Education

SIMPLE Act

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2017

Streamlining Income-driven, Manageable Payments on Loans for Education Act or the SIMPLE Act This bill requires the Department of Education to establish and implement a process for automatically recertifying a borrowers' income to determine eligibility for a loan discharge due to permanent and total disability under the Federal Family Education Loan Program. In addition, the bill establishes a process for enrolling a delinquent borrower in federal student loan repayment in an income-driven repayment plan.

Educator Preparation Reform Act

United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2017

Educator Preparation Reform Act This bill modifies federal grant programs and requirements for educator preparation programs.

Innovative Stormwater Infrastructure Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2017

Innovative Stormwater Infrastructure Act of 2017 This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide grants to eligible higher education institutions and research institutions to establish and maintain between three and five centers of excellence for innovative stormwater control infrastructure, which is any green stormwater management technique that: (1) uses natural systems or engineered systems that mimic natural processes to infiltrate, evapotranspire, or capture stormwater; and (2) preserves, enhances, or mimics natural hydrology to protect or restore water quality. One of the centers must be the national electronic clearinghouse center and operate a website and a public database on the infrastructure. In addition, the EPA must provide grants to state, tribal, or local governments or entities that manage stormwater, drinking water resources, or wastewater resources for innovative stormwater control infrastructure projects. The EPA must ensure that: (1) EPA's Office of Water, Office of Enforcement and Compliance, Office of Research and Development, and Office of Policy promote the use of the infrastructure in, and coordinate the integration of, permitting programs, planning efforts, research, technical assistance, and funding guidance; and (2) the Office of Water supports establishing innovative financing mechanisms in the implementation of the infrastructure. The EPA must: (1) direct each EPA regional office to promote and integrate the use of the infrastructure within the region, and (2) promote sharing information about the infrastructure approaches. The EPA must establish the innovative stormwater control infrastructure portfolio standard of voluntary, measurable goals to increase the percentage of annual water managed by entities that use the infrastructure.

Educator Preparation Reform Act

United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2017

Educator Preparation Reform Act This bill modifies federal grant programs and requirements for educator preparation programs.

CCAMPIS Reauthorization Act

United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2017

Child Care Access Means Parents in School Reauthorization Act or the CCAMPIS Reauthorization Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise and permanently reauthorize the Child Care Access Means Parents in School grant program.

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to parental rights.

United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2017

Constitutional Amendment This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment stating that: the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children is a fundamental right; the parental right to direct education includes the right to choose, as an alternative to public education, private, religious, or home schools, and the right to make reasonable choices within public schools for one's child; neither the United States nor any state shall infringe upon these rights without demonstrating that its governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise served; the parental rights guaranteed by this amendment shall not be denied or abridged on account of disability; this amendment shall not be construed to apply to a parental action or decision that would end life; and no treaty may be adopted nor shall any source of international law be employed to supersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this amendment.

Food Recovery Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2017

Food Recovery Act of 2017 This bill provides funding and establishes requirements to reduce food waste and standardize date labeling on food. The bill authorizes grants or loans for: raising awareness about wasted food and food recovery efforts to reduce the quantity of wasted food; reducing food waste at schools and farms; and reducing food waste in accordance with the Food Recovery Hierarchy of the Environmental Protection Agency, including for a state organic waste reduction plan, food waste management infrastructure, and certain composting or anaerobic digestion food waste-to-energy projects. The bill provides funds for: (1) state storage and distribution costs under the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and (2) national media campaigns to decrease food waste. The bill also: establishes a Food Recovery Liaison within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), specifies that composting is eligible for support under USDA's conservation programs, expands the liability protections for the donation of food, and requires companies that receive federal food service contracts to donate surplus food to nonprofit organizations that assist food-insecure people. The bill requires date labels on food packaging to include the phrases "best if used by" to indicate food quality and "use by" to warn of food that may be unsafe to eat after a specified date. Labelers may include a quality date on packaging, but must include a safety date on ready-to-eat products. No one may prohibit the sale, donation, or use of a product based on passage of the quality date of the product.

