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Bill· SS. 1894 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2013
Health Insurance Accountability Act of 2013 - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective on the date on which a study reported by the Comptroller General (GAO) determines that the number of individuals who are uninsured exceeds the number of individuals who were uninsured on the date of enactment of the PPACA. Requires subsequent studies and reports every 60 days until the Comptroller General makes such a determination. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), if a determination is made on the basis of the last such report submitted during a fiscal year that the number of uninsured has decreased as compared to the number on the date of PPACA enactment, to reduce the unobligated funding for the following, according to a specified ratio: health insurance consumer information, assistance to states for health care exchanges, and the Health Insurance Reform Implementation Fund. Deems such amounts to rescinded and permanently cancelled for purposes of debt reduction.
Bill· SS. 1890 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2013
Preserving Education Access and Autonomy Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Secretary of Education from requiring, as a condition of any education grant or assistance, that a state or local educational agency (LEA) adopt a specific elementary or secondary school curriculum. Prohibits the Secretary, when selecting recipients for any education grant or assistance, from giving any priority, preference, or special consideration to a state or LEA that is based on its adoption of a specific elementary or secondary school curriculum. Includes the Secretary's waiver of a statutory or regulatory requirement of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 within the definition of an "education grant or assistance."
Bill· SS. 1884 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2013
Pay It Forward College Affordability Act of 2013 - Direct the Secretary of Education to conduct studies regarding the feasibility of, and options for, implementing the Pay It Forward model for funding postsecondary education. Directs the Secretary, unless the studies determine that the funding model is not feasible or beneficial, to award competitive matching grants to states to establish and carry out Pay It Forward model state pilot programs. Limits the number of states and students that may participate in the programs. Describes the "Pay It Forward model" as a system in which the Secretary, a state, or an institution of higher education (IHE) replaces students' need to borrow under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program by covering all or part of their cost of attending an IHE in exchange for their agreement to contribute a certain percentage (not to exceed 5%) of their annual income for a specified number of years (not to exceed 25 years) after graduating or ceasing to be enrolled at the IHE. Requires that model to cover at least a student's cost of tuition and mandatory fees, but only to the extent they do not exceed the cost of tuition and mandatory fees at the most expensive public IHE in the state that is the same type of IHE the student attends. Requires states to give program priority to IHEs that have a plan, or a history of making an effort, to reduce or hold constant students' cost of attendance. Requires states to ensure that variations in the time that a student's tuition and mandatory fees are covered by the state are reflected in the length of the student's contribution period and the percentage of the student's annual income to be contributed. Continues students' eligibility for grants, scholarships, or funds that do not have to be repaid and for student loans that are not Direct loans, but requires the deduction of those amounts from the tuition and mandatory fees that the state would otherwise cover under the Pay It Forward program. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a technical advisory council to make recommendations to the Secretary regarding the implementation and evaluation of the Pay It Forward model, and (2) evaluate the model five years and ten years after its implementation. Authorizes the Secretary to expand the Pay It Forward model if doing so: (1) will not increase the federal cost of carrying out federal loan programs under title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, (2) may be accomplished using amounts available for title IV programs, and (3) is in the best interests of students and the United States. Establishes a Pay It Forward Fund in the Treasury into which Pay It Forward contributions are to be deposited. Prohibits an IHE program designed to prepare students for a recognized occupation or profession requiring licensing or other entry pre-conditions from participating in a Pay It Forward program, unless it: fully prepares students to satisfy those entry pre-conditions in the state in which the program is operated and in any state in which the program claims a successful program graduate will be prepared to work in the particular occupation or profession involved; provides timely placement of students in required pre-licensure positions, such as internships or apprenticeships; and meets specialized state accreditation requirements or notifies students if the program has not yet been fully accredited.
Bill· SS. 1881 (113th)open
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2013
Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) Iran must not be allowed to develop or maintain nuclear weapon capabilities; (2) Iran does not have an inherent right to enrichment and reprocessing capabilities under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; (3) the imposition of sanctions under this Act is triggered by Iran's violations of any interim or final agreement regarding its nuclear program; (4) if Israel takes military action in self-defense against Iran's nuclear weapons program the United States should provide Israel with diplomatic, military, and economic support; and (5) the United States should continue to impose sanctions on Iran and its terrorist proxies. States that it is U.S. policy to seek to ensure that all countries reduce their purchases of crude oil, lease condensates, fuel oils, and other unfinished oils from Iran or of Iranian origin to a de minimis level within one year. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 to authorize a country that purchased petroleum from Iran or of Iranian origin during the one-year period preceding enactment of this Act to continue to receive a sanction exception only if the country reduces its purchases of Iranian or Iranian origin petroleum: (1) to a de minimis level within one year; or (2) by at least 30% during the one-year period beginning on the date of enactment, if it also is expected to reduce such purchases to a de minimis level within two years, or the President determines that the country has reduced its purchases to a de minimus level. Amends the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 to include the construction, engineering, and mining sectors of Iran within the scope of sanctions. Designates as entities of proliferation concern entities that operate special economic zones, free economic zones, and entities in strategic sectors (in lieu of certain current entities). Directs the President to block the property of: (1) entities in strategic sectors, and (2) entities that operate special economic zones or free economic zones. Defines "strategic sector" as: (1) the energy, shipping, shipbuilding, and mining sectors of Iran; (2) the construction and engineering sectors of Iran with exceptions for schools and hospitals; and (3) any other sector the President determines to be of strategic importance to Iran. Amends the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 to exclude from U.S. entry: (1) an individual who engages in sanction evasion activities for or on behalf of the government of Iran, (2) an individual acting on behalf of the government of Iran who is involved in corrupt activities of that government or the diversion of humanitarian goods, or (3) a senior official who was involved in the activities of an entity designated for sanctions in connection with Iran's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or Iran's support for international terrorism. Expands the list of designated senior officials of the government of Iran. Directs the President to block the U.S. or U.S.- controlled property and property transfers of: (1) specified senior officials, and (2) family members who received such property from a listed official. Directs the President to prohibit the opening, and prohibit or impose strict conditions on the maintaining in the United States, of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducted or facilitated a significant currency transaction (or did so through another person) with or on behalf of the Central Bank of Iran or another Iranian sanctioned financial institution, or with a person that is involved in the strategic sectors or economic zones of Iran. Authorizes the President to impose sanctions pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act against any other person that knowingly conducts or facilitates such a currency transaction. Excludes from such sanctions any transactions for: (1) the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine or medical devices to Iran; or (2) the provision of humanitarian assistance to the people of Iran. Expresses the sense of Congress that, if sanctions are imposed pursuant to this Act and Iran continues to pursue an illicit nuclear weapons program, Congress should pursue additional sanctions against Iran. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President has been engaged in diplomatic efforts to ensure that sanctions are imposed multilaterally to restrict Iran's access to the global financial system; (2) the European Union (EU) is to be commended for strengthening the multilateral sanctions regime against Iran; (3) the President and the EU must continue to address any judicial, administrative, or other decisions in their respective jurisdictions that might weaken the sanctions regime; and (4) restrictions on Iran's access to global specialized financial messaging services should be maintained. Amends the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 to include goods, services, and technologies that will be sold or transferred to a strategic sector of Iran in the list of goods, services, or technologies diverted to Iranian end-users or Iranian intermediaries. Authorizes the President to: (1) impose restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance or measures authorized under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act with respect to a country designated as a Destination of Diversion Concern if the President determines that such restrictions would prevent the diversion of goods, services, and technologies to Iranian end-users or Iranian intermediaries; or (2) prohibit the issuance of an export license to such a country for certain defense articles or services. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President's FY2015 budget should prioritize resources for the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Department of State dedicated to the enforcement of sanctions against Iran, and (2) the appropriate Senate and House of Representatives committees should prioritize such resources during consideration of authorization and appropriations legislation in future fiscal years. Authorizes the President to suspend the application of sanctions under this Act for a 180-day period if the President certifies to Congress every 30 days during such period that: (1) Iran is complying with and verifiably implementing the Joint Plan of Action, (2) Iran is engaged in good faith negotiations toward a final agreement to terminate its non-civilian use nuclear activities, (3) the United States is working toward a final agreement to dismantle Iran's illicit nuclear infrastructure and permit verification and inspections of suspect facilities, (4) any sanctions relief is reversible and proportionate to Iranian measures to terminate its illicit nuclear program and related weaponization activities, (5) Iran has not directly or through a proxy carried out an act of terrorism against the United States or U.S. persons or property, (6) Iran has not conducted certain ballistic missile tests, and (7) suspension of sanctions is vital to U.S. national security interests. Authorizes and sets forth the conditions with regard to such suspension of sanctions for: (1) renewal of sanction suspensions, (2) termination of sanction suspensions, and (3) presidential waiver of sanctions reinstatement. Authorizes the President, unless a joint resolution of disapproval is enacted, to suspend the application of sanctions imposed under this Act for a one-year period if the President certifies to Congress that the United States and its allies have reached a final and verifiable agreement with Iran that will: (1) dismantle Iran's illicit nuclear infrastructure, (2) bring Iran into compliance with all United Nations (U.N.) Security Council resolutions related to Iran's nuclear program and resolve all issues of concern with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), (3) permit continuous on-site inspection and monitoring of all suspect facilities in Iran, (4) require Iran's full compliance with the Agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and (5) require Iran's implementation of measures that include IAEA verification of Iran's centrifuge manufacturing facilities and uranium mines and mills. Authorizes and sets forth the conditions for renewal of such sanction suspensions. Authorizes the President to make an exception from the imposition of sanctions for reconstruction assistance or economic development for Afghanistan if in the U.S. national interest and if notice is provided to Congress. States that nothing in this Act: (1) authorizes or requires the President to impose sanctions relating to the importation of goods, (2) shall apply to authorized U.S. intelligence activities, (3) shall be construed to apply to certain natural gas projects, or (4) shall be construed as a declaration of war or an authorization of the use of force against Iran. Eliminates specific refugee set-asides for nationals of the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, or Lithuania who are current, active members of the Ukrainian Catholic Church or the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Extends the period of eligibility for refugee status determinations for certain aliens from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Extends the period of eligibility for status adjustment from a parolee who was denied refugee status to a lawfully admitted permanent resident for certain aliens from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Vietnam, Laos, or Cambodia.
