troops-to-Teachers program from the Department of Education to the Department of Defense (DOD) and amends the program. Establishes a new: (1) part A (Continuous Improvement and Support for Teachers and Principals) program to train and increase the number and equitable distribution of high-quality teachers and principals; (2) part B (Teacher Pathways to the Classroom) program to support the recruitment, selection, preparation, placement, retention, and support of teachers in high-need subjects or fields at high-needs schools; (3) part C (Teacher Incentive Fund) for the development, implementation, improvement, or expansion of performance-based evaluation and compensation systems for teachers and principals; and (4) part D (Achievement through Technology and Innovation) program to enhance the use of educational technology. Title III: Language and Academic Content Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Students - Amends title III (Language Instruction for Limited English Proficient and Immigrant Students) to refer to limited English proficient students as English learners. Amends part A (English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act), which provides funding to states to improve the education of English learners. Eliminates the Emergency Immigrant Education program. Authorizes Indian tribes or educational entities that receive grants under the part A program to use them for Native American immersion and restoration programs. Allows states to continue providing title III services to students who have reached the English language proficiency level if they are not yet on track to meet the state college and career readiness standards in other subjects. Revises the professional development grant program for English language instructors. Directs the Secretary to establish an independent commission on the assessment and advancement of English learners to provide the Secretary with advice regarding the education of English learners and their inclusion in state assessment and accountability systems. Strikes part B (Improving Language Instruction Educational Programs). Title IV: Supporting Successful, Well-Rounded Students - Replaces title IV (21st Century Schools) with a new title IV (Supporting Successful, Well-Rounded Students). Replaces part A (Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities) with a new Improving Literacy Instruction and Student Achievement program, which provides funding to states to improve the literacy of children from birth through grade 12. Creates a new part B (Improving Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Instruction and Student Achievement) program, providing funds to states to improve preschool and elementary and secondary school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Establishes a new part C (Increasing Access to a Well-Rounded Education) program, which provides funding to states to increase the access of low-income students to high-quality courses in the arts, civics and government, economics, environmental education, financial literacy, foreign languages, geography, health education, history, physical education, or social studies. Establishes a new part D (Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students) program, which provides funding to states to foster comprehensive improvements to school-level conditions for learning. Revises the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. Includes summer learning, and expanded learning time activities in the program. Requires the program to serve students who primarily attend high-need schools and schools identified as achievement gap or persistently low-achieving schools. Establishes a new part F (Promise Neighborhoods) program, awarding Promise Neighborhood Partnership grants and Promise School grants to partnerships of nonprofit organizations and high-need LEAs to provide education and student support services to children who live in distressed neighborhoods or attend high-poverty schools. Establishes a new part G (Parent and Family Information and Resource Centers) program, which provides funds to nonprofit organizations to operate state parent and family information and resource centers. Requires part I funds to support nationally significant programs that help all children meet the college and career ready academic content and achievement standards required by this Act. Title V: Promoting Innovation - Replaces title V (Promoting Informed Parental Choice and Innovative Programs) with a new title V (Promoting Innovation). Creates a new part A (Race to the Top) program that awards grants to states and high-need LEAs to carry out one or more educational goals selected by the Secretary. Lists those goals. Creates a new part B (Investing in Innovation) program to support the school innovation efforts of public schools and LEAs. Revises the Magnet Schools Assistance program under part C, which provides grants to LEAs to establish and operate magnet schools under a court-ordered desegregation plan or voluntary desegregation plan approved by the Secretary. Replaces the existing Public Charter Schools program under part B with a new Public Charter Schools program under part D. Establishes under part D: (1) a subpart 1 (Successful Charter Schools Program), to support the creation, expansion, or replication of high-performing charter schools; and (2) a subpart 2 (Charter School Facility Acquisition, Construction, and Renovation), to improve access to facilities and facilities financing for high-performing charter schools. Revises Voluntary Public School Choice Programs to support the establishment or expansion of inter- or intra-district public school choice programs that enable students attending achievement gap or persistently low-achieving schools to attend high-quality public schools, including charter schools. Title VI: Promoting Flexibility; Rural Education - Redesignates title VI (Flexibility and Accountability) as title VI (Promoting Flexibility; Rural Education). Replaces part A (Improving Academic Achievement) with a new part A (Transferability) program that allows states and LEAs to transfer funds they are allotted for state-level and local-level activities, respectively, by an ESEA formula grant to other state or LEA formula grant programs under the ESEA. Prohibits states and LEAs from transferring any funds that originate in titles I, III, VII, or VIII out of each respective title. Amends part B (Rural Education Initiatives) of title VI to give LEAs that qualify for funding under both the Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) and Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) programs the option to choose the program for which they would prefer to receive funding. Title VII: Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education - Amends title VII (Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education). Amends part A (Indian Education) to revise the programs under subparts 1 (Formula Grants to Local Educational Agencies), 2 (Special Programs and Projects to Improve Educational Opportunities for Indian Children and Youth), 3 (National Activities), and 4 (Federal Administration). Provides support for Native American language immersion and restoration programs. Preserves the national research activities under subpart 3, but strikes: (1) the in-service training for teachers of Indian children program, (2) the fellowships for Indian students program, (3) the gifted and talented Indian students program, (4) the grants to tribes for education administrative planning and development program, and (5) the improvement of educational opportunities for adult Indians program. Revises the Native Hawaiian Education program. Includes among the approved uses of grant funds, workforce preparation and training for Native Hawaiian youth. Revises the Alaska Native Education program. Title VIII: Impact Aid - Amends title VIII (Impact Aid). Alters calculations made in determining the payments due LEAs for federal ownership of property, or for federally-connected children, within their areas. Directs the Secretary to complete Impact Aid payments to eligible LEAs within three fiscal years of their appropriation. Title IX: General Provisions - Amends title IX (General Provisions) to establish additional definitions for terms that are applicable throughout the ESEA. Allows students who are threatened by, or the victim of, a criminal offense at their public school to attend a safe public school within the LEA's jurisdiction. (Currently, this unsafe school choice option is available only to students attending schools identified as persistently dangerous or to students who become victims of a criminal offense at their public school.) Title X: Commission on Effective Regulation and Assessment Systems for Public Schools - Commission on Effective Regulation and Assessment Systems for Public Schools Act - Establishes a Commission on Effective Regulation and Assessment Systems for Public Schools. Title XI: Amendments to Other Laws; Miscellaneous Provisions - McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Reauthorization Act of 2011 [ sic ]- Amends the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to revise, and reauthorize appropriations for, the Education for Homeless Children and Youth program, which provides funds to states for the education of homeless youth. Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to establish in the Department of Education an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Education (ARPA-ED) to pursue breakthrough research and development in educational technology and provide for its effective use.