Student Loan Servicer Performance Accountability Act

United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2017

Student Loan Servicer Performance Accountability Act This bill cancels the solicitations of the Department of Education for a single federal student loan servicer and instead requires competition in student loan servicing.

School Building Improvement Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2017

Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2017 This bill authorizes additional grant funding and tax-favored bonds to be used for the repair, renovation, and construction of public elementary and secondary schools.

National Flood Research and Education Center Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

National Flood Research and Education Center Act This bill establishes within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a National Flood Research and Education Center (NFREC), which shall consist of: (1) an office within NOAA; (2) one public university or college selected by the NOAA Administrator, which shall serve as the lead partner institution with NOAA; and (3) a consortium of other public universities or colleges selected by the Administrator and such lead partner institution based on their ability to fulfill specific purposes of NFREC. The purposes of NFREC are listed, including to plan, conduct, and arrange for competent public research, data, education, and recommendations within the following categories as they relate to flooding issues nationwide, regionally, and locally: (1) physical sciences, social science, and economic, policy, and risk analysis; (2) risk management; and (3) improvement of existing, and testing of new, risk assessment tools and methods, monitoring and predicting strategies and techniques, and flood management and prevention strategies and techniques. The bill sets forth criteria for selection of a lead partner institution and consortium members. NFREC must: (1) partner with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Army Corps of Engineers; (2) collaborate on federal flood-related issues with specified federal agencies; and (3) collaborate and share best practices on regional, state, and locally specific flooding and flood-related issues with state and local governments and with watershed, agriculture, environmental, and business and development organizations. Review and reporting requirements are set forth. NFREC must establish and make information available on a website. NFREC may provide technical assistance and demonstration project grant assistance to state and local governments on a competitive basis to assist with implementing recommendations of NFREC or testing new or improved strategies or technologies.

Student Disciplinary Fairness Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Student Disciplinary Fairness Act of 2017 This bill amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to establish within the Department of Justice (DOJ) an Office of School and Discipline Policy to reduce the number of juveniles who are incarcerated and develop a criminal history based on activity that occurs at school. The bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to require applicants for grants under the Community Oriented Policing Services program to provide assurances that the administration of juvenile justice in their jurisdictions is consistent with constitutional guarantees, including due process and equal protection, and that probation terms for a juvenile meet certain conditions. It amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to authorize DOJ to issue subpoenas during investigations of law enforcement agencies for alleged patterns or practices of conduct that violate constitutional rights. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights to make grants to states, local governments, and juvenile justice agencies to train teachers and administrators on de-escalation techniques to mitigate delinquent student behavior.

Real Education for Healthy Youth Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Real Education for Healthy Youth Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in coordination with the Department of Education, to award grants for: (1) comprehensive sex education for adolescents, (2) comprehensive sex education provided by institutions of higher education, and (3) training faculty and staff to teach comprehensive sex education to adolescents. HHS must enter a contract with a nonprofit organization to evaluate and report on these grants. The bill makes appropriations to carry out the the bill. Grants may not be used for health education programs that: withhold health-promoting or lifesaving information about sexuality-related topics, including HIV; are medically inaccurate or have been scientifically shown to be ineffective; promote gender or racial stereotypes; are insensitive and unresponsive to the needs of certain youth, including survivors of sexual abuse or assault, sexually active youth, pregnant or parenting youth, or individuals with varying gender identities or sexual orientations; or are inconsistent with the ethical imperatives of medicine and public health. The bill amends the Public Health Service Act to revise requirements and eliminate prohibitions regarding the content of educational programs funded through the AIDS prevention program. The bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow funding to be used for: (1) materials or programs that promote or encourage sexual activity, and (2) contraceptive distribution in schools. The bill amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to repeal the program for abstinence education. Unobligated funds for abstinence education are transferred and made available to carry out this bill.