Bill· SS. 1870 (113th)open
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2013
Support At-Risk Children Act - Strengthening And Finding Families for Children Act - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise the adoption incentives grant program (renaming it the adoption and legal guardianship incentive program), creating a new formula for determining adoption incentive payments, and extending the program through FY2016. Revises the program's award structure, including limitations on the use of incentive payments. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase the adoption incentive payment for timely adoption award states. Requires states to use amounts paid to them under the program to supplement, and not supplant, any federal or non-federal funds used to provide any service under SSA title IV parts B (Child and Family Services) or E. Requires a state to calculate the savings (if any) resulting from the application of specified eligibility requirements for adoption assistance to all applicable children for a fiscal year, using a methodology specified by the Secretary or an alternative methodology proposed by the state and approved by the Secretary. Requires a state to spend at least 40% of any such savings on: (1) post-adoption or post-guardianship services (as applicable) for children placed in adoptive, kinship guardianship, or guardianship placements and their families; and (2) services to support and sustain positive permanent outcomes for children who otherwise might enter into foster care under the responsibility of the state. Declares that, in the event of the death or incapacity of the relative guardian, the eligibility of a child for a kinship guardianship assistance payment shall not be affected by reason of the replacement of the relative guardian with a successor legal guardian named in the kinship guardianship assistance agreement. Directs the Secretary, as part of the data collection system, to promulgate final regulations providing for the collection and analysis of information regarding children who enter into foster care under state supervision as a result of the disruption of a placement for adoption or foster care guardianship or the dissolution of an adoption or foster care guardianship. Requires a state plan for foster care and adoption assistance to require the state, within 30 days after removal of a child from parental custody, to exercise due diligence to identify and provide notice to all parents of a sibling of such a child, where such parent has legal custody of such sibling (as well as all adult grandparents as under current law). Amends SSA title IV part B to extend the Family Connection Grant Program through FY20016, and make universities eligible for matching grants under such programs. Amends SSA title III (Unemployment Compensation) with respect to the requirement that a state have an unemployment compensation law containing certain provisions in order to receive a specified federal grant. Requires a state owed an unemployment compensation debt meeting specified criteria that remains uncollected within two years after it was first incurred to take specified action under the Internal Revenue Code to recover it, including through a tax refund offset. Protecting Youth At-Risk of Sex Trafficking Act - Requires the state agency under its foster care and adoption assistance program plan to demonstrate to the Secretary that it has developed, and is implementing, policies and procedures for identifying and screening any child who the state has reasonable cause to believe is a victim of sex trafficking or is at risk of being a victim of trafficking. Prescribes additional case plan and case review system requirements for placement of a child in another planned permanent living arrangement. Requires a permanency plan for a child age 14 or older to be developed in consultation with the child, and allows the child to choose up to two members of his or her case planning team. Requires foster youth to be discharged from care only if provided with an official birth certificate, a Social Security card, a driver's license or equivalent state-issued identification care, and a fee-free (or low-fee) bank account. Subjects any state to an administrative penalty for noncompliance. Requires the state plan to require the state agency to: (1) identify and document each child who is a victim of sex trafficking or a victim of severe forms of trafficking in persons, and (2) report to law enforcement authorities within 24 hours after receiving any information on missing or abducted children for entry into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Amends part A of SSA title XI to require the head of each federal agency to report to Congress recommendations for expanding safe housing for youth victims of trafficking. Directs the Secretary to establish a National Advisory Committee on Domestic Sex Trafficking. Child Support Improvement and Work Promotion Act - Directs the Secretary to utilize federal and state enforcement mechanisms and take necessary steps to ensure compliance with U.S. treaty obligations under any multilateral child support convention in the event that a state plan does not comply with those obligations. Authorizes a Central Authority for child support enforcement in a foreign reciprocating country or a foreign treaty country to obtain information from the Federal Parent Locator Service. Revises child support enforcement requirements with respect to: (1) the collection of past due support from federal tax refunds, (2) waiver of passport denial for certain individuals owing child support arrearages but making such payments consistently and in good faith, (3) child support enforcement programs for Indian tribes, and (4) establishment of voluntary parenting time arrangements under state child and spousal support plans. Increases from 24 to 48 months the length of time information entered into the data base maintained by the National Directory of New Hires shall remain before being deleted. Authorizes the Secretary to provide access to data in each component of the Federal Parent Locator Service for certain related federal or state research as well as assessments of the effectiveness of a federal program in achieving positive labor market outcomes. Establishes in the executive branch a Child Support Enforcement Task Force.
Bill· SS. 1871 (113th)open
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2013
SGR Repeal and Medicare Beneficiary Access Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) end and remove sustainable growth rate (SGR) methodology from the determination of annual conversion factors in the formula for payment for physicians' services; (2) freeze the update to the single conversion factor at 0.00% for 2014 through 2023, and (3) establish an update of 2% for health professionals participating in alternative payment models (APMs) and an update of 1% for all other health professionals after 2023. Directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) to report to Congress on the relationship between: (1) physician and other health professional utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) of items and services for which Medicare payment is made, and (2) total utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance), B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), and D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program). Revises and consolidates components of the three specified existing performance incentive programs into a value-based performance (VBP) incentive program the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directed to establish, under which VBP eligible professionals (excluding most APM participants) receive annual payment increases or decreases based on their performance. Requires specified incentive payments to eligible APM participants. Directs the Secretary to make available on the Physician Compare website certain information, including information regarding the performance of VBP eligible professionals. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to evaluate the VBP program. Requires the Secretary to studythe application of federal fraud prevention laws related to APMs. Directs the Secretary to draft a plan for development of quality measures to assess professionals. Requires the Secretary to establish new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes for chronic care management services. Directs the Secretary to conduct an education and outreach campaign to inform professionals who furnish items and services under Medicare part B and part B enrollees of the benefits of chronic care management services. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) collect and use information on the resources directly or indirectly related to physicians' services in the determination of relative values under the fee schedule; and (2) establish or adjust practice expense relative values using cost, charge, or other data from suppliers or service providers. Revises and expands factors for identification of potentially misvalued codes. Sets an annual target for relative value adjustments for misvalued services. Phases-in of significant relative value unit (RVU) reductions. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to promote the use of appropriate use criteria for: (1) applicable imaging services furnished in an applicable setting by ordering professionals and furnishing professionals, and (2) other part B services. Expands the kinds of uses of data available to qualified entities for quality improvement activities. Directs the Secretary to provide Medicare data to qualified clinical data registries to facilitate quality improvement or patient safety. Modifies requirements pertaining to the work geographic adjustment as well as Medicare payment for therapy services and ambulance services. Revises requirements for: (1) the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program, (2) the Medicare inpatient hospital payment adjustment for low-volume hospitals, as well as (3) specialized Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for special needs individuals. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to extend the qualifying individual (QI) program, the transitional medical assistance (TMA) program, and express lane program eligibility. Amends SSA title XI with respect to continue funding for pediatric quality measures. Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend certain special diabetes programs. Extends the abstinence education grant program, the personal responsibility education program, and family-to-family health information centers. Extends the health workforce demonstration project for low-income individuals under SSA title XX. Requires each Medicare administrative contractor to establish an improper payment outreach and education program to give service providers and suppliers information on payment errors with a view to reducing improper Medicare payments. Revises requirements for a Medicaid fraud control unit's authority to investigate and prosecute complaints of abuse and neglect of patients in home and community-based settings. Authorizes the HHS Inspector General to receive and retain 3% of all amounts collected pursuant to civil debt collection actions related to false claims or frauds involving the Medicare or Medicaid program. Requires valid prescriber National Provider Identifiers on pharmacy claims against prescription drug plans (PDPs). Directs the Secretary to establish a Commission on Improving Patient Directed Health Care. Expands the definition of inpatient hospital services for certain cancer hospitals. Directs the Secretary to provide for the development of one or more quality measures under Medicare to accurately communicate the existence and provide for the transfer of patient health information and patient care preferences when an individual transitions from a hospital to return home or move to other post-acute care settings. Specifies that the level of supervision with respect to outpatient critical access hospital services shall be general supervision. Requires state licensure of bidding entities under the competitive acquisition program for certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS). Recognizes attending physician assistants as attending physicians to serve hospice patients under Medicare. Directs the Secretary to conduct remote patient monitoring pilot projects. Requires the Secretary to establish a Community-Based Institutional Special Needs Plan demonstration project to prevent and delay institutionalization under Medicaid among targeted low-income Medicare beneficiaries. Directs the Secretary to implement a strategic plan to increase the usefulness of data about Medicaid programs reported by states to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Includes podiatrists as physicians under the Medicaid program. Modifies Medicare requirements for inclusion of diabetic shoes under medical and other health services. Directs the Secretary to award planning grants to enable states to carry out demonstration programs to improve the provision of behavioral health services by certified community behavioral health clinics. Requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress on payment adjustments to disproportionate share hospitals (DSHs) in order to provide Congress with information relevant to determining an appropriate level of overall funding for such adjustments during and after a certain period in which aggregate reductions in DSH allotments to states are required.
Bill· SS. 1876 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2013
Strengthening And Finding Families for Children Act - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise the adoption incentives grant program (renaming it the adoption and legal guardianship incentive program), creating a new formula for determining adoption incentive payments, and extending the program through FY2016. Revises the program's award structure, including limitations on the use of incentive payments. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase the adoption incentive payment for timely adoption award states. Requires states to use amounts paid to them under the program to supplement, and not supplant, any federal or non-federal funds used to provide any service under SSA title IV parts B (Child and Family Services) or E. Requires a state to calculate the savings (if any) resulting from the application of specified eligibility requirements for adoption assistance to all applicable children for a fiscal year, using a methodology specified by the Secretary or an alternative methodology proposed by the state and approved by the Secretary. Requires a state to spend at least 40% of any such savings on: (1) post-adoption or post-guardianship services (as applicable) for children placed in adoptive, kinship guardianship, or guardianship placements and their families; and (2) services to support and sustain positive permanent outcomes for children who otherwise might enter into foster care under the responsibility of the state. Declares that, in the event of the death or incapacity of the relative guardian, the eligibility of a child for a kinship guardianship assistance payment shall not be affected by reason of the replacement of the relative guardian with a successor legal guardian named in the kinship guardianship assistance agreement. Directs the Secretary, as part of the data collection system, to promulgate final regulations providing for the collection and analysis of information regarding children who enter into foster care under state supervision as a result of the disruption of a placement for adoption or foster care guardianship or the dissolution of an adoption or foster care guardianship. Requires a state plan for foster care and adoption assistance to require the state, within 30 days after removal of a child from parental custody, to exercise due diligence to identify and provide notice to all parents of a sibling of such a child, where such parent has legal custody of such sibling (as well as all adult grandparents as under current law). Amends SSA title IV part B to extend the Family Connection Grant Program through FY20016, and make universities eligible for matching grants under such programs. Amends SSA title III (Unemployment Compensation) with respect to the requirement that a state have an unemployment compensation law containing certain provisions in order to receive a specified federal grant. Requires a state owed an unemployment compensation debt meeting specified criteria that remains uncollected within two years after it was first incurred to take specified action under the Internal Revenue Code to recover it, including through a tax refund offset.