Measures to Prevent Childhood Obesity Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Measures to Prevent Childhood Obesity Act of 2012 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require: (1) each health care provider that administers a vaccine set forth in the Vaccine Injury Table to record in the vaccinated person's medical record the person's age, gender, height, and weight to calculate body mass index (BMI); (2) the provider and the vaccine manufacturer to report such information to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS); and (3) the provider to report to the relevant department of the state in which it practices the data collected. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to not more than 20 entities (states and territories with statewide immunization information systems that meet certain requirements) to analyze BMI measurements of children of ages 2 through 18. Gives priority in grant selection to states in which a high percentage of health care providers submit data to a statewide immunization information system that contains immunization data for at least 20 percent of the population under the age of 18 and includes data collected from men and women of a wide variety of ages who reside in a wide variety of geographic areas. Provides standards for BMI measurement in recipient states, including concerning the providing of information on state and local obesity prevention programs. Sets forth state reporting requirements regarding BMI data and obesity prevention and wellness programs and policies. Requires a report to Congress and the Departments of Education and of Agriculture (USDA) analyzing childhood obesity trends and describing programs that significantly lower childhood obesity rates for certain geographic areas and which the Secretary recommends for implementation by states.

Implementation of Simpson-Bowles Spending Reductions Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Implementation of Simpson-Bowles Spending Reductions Act of 2012 - Prohibits the total amount of appropriations to the White House for the Executive Office of the President, to the President, and to Congress for FY2012-FY2016 from exceeding 85% of the total amount of such appropriations for FY2011. Eliminates cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for Members of Congress during FY2013-FY2015. Amends the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 to extend through December 31, 2015, the freeze on any COLA to the pay of certain federal civilian employees (thus extending such freeze from two to five calendar years). Requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to: (1) take appropriate measures to ensure that the total number of federal employees, beginning in FY2015, does not exceed 90% of the total number of federal employees on September 30, 2011; (2) continuously monitor all agencies, make a determination on whether the total number of federal employees in any quarter of a fiscal year exceeds the maximum number allowed by this Act, and notify the President and Congress if the number exceeds the maximum; and (3) ensure that there is no increase in the procurement of service contracts due to this Act unless a cost comparison demonstrates that such contracts would be financially advantageous to the federal government. Allows the President to waive the workforce limitations imposed by this Act in specified circumstances. Requires OMB to: (1) take appropriate measures through FY2014 to ensure that agencies shall appoint no more than one employee for every three employees retiring or otherwise separating from government service; (2) coordinate with federal departments and independent agencies to take certain steps to limit government printing costs; and (3) dispose of a quantity of real property worth at least $100 million altogether (with specified exceptions) that is not being used, and that will not be used, to meet the needs of the federal government for FY2011-FY2015. Prohibits the total amount of funds appropriated for travel expenses for each agency for each of FY2012-FY2016 from exceeding 80% of the total amount of funds appropriated for FY2011. Reduces the amount available to the General Services Administration (GSA) for FY2012 and succeeding fiscal years for acquiring new vehicles for the federal fleet to 80% of the amount available for FY2010 for such purpose. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit consideration in Congress of legislation that includes an earmark, limited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) impose after 2012, a 10% income tax rate on taxable income of $100,000 or less and a 20% rate on taxable income over $100,000, and a 20% rate for net capital gain exceeding $1 million; (2) reduce the income tax rate on corporations to a flat rate of 20%; (3) repeal various tax credits, deductions, and exclusions, including the alternative minimum tax (AMT) on individuals; (4) provide for 5-year phaseout of specified tax expenditures, and (5) terminate the authority for issuing certain tax-exempt bonds for financing projects relating to energy conservation, infrastructure, education, and hospital construction.

Higher Education and Employment Transparency Act

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Higher Education and Employment Transparency Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make publicly available on the College Navigator website the job placement information that schools who are participating in that Act's title IV (Student Assistance) programs are required to provide to prospective and enrolled students. Requires those schools to supplement that job placement information by indicating whether or not the jobs their graduates obtain are paid jobs or require any postsecondary education. Requires those schools to include on their website, and the Secretary to include on the College Navigator website, a link to the appropriate section of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website that provides information from the Occupational Employment Statistics program and the Occupational Outlook Handbook of the BLS.