Family Leave for Parental Involvement in Education Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Family Leave for Parental Involvement in Education Act This bill entitles an employee covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to take up to 8 hours during any 30-day period, and up to 48 hours during any 12-month period, of parental involvement leave to participate in or attend school conferences or activities sponsored by a school or community organization and related to a program attended by the employee's child or grandchild. An employee may elect, or an employer may require, substitution of any of the employee's paid or family leave or paid medical or sick leave for any leave allowed under this bill. Nothing in this bill shall require an employer to grant paid sick leave or paid medical leave in situations where the employer would not normally grant it. The bill imposes on the employee requesting leave certain notification requirements. An employer may require certification supporting such requests. The bill also applies the parental involvement and family wellness leave allowance to federal employees.

Student Loan Borrowers' Bill of Rights Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Student Loan Borrowers' Bill of Rights Act of 2017 This bill allows educational loans to be discharged in bankruptcy cases. In addition, the bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reinstate the six-year statute of limitations for certain student loans. The bill prohibits the collection of amounts individuals owe the Department of Education (ED) under title IV through: (1) offsets of Social Security, railroad retirement, or black lung benefits; (2) offsets of tax refunds; or (3) wage garnishment. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to (1) exclude discharged student loan debt from an individual's gross income, and (2) allow distributions from qualified tuition programs (known as 529 plans) to be used for student loan payments. Parents with certain PLUS loans made on behalf of dependent students are now eligible for income-based repayment plans. The bill prohibits: (1) evidence of an individual's default on a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under title IV from being used in a federal or state proceeding involving the individual's professional or vocational license; or (2) institutions of higher education from blocking students' access to their student records due to loan default. ED must cancel 50% of the balance of the interest and principal due on direct loans that are not in default for borrowers who are employed in a public service job for five years during repayment and make 60 monthly payments on such loans after October 1, 2017.

Youth Corps Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Youth Corps Act of 2017 This bill amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to authorize the Department of Labor to make grants to public or private nonprofit agencies or organizations to carry out Youth Corps programs that utilize the Youth Corps model to provide low-income youth (age 16 and not more than age 24) with education and work readiness training. The term "Youth Corps model" means a youth education and training program for which an eligible entity provides eligible youth with, among other things, stipended or paid work experience and basic and technical skills training leading to: (1) enrollment in postsecondary education or training, (2) attainment of an industry-recognized certification or credential, (3) meaningful employment in the economy of the 21st century, or (4) military service.

Prioritizing Education in Conflict Zones Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Prioritizing Education in Conflict Zones Act of 2017 This bill amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Director of Refugee Educational Assistance (to be designated by USAID), to provide long-term assistance to expand and improve primary and secondary education for displaced children from areas of conflict. Such assistance shall be used to: (1) build the capacity for private sector and civil society organizations to develop and strengthen primary and secondary curricula, coordinate with host country educational facilities, and strengthen technical capacities; (2) establish and expand U.S.-host country educational partnerships; and (3) assist efforts to educate women and girls. The director shall seek to use funding appropriated for the purposes of this bill to leverage private sector funding for such purposes and shall prioritize efforts to identify such sources of such private sector funding.

ELEVATE Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Ensuring Linguistic Excellence and Vocational Aptitude by Teaching English Act or the ELEVATE Act This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow states to count students who relocated from Puerto Rico (where Spanish is the primary language) in their English learner programs for purposes of calculating federal funding for such programs.

American Hope Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

American Hope Act of 2017 This bill amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to allow a state to extend higher-education benefits to state residents regardless of whether they are lawfully present in the United States. In addition, the bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel the removal, and adjust the status, of certain residents who entered the United States as children prior to 2017. An individual whose status has been so adjusted shall be considered to have obtained conditional permanent-resident status, valid for a period of eight years and subject to termination on the basis of specified deportable conduct. In order for an individual's conditional status to become permanent, the individual must timely file with DHS a petition indicating, among other specified information, that the individual has maintained conditional permanent-resident status for at least three years. Any period of time in which the individual was granted deferred action pursuant to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy shall count toward this three-year period. Information furnished by an individual in such a petition may not be used by an officer or employee of the United States to initiate removal proceedings. The bill also: (1) allows DHS to establish a competitive grant program for the provision of nonprofit assistance to eligible applicants for conditional permanent-resident status; (2) establishes the Presidential Award for Business Leadership in Promoting American Citizenship; (3) allows the Department of Education to develop an open-source, electronic English-learning program; (4) specifies requirements related to federal higher-education assistance for individuals with conditional permanent-resident status; and (5) requires the Government Accountability Office to report on specified data related to the bill.