Bill· SS. 1874 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2013
Partnerships for Affordability and Student Success Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require states, for academic year 2013 and each of the succeeding four academic years, to maintain their support for: (1) institutions of higher education (IHEs) (excluding support for capital projects, research and development, or tuition and fees paid by students) at least at the level of such support for academic year 2012, and (2) student postsecondary financial aid at least at the level of such support for academic year 2012. Directs the Secretary of Education to waive those requirements if such a waiver would be appropriate due to exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances. Replaces the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership program with a program that allots matching incentive grants to states, based on each state's share of students eligible for Federal Pell Grants, to assist states in: providing need-based grants to students attending IHEs or participating in study abroad programs approved for credit by the IHEs, providing subgrants to IHEs or consortia of IHEs to improve student outcomes and to develop and implement practices that reduce costs for students, and providing public accountability and consumer information on the performance of IHEs in the state. Requires each state grantee to have a comprehensive plan for public postsecondary education that: has measurable goals for student outcomes, including enrollment and completion; has measurable college affordability goals; is aligned with the state's workforce and economic development plan; is aligned with the state's elementary and secondary education plan; and addresses the postsecondary education needs of unserved and underserved individuals, including those who are beyond the traditional college age. Requires each state grantee to report annually to the public on its progress in meeting its public postsecondary education goals and comprehensive plan for public higher education. Allows private, nonprofit IHEs to participate on a voluntary basis in a state's comprehensive plan for postsecondary education. Requires at least 70% of the funds allocated to a state to be reserved for need-based grants to students.
Bill· SS. 1873 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2013
Protect Student Borrowers Act of 2013 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education (IHEs) participating in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program to accept specified risk-sharing requirements. Requires an IHE, for any fiscal year in which at least 25% of the IHE's student body is participating in the Direct Loan program, to remit, at such times as the Secretary of Education specifies, a risk-sharing payment set at: 20% of the total amount of its defaulted Direct loans if its cohort default rate is 30% or higher, 15% of the total amount of its defaulted Direct loans if its cohort default rate is lower than 30% but not lower than 25%, 10% of the total amount of its defaulted Direct loans if its cohort default rate is lower than 25% but not lower than 20%, and 5% of the total amount of its defaulted Direct loans if its cohort default rate is lower than 20% but not lower than 15%. Directs the Secretary to make specified modifications to such risk-sharing requirements if an IHE develops and implements a student loan management plan that is approved by the Secretary. Requires that plan to include individualized financial aid counseling for students and strategies to minimize student loan default and delinquency. Allows the Secretary to waive or reduce an IHE's risk-sharing payments in certain other instances. Prohibits IHEs from denying admission or financial aid to a student based on a perception that the student may be at risk for defaulting on a Direct loan. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts or cooperative agreements for: (1) statewide or institutionally-based programs for the prevention of federal student loan delinquency and default at IHEs that have a high cohort default rate or serve large numbers or percentages of students who have a higher risk of defaulting on student loans under title IV, and (2) increasing the number of borrowers who successfully rehabilitate defaulted loans Establishes a separate account in the Treasury for the deposit of the risk-sharing payments, of which: (1) up to 50% are to be used by the Secretary to enter into the contracts or cooperative agreements for delinquency and default prevention or rehabilitation, and (2) the remainder are to be used to offset any future shortfalls in funding under the Federal Pell Grant program. Makes an IHE's ability to meet its obligation to make risk-sharing payments part of the determination of its eligibility to participate in title IV programs.
Bill· SS. 1863 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2013
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a continuing medical education program for medical professionals with the goal of: (1) increasing knowledge and recognition of medical conditions common to veterans and family members of veterans, and (2) improving outreach to veterans and family members. Requires the program to include education on: (1) dealing with patients who are veterans or family members; (2) identifying and treating common mental and physical conditions of veterans and family members; (3) programs and benefits available to veterans and family members through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Labor, and such other federal agencies and non-federal organizations as the Secretary considers appropriate; and (4) the VA health care system. Directs the Secretary to: (1) carry out such program for five years on a VA website at no cost to participating medical professionals, and (2) ensure that the program is accredited in as many states as practicable.
Bill· HRH.R. 3803 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2013
Nullifying Unconstitutional Mandate By Evaluating Results Act or the NUMBER Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of their enactment, unless the Comptroller General certifies to Congress that at least 7 million individuals have been successfully enrolled in qualified health plans through a health care exchange during the enrollment period ending on March 31, 2014.
Bill· SS. 1852 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 2013
Economic Freedom Zones Act of 2013 - Prohibits federal assistance (e.g., loans, loan guarantees, or purchases) from being provided to: (1) a state, municipality, zip code, or rural area (eligible entity) other than an entity that is designated an Economic Free Zone by this Act; (2) a municipality that is a debtor in a bankruptcy proceeding; or (3) a state or municipality that is insolvent. Sets forth requirements for the designation of an eligible entity as an Economic Freedom Zone, including bankruptcy eligibility, insolvency, or pervasive poverty, unemployment, and general distress. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax incentives for investment in an Economic Freedom Zone, including; (1) a 5% flat tax rate on the taxable income of individuals and corporations, (2) a 0% capital gains tax rate for gain from the sale or exchange of Economic Freedom Zone assets or real property, (3) reduced employment tax rates, and (4) an increase in the expensing allowance for business property in an Economic Freedom Zone. Exempts an area designated as an Economic Freedom Zone from: (1) compliance with specified environmental regulations, (2) requirements applicable to a National Heritage Area, and (3) wage rate requirements under the Davis-Bacon Act. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow: (1) a tax credit, up to $5,000 in a taxable year, for the elementary and secondary education expenses of a student attending a public, private, or religious school whose principal residence is located in an Economic Freedom Zone; (2) a tax-exempt Economic Freedom Zone educational savings account for individuals whose principal residence is located in an Economic Freedom Zone; and (3) a tax credit, in lieu of a tax deduction, for contributions to a charitable organization serving individuals in an Economic Freedom Zone. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow a special allocation of grant funds under such Act for the benefit of children from families residing in an Economic Freedom Zone whose incomes are below the federal poverty level. Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), in collaboration with the Secretary of Labor, to issue Special Economic Freedom Zone Visas to aliens meeting certain educational and skill requirements who intend to enter the United States to invest in an Economic Freedom Zone. Expresses the sense of the Senate that state and local governments should review and adopt specified policy recommendations relating to pension reform, tax reduction, adoption of school choice options, adoption of right-to-work laws, streamlining the regulatory burden, and reducing or fixing abandoned structures.
Bill· SS. 1851 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 2013
Empowering Patients First Act of 2013 - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of their enactment. Restores or revives provisions amended or repealed by such Act or such health care provisions. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit for the cost of qualified health insurance costs for low-income taxpayers and a tax deduction for such costs for other taxpayers. Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment and governance of individual and small employer membership associations (IMAs) to make health benefits coverage available to IMA members and their dependents. Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide for establishment and governance of association health plans, which are group health plans whose sponsors are trade, industry, professional, chamber of commerce, or similar business associations and which meet certain ERISA certification requirements. Directs that the laws of the state designated by a health insurance issuer (primary state) shall apply to individual health insurance coverage offered by that issuer in the primary state and in any other state (secondary state), but only if the coverage and issuer comply with conditions of this Act. Amends title XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) require a state CHIP plan to specify how it will achieve coverage for 90% of targeted low-income children; and (2) prohibit CHIP payments for children with family income above 300% of the applicable poverty line. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue best practice guidelines for the treatment of medical conditions. Sets forth how such guidelines may be used in a health care lawsuit. Permits a group health plan to vary premiums and cost-sharing by up to 50% of the benefits based on participation (or lack of participation) in a wellness program. Requires a health insurance issuer to provide claims information, on request, to a plan, plan sponsor, or plan administrator. Prohibits the Secretary from using comparative effectiveness research or patient-centered outcomes research to deny coverage of an item or service under a federal health care program. Authorizes a state to establish a Health Plan and Provider Portal website to standardize information on health insurance plans available in the state. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of SSA to permit Medicare beneficiaries to contract with a physician or practitioner for health care items or services. Prohibits states from imposing limits on the amount of charges for health care services furnished by an eligible professional. Sets forth provisions regarding students loans and loan repayment for health care professionals. Exempts health care professionals from federal and state antitrust laws in connection with negotiations with a health plan regarding contract terms under which the professionals provide health care items or services for which plan benefits are provided. Establishes discretionary spending limits for FY2022-FY2023 for new budget authority in the nondefense category and revises sequestration discretionary spending limits for FY2014-FY2021.
Bill· SS. 1843 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 December 2013
Federal Information Technology Savings, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2013 - Modifies provisions relating to the position of Chief Information Officer (CIO) in federal agencies to require the appointment of not more than one CIO in the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy (DOE), Health and Human Services (HHS), Interior, Justice (DOJ), Labor, State, Transportation (DOT), Treasury, and Veterans Affairs (VA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Requires CIOs to: (1) be appointed or designated by the President, in consultation with relevant agency heads; (2) be chosen from among individuals who have demonstrated knowledge of information technology management practices and ability to manage such practices in large entities; and (3) be given enhanced authority in the budget planning process of an agency and the hiring of personnel who will have information technology responsibilities. Expands the responsibilities of the Chief Information Officers Council to require the Council to: (1) develop cross-agency portfolio management practices and issue guidelines and practices for expansion of the federal enterprise architecture process, and (2) report to specified congressional committees on its activities. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to examine and report on the effectiveness of the Council. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to make available to the public the cost, schedule, and performance data for at least 80% of all information technology investments in each federal agency to which this Act applies, unless the Director or the agency CIO determines that a waiver or limitation of such disclosure requirement is in the interests of national security.
Bill· HRH.R. 3782 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2013
Native American Seeds Protection Act of 2013 - Amends the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to award grants to, and enter into agreements with, Indian tribes and 1994 Institutions to conduct research and education and training programs concerning the purity of Native American seeds. (1994 Institutions are Native American tribally-controlled colleges and universities that were granted land-grant status in 1994.) Requires grant applicants to certify that any research conducted will be performed under a cooperative agreement with at least one other entity that has the capacity and infrastructure necessary to carry out agricultural research projects. Authorizes the use of the grants to fund research to assess the impact of: (1) public law and policies on traditional ways of life and cultural practices relating to the harvesting and cultivating of Native American seeds, and (2) contaminants that compromise the integrity and purity of those seeds. Authorizes the use of the grants to fund education and training programs on: (1) the methods necessary to conduct such research; and (2) the best methods to continuously test, monitor, and otherwise protect the purity of Native American seeds. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the use of grants under the community facilities grant program to expand, construct, and develop seed storage facilities that are used to protect and preserve Native American seeds.
Bill· HRH.R. 3784 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2013
Nullifying Unconstitutional Mandate By Evaluating Results Act or the NUMBER Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of their enactment, unless the Comptroller General certifies to Congress that at least 7 million individuals have been successfully enrolled in qualified health plans through a health care exchange during the enrollment period ending on March 31, 2014.