Educator Preparation Reform Act

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Educator Preparation Reform Act - Amends title II (Teacher Quality Enhancement) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise the Teacher Quality Partnership grant program. (The grant program provides funds to partnerships of high-need local educational agencies [LEAs], high-need schools, institutions of higher education [IHEs], and, as applicable, high-need early childhood education programs which are to use the funds for a pre-baccalaureate teacher preparation program, a teaching residency program, or a combination of such programs. Partnerships may also use grant funds for a leadership development program.) Allows grant funds to be used for pre- or post-baccalaureate teacher preparation programs. Allows grant funds to be used for teaching or principal residency programs. Requires principal residency programs to prepare principals for success in the high-need schools in the partnership by engaging residents in rigorous graduate-level coursework to earn an appropriate advanced credential while they undertake a guided principal apprenticeship alongside a trained and experienced mentor principal. Requires principal residents to have prior prekindergarten through grade 12 teaching experience. Provides them with a living stipend or salary during the one-year residency program in exchange for at least three years of service as a principal in a high-need school immediately following their successful completion of the residency program. Replaces the leadership development program with an educator development program that addresses a partnership's need to train and retain educators other than teachers or principals, such as specialized instructional support personnel and other school staff who provide or support instruction. Authorizes a partnership to receive more than one grant during a five-year period if one of the grants is used to establish a teaching or principal residency program that was not established with the prior grant. Applies certain partnership accountability and evaluation requirements to teachers, principals, and other educators. Revises teacher preparation program accountability requirements. Applies them not only to IHEs, but also to other organizations approved by the state to prepare teachers for classrooms. Requires those programs to train prospective teachers to teach diverse populations and core academic subjects. Requires states to establish a period of improvement and redesign for teacher preparation programs they identify as low-performing before terminating their approval or funding. Reauthorizes appropriations for the Teacher Quality Partnership grant program through FY2018. Amends part A (Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund) of title II (Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require states to develop, implement, and publicly disclose their criteria for identifying a teacher preparation program as low-performing or at risk of being identified as such. Requires those criteria to include multiple measures of teacher performance. Replaces the program under subpart 3 (Subgrants to Eligible Partnerships) of part A of title II of the ESEA with a program under which states directly or through subgrants to certain educational entities: (1) develop and implement a teacher performance assessment for teacher preparation programs, LEAs, and the state agency responsible for licensing teachers; (2) provide technical assistance to and close low-performing teacher preparation programs identified under the HEA; and (3) develop a system for assessing the quality and effectiveness of professional development offered throughout the state. Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the HEA to prohibit IHEs that offer a teacher preparation program that has been, or is at risk of being, identified as low-performing by its state for a year from awarding TEACH grants for that year. (The TEACH grant program provides tuition assistance to students who commit to teaching a high-need subject in a high-need elementary or secondary school for four years.)

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Public Law 87-788, commonly known as the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Act.

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Celebrates the 50th anniversary of the enactment the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Act. Affirms the importance of the state-supported colleges and universities conducting forestry research and training supported by such Act.

Supporting efforts to raise awareness of, improve education on, and encourage research on inflammatory breast cancer.

United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2012

Declares that the federal government has a responsibility to: (1) raise awareness and improve education about inflammatory breast cancer, (2) encourage the American Medical Association to take steps to increase awareness of the disease among physicians, (3) encourage treatment research, and (4) continue to consider ways to improve access to information on the disease for doctors and patients.

Restoring Tax and Regulatory Certainty to Small Businesses Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2012