Officer Sean Collier Campus Police Recognition Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Officer Sean Collier Campus Police Recognition Act of 2017 This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to expand the definition of public safety officer for purposes of the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program to include a campus police officer who is employed by an institution of higher education and authorized to enforce criminal laws. Specifically, the bill extends death, disability, or education benefits to a campus police officer or survivors of a campus police officer who dies or becomes disabled as a result of an injury sustained in the line of duty on or after April 15, 2013.

South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make grants to states for the purpose of promoting awareness of the increasing prevalence of heart disease, including its relationship to type 2 diabetes, in South Asian communities in the United States. For the purpose of conducting research and related activities with respect to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and other health-related ailments among South Asian communities in the United States, the National Institutes of Health, in coordination with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: (1) may conduct or support, through funding opportunity announcements, grants, or cooperative agreements, basic, clinical, and translational research; and (2) may award grants and cooperative agreements to public or nonprofit private entities. The bill amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to authorize the Department of Agriculture to award research and extension grants for developing and disseminating science-based tools and strategies to promote heart healthy nutrition among South Asian communities in the United States. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that medical schools in the United States that are accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education should include as part of their nutrition curriculum a focus on South Asian diet and ways to achieve optimal nutrition in South Asian communities.

Addiction Recovery for Rural Communities Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Addiction Recovery for Rural Communities Act This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide financial assistance for the construction of facilities and systems in rural areas for substance-use disorder services. In selecting recipients of loans and grants to establish community facilities, USDA must give priority to developers of facilities that: (1) provide substance use disorder prevention, treatment, or recovery services; and (2) employ staff with expertise and training in identifying and treating individuals with substance-use disorders. In providing grants to establish individual and family health education programs, USDA must give priority to entities intending to use the funds for substance-use disorder education, treatment, and prevention.

Youth Access to Sexual Health Services Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Youth Access to Sexual Health Services Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to support the access of marginalized youth to sexual health services such as sexual health education and contraception. Marginalized youth are disadvantaged individuals under the age of 26. Grants may be awarded to state or local health or education agencies, public schools, nonprofit organizations, hospitals, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations. Grants may be used to: (1) provide sexual health information to marginalized youth, (2) promote effective communication regarding sexual health among marginalized youth, (3) promote and support opportunities for school-age parents, and (3) train individuals who work with marginalized youth to promote sexual health and the development of safe and supportive environments. Grants may not be used to provide access to health services that: (1) are medically unsound; (2) withhold sexual health-promoting or lifesaving information; (3) promote gender stereotypes; or (4) are insensitive or unresponsive to the needs of young people, including youth with varying gender identities and sexual orientations, sexually active youth, pregnant or parenting youth, and survivors of sexual abuse or assault. Unobligated funds for abstinence education are transferred and made available for these grants.

Pell Grant Flexibility Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Pell Grant Flexibility Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any amount received as a Federal Pell Grant awarded under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Protecting Student Athletes From Concussions Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act of 2017 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to condition each state's receipt of ESEA funds, beginning in FY2019, on the state's enforcement of specified minimum requirements for the prevention and treatment of concussions. Each local educational agency must develop and implement a standard plan for concussion safety and management that includes: (1) the education of students, parents, and school personnel about concussions; (2) specified supports for each student recovering from a concussion; and (3) best practices designed to ensure the uniformity of safety standards, treatment, and management. Each public school must post on school grounds and publish on the school website specified information about concussions. If any public school personnel suspects that a student has sustained a concussion during a school-sponsored activity, the student must be immediately removed from participation in that activity and prohibited from participating in any school-sponsored athletic activities until the student submits a written release from a health care professional. Furthermore, the school personnel must report all available information regarding the injury to a concussion management team that will confirm and report details of the injury to the student's parents. The school's concussion management team shall consult with and make recommendations to relevant school personnel and the student to ensure that the student is receiving the appropriate academic supports.