Bill· HRH.R. 3774 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2013
Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act of 2013 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) eliminate the abstinence-only education program, (2) rescind unobligated FY 2014 program appropriations, and (3) reprogram such rescinded appropriations for the personal responsibility education program (PREP) for FY2014.
Bill· HRH.R. 3778 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2013
Expanded Access to Real Learning for our Young Act or the EARLY Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to states to carry out full-day prekindergarten programs. Requires those programs to: be located at public schools, if practicable, or otherwise carried out by private or other community providers; permit parents, regardless of income, to voluntary enroll their four-year old children in the programs and do so at no cost if their combined income does not exceed 400% of the poverty line; be full-day programs that run the length of the regular school year; maintain a maximum class size of 20 children, with at least 1 prekindergarten teacher per classroom; ensure that the ratio of children to prekindergarten teachers and teacher aides does not exceed 10 to 1; be taught by teachers who are paid a salary comparable to kindergarten through grade 12 teachers at the state's public schools; and meet a minimum level of parental engagement set by the state. Requires the Secretary to give grant priority to states that carry out such programs at public schools. Prohibits the federal share of a grant from exceeding 75% of the prekindergarten program's costs.
Bill· HRH.R. 3777 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2013
Protecting Jobs for Students Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that a student who is enrolled at an institution of higher education and is participating in a federal work-study program under the Higher Education Act of 1965 shall not be counted in determining the number of full-time employees of an employer for the purpose of shared responsibility requirements with respect to health coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Bill· SS. 1822 (113th)open
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2013
Foreign Medical School Accountability Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to eliminate the exemption of certain foreign medical schools from the prohibition on foreign medical schools participating in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program, unless: at least 60% of those enrolled in, and at least 60% of the graduates of, the foreign medical school during the preceding year were not citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the United States or were not in the United States with the intention of becoming citizens or permanent residents; and at least 75% of students or graduates of the medical school located outside the United States or Canada who took the examinations administered by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates in the preceding year received a passing score. Preserves the Direct Loan eligibility of students who were enrolled at schools excepted from that prohibition on or before the date of this Act's enactment.
Bill· HRH.R. 3717 (113th)open
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2013
Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2013 - Creates in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) an Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders, who shall supervise and direct the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Directs the Assistant Secretary to establish a National Mental Health Policy Laboratory to: (1) identify and implement policy changes and other trends likely to have the most significant impact on mental health services; (2) collect information from grantees; and (3) evaluate and disseminate to such grantees evidence-based practices and services delivery models, using the best available science shown to reduce program expenditures while enhancing the quality of care furnished to individuals by other such grantees. Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to require the Assistant Secretary to establish: (1) an Interagency Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee; and (2) a four-year pilot program to award up to 50 grants each year to counties, cities, mental health systems, mental health courts, and any other entities with authority under state law to implement, monitor, and oversee assisted outpatient treatment programs. Directs the Assistant Secretary to establish a program of tele-psychiatry and primary care physician training grants to states to promote the use of qualified telehealth technology for the identification, diagnosis, mitigation, or treatment of a mental health disorder. Directs the HHS Secretary (Secretary), in coordination with the Assistant Secretary, to award planning grants to enable up to 10 states to carry out 5-year demonstration programs to improve the provision of behavioral health services by federally qualified community behavioral health clinics. Requires the Assistant Secretary to certify federally qualified community behavioral health clinics that meet specified criteria. Requires the caregiver of an individual with a serious mental illness to be treated as the individual's personal representative with respect to protected health information, even though the individual has not consented to disclosure of such information to the caregiver, when the individual's service provider reasonably believes it is necessary for protected health information to be made available to the caregiver in order to protect the individual's health, safety, or welfare or the safety of one or more other individuals. Amends the General Education Provisions Act to allow an educational agency or institution to disclose to such a caregiver the individual's education record in certain related circumstances. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to make available: (1) Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants for mental health programs and operations by law enforcement or corrections officers, and (2) public safety and community policing grants to provide specialized training to law enforcement officers to recognize and intervene properly with individuals who have mental illness. Reauthorizes and revises requirements for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004. Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to: (1) establish or expand veterans treatment court programs; and (2) enhance the capabilities of a correctional facility to identify, screen, and treat inmates with a mental illness, as well as develop and implement post-release transition plans for them. Requires any data prepared by or submitted to the Attorney General or the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with respect to homicides, law enforcement officers killed and assaulted, or individuals killed by law enforcement officers to include data about the involvement of mental illness in such incidences, if any. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to detail the cost of federal. state, or local imprisonment for persons who have serious mental illness. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to prohibit a state medical assistance plan from prohibiting payment for a same-day qualifying mental health service or primary care service furnished to an individual at a federally qualified community behavioral health center or a federally qualified health center on the same day as the other kind of service. Allows states the option to provide medical assistance for inpatient psychiatric hospital services and psychiatric residential treatment facility services for individuals age 21-65. Amends both SSA titles XIX and XVIII (Medicare) to cover prescription drugs used to treat mental health disorders. Amends the PHSA to increase funding for the brain initiative at the National Institute of Mental Health. Transfers responsibility for the administration of community mental health block grants to the Assistant Secretary from the Director of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). Revises requirements for the funding agreement under a formula block grant to a state for community mental health services to prescribe the general standard under state law for court ordered inpatient or outpatient mental health treatment as well as assisted outpatient treatment. Requires the Assistant Secretary to evaluate the combined paperwork burden of certain community mental health centers as well as of certified federally qualified community mental health clinics. Directs the Secretary of Education, along with the Assistant Secretary, to organize a national awareness campaign to assist secondary school students and postsecondary students in: (1) reducing the stigma associated with serious mental illness; (2) understanding how to assist an individual demonstrating signs of a serious mental illness; and (3) understanding the importance of seeking treatment from a physician, clinical psychologist, or licensed mental health professional when a student believes the student may be suffering from a serious mental illness or behavioral health disorder. Amends the PHSA to include as health care providers any behavioral and mental health professionals, substance abuse professionals, psychiatric hospitals, certain community mental health centers (including one operated by a county behavioral health agency), and residential or outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment facilities. Amends SSA title XVIII (Medicare), with respect to incentives for meaningful use of certified electronic health records (EHR) technology under the pay schedule for physician's services, to include as additional eligible professionals clinical psychologists providing qualified psychologist services and clinical social workers. Subjects any additional eligible professionals, including those under a MedicareAdvantage (MA) plan, to reductions in incentive payments after a certain date for failure to be a meaningful EHR user. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to treat as Medicaid providers the following additional Medicaid providers: (1) public and certain private hospitals that are principally psychiatric hospitals, (2) certain community mental health centers, and (3) certain residential or outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment facilities. Makes eligible Medicaid professionals certain clinical psychologists providing qualified psychologist services and certain clinical social workers. Amends the PHSA to accord health care professional volunteers at community mental health centers and federally qualified community behavioral health clinics the liability protections of Public Health Service employees. Requires the Assistant Secretary to transfer all functions and responsibilities of the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality to the National Mental Health Policy Laboratory. Revises the duties of the CMHS Director. Reauthorizes the Secretary's authority to address priority mental health needs of regional and national significance. Amends the PHSA to reauthorize and revise requirements for a youth interagency research, training, and technical assistance center to prevent suicides (the Suicide Prevention Technical Assistance Center). Expands the program's focus from youth suicides to suicides among all ages, particularly among groups that are at high risk for suicide. Repeals authority for grants to establish research, training, and technical assistance centers related to mental health, substance abuse and the justice system. Reauthorizes a program of grants for the development of state or tribal youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies. Reauthorizes and revises a grant program to enhance services for students with mental health or substance use disorders at institutions of higher education. Requires the Secretary (who currently is merely authorized), acting through the CMHS Director, to award grants to enhance such services and to develop best practices for the delivery of such services. Permits grant funds to be used for the provision of such services to students and to employ appropriately trained staff. Requires the Secretary to give special consideration to applications for grants that describe programs that demonstrate the greatest need for new or additional mental and substance use disorder services and the greatest potential for replication. Requires the Assistant Secretary, before making a grant to a public entity for comprehensive community mental health services to children with a serious emotional disturbance, to consult with the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to ensure that the grant recipient will use evidence-based practices. Reauthorizes funding for such grants. Repeals current authority of the Secretary to carry out directly or through grants, contracts or cooperative agreements with public entities a program to assist local communities in developing ways to assist children in dealing with violence. Reauthorizes the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Amends the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act to reduce corresponding funding for protection and advocacy systems for mentally ill individuals. Prohibits lobbying by any such systems accepting federal funds to protect and advocate the rights of individuals with mental illness. Prohibits the SAMHSA Administrator from hosting or sponsoring any conference that will not be primarily administered by SAMHSA without giving at least 90 days prior notice to specified congressional committees. Prohibits the SAMHSA Administrator also from establishing (and the Secretary from delegating to the Administrator responsibility for) any program or project not explicitly authorized or required by statute. Terminates by the end of FY2014 any SAMHSA program or project not so explicitly authorized or required.
Bill· HRH.R. 3734 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2013
416d65726963612043616e20436f6465 Act of 2013 or the America Can Code Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress regarding the importance of instruction in coding and computer programming to students' academic and vocational success, innovations in cyberspace, and our national security and economic competitiveness. Amends the America COMPETES Act to include computer programming language that is critical to the national security and economic competitiveness of our country as a "critical foreign language," the study of which is included in the teacher education programs and Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate programs funded under that Act. Amends the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to provide for: (1) state plans to include coding and computer programming instruction within the career and technical programs of study for which states receive assistance under that Act, and (2) the inclusion of coding and computer programming instruction within the federally-assisted tech prep programs that prepare participants in a career field by providing them with at least two years of secondary education followed by at least two years of postsecondary education or participation in an apprenticeship program. Directs the Secretary of Education to convene a task force to explore: (1) mechanisms for the development of draft curricula for elementary and secondary computer programming and coding education; (2) a mechanism to collect and share best elementary and secondary school computer programming and coding practices among educators; and (3) a national strategy to ensure competitiveness in emerging science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, such as computer programming and coding. Requires the task force to establish an information portal that directs users to coordinated and systematic information on promoting coding and computer programming in elementary and secondary schools.
Bill· HRH.R. 3750 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2013
Telehealth Modernization Act of 2013 - Calls for states to authorize health care professionals to deliver health care to individuals through telehealth and to consider adopting conditions under which such a professional should: have access to the individual's medical history and should review it with the individual as if delivering the health care in person; attempt to identify any conditions underlying the symptoms reported by the individual before providing any diagnosis or treatment and, if recommending a treatment, should review with the individual the contraindications to such treatment; have a conversation with the individual adequate to establish any diagnosis rendered; document any evaluation and treatment delivered to the individual for the purpose of generating a medical record of the encounter; provide to the individual information regarding the professional's health care education, certification, and credentials; offer no assurance to the individual that any item or service will be issued or provided in exchange for the payment of the consultation fee or solely in response to the individual completing a form or questionnaire; and issue, as part of the health care delivered, only a prescription that is issued for a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of professional practice, that is issued by a health care professional who has obtained a medical history and conducted an evaluation adequate to establish a diagnosis, that is not for a drug or substance in schedule II, III, or IV of the Controlled Substances Act, and that is filled by a licensed dispensing entity.