Restoring Tax and Regulatory Certainty to Small Businesses Act of 2012 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend temporarily: (1) the 100% exclusion from gross income of gain from the sale or exchange of small business stock, (2) the offset against the alternative minimum tax of general business tax credits, (3) the five-year carryback of tax credit amounts of eligible small businesses, (4) a reduction from 10 to 5 years in the recognition period for built-in gains of S corporations, (5) the increased expensing of depreciable business assets, (6) the special tax rule for long-term contract accounting, (7) the increased tax deduction for small business start-up expenditures, and (8) the tax deduction for health insurance premiums in computing self-employment taxable income. Defines "economic impact" with respect to a proposed or final regulatory rule to mean: (1) any direct economic effect of a rule on small entities, and (2) any reasonably foreseeable economic economic effect on such entities. Permits small entities to seek judicial review of initial regulatory flexibility analyses and to obtain an injunction of a proposed rule that is noncompliant with Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requirements. Requires each agency to establish a plan for the review, every nine years, of: (1) its rules that have a significant adverse economic impact on small entities, and (2) any small entity compliance guide required to be published by an agency. Expands to additional agencies the procedures for gathering comments on rules that will have a significant economic impact on small entities. Extends RFA requirements to any significant agency guidance documents. Amends the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 to require each agency to review biennially the civil penalties it imposes on small entities for violations of statutory or regulatory requirements. Imposes additional requirements on agencies prior to the issuance of a final rule, including: (1) the cumulative economic impact of the proposed rule on small entities, and (2) requiring the agency to notify the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration (SBA) of draft rules that may have a significant impact on a substantial number of small businesses. Requires agencies to publish an initial regulatory flexibility analysis with respect to any proposed rule that it determines will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses. Allows the Chief Counsel to comment on agency regulatory action that affects small businesses. Requires the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to include, in a required annual report, specified data and tables describing agency rules. EXCEL Act of 2012- Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to: (1) authorize the SBA Administrator to guarantee the payment of up to $4 billion per fiscal year for debentures or participating securities issued by small business investment companies (SBICs) to encourage the formation and growth of small businesses, (2) increase the maximum amount of outstanding leverage for two or more commonly-controlled SBICs, (3) authorize annual inflationary adjustments of such limits, (4) direct the Administrator to make publicly available specified fiscal and related information with respect to each SBIC, and (5) allow SBIC licensing fees to be used for SBIC program needs other than the costs of licensing examinations. Expresses the sense of Congress supporting SBIC partnerships with community banks and other lenders. Amends the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 to extend through March 27, 2014 (under current law, through September 27, 2012) the authority for SBA refinancing of small business debt not involving business expansion under the SBA's local development business loan program. Directs the Administrator to develop and submit to Congress a plan for using SBA entrepreneurial development programs to create jobs during FY2013-FY2014. Women's Small Business Ownership Act of 2012 - Directs the SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership to address issues concerning the management, operations, manufacturing, technology, finance, retail and product sales, international trade, government contracting, and other disciplines required for starting, operating, and increasing the business of a small business. Authorizes the Administrator to provide financial assistance to qualifying entities to conduct projects designed to provide training and counseling meeting the needs of women business owners, especially socially and economically disadvantaged women business owners. Directs the Comptroller General (CG) to study and report to Congress on: (1) the unique economic issues facing women's business centers located in predominately rural, urban, or insular areas; and (2) SBA oversight of women's business centers. Requires that, after December 31, 2013, the Administrator make certain minority entrepreneurship and innovation grants only to institutions of higher education that are accredited (and not merely in preaccreditation status) by a nationally recognized accrediting agency. Increases small business development center (SBDC) funding levels. Allows the Administrator to authorize a SBDC to provide assistance to small businesses outside the state of that SBDC, without regard to geographical proximity, if the small business is in an area for which the President has declared a major disaster. Terminates SBDC authority to assist small businesses in responding to the impact of planned closures or force reductions at nearby military facilities. Repeals: (1) the Paul D. Coverdell drug-free workplace demonstration program, and (2) the National Veterans Business Development Corporation. Allows the Administrator to guarantee a surety against any loss resulting from the breach of a bond by a principal on any work order or contract amount up to $5 million (under current law, up to $2 million). Establishes the National Women's High-Growth Business Bipartisan Task Force to provide women-owned, start-up and high-growth business advice, research, and policy recommendations to the Administrator, the Assistant Administrator of the SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership, Congress, the President, and other federal departments and agencies. Directs the Task Force, among other things, to review, monitor, and advise on plans and programs developed in the public and private sectors that affect the ability of small businesses owned and controlled by women to obtain capital and credit and to access markets. Repeals provisions establishing the Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise. Establishes the SCORE Advisory Board to: (1) review and monitor plans and programs which affect SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) chapters; (2) advise on improving coordination between such plans and programs; (3) advise SCORE chapters on the use of allocated federal funding; (4) develop and promote initiatives, policies, programs, and plans designed to assist with mentoring services offered by SCORE chapters; and (5) advise the Administrator on the development and implementation of an annual comprehensive plan for joint public-private efforts to facilitate the formation and development of mentoring by SCORE volunteers. Reauthorize the SCORE program through FY2015. Directs: (1) SCORE to establish a committee to determine the amount of, and methods for, allocations to each chapter; and (2) the CG to conduct a study that includes an examination of each SCORE expenditure for technology activities. Allows the Administrator to guarantee a surety against any loss resulting from the breach of a bond by a principal on any work order or contract amount up to $5 million (under current law, up to $2 million). Small Business Contracting Fraud Prevention Act of 2012 - Includes under penalties for misrepresentation a business that misrepresents itself as a small business owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans. Includes under such penalties misrepresentation for purposes of the award of a grant or cooperative agreement through the SBA. Expands authorized remedies to include civil remedies available under the False Claims Act, as well as the amount actually received from the federal government under a contract, grant or cooperative agreement, or losses sustained. Provides additional events or instances under which an entity shall be considered to have misrepresented its status. Requires an entity seeking status as a small business owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans to submit an annual certification of such status, and to register with specified databases that track veteran small businesses. Amends the 8(a) (SBA general small business loan) program to direct the CG, every three years, to evaluate the program and report evaluation results. Requires related program oversight by the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to: (1) ensure the accuracy and appropriate revision of HUBZone (heavily underutilized business zone) maps, (2) ensure that only small businesses determined to be qualified to participate in HUBZone programs are participating, (3) report on HUBZone small business applications or recertifications, and (4) develop measures and implement plans to assess the effectiveness of the HUBZone program. Requires an annual report from the Administrator on suspensions, debarments, and prosecutions related to unauthorized participation in, or misrepresentation under, SBA programs. Fairness in Women-Owned Small Business Contracting Act of 2012 - Revises provisions concerning the procurement program for women-owned small businesses (providing a federal procurement contracting preference to such businesses) to: (1) remove the requirement that the woman or women owning such business be economically disadvantaged, (2) remove contract award price limits, and (3) allow a contracting officer to award a sole source contract to such a business under the same conditions as such a contract may be awarded to a qualified HUBZone small business. Directs the Administrator to periodically conduct a study to identify any U.S. industry in which women are underrepresented. Small Business Champion Act of 2012 - Requires the Director of the Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (established in each federal agency having procurement functions) to be compensated at least at the GS-15 rate, and allows such position to be compensated at up to a Senior Executive Service level. Provides additional Director duties. Amends the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 to require the Small Business Procurement Advisory Council to: (1) conduct reviews of each Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization to determine compliance with SBA requirements, and (2) identify best practices for maximizing small business utilization in federal contracting. Requires first tier subcontracts awarded by a federally funded research and development center to qualified HUBZone small businesses and other small businesses, including those owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, and women, to be included in determining the achievement of annual agency and government-wide small business procurement contracting goals.