Transparency in Taxpayer-Funded Discrimination Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Transparency in Taxpayer-Funded Discrimination Act This bill amends the Department of Education Organization Act to require the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights to publish, on its website, the names of institutions of higher education (IHEs) that request and IHEs that receive religious exemptions from title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. (Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities.) Additionally, the bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require an IHE that requests, receives, exercises, or intends to exercise a religious exemption from title IX to publish, on its website, certain information with respect to such exemption.

Student Loan Interest Tax Deduction Expansion Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Student Loan Interest Tax Deduction Expansion Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax deduction for interest on qualified education loans, to increase: (1) the dollar limitation on the deduction to $7,500 ($15,000 in the case of a joint return); and (2) the limitation on modified adjusted gross income to $100,000 ($200,000 in the case of a joint return).

Making College More Affordable Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Making College More Affordable Act This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 by creating federal interest-free education loans for undergraduate students. The loans must have the same terms and conditions and benefits to borrowers as federal direct Stafford Loans. Interest on these loans may only accrue during periods when a borrower is not earning taxable income due to professional negligence, professional incompetence, or malicious action on the part of the borrower. The Department of Education (ED) must carry out a repayment plan program for the interest-free loans under which loans payments are automatically withheld from the pre-tax income of the borrower. ED must cancel any outstanding balance of principal or interest due on those interest-free loans made to a borrower who has made 300 monthly payments. The borrower must be taxed on the amount canceled. Those taxes must be applied to carry out the federal direct loan program.

GPA Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Grace Period Alleviation Act or the GPA Act This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow a borrower of a Federal Direct Stafford Loan (whether subsidized or unsubsidized) to elect a one-year grace period before beginning repayment on the loan. The Department of Education, through a loan modification process, must pay to each borrower who received a Federal Direct Stafford Loan for which the first disbursement was made between July 1, 2012, and July 1, 2014, an amount equal to the amount of interest that accrued on the loan prior to the beginning of the repayment period.

To amend title 38, United States Code, to increase the number of health care professionals employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs by improving the Department of Veterans Affairs Education Debt Reduction Program.

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

This bill makes a Veterans Health Administration employee who provides patient care services in a position for which recruitment or retention of qualified personnel is difficult eligible for undergraduate and graduate education loan reduction under the Education Debt Reduction Program. (Currently, such loan reduction is available only for a course or training leading to a degree that qualifies the individual for a patient care services position.) The bill increases the five-year amount of education debt reduction payments made to or for a program participant from $120,000 to $240,000, of which not more than $60,000 (currently, $24,000) may be made in each year. The VA shall select program locations pursuant to a process that is similar to the process used to determine public health professional shortage areas. For purposes of providing tax liability reimbursements resulting from payments on behalf of an individual, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): (1) shall, in addition to such payments, make payments in an amount equal to 39% of the total amount of loan repayments made for the taxable year; and (2) may make such additional payments as the VA determines appropriate.

SIMPLE Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Streamlining Income-driven, Manageable Payments on Loans for Education Act or the SIMPLE Act This bill requires the Department of Education to establish and implement a process for automatically recertifying a borrowers' income to determine eligibility for a loan discharge due to permanent and total disability under the Federal Family Education Loan Program. In addition, the bill establishes a process for enrolling a delinquent borrower in federal student loan repayment in an income-driven repayment plan.

Cady Housh and Jason Flatt Teen Suicide Prevention Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Cady Housh and Jason Flatt Teen Suicide Prevention Act of 2017 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require states receiving ESEA funds to establish and implement a youth suicide awareness and prevention policy that provides for an hour of training each school year to school employees.