Bill· HRH.R. 3723 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2013
Viral Hepatitis Testing Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to carry out surveillance, education, and testing programs with respect to hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) virus infections. Requires the Secretary to establish a national system with respect to HBV and HCV to: (1) determine the prevalence of such infections; (2) carry out testing programs to increase the number of individuals who are aware of their infection; (3) disseminate public information and education programs for the detection and control of such infections; (4) improve the training of health professionals in the detection, control, and treatment of such infections; and (5) provide referrals for counseling and medical treatment and ensure the provision of follow-up services. Directs the Secretary to determine the populations that are considered at high risk. Directs the Secretary to establish and support public-private partnerships that facilitate such HBV and HCV surveillance, education, screening, testing, and linkage to care programs. Requires the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to convene the Preventive Services Task Force every three years to review its recommendation for HBV and HCV screening. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish and carry out a plan to provide veterans who were born between 1945 and 1965 with an HBC risk assessment and, if they are diagnosed with such virus, a thorough evaluation of, and information regarding, their need for treatment, vaccination, or other therapy. Requires the VA to use compliance with such plan as a key performance measure under the VA Handbook Performance Management System or its successor, including by giving the director of a VA medical facility that is not fully compliant a less than fully successful performance appraisal.
Bill· HRH.R. 3738 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2013
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.
Bill· SS. 1803 (113th)open
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2013
Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to require private educational lenders to disclose to borrowers at least 30 days before the first fully amortized payment on their loan is due: certain information concerning the terms of the loan, the date on which the first payment is due, the name of the lender and servicer and certain contact information, and a description of alternative repayment plans. Requires private educational lenders to disclose to borrowers who become 30 days delinquent on their loan: the date on which the loan will be charged-off or assigned to collections, including the consequences of those actions; the minimum payment that the borrower must make to avoid the loan being charged off or assigned to collection; the minimum payment that the borrower must make to bring the loan current; and a statement informing the borrower that paying less than the minimum could result in the loan being charged off or assigned to collection. Requires a private educational lender, when a borrower becomes 60 days delinquent or provides notice that he or she is having difficulty making payment, to: complete a full review of the loan and make a reasonable effort to determine if the borrower is eligible for an alternative repayment plan or servicemember or veteran benefits related to private education loans, inform the borrower about alternative repayment plans and benefits for which the borrower may be eligible, and give the borrower at least 30 days to apply for such a plan or benefit. Requires private educational lenders in all these situations to notify the borrower that a Servicemember and Veterans Liaison is available to answer inquiries about servicemember and veteran benefits related to private education loans. Provides that if such a borrower notifies a private educational lender that a long-term alternative repayment plan is not needed, the lender may provide the borrower with information about forbearance or deferment options instead. Requires lenders to establish a process that enables borrowers to provide such notice. Requires the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to develop and issue model forms to allow borrowers to compare their private education loan repayment plan with alternative repayment plans and forbearance and deferment options. Establishes a student loan borrower bill of rights under the Truth in Lending Act and the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). Imposes specified notification and payment transfer and receipt obligations on transferors and transferees of student loans if the transfer of those loans results in a change of the party to whom the borrower must direct communications or send payments. Prohibits student loan servicers from imposing late payment fees or finance charges on borrowers whose late payment is due to a change in the servicer's mailing address, office, or payment handling procedures. Requires private education loan servicers, absent alternative instructions from the borrower, to apply payments first to the interest and fees a borrower owes on the payment due date and then to the principal of the borrower's private education loan that bears the highest interest rate. Considers a private education loan to be rehabilitated if the borrower: (1) makes 9 payments of amounts owed on the loan within 20 days of the due date for 10 consecutive months, or (2) otherwise brings the loan current after it has been charged-off. Requires student loan servicers to: (1) designate an employee who is specially trained on servicemember and veteran benefits to act as the servicemember and veterans liaison responsible for answering inquiries from servicemembers and veterans, and (2) provide servicemembers and veterans with a toll-free number to access that liaison. Prohibits student loan lenders or servicers from charging-off or reporting a student loan as delinquent, assigned to collection, or charged-off to a credit reporting agency if the borrower is on active duty in a combat zone. Requires student loan servicers to make available to borrowers: (1) through a secure website or in writing upon request, their loan history; and (2) upon request and at no charge, copies of the original loan documents. Requires the Director of the CFPB to promulgate rules requiring student loan servicers to establish error resolution procedures. Requires consumer credit information that is required to be disclosed to borrowers under the Truth in Lending Act to be available at no charge to such borrowers. Requires the Director of the CFPB, under the HEA, to issue rules: (1) requiring lenders and servicers to contact borrowers who may be eligible to have their student loans discharged by the Secretary of Education and to provide them with information and a streamlined process for doing so, and (2) for the application of student loan payments in a manner that best benefits borrowers and is compatible with existing repayment options. Amends the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program to require eligible lenders to provide borrowers, before repayment, when they are having difficulty making payments, and when they are delinquent, a statement that: (1) they may be entitled to servicemember and veteran benefits, and (2) a Servicemember and Veterans Liaison is available to answer their inquiries about those benefits. Requires eligible lenders, under the FFEL program, and the Secretary, under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program, to inform borrowers of alternative repayment options and offer to enroll them in alternative repayment plans. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to require a lender, before issuing a private education loan for a student attending an institution of higher education (IHE), to obtain the IHE's certification of: (1) the student's enrollment status, (2) the student's cost of attendance, and (3) the difference between that cost and the student's estimated financial assistance. Eliminates the requirement that such lenders obtain a self-certification form from the private education loan applicant. Allows a lender to issue such a loan without a certification if the relevant IHE does not notify the lender, within 15 business days of the creditor's request for such certification, that it refuses to issue the certification or that it needs more time to comply with the request. Requires private educational lenders to: (1) send loan statements to borrowers at least once every three months a student is enrolled at an IHE; (2) notify the relevant IHE, in writing, of the loan amount and the student to whom it applies no later than the date funds are issued; and (3) submit an annual report to the CFPB containing information the CFPB requires concerning private student loans. Amends the HEA to require IHEs, before providing lenders with certifications or notice of their refusal to do so, to determine whether students have exhausted their options for assistance under title IV (Student Assistance) of the HEA and notify borrowers of: (1) the availability of such assistance, (2) their ability to choose their own private educational lender, (3) the impact of the proposed private education loan on their eligibility for other financial assistance, and (4) their right to accept or reject a private education loan within 30 days of the lender's approval of their application and to cancel the loan within 3 business days of its consummation. Prohibits an IHE from providing a private lender with a certification unless: (1) the loan provides the borrower with alternative repayment plans, including loan consolidation or refinancing; and (2) loan liability is cancelled upon the death or disability of the borrower or co-borrower. Treats lenders that receive a certification from an IHE as being in a preferred lender arrangement with that IHE.
Bill· HRH.R. 3696 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2013
National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2013 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct cybersecurity activities, including the provision of shared situational awareness among federal entities to enable real-time, integrated, and operational actions to protect from, prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from cyber incidents. Defines “cyber incident” as an incident resulting in, or an attempt to cause an incident that, if successful, would: (1) jeopardize the security, integrity, confidentiality, or availability of an information system or network or any information stored on, processed on, or transiting such a system; (2) violate laws or procedures relating to system security, acceptable use policies, or acts of terrorism against an information system or network; or (3) deny access to or degrade, disrupt, or destruct an information system or network or defeat an operations or technical control of such a system or network. Directs the Secretary to coordinate with federal, state, and local governments, critical infrastructure owners and operators, and other cross-sector coordinating entities to: (1) facilitate a national effort to strengthen and maintain critical infrastructure from cyber threats; (2) ensure that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies and procedures enable critical infrastructure owners and operators to receive appropriate and timely cyber threat information; (3) seek industry sector-specific expertise to develop voluntary security and resiliency strategies and to ensure that the allocation of federal resources is cost effective and reduces burdens on critical infrastructure owners and operators; (4) upon request, provide risk management assistance to entities and education to critical infrastructure owners and operators; and (5) coordinate a research and development strategy for cybersecurity technologies. Directs the Secretary: (1) to manage federal efforts to secure federal civilian information systems (excluding national security, Department of Defense [DOD], military, and intelligence community systems) and, upon request, to support the efforts of critical infrastructure owners and operators to protect against cyber threats; (2) to direct a DHS entity to serve as a federal civilian entity by and among federal, state, and local governments, private entities, and critical infrastructure sectors to share cyber threat information; (3) to promote national awareness and educate the public regarding information system security; (4) upon request, to facilitate cyber incident response and recovery assistance and provide analysis and warnings related to threats to, and vulnerabilities of, critical information systems, crisis and consequence management support, and other remote or on-site technical assistance to federal, state, and local government entities and private entities for cyber incidents affecting critical infrastructure; and (5) engage with international partners. Requires the Secretary to: (1) designate critical infrastructure sectors; and (2) recognize, for each sector, a Sector Coordinating Council (SCC) and at least one Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC). Permits to be included as critical infrastructure sectors: chemical; commercial facilities; communications; critical manufacturing; dams; Defense Industrial Base; emergency services; energy; financial services; food and agriculture; government facilities; healthcare and public health; information technology; nuclear reactors, materials, and waste; transportation systems; and water and wastewater systems. Requires SCCs to: (1) be comprised of small, medium, and large critical infrastructure owners and operators, private entities, and representative trade associations; and (2) serve as a self-governing, self-organized, primary policy, planning, and strategic communications entity for coordinating with DHS, sector-specific agencies, and ISACs on security and resilience activities and emergency response and recovery efforts. Allows the Secretary to enter contracts with private entities that provide electronic communication, remote computing, or cybersecurity services. Prohibits causes of action against private entities that provide such assistance to the Secretary. Establishes the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center as a federal civilian information sharing interface to: (1) provide shared situational awareness to enable real-time, integrated, and operational actions across the federal government; and (2) share cyber threat information among federal, state, and local government entities, ISACs, private entities, and critical infrastructure owners and operators that have information sharing relationships. Requires the Secretary to establish Cyber Incident Response Teams to provide technical assistance and recommendations to federal, state, and local government entities, private entities, and critical infrastructure owners and operators. Directs the Secretary, in coordination with SCCs, ISACs, and federal, state, and local governments, to develop, regularly update, and exercise a National Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan. Requires the Secretary to develop a comprehensive workforce strategy to enhance the readiness, capacity, training, recruitment, and retention of DHS cybersecurity personnel, including a 5-year recruitment plan and 10-year projections of workforce needs. Redesignates the National Protection and Programs Directorate as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Directorate. Directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to facilitate and support the development of a voluntary, industry-led set of standards and processes to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure. Prohibits NIST from requiring the use of specific solutions, products, services, or manufacturing or design techniques. Requires the Secretary to: (1) meet biannually with each SCC, and (2) submit annual reports to Congress on the state of cybersecurity in each sector. Expands liability protections for technology providers under the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 to include designated cybersecurity technologies deployed in defense of qualifying cyber incidents, which include: (1) unlawful or unauthorized access incidents; (2) disruption of the integrity, operation, confidentiality, or availability of programmable electronic devices or communication networks; (3) misappropriation, corruption, or disruption of data, assets, information, or intellectual property; and (4) harm inside or outside the United States that results in damages, disruptions, or casualties severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, economy, national morale, or federal, state, local, or tribal government functions. Prohibits this Act from being construed to: (1) create or authorize any new regulations or additional federal government regulatory authority, or (2) authorize the appropriation of any additional funds.