Older Americans Act Amendments of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2012

Older Americans Act Amendments of 2012 - Revises the Older Americans Act of 1965 (OAA) to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) individuals, HIV-positive individuals, individuals with Alzheimer's disease, veterans, and Holocaust survivors, among others, within the status of greatest social need caused by noneconomic factors. Changes the status of greatest economic need from at or below the poverty line to 200% of the poverty line. Requires the Director of the Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs to recommend to the Assistant Secretary for Aging of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) resources (including hardware and software) needed by state Long-Term Care Ombudsmen (LTCOs) to collect and report program data through the National Ombudsman Reporting System. Expands the duties of the Assistant Secretary to include: (1) assisting the states with the development of Home Care Consumer Bills of Rights and Plans for Enforcement; and (2) establishing a National Adult Protective Services Resource Center. Authorizes designation within the Administration on Aging of a person responsible for addressing issues affecting LGBT older individuals. Requires the designated state agency to distribute quality assurance information about home- and community-based long-term care (LTC) programs, service providers, and resources. Modifies the duties and functions of the Administration on Aging to include: (1) technical assistance to certain state and community entities to ensure they develop programming, services, and outreach for older individuals with greatest economic need and greatest social need; and (2) studies and data collection to determine services needed by LGBT older individuals. Directs the Assistant Secretary to ensure, where appropriate, that all programs funded under the Act include appropriate training in the prevention of abuse, neglect, and exploitation and provision of services that address elder justice and exploitation. Directs the Assistant Secretary to establish and operate: (1) the National Resource Center for Women and Retirement; and (2) the National Resource Center on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Aging. Reauthorizes OAA through FY2017. Establishes an Advisory Committee to Assess, Coordinate, and Improve Legal Assistance Activities. Directs the Secretary of Labor, through the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), to revise and improve the Experimental Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) published by the BLS to make it a reliable measure in determining future cost-of-living adjustments affecting Americans age 62 or older. Authorizes the Assistant Secretary to designate within the Administration a person who has specialized training, background, or experience with Holocaust survivor issues to have responsibility for implementing services for older individuals who are Holocaust survivors. Requires the designated state agency to promote the development and implementation of a state system to address the care coordination needs of older individuals with multiple chronic illnesses. Revises area and state plan requirements with respect to specified services, including state LTCO programs and the provision of programming and services in a culturally and linguistically competent manner to older individuals with greatest social need. Revises requirements with respect to: (1) consumer contributions (cost-sharing); (2) a specified study of nutrition projects; (3) supportive services and the senior centers program; (4) nutrition services; (5) disease prevention and health promotion services; (6) the National Family Caregiver Support Program, including grants to assess the needs of family caregivers for certain targeted support services; (7) specified grant programs; and (8) protection from violence projects. Directs the Assistant Secretary to award grants to carry out or establish: (1) projects to support and promote modern multipurpose senior center models which yield multiservice, multigenerational centers for older individuals, their families, and others to gain needed skills, resources, and connections for continuum of care and quality of life; (2) a demonstration program on care coordination and service delivery redesign for older individuals with chronic illness or at risk of institutional placement; and (3) a grant program to assist communities in preparing for the aging of the population, and a related National Resource Center on Livable Communities for All Ages. Directs the Assistant Secretary to award grants or contracts to eligible entities to increase and improve transportation services, including non-emergency transportation to medical appointments and shopping for food, to enable older individuals to remain in the community, with a preference for Holocaust survivors. Directs the HHS Secretary to award competitive grants to or contract with eligible entities to fund the employment costs of professionals who will: (1) coordinate with the provision of medically recommended dental care to eligible individuals by volunteer dentists; and (2) verify the medical, dental, and financial needs of individuals who may be eligible for free medically recommended dental care. Directs the Secretary to award a grant to or enter into a cooperative agreement with a public or private nonprofit entity to establish a National Resource Center on Family Caregiving. Requires each grantee under the Older American Community Service Employment Program to place at least 50% of its project participants in positions with organizations that assist older adults or with duties that positively impact their lives. Directs the Assistant Secretary and the Secretary of Labor to study the feasibility of transferring the program from the Department of Labor to the Administration on Aging. Requires the Assistant Secretary to ensure that education and public awareness activities under OAA title XI (Allotments for Vulnerable Elder Rights Protection Activities) are fully integrated with all service programs under OAA title III (Grants for State and Community Programs on Aging), the work of the Aging and Disability Resource Centers, and the long-term care ombudsman programs. Directs the Assistant Secretary to award competitive grants to states for State Home Care Ombudsman Programs. Requires a state to have a Home Care Consumer Bill of Rights and a Plan for Enforcement. Requires the state Home Care Consumer Bill of Rights to address a home care consumer's right to: (1) basic safety; (2) information access; (3) choice, participation, and self-determination; (4) care and services provided in a way that promotes each consumer's dignity and individuality; and (5) redress of grievances. Requires the Bill of Rights also to address the role and responsibilities that fiduciaries may have in securing these rights of home care consumers. Revises requirements for: (1) state LTCO programs; (2) prevention of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation; and (3) state legal assistance development. Directs the Assistant Secretary to make grants to enable states to establish and operate state Senior Medicare Patrol programs. Amends the Public Health Service Act to include geriatrics and gerontology as primary health services.