Signing is Language Act

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Signing is Language Act This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to: (1) include in the definition of "English learner" an individual whose native language is American Sign Language, and (2) count such individuals in the number of English learners in a state for the purpose of determining the amount of federal funds allotted to a state for English language programs.

Urging all Universities to designate and maintain a sexual assault coordinator on staff who can be accessed by student victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking on campus and in the surrounding community.

United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017

Urges colleges and universities to designate and maintain a full-time sexual assault coordinator on staff who can assist student victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking to help ensure that all student victims receive appropriate guidance, health services, and legal assistance that they may need.

Confirming State Land Grants for Education Act

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

Confirming State Land Grants for Education Act This bill allows the state of Utah, subject to valid existing rights, to select certain lands under the administrative jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of the Department of the Interior that are identified as available for disposal by land exchange in the Record of Decision for the Pony Express Resource Management Plan and Rangeland Program Summary for Utah County in fulfillment of certain land grants made to Utah upon being admitted as a state to further the purposes of the State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, without further land use planning action by the BLM. The criteria listed in Decision 3 of the Lands Program of the resource management plan shall not apply to any lands selected by Utah pursuant to this bill.

Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Act

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Act This bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a Great Lakes basin initiative for agricultural nonpoint source pollution prevention. (Nonpoint source pollution comes from diffuse sources and is caused by precipitation moving over or through the ground and carrying pollution.) In implementing the initiative, USDA must: provide grants to Great Lakes states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin) for education and outreach, technical assistance, and voluntary verification programs regarding nonpoint source pollution from agricultural activities; establish a funding priority within the Great Lakes basin for payments to producers that participate in the initiative to achieve verification through a state verification program; and use existing data where it is available. In carrying out the initiative, states may collaborate with entities that have agricultural or environmental expertise, including academic or nonprofit organizations.

To require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study and submit a report on filing requirements under the Universal Service Fund programs.

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

This bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Congress on the filing requirements for telecommunications carriers or service providers that receive Universal Service Fund support under the Communications Act of 1934 to provide service to qualifying low-income consumers, rural or high-cost areas, rural health care providers, schools, or libraries under the Connect America, Lifeline, E-Rate, Rural Health Care, Remote Areas, Connect America Fund Broadband Loop Support, and Mobility programs. The report must analyze the financial impact of those filing requirements and provide any recommendations on how to consolidate redundant filing requirements. After receiving the GAO's report, the FCC must initiate a rulemaking to consolidate redundant filing requirements and incorporate any GAO recommendations that would not violate the Administrative Procedure Act into such rulemaking or any ongoing rulemakings.

CARE Act

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

Creating Additional Residency Expansion Act or the CARE Act This bill temporarily expands the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program by requiring the Health Resources and Services Administration to make payments to additional teaching health centers, with priority given to centers that are located in counties with high Medicaid enrollment.

Food Recovery Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

Food Recovery Act of 2017 This bill provides funding and establishes requirements to reduce food waste and standardize date labeling on food. The bill authorizes grants or loans for activities related to: raising awareness about wasted food and food recovery efforts to reduce the quantity of wasted food, reducing food waste at schools and farms, and installing facilities that include composting or anaerobic digesters that use food or crop waste to produce energy. The bill provides funds for: (1) state storage and distribution costs under the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and (2) national media campaigns to decrease food waste. The bill also: establishes a Food Recovery Liaison within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), specifies that composting is eligible for support under USDA's conservation programs, expands the tax deduction for charitable contributions to include contributions of food inventory for nonprofit retail sales, expands the liability protections for the donation of food, and requires companies that receive federal food service contracts to donate surplus food to nonprofit organizations that assist food-insecure people. The bill requires date labels on food packaging to include the phrases "best if used by" to indicate food quality and "use by" to warn of food that may be unsafe to eat after a specified date. Labelers may include a quality date on packaging, but must include a safety date on ready-to-eat products. No one may prohibit the sale, donation, or use of a product based on passage of the quality date of the product.