Bill· HRH.R. 3697 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2013
Adult Education and Economic Growth Act - Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1988 to revise requirements for statewide and local workforce investment systems to include adult education activities. Replaces statewide and local workforce investment systems with adult education and workforce investment systems. Revises member composition of: (1) state workforce investment boards to include the lead state agency officials with particular responsibility for implementing adult education and literacy activities; and (2) youth councils established by local workforce investment boards to include representatives of adult education. Revises requirements for five-year state and local worker investment plans. Authorizes the use of funds for: (1) statewide and local youth activities to provide opportunities for multiple career pathways for eligible youth, and (2) training services for local adult and dislocated workers to include integrated education and training and career pathway services. Requires the Secretary of Labor to carry out specified employment and training demonstration and pilot projects. Amends the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) to include among adult education and literacy services programs activities to assist adults with limited English proficiency to improve their English and mathematical skills, acquire an understanding of the American system of government and responsibilities of citizenship, and, where necessary, obtain knowledge and skills to transition to postsecondary education, job training, and employment in family-sustaining jobs. Revises requirements for the allocation and reservation of AEFLA funds. Revises state distribution requirements with respect to grants and contracts to eligible providers of activities for adult education and literacy and corrections education of institutionalized individuals. Expands an eligible agency's use of funds for corrections education and education for other institutionalized individuals to include academic programs for: (1) integrated education and training and sequential education and training programs, (2) career pathways, (3) dual enrollment, and (4) preparation for postsecondary education and training. Replaces the National Institute for Literacy with the National Center for Adult Education, Literacy, and Workplace Skills (Center). Requires national leadership activities to include activities to improve workplace skills programs nationwide. Requires the Secretary of Education to allocate grants to states for integrated English literacy and civics education programs. Requires the Secretary of Education to award grants to assist states in developing a 21st century delivery system for adult education, literacy, and workplace skills services as well as adults in developing digital literacy skills. Requires the Center to establish the National Adult Learning and Technology Resource Clearinghouse. Requires the Secretary of Education to direct the Commissioner for Education Research of the National Center for Education Research to establish a national research and development center for adult education, literacy, and workplace skills. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an employer educational assistance program credit for 50% of the qualified educational assistance expenses (up to $5,250) paid per taxable year on behalf of an employee.
Bill· HRH.R. 3694 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2013
Net Price Calculator Improvement Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish the minimum requirements for the net price calculator that each institution of higher education (IHE) receiving federal funds under title IV (Student Assistance) of the Act must include on its website. (An IHE's "net price" is the average yearly price actually charged to first-time, full-time undergraduate students receiving student aid at the school after deducting such aid.) Requires the link for the calculator to be clearly labeled and conspicuously posted on an IHE's website. Requires each calculator's results page to include: the net price of attending the IHE; the cost of attending the IHE; the estimated total need- and merit-based grant aid, from federal, state, and institutional sources, that may be available to first-time, full-time undergraduate students enrolled at the IHE; the percentage of such students enrolled at the school who receive any of that grant aid; and a notice that an estimate of an individual's net price is non-binding and subject to change. Requires calculators that estimate a user's eligibility for veterans' education benefits or educational benefits for active duty service members to clearly distinguish those benefits from other grant-aid. Requires calculators that do not make such estimates to provide users with notice of, and a link to information concerning, those benefits. Directs IHEs to populate their calculators with data from not later than two academic years prior to the most recent academic year. Requires the calculators to: (1) clearly indicate which questions need to be completed for a net price estimate, (2) clearly mark requests for contact information as optional, and (3) prohibit personally identifiable information from being sold or made available to third parties. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to develop a universal net price calculator that enables users to answer one set of questions and receive net prices for any IHE that is required to have a net price calculator.
Bill· SS. 1793 (113th)open
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2013
Nicholas and Zachary Burt Memorial Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2013 - Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to establish a grant program to provide assistance to states and local governments that require compliant carbon monoxide alarms to be installed in dwelling units. Defines "compliant carbon monoxide alarm" as an alarm that complies with the American National Standard for Single and Multiple Station Carbon Monoxide Alarms as well as the American National Standard for Gas and Vapor Detectors and Sensors. Permits states receiving grants to use such funds to: (1) purchase and install such alarms in dwelling units of low-income families or elderly persons, childcare facilities, public schools, senior centers, or student dwelling units owned by public universities; (2) train state or local fire code enforcement officials regarding compliance and installation; and (3) educate the public about the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Bill· SS. 1796 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2013
STEM Gateways Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to eligible entities for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) elementary and secondary school programs for women and girls, underrepresented minorities, and individuals from all economic backgrounds. Requires those programs to be directed toward at least one of the following goals: encouraging the interest of elementary and secondary school students in the STEM fields; motivating the engagement of those students in the STEM fields by providing them with relevant hands-on learning opportunities; supporting classroom success in the STEM disciplines by elementary and secondary school students; supporting STEM workforce training and career preparation for secondary school students; and improving the access of secondary school students to STEM career and continuing education opportunities. Defines an "eligible entity" as: (1) a local educational agency (LEA); (2) an educational service agency serving more than one LEA; (3) a consortium of LEAs; (4) a nonprofit organization that works with elementary schools, secondary schools, or institutions of higher education and has shown a commitment to achieving the goals listed above; or (5) a community college working in partnership with secondary schools to create dual enrollment, credit transfer, or accelerated postsecondary credentialing opportunities.
Bill· SS. 1795 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2013
New Skills for New Jobs Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, on a quarterly basis, to make payments to an eligible community college in an amount equal to the aggregate new job tax withholding matches for qualified training provided to job trainees who are U.S. citizens. Defines "qualified training" as education or training to provide an individual with the education or skills necessary to perform the job for which such individual will be employed or with licenses or certificates necessary for such employment. Requires that any job for which a trainee is hired be a new job. Defines "eligible community college" as a public institution of higher education: (1) at which the majority of degrees awarded are two-year degrees that are acceptable for full credit toward a baccalaureate degree, (2) that is located in a state that has a state new jobs tax credit program in effect, and (3) that participates in such program by having in effect a contract that meets specified requirements of such program.
Resolution· SRESS.Res. 316 (113th)passed
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2013
Expresses support for: (1) the goals and ideals of American Diabetes Month, including encouraging individuals to fight diabetes through public awareness about prevention and treatment options and enhancing education about the disease; and (2) decreasing the prevalence of type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes in the United States through increased research, treatment, and prevention. Recognizes the importance of early detection, awareness of the symptoms, and the risk factors that often lead to the development of diabetes.
Bill· HRH.R. 3690 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2013
STEM Gateways Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to eligible entities for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) elementary and secondary school programs for women and girls, underrepresented minorities, and individuals from all economic backgrounds. Requires those programs to be directed toward at least one of the following goals: encouraging the interest of elementary and secondary school students in the STEM fields; motivating the engagement of those students in the STEM fields by providing them with relevant hands-on learning opportunities; supporting classroom success in the STEM disciplines by elementary and secondary school students; supporting STEM workforce training and career preparation for secondary school students; and improving the access of secondary school students to STEM career and continuing education opportunities. Defines an "eligible entity" as: (1) a local educational agency (LEA); (2) an educational service agency serving more than one LEA; (3) a consortium of LEAs; (4) nonprofit organizations that work with elementary schools, secondary schools, or institutions of higher education and have shown a commitment to achieving the goals listed above; or (5) community colleges working in partnership with secondary schools to create dual enrollment, credit transfer, or accelerated postsecondary credentialing opportunities.
Bill· HRH.R. 3686 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2013
School Nutrition Fairness Act - Requires official White House meals and meals served at White House or Department of Agriculture (USDA) cafeterias to comply with the nutrition requirements for meals served under the school lunch and breakfast programs. Defines an "official meal" as a lunch or dinner served at an official White House function and funded by annual appropriation Acts.
Bill· HRH.R. 3692 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2013
Schools of the Future Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive three- to five-year grants to eligible partnerships to implement and evaluate the results of technology-based learning practices, strategies, tools, or courses at rural schools. Defines "eligible partnerships" as those composed of a school partner, a digital learning partner, and an evaluation partner. Describes a "school partner" as a: (1) local educational agency, (2) charter school network that does not include virtual schools, (3) consortium of public elementary or secondary schools, (4) regional educational service provider, or (5) consortium of such entities. Describes a "digital learning partner" as an institution of higher education, a nonprofit organization, or an organization with school development or turnaround experience. Includes among the grant-funded technology-based learning practices, strategies, tools, or courses, those that: (1) personalize the learning experience, (2) aid and inform instruction, (3) meet the needs of students with specific educational needs, (4) help students develop 21st century skills, and (5) give students access to courses that would otherwise be unavailable to them. Requires each partnership's evaluation partner, after the third year of the grant, to evaluate the effect of the technology-based learning practices, strategies, tools, or courses on student achievement and its school partner's costs and savings. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, to: (1) evaluate the implementation and impact of the activities supported by this Act's grants, (2) identify best practices, and (3) disseminate research on best practices in school leadership.