Arbitration Fairness for Students Act

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2012

Arbitration Fairness for Students Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit institutions of higher education that participate in title IV (Student Assistance) programs from including predispute arbitration agreements in student enrollment contracts.

BRAINS Act

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2012

Benefits to Research and American Innovation through Nationality Statutes Act of 2012 or the BRAINS Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make up to 55,000 visas available to qualified immigrants who: (1) possess a graduate degree at the level of master's or higher in a field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM degree) from a qualifying U.S. research institution of higher education; (2) earned a graduate degree by taking no greater than 25% of classes by correspondence (including courses offered by telecommunications) and by taking all classes while physically present in the United States; (3) have an employment offer from a U.S. employer in a field related to such degree; (4) are the subject of an approved labor certification; and (5) will receive a wage for such employment that is at least the actual wage paid by the employer to all other individuals with similar experience and qualifications for the specific employment in question. Makes unused STEM visas available for other employment-based visa categories. Requires: (1) employers of foreign STEM graduates to submit a job order for the position with the appropriate state workforce agency, (2) such agency to post the position on its website for at least 30 days, and (3) employers to demonstrate that the total amount of compensation to be paid to a foreign STEM graduate meets or exceeds the total amount of compensation paid by the employer to all other employees with similar experience and qualifications working in the same occupational classification. Requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to make available on its website specified information regarding foreign STEM employers, the number of aliens granted STEM status, and their occupations. Repeals such STEM and related provisions two years after enactment of this Act. Eliminates the foreign residency requirement for certain foreign students. Authorizes temporary workers (E, H, I, L O, or P visas) who have not violated their status to renew their same category visa from within the United States. States that a determination of whether an alien is a child for purposes of: (1) a petition for immigrant status or a petition for adjustment of refugee status to immigrant status shall be made using the alien's age on the date on which the petition is filed with DHS, and (2) a petition for nonimmigrant admission or an application for adjustment of status from nonimmigrant to conditional (fiance) immigrant shall be made using the alien's age on the date on which the petition is filed with DHS to classify such alien's parent as the fiance of a U.S. citizen. States that the permanent priority date for an immigrant visa petition shall be the date on which the petition is filed with DHS (or the Secretary of State, if applicable), unless such filing was preceded by the filing of a labor certification with the Secretary of Labor, in which case that date shall constitute the priority date. States that an alien who is the beneficiary of any petition that was approvable when filed shall retain such petition's priority date in the consideration of any subsequently filed petition of which the alien is a beneficiary. Increases the number of immigrant visas available to the spouses of aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence in each fiscal year by the number of aliens who were lawfully admitted for permanent residence who were removed from the United States in the preceding fiscal year.

A resolution designating the week beginning September 16, 2012, as "National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week".

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2012

Recognizes the goals and achievements of Hispanic-serving institutions across this country. Designates the week beginning September 16, 2012, as National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week.

A resolution designating November 8, 2012, as "National Parents as Teachers Day".

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2012

Designates November 8, 2012, as National Parents as Teachers Day. Recognizes the role parent education plays in the development of a child. Commends Parents as Teachers for its work with families across this country. (Parents as Teachers programs provide parenting education and child health and development screenings.)

A resolution designating the week beginning October 21, 2012, as "National Character Counts Week".

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2012

Designates the week beginning October 21, 2012, as National Character Counts Week.

A resolution expressing support for the designation of October 20, 2012, as the "National Day on Writing".

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2012

Expresses the Senate's support for the designation of October 20, 2012, as the National Day on Writing. Encourages participation in the National Gallery of Writing, which is maintained by the National Council of Teachers of English and contains examples of writing by individuals throughout our country. Encourages educational institutions, businesses, community and civic associations, and other organizations to celebrate the writing of their members through individual submissions to the Gallery.

Broadening Opportunities Through Education Act

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2012

Broadening Opportunities Through Education Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to states that make school attendance compulsory through age 17. Requires states to use their grant to improve their secondary school programs, such as by: establishing or expanding work-based programs that integrate academic and career-based skills; implementing an early warning system that helps high schools and their feeder middle schools identify and assist struggling students; establishing grade and school transition programs and supports; personalizing the school experience and increasing student engagement through service-learning and experiential, work-based, and other learning opportunities; providing extended-learning opportunities by the school day, week, or year; and increasing student supports through activities such as student advisories, counseling, and one-to-one mentoring.