Mentoring to Succeed Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

Mentoring to Succeed Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Education to award grants to entities to establish, expand, or support school-based mentoring programs that assist at-risk students in developing cognitive and social-emotional skills to prepare them for success in high school, postsecondary education, and the workforce.

Real Education for Healthy Youth Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

Real Education for Healthy Youth Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in coordination with the Department of Education, to award grants for: (1) comprehensive sex education for adolescents, (2) comprehensive sex education provided by institutions of higher education, and (3) training faculty and staff to teach comprehensive sex education to adolescents. HHS must enter a contract with a nonprofit organization to evaluate and report on these grants. The bill makes appropriations to carry out the the bill. Grants may not be used for health education programs that: withhold health-promoting or lifesaving information about sexuality-related topics, including HIV; are medically inaccurate or have been scientifically shown to be ineffective; promote gender or racial stereotypes; are insensitive and unresponsive to the needs of certain youth, including survivors of sexual abuse or assault, sexually active youth, pregnant or parenting youth, or individuals with varying gender identities or sexual orientations; or are inconsistent with the ethical imperatives of medicine and public health. The bill amends the Public Health Service Act to revise requirements and eliminate prohibitions regarding the content of educational programs funded through the AIDS prevention program. The bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow funding to be used for: (1) materials or programs that promote or encourage sexual activity, and (2) contraceptive distribution in schools. The bill amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to repeal the program for abstinence education. Unobligated funds for abstinence education are transferred and made available to carry out this bill.

Youth Access to Sexual Health Services Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

Youth Access to Sexual Health Services Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to support the access of marginalized youth to sexual health services such as sexual health education and contraception. Marginalized youth are disadvantaged individuals under the age of 26. Grants may be awarded to state or local health or education agencies, public schools, nonprofit organizations, hospitals, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations. Grants may be used to: (1) provide sexual health information to marginalized youth, (2) promote effective communication regarding sexual health among marginalized youth, (3) promote and support opportunities for school-age parents, and (3) train individuals who work with marginalized youth to promote sexual health and the development of safe and supportive environments. Grants may not be used to provide access to health services that: (1) are medically unsound; (2) withhold sexual health-promoting or lifesaving information; (3) promote gender stereotypes; or (4) are insensitive or unresponsive to the needs of young people, including youth with varying gender identities and sexual orientations, sexually active youth, pregnant or parenting youth, and survivors of sexual abuse or assault. Unobligated funds for abstinence education are transferred and made available for these grants.

Reduce Barriers to College Act

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

Reduce Barriers to College Act This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to ensure that the implemented authentication processes used for all current and future online applications provide the level of assurance required by National Institute of Standards and Technology standards for the determined level of authentication risk. Within 90 days of the enactment of this bill, the IRS must establish an online portal for individuals to request that a verification of nonfiling for any taxable year be submitted to the Department of Education as part of the process of completing the individual's Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The portal must authenticate an individual's identity using a valid Social Security number and any one of several documents specified in the bill. The bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to permit certain independent students applying for federal student aid using the simplified needs test to obtain a verification of nonfiling from the IRS in lieu of certifying that the student (and the student's spouse, if any) is not required to file a federal income tax return.

Public Library Innovation Space Act

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

Public Library Innovation Space Act This bill requires the National Museum and Library Services Board to carry out a program for making competitive grants to eligible partnerships (composed of a public library and an economic development corporation, a local government, a state government, an elementary or secondary school, a museum, an institution of higher education, a nonprofit organization, a corporation, and/or other entities identified by the Board) to establish makerspaces at public libraries. A makerspace is a facility (which may be at a fixed location or a mobile unit) that is open to the public and provides individuals with access to: (1) tools, technology, and educational resources designed to enable such individuals to create physical goods, including prototypes; and (2) educational opportunities, including vocational training and assistance with early-stage business ventures. A partnership must contribute, for the activities for which the grant was awarded, nonfederal matching funds equal to the grant amount. Each eligible partnership that receives a grant may not use its grant funds, or the matching funds contributed by it, for construction activities at a public library that would provide extra square footage to house a makerspace.