Bill· SS. 1783 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2013
Federal Prison Reform Act of 2013 - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) develop a Post-Sentencing Risk and Needs Assessment System for use by the Bureau of Prisons; (2) develop recommendations regarding recidivism reduction programs and productive activities; (3) conduct ongoing research and data analysis to determine the best practices regarding the use of offender risk and needs assessment tools, the best available tools, the most effective and efficient uses of such tools, and which recidivism reduction programs are the most effective; and (4) review such System, recommendations, and research biennially to determine whether revisions or updates should be made. Requires the System to provide such tools in order to: (1) classify the recidivism risk level of all prisoners as low, moderate, or high as part of the intake process and ensure that low-risk prisoners are grouped with low-risk prisoners in all housing and assignment decisions; (2) assign covered prisoners to recidivism reduction programs or productive activities based on such classification; (3) reassess the recidivism risk level periodically and make appropriate reassignments; and (4) determine when a low-risk prisoner is qualified to transfer to pre-release custody. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) adapt the Federal Post Conviction Risk Assessment Tool developed and utilized by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts in order to develop suitable risk and needs assessment tools to be used under the System, and (2) ensure that the tool to be used in reassessments measures indicators of progress and improvement and of regression. Requires the System to provide: (1) guidance on the kind and amount of recidivism reduction programming or productive activities assigned for each classification of prisoner; (2) specified incentives and rewards to prisoners that have successfully completed such programs and activities, including phone and visitation privileges, time credits, and transfer to pre-release custody; and (3) guidelines for reducing awards for prisoners who violate program, activity, or penal or correctional facility rules. Prohibits prisoners convicted of specified offenses from receiving time credits. Requires the reassessment of a covered prisoner who has successfully completed recidivism reduction programming or productive activities, the reassignment of such prisoner to appropriate programs or activities, and the provision of applicable time credits. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) develop training protocols and programs for Bureau officials and employees responsible for administering the System; (2) monitor and assess the use of the System; (3) review the effectiveness of existing recidivism reduction programs and productive activities, including prison jobs, in Bureau-operated facilities; (4) conduct or fund research to evaluate the effectiveness of established programs offered through organizations that do not rely on federal funding in reducing recidivism; and (5) make recommendations to the Bureau regarding the addition of any new effective programs and activities that would help to reduce recidivism. Directs the Bureau to: (1) implement the System and complete a risk and needs assessment for each prisoner, and (2) expand effective recidivism reduction programs and productive activities offered and add any new program or productive activity necessary to effectively implement the System. Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) a phase-in of development and operation of such recidivism reduction programs and productive activities; (2) partnerships between penal or correctional facilities and nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and private entities to expand such programs and activities; (3) penalties to be imposed on the Bureau for failure to implement the System, complete assessments, or add or expand programs and activities; and (4) prisoner transfers into pre-release custody.
Bill· HRH.R. 3663 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2013
Reducing Federal Mandates on School Lunch Act - Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) from implementing, administering, or enforcing a specified regulation, or promulgating or enforcing any new rule or regulation, establishing a maximum calorie limit or quantity of grains, meat, or meat alternatives for the school lunch program. Prohibits the Secretary from implementing, administering, or enforcing specified rules and regulations with respect to any school food authority that certifies to its state that it: (1) has calculated the costs of complying with such rules and regulations; and (2) has determined, in a manner consistent with school district operational procedures, that it cannot operate a food service program without incurring increased costs for complying with those rules and regulations. Identifies those rules and regulations as: the rule entitled "National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program: Nutrition Standards for All Foods Sold in School as Required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010"; any new rule regarding foods sold in schools that are not foods provided under the school lunch or breakfast programs; a specified regulation and any new rule or regulation regarding school lunch price increases; and a specified regulation and any new rule or regulation which establishes new food-based meal patterns, nutrition standards, or meal planning approaches for the school breakfast program. Prohibits the Secretary from defining the phrase "costs of complying" or establishing or suggesting how a school food authority is to calculate those costs or increased costs for complying. Maintains these prohibitions until a law is enacted that extends by at least five fiscal years the authorization or duration of one or more school lunch or breakfast programs.
Bill· HRH.R. 3660 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2013
Alerting Local Leaders and Ensuring Responsible Guidelines for Youth Act or the ALLERGY Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to condition each local educational agency's (LEA's) receipt of funds under the ESEA on the LEA establishing and implementing a policy on allergy bullying that requires its schools to: educate students, school personnel, and parents about allergy bullying and about such bullying being against school rules; clearly define what the punishment or response may be for violating the rule against allergy bullying, which may include a therapeutic response, where appropriate; encourage each victim of allergy bullying to report such bullying to school personnel; and remain in compliance with the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 in carrying out these requirements. Requires the LEAs to submit an annual written certification to their state that they have established and implemented such policy. Defines "allergy bullying" as unwanted, aggressive behavior by a student toward another student with an allergy, including: (1) a real or perceived imbalance of power due to such other student's allergy; and (2) actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, making physical or verbal attacks, and excluding such other student from a group on purpose.
Bill· HRH.R. 3628 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 December 2013
Transportation Reports Elimination Act of 2013 - Eliminates certain mandatory reports to specified congressional committees from the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) on: (1) Airport Improvement Project grants, (2) Pipeline Safety Information Grants to Communities, (3) the pilot program for innovative financing of air traffic control equipment (under the Vision 100--Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act), and (4) the application of new aircraft and aircraft engine standards or technologies to reduce aircraft noise levels (under the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century). Eliminates certain mandatory Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports with respect to the Air Traffic Services Committee and the establishment of an Air Defense Identification Zone (under the Vision 100--Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act). Eliminates mandatory reports to specified congressional committees from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding Great Lakes Management, the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (under the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program Act of 1992), and the research program respecting ocean dumping and other methods of waste disposal (under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972). Requires the annual marine safety report to Congress of the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to identify: (1) the number of civilian and military Coast Guard personnel assigned to marine safety positions; and (2) marine safety positions that are understaffed for purposes of facilitating the marine safety strategy and achieving its goals. Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to submit an annual Maritime Transportation Security report to specified congressional committees that includes: (1) a summary of security standards established and the level of compliance with them, and steps taken to ensure compliance, by ports, terminals, vessel operators, and shippers; and (2) the number of security zones established for vessels containing especially hazardous cargo, and the number of such vessels provided a waterborne security escort. Requires such report also to assess any additional vessels, personnel, infrastructure, or other resources that may be necessary to provide waterborne escorts to such vessels. Postpones till certain dates in 2014 the DOT Secretary's first biennial reports to specified congressional committees on infrastructure investment needs and the financial performance of projects receiving, or which have already received, infrastructure finance assistance. Changes from March to July, starting July 2014, the deadline for the biennial DOT public mass transportation system reports to Congress. Repeals the requirement that the Comptroller General (GAO) evaluation and audit of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) be conducted at least annually. Requires the DOT Secretary and the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to include the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in their quarterly briefings to Congress on any memorandum of agreement between them for coordination of their roles and responsibilities in providing assistance for public transportation. Revises the requirement for biennial reports to specified congressional committees on state progress in implementing projects to improve railway-highway crossings to make them (paperless) reports to the public on the DOT website. Requires the same shift to paperless reports to the public on the DOT website with respect to mandatory annual or biennial reports concerning: (1) the national bridge and tunnel inventory; (2) the surface transportation project delivery program; (3) highway safety programs; (4) in-vehicle alcohol detection device research; (5) the National Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Program Plan; (6) research, technology, and education advisory committee recommendations; (7) high-risk rural roads best practices; and (8)a specified comparison of the completion times of categorical exclusions, environmental assessments, and environmental impact statements for federal-aid highway projects among specified time periods. Amends the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) to require publication also on the DOT website of national ferry database updates.
Bill· HRH.R. 3622 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 2013
Patient Centered Healthcare Savings Act of 2013 - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the health care requirements of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of their enactment. Restores or revives provisions amended or repealed by such Act or such health care requirements. Sets conditions for lawsuits arising from health care liability claims regarding health care goods or services or any medical product affecting interstate commerce. Establishes a statute of limitations and limits noneconomic and punitive damages. Directs that the laws of the state designated by a health insurance issuer (primary state) shall apply to individual health insurance coverage offered by that issuer in the primary state and in any other state (secondary state), but only if the coverage and issuer comply with conditions of this Act. Authorizes a qualified entity to: (1) use standardized extracts of Medicare claims data it receives for additional non-public analyses; or (2) provide or sell them to registered or authorized users and subscribers, including service providers and suppliers, for non-public use. Directs the Secretary to provide Medicare claims data to: (1) such qualified entities for non-public use, including to facilitate the development of new models of care; and (2) qualified clinical data registries for specified other purposes. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise provisions related to health savings accounts (HSAs), including to expand eligibility for HSAs to Medicare Part A beneficiaries, veterans eligible for service-connected disability benefits, individuals eligible for Indian health service assistance, and individuals eligible to receive benefits under certain TRICARE plans. Amends the bankruptcy code to treat HSAs as tax-exempt individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for purposes of exempting them from creditor claims. Reauthorizes the use of Medicaid health opportunity accounts. Requires each state to mitigate the cost of high risk individuals in the state through a state reinsurance program or a state high risk pool. Removes the prohibition on preexisting condition exclusions in the individual health insurance market. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pay awards to states for reducing the premiums in the small group market or the individual market or for reducing the percentage of uninsured, nonelderly residents in a state. Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide for establishment and governance of association health plans, which are group health plans whose sponsors are trade, industry, professional, chamber of commerce, or similar business associations and which meet certain ERISA certification requirements. Amends ERISA, the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to require group health plans that provide dependent coverage of children to treat an individual as a dependent until at least 23 years (currently, 26 years) of age. Amends title XI of the Social Security Act (SSA) to increase civil money penalties, criminal fines, and prison sentences for fraud and abuse under the Medicare program. Exempts certain provisions from the repeal of PPACA under this Act, including provisions relating to physician-owned hospitals and background checks of employees of long-term care facilities and providers. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to establish a plan to require liability insurance (including self-insurance), no fault insurance, and workers' compensation laws and plans to meet the determination and submission requirements for Medicare secondary payers.
Bill· SS. 1777 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2013
Innovate America Act - Directs the Secretary of Education, in coordination with the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), to award grants, on a competitive basis, to state educational agencies to establish or expand the number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, including computer science (STEM) secondary schools in the United States from approximately 100 to approximately 200. Requires the Secretary, in coordination with the NSF Director, to: develop a database identifying existing STEM secondary schools, and study how to improve retention rates of students in STEM programs at institutions of higher education. Directs the President to ensure that at least 15% of all federal funds available each fiscal year for undergraduate research opportunities at 2-year and 4-year degree granting institutions of higher education are used to fund research opportunities for postsecondary students. Requires the NSF Director to administer a Technology Commercialization Awards Pilot Program through which promising technology advances derived from NSF research grants shall be eligible for funding. Amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to extend the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program to cover specifically informatics and computer science. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish a manufacturing assistance program for small and medium-sized domestic manufacturers to promote the manufacturing of goods in the United States and enable them to be competitive in global markets. Requires the Under Secretary for International Trade of the Department of Commerce to report to Congress on the global competitiveness of 20 U.S. industries that export the most goods or services and the domestic and foreign regulatory and policy barriers to increasing their exports. Requires: (1) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), beginning in FY2015, to devise a strategy to reduce overall government printing costs over a 10-year period; and (2) each federal department and agency to issue guidance on the appropriate use of award and incentive fees in their programs. Requires return to the Treasury of any funds intended to be awarded as incentive fees to contractors that are not paid owing to contractor inability to meet established criteria in this Act.