Attracting the Best and Brightest Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2012

Attracting the Best and Brightest Act of 2012 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make up to 50,000 visas available to qualified immigrants who: (1) possess a graduate degree at the level of master's or higher in a field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM degree) from a qualifying U.S. research institution of higher education; (2) have an employment offer from a U.S. employer in a field related to such degree; (3) are the subject of an approved labor certification; and (4) will receive a wage for such employment that is at least the actual wage paid by the employer to all other individuals with similar experience and qualifications. Makes unused STEM visas available for other employment-based visa categories. Requires: (1) employers of foreign STEM graduates to submit a job order for the position with the appropriate state workforce agency, (2) such agency to post the position on its website for at least 30 days, and (3) employers to demonstrate that the total amount of compensation to be paid to a foreign STEM graduate meets or exceeds the total amount of compensation paid by the employer to all other employees with similar experience and qualifications working in the same occupational classification. Requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to make available on its website specified information regarding foreign STEM employers, the number of aliens granted STEM status, and their occupations. Repeals such STEM and related provisions two years after enactment of this Act. Eliminates the foreign residency requirement for certain foreign students. States that a determination of whether an alien is a child for purposes of: (1) a petition for immigrant status or a petition for adjustment of refugee status to immigrant status shall be made using the alien's age on the date on which the petition is filed with DHS, and (2) a petition for nonimmigrant admission or an application for adjustment of status from nonimmigrant to conditional (fiance) immigrant shall be made using the alien's age on the date on which the petition is filed with DHS to classify such alien's parent as the fiance of a U.S. citizen. States that the permanent priority date for any family- or employment-based petition shall be the date on which the petition is filed with DHS (or the Secretary of State, if applicable), unless such filing was preceded by the filing of a labor certification with the Secretary of Labor, in which case that date shall constitute the priority date. States that an alien who is the beneficiary of a family- or employment-based petition that was approvable when filed shall retain such petition's priority date in the consideration of any subsequently filed family- or employment-based petition.

No Hungry Kids Act

United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2012

No Hungry Kids Act - Nullifies the rule published by the Department of Agriculture on January 26, 2012, establishing nutrition standards for the school lunch and breakfast programs. (This rule is summarized as requiring most schools to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat fluid milk in school meals; reduce the levels of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals; and meet the nutrition needs of school children within their calorie requirements.) Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit the Secretary of Agriculture's minimum nutritional requirements for school lunches from being construed as establishing a calorie maximum for individual school lunches or prohibiting a child from eating a lunch provided by the child's parent or legal guardian.

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Research and Education Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2012

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Research and Education Act of 2011 [ sic ] - Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate programs for the conduct and support of research on triple-negative breast cancer (breast cancers whose cells are negative for estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and the HER2 protein on their sources). Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to develop and disseminate to the public information regarding triple-negative breast cancer, including information on: (1) the incidence and prevalence of such breast cancer among women, (2) the elevated risk for minority women, and (3) the availability of a range of treatment options. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to develop and disseminate information on triple-negative breast cancer to health care providers.

Walter G. Secada, of Florida, to be a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation for a term expiring March 3, 2016, vice Laurie Stenberg Nichols, term expired.

United States · United States Senate · 13 September 2012

Stewart M. De Soto, of Illinois, to be a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation for a term expiring August 11, 2016, vice Charles P. Ruch, term expired.

United States · United States Senate · 13 September 2012

Advancing College Choice and Ethics to Protect Taxpayers Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2012

Advancing College Choice and Ethics to Protect Taxpayers Act of 2012 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to bar the Secretary of Education from issuing new regulations related to the prohibition against provision of incentive compensation by institutions of higher education (IHEs) to certain school employees based on their success in securing student enrollments or financial aid. Prohibits IHEs from engaging in deceptive practices likely to mislead consumers or affect their decisions. Requires IHEs with a Student Default Risk Index for a year of 0.1 or greater to: (1) give individuals whose enrollment has been accepted at least two weeks to confirm their enrollment decision without the school's making benefit decisions contingent on an earlier decision; and (2) notify those individuals of financial aid determinations at least one week before the enrollment confirmation deadline, if they have submitted the requested application forms. Penalizes IHEs that substantially misrepresent: (1) the space available in a program for which an individual is considering enrollment, (2) admission requirements, (3) the transferability of credits, (4) whether a program qualifies students to sit for licensing examinations or obtain employment certifications, and (5) the success of their students in obtaining those licenses or certifications. (This is in addition to prohibiting a school from misrepresenting its educational program, financial charges, or graduates' employability.) Increases, and alters the formula for determining, the penalties imposed on IHEs that violate title IV provisions. Directs the Secretary annually to produce and make available to IHEs and the public standardized disclosure sheets with IHE data, and state, IHE category, and national averages. Requires IHEs to provide their students and individuals accepted for enrollment with that disclosure sheet which includes specified information regarding student costs, financial aid, debt and default rates, transfer and dropout rates, and the school's obligations under title IV. Requires IHEs to provide students and prospective students with the process for registering a complaint with the school's accreditor. Requires IHEs to provide individuals that have been accepted for enrollment with certain information about financial aid, the school, its procedures, and its graduates in a manner that allows them to take that information into account before making a final enrollment decision.

Sequestration Prevention Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2012