Early Learning Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

Early Learning Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to make annual awards from the Early Education Trust Fund, established in the bill, to state pre-kindergarten agencies according to a formula based on pre-kindergarten enrollment in the state. To be eligible for an award, a state must provide assurances that: (1) the award will be used only to support pre-kindergarten programs, (2) the state will not expend less for pre-kindergarten programs in the award period than it did in the previous year, and (3) each resident in the state who is four years old on October 1 of the award year has the opportunity to enroll in a free pre-kindergarten program. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a surtax, equal to 1.5% of a taxpayer's adjusted gross income as exceeds $500,000, to support the fund.

CCAMPIS Reauthorization Act

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017

Child Care Access Means Parents in School Reauthorization Act or the CCAMPIS Reauthorization Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise and permanently reauthorize the Child Care Access Means Parents in School grant program.

STEM AND COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION: PREPARING THE 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE

United States · United States House of Representatives · 26 July 2017

Dream Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017

Dream Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel removal and grant lawful permanent resident status on a conditional basis to an alien who is inadmissible or deportable or is in temporary protected status who: (1) has been continuously physically present in the United States for four years preceding this bill's enactment; (2) was younger than 18 years of age on the initial date of U.S. entry; (3) is not inadmissible on criminal, security, terrorism, or other grounds; (4) has not participated in persecution; (5) has not been convicted of specified federal or state offenses; and (6) has fulfilled specified educational requirements. DHS shall cancel the removal of, and adjust to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence on a conditional basis, an alien who was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status unless the alien has engaged in conduct that would make the alien ineligible for DACA. DHS may not: (1) grant conditional permanent resident status without the submission of biometric and background data, and completion of background and medical checks; and (2) disclose or use information provided in applications filed under this bill or in DACA requests for immigration enforcement purposes. The bill prescribes the conditions under which DHS: (1) may terminate a person's conditional permanent resident status, and (2) shall adjust a person's conditional status to permanent resident status. The bill: (1) sets forth documentation requirements for establishing DACA eligibility, and (2) repeals the denial of an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence.

APP Act

United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017

Advancing and Promoting Programming or the APP Act This bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to establish a publicly available website that includes a database of federal funding opportunities for the creation of apps (software applications that enable the performance of specific tasks that may be run on a computer, a mobile device, the Internet, or any other electronic device) and allows the public to download a federal government app that includes: a list of each funding source for the creation and maintenance of government apps and instructions on how an applicant may apply for such funding; the ability for the public to rate and review any such app; a page that prominently displays apps that have been recently updated or that receive a high user review average; a page that features government projects that provide application developers with tools to improve private apps; resources for education and training related to the creation of apps; and a page that features outstanding, educational, computer science programs and resources to replicate such programs. The GSA shall review any app for which an update has not been released in more than two years and shall remove any app from the website that is no longer functional or compatible.

Interstate Teaching Mobility Act

United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017

Interstate Teaching Mobility Act This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a voluntary interstate teaching application program for participating states. To participate in the program, a state must require sufficiently rigorous assessments in awarding a teaching license or certification. In carrying out the program, the Department of Education shall: create an electronic application process for eligible teachers who are licensed or certified in a participating state to apply for teaching positions in another participating state; require a participating state to recognize the teaching licensure or certification of each such teacher without the teacher having to complete additional licensure or certification requirements; ensure that a participating state maintains specified eligibility requirements; and provide technical assistance. A teacher seeking to participate in the program must submit an application containing: (1) proof of active licensure or certification in a participating state, and (2) the teacher's results on specified assessments.

FAIR Act

United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017

Fostering Academic Information and Resources Act or the FAIR Act This bill requires states to inform each child in foster care who is at least 14 years old of government programs that provide financial assistance for expenses related to higher education, including housing expenses and tuition assistance.