Bill· SS. 1769 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2013
Standard of Care Protection Act - Provides that the development, recognition, or implementation of any guideline or other standard under any provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health care-related parts of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, or titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act shall not be construed to establish the standard or duty of care owed by a health care provider to a patient in any medical malpractice or medical product liability action or claim. Prohibits such health care provisions from being construed to preempt any state or common law governing medical malpractice or medical product liability actions or claims.
Bill· SS. 1760 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2013
Coast Guard Quality of Life Act - Amends the duties and responsibilities of the Coast Guard with respect to former and current Coast Guard members and their families, including authorities relating to medical care reimbursements, flag officer retirement processing, cancellation of members' debts, child care programs and facilities, education and training, housing choices, and qualifications for post-service careers. Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, in lieu of current requirements relating to the reimbursement of medical or dental care that the Department of Defense (DOD) or a military department has provided to a member or former member of the Coast Guard or an eligible dependent, to transfer from funds appropriated for Coast Guard operating expenses an amount determined by the Board of Actuaries to represent the value of care that the DOD or a military department is to provide during the fiscal year in which funds are made available. Authorizes the Secretary, when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service of the Navy, to determine whether a flag officer being processed for retirement by reason of age or length of service should, by reason of unfitness to perform duties, be retired because of physical disability, placed on the temporary disability retired list, or separated with severance pay. Permits the Secretary to make such determinations without approval by the DOD Secretary or the recommendation of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. Allows a person's indebtedness to the United States to be remitted or cancelled if it was incurred while the person was serving as an active duty Coast Guard member and the cancellation or remission is in the best interest of the United States. Authorizes the Commandant of the Coast Guard to: (1) establish a program to support the well-being of Coast Guard active duty, reserve, and civilian personnel and their families; (2) provide tuition assistance to an eligible spouse of a member of the Coast Guard; and (3) establish, within any Coast Guard unit, a youth sponsorship initiative to help integrate into new communities the dependent children of Coast Guard members. Revises health and safety standards and inspection requirements for Coast Guard child development centers, including by requiring the establishment of: (1) a means for individuals to report suspected violations at such centers or in a family home daycare, (2) a training program for center employees, and (3) parent boards to coordinate parent participation. Makes specialized training and correspondence courses available to eligible spouses of active duty members. Authorizes the Commandant to make textbooks, manuals, and other materials available to Coast Guard personnel and eligible spouses of active duty members participating in training or courses of instruction. Prohibits remoteness or driving distance from a hospital from being used as the policy basis for preventing a member with a dependent with special medical needs (such as diabetes, asthma, or moderate disabilities) from residing in a particular area, unless the Commandant has determined that such needs cannot be sufficiently met with appropriate services while residing in such area. Expands the Coast Guard's authority to acquire or construct housing to include the acquisition, building, renovation, or improvement of child development center facilities. Directs the Commandant to promote awareness among Coast Guard personnel regarding post-service use of Coast Guard training, education, and experience as qualifying experience for merchant mariner credentials. Requires sea service letters to be provided to eligible members, at their request, on or before the member's retirement or separation date. Prohibits a committee within the Coast Guard that advises or assists the Coast Guard in the performance of any function that affects members of military families and that includes in its membership a retired Coast Guard member or a member of a military family from being considered an advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act solely because of such membership.
Bill· SS. 1759 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2013
Teaching Health Center Reauthorization Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to appropriate funds for FY2016-FY2020 for the program of payments to teaching health centers that operate graduate medical education programs. Allows funds that were unexpended at the end of a fiscal year to be used in subsequent fiscal years. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) annually report a compilation of the data provided to the Secretary concerning residency training, and (2) establish a minimum per resident per year payment amount for all approved teaching health center graduate medical education positions under the program that is not less than the amount as of January 1, 2013, and ensure that not less than that amount is provided to all such programs for all approved positions. Authorizes appropriations for FY2013-FY2020 for grants to teaching centers for the establishment of new accredited or expanded primary care residency programs.
Bill· SS. 1754 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2013
Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to include local educational agency homeless liaisons, their designees, and the directors of other programs serving homeless youth among those who may identify individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness as unaccompanied youth and thereby independent for financial aid purposes. Frees financial aid administrators from being required to verify those determinations absent conflicting information. Requires the presumption, on the basis of those determinations and absent conflicting information, that students are independent in the years following their initial application for aid. Defines "foster care children and youth" for purposes of the HEA. Requires the Student Loan Ombudsman to receive, review, and resolve expeditiously, in consultation with knowledgeable parties, complaints regarding a student's independence as an orphan, foster child, ward of the court, or unaccompanied youth. Requires postsecondary schools participating in programs under title IV (Student Assistance) of the HEA to: designate a staff person as a single point of contact to assist homeless and foster care youth in accessing and completing postsecondary education; post public notice about the assistance available to those youth, including their eligibility as independent students; have a plan for how those youth can access housing resources during and between academic terms; and include questions in their admissions application regarding the applicant's status as a homeless or foster care youth. Requires grant recipients under the Federal TRIO programs to identify, recruit, and provide outreach and program services to homeless and foster care youth. (TRIO programs are designed to assist individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds in progressing through the academic pipeline from middle school to postbaccalaureate programs.) Requires the TRIO Talent Search, Upward Bound, Student Support Services, and Educational Opportunity Centers programs to review and revise their policies and practices to remove barriers to the participation and retention of homeless and foster care youth, including by allowing those youth to participate in the programs immediately even if they are unaccompanied by a parent or guardian or are unable to produce the records normally required for enrollment. Requires grant recipients under the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate programs (GEAR UP) to identify homeless and foster care youth and facilitate their participation in the programs. (GEAR UP programs are designed to facilitate the transition of low-income high school students into postsecondary education, including through the provision of scholarships.) Prohibits a state from charging homeless and foster care youth tuition for attending a public institution of higher education in the state at a rate that is greater than the rate charged for state residents. Requires institutions of higher education receiving grants for work-study programs to prioritize employment for students who are currently or formerly homeless or foster care youth. Excludes from a student's income, for purposes of determining his or her eligibility for student assistance under title IV of the HEA, the value of education and training vouchers and any payments made directly to foster care youth under part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act. Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress within one year on the educational attainment of homeless and foster care youth.
Bill· HRH.R. 3583 (113th)open
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2013
Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) every individual, regardless of gender, should have the opportunity to pursue an education free from the fear of discrimination; and (2) educational exchanges promote institutional linkages between the United States and Pakistan. Encourages the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to continue to support Pakistani education initiatives, especially those for women. Directs the USAID Administrator to increase the number of scholarships to women under the Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program (Program) during each of calendar years 2013 through 2015 over the level awarded to women in calendar year 2011. (The Program awards scholarships for university study to academically talented, financially needy Pakistani students.) Requires the additional scholarships to be awarded: (1) in accordance with existing scholarship criteria, and (2) for a range of disciplines to improve the employability of graduates and to meet the needs of the scholarship recipients. Directs the USAID Administrator to make every effort to award 50% of the scholarships available under the Program to Pakistani women.
Bill· HRH.R. 3612 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2013
Know Before You Owe Private Student Loan Act of 2013 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to require a lender, before issuing a private education loan for a student attending an institution of higher education (IHE), to obtain the IHE's certification of: (1) the student's enrollment status, (2) the student's cost of attendance, and (3) the difference between that cost and the student's estimated financial assistance. Eliminates the requirement that such lenders obtain a self-certification form from the private education loan applicant. Allows a lender to issue such loan without a certification if there is no response from the relevant IHE within 15 business days of the lender's request for the certification. Requires private educational lenders to: (1) send loan statements to borrowers at least once every three months a student is enrolled at an IHE; (2) notify the relevant IHE, in writing, of the loan amount and the student to whom it applies no later than the date funds are issued; and (3) submit an annual report to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) containing information the CFPB requires concerning private student loans. Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require IHEs, before providing lenders with certifications, to determine whether students have exhausted their options for title IV assistance and notify borrowers of: (1) the availability of such assistance, (2) their ability to choose their own private educational lender, (3) the impact of the proposed private education loan on their eligibility for other financial assistance, and (4) their right to accept or reject a private education loan within 30 days of the lender's approval of their application and to cancel the loan within 3 business days of its consummation.
Bill· HRH.R. 3580 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2013
America's Fund for Future Opportunities and Outcomes in the United States Act of 2013 or the America's FOCUS Act of 2013 - Establishes a separate account in the U.S. Treasury to be known as the America's FOCUS Fund, into which shall be deposited: (1) revenue generated by civil and criminal fines and penalties for violations or alleged violations of federal law; (2) revenue generated by legal settlements reached between corporations and the federal government for violations or alleged violations of federal law; and (3) gifts, bequests, or donations to the Fund from private entities or individuals. Requires that, of the total revenue in the Fund: (1) up to 33% be used to award grants for youth mentoring and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education; (2) up to 33% be used to award grants for justice reinvestment; (3) up to 33% be used to award grants and prizes for innovations in medical research and development; and (4) the remaining revenue be used to reduce the federal budget deficit or, if there is no deficit, to reduce the federal debt. Directs the Secretary of Education to award the grants for youth mentoring programs, and the Associate Administrator for Education for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to award the grants for STEM education programs, to: (1) national non-profit, community-based organizations with at least two years of experience in administering such programs; and (2) state or local governments. Requires that, of the funds available for justice reinvestment, the Department of Justice (DOJ): (1) award 50% to state and local governments for justice reinvestment projects, (2) use up to 25% of the funds to support federal justice reinvestment projects, and (3) allocate up to 25% of the funds to grant programs established under the Second Chance Act within DOJ. Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to use the revenue designated for medical innovation to fund entities that conduct innovative medical research and development. Authorizes the Director to use up to 15% of those funds to award monetary prizes to entities that have used their own funding and research facilities to produce innovative results. Requires that the grant funds be used to supplement, not supplant, other federal, state, and local funds designated to carry out those activities.
Bill· HRH.R. 3600 (113th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2013
GI Education Benefit Fairness Act - Expands the definition of "children," for purposes of provisions allowing members or former members of the uniformed services who served on active duty for specified periods beginning on or after September 11, 2001, to transfer their entitlement to educational assistance, to mean an unmarried person who: (1) is placed in the legal custody of a member or former member by court order for at least 12 consecutive months, (2) has not attained the age of 21, (3) has not attained the age of 23 and is enrolled in a full-time course of study at an institution of higher learning, (4) is incapable of self support due to a mental or physical incapacity that occurred while such person was a dependent of the member or former member, (5) is dependent on the member or former member for over one-half of his or her support, (6) resides with the member or former member unless separated due to military service or institutionalization for a disability or incapacitation, and (7) is not a dependent of a member or former member under any other provision defining dependent.