Sequestration Prevention Act of 2012 - Title I: Fully Repeal the Sequestration Provision of Round 2 of the Budget Control Act - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm--Rudman-Hollings Act), as amended by the Budget Control Act of 2011, to repeal its budget goal enforcement requirements (sequestration mandate). Title II: Repeal of Health Care Law - Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and restores or revives any provisions of law amended or repealed by it as if PPACA had not been enacted. Repeals title I (Coverage, Medicare, Medicaid, and Revenues) and subtitle B (Health) of title II of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, and restores or revives any provisions of law amended or repealed by them as if such title and subtitle had not been enacted. Repeals the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, including the supplemental nutrition assistance program. Title III: Nutrition Assistance Block Grant Program - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a nutrition assistance block grant program of annual grants to each participating state that establishes a nutrition assistance program including work requirements, mandatory drug testing, and benefit use limitations at least as restrictive as those for the supplemental nutrition assistance program. Title IV: Block Grant the Medicaid Program - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a Medicaid block grant program of annual grants to each participating state that establishes a medical assistance program for individuals. Repeals title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, and eliminates mandatory direct funding for the existing Medicaid program. Title V: Reduction of Federal Workforce - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine the number of full-time employees employed in each federal agency. Prohibits the head of each federal agency from hiring more than 2 employees for every 3 employees who leave employment in the agency until the number of full-time employees in the agency is 10% less than the number determined by the OMB Director under this title. Title VI: Prohibition on Climate Change and Global Warming Funding - Prohibits the expenditure of federal funds for any activity relating to climate change or global warming. Title VII: Protecting Access to Health Care - Protecting Access to Healthcare Act - Title I: HEALTH Act - Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2012 - Prescribes requirements for lawsuits for health care goods and services liability claims. Sets a three-year statute of limitations after the manifestation of injury or one year after the claimant discovers the injury, with certain exceptions. Limits noneconomic damages to $250,000. Makes each party liable only for the amount of damages directly proportional to such party's percentage of responsibility. Allows the court to restrict the payment of attorney contingency fees. Authorizes the award of punitive damages only where: (1) it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that a person acted with malicious intent to injure the claimant or deliberately failed to avoid unnecessary injury the claimant was substantially certain to suffer, and (2) compensatory damages are awarded. Limits punitive damages to the greater of two times the amount of economic damages or $250,000. Limits the liability of manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and providers of medical products that comply with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. Provides for periodic payments of future damage awards. Health Care Safety Net Enhancement Act of 2012 - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to deem a hospital or an emergency department and a physician or physician group of that hospital or emergency department to be an employee of the Public Health Service for purposes of any civil action that may arise from providing emergency and post-stabilization services on or after January 1, 2012. Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act of 2012 - Declares that nothing in the McCarran-Ferguson Act (which exempts the insurance business generally from federal regulation) shall modify, impair, or supersede the operation of any of the antitrust laws with respect to the business of health insurance. Applies prohibitions against using unfair methods of competition to the business of health insurance without regard to whether such business is carried on for profit. Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act of 2012 - Amends the PHSA to declare that a health care professional shall not be liable under federal or state law, with certain exceptions, for harm caused by any act or omission if: (1) the professional is serving as a volunteer for purposes of responding to a disaster; and (2) the act or omission occurs during the period of the disaster, in the professional's capacity as such a volunteer, and in a good faith belief that the individual being treated is in need of health care services. Places on the plaintiff in any civil action or proceeding against a health care professional the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the limitation of liability under this Act does not apply. Title VIII: Budget Control Act Spending Cap Adjustments - Amends the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act to reenact the requirements for enforcement of discretionary spending limits as they were in effect on January 15, 2012. Specifies discretionary spending caps for the security category (Budget Function 050, largely Department of Defense [DOD]) and the non-security category for FY2013-FY2022.

RDOCS Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2012

Restoring the Doctors of Our Country through Scholarships Act of 2012 or the RDOCS Act of 2012 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants under which states provide RDOCS scholarships, paying all costs of a student's undergraduate medical education, to provide for the increased availability of primary health care services in health professional shortage areas. Requires the scholarship recipient to agree to residency training in a primary care specialty and a five-year post-graduate period of service in a health professional shortage area. Requires that preference be given in award of scholarships to applicants enrolled in: (1) an accelerated track family-medicine program (an integrated course of study allowing completion of undergraduate medical education and graduate medical education in six years), or (2) a program that includes clinical training in rural or underserved urban communities. Sets a minimum rate at which federal funding must be matched.

End Radon in Schools Act

United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2012

End Radon in Schools Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review, update, revise, and publish the Radon Measurements In Schools Guidelines with current information and guidance on radon testing in public elementary and secondary schools. Directs the Administrator, subject to the availability of appropriations, to award grants to states to: (1) follow the updated Guidelines, (2) conduct short-term tests of radon levels in their public elementary and secondary schools, and (3) provide funds to their local educational agencies (LEAs) to mitigate and reevaluate radon levels in schools found to have unsafe quantities of radon. Requires the Administrator to conduct such mitigation directly or by contract if an LEA does not certify to its state that it will use grant funds to mitigate unsafe radon levels at its schools. Considers radon levels of at least four picocuries per liter to be unsafe. Gives grant priority to states whose total landmass lies in Radon Zone 1.

Constitution and Citizenship Day Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2012

Constitution and Citizenship Day Act of 2012 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to establish a Constitution Day Grant Program awarding competitive grants to local educational agencies and charter schools to commemorate, and enhance educational programs that teach students about, the U.S. Constitution and their state constitution. Requires such program to occur annually on Constitution Day, September 17, or the following Monday if that day falls on a weekend, and give students the ability to register to vote.

College Student Rebate Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2012

College Student Rebate Act of 2012 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require proprietary institutions of higher education that participate in title IV (Student Assistance) programs to: (1) spend at least 80% of their revenue each fiscal year on educational and related expenses, or (2) rebate to students the shortfall between what they spend for educational and related expenses and 80% of their revenue. Directs the Secretary of Education to define "educational and related expenses," but excludes revenue spent for advertising and promotion, recruiting, lobbying, shareholder payments, and excessive administrative costs (including excessive executive compensation).

Expressing support for designation of the month of October 2012 as National Principals Month.

United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2012

Recognizes school principals' and assistant principals' contribution to the success of elementary and secondary school students. Encourages the observation of National Principals Month in a manner that promotes awareness of the importance of school leadership in ensuring that every child has access to a high-quality education.