Housing

SURVIVE Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2015

Securing Urgent Resources Vital to Indian Victim Empowerment Act or the SURVIVE Act This bill amends the Indian Tribal Justice Act to rename the office supporting tribal justice systems and courts to the Office of Tribal Justice System Support and Victim Services and to expand the purpose of the office to include providing services to crime victims. The office must make grants to Indian tribes for crime victim compensation programs and services for crime victims, including: (1) domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, and child advocacy centers; (2) relocation and transitional housing; (3) medical care; and (4) legal services. These grants may also fund programs designed to improve the handling of violent crime cases, housing for law enforcement officers, and the renovation of facilities used for providing services to crime victims. The bill amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to make 5% of the Crime Victims Fund available for these grants.

Low-Income Solar Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2015

Low-Income Solar Act This bill requires the Department of Energy to establish a loan and grant program for photovoltaic solar (a method of converting energy from the sun into electricity) installations in low-income and underserved areas for FY2016-FY2030. Loans must be provided for: (1) community solar facilities that provide solar energy to low-income households, or (2) solar installations at federally subsidized affordable housing at multi-family complexes. The community solar facilities must: (1) be owned by an organization of electricity consumers that own a share of the facility's solar electricity generation, (2) have a certain a nameplate rating (or power generation capacity), (3) be located in or near a community that uses the electricity generated by the facility, and (4) reserve at least 25% of the electricity generated for low-income households. Grants must be given for: (1) solar electricity generating facilities installed on properties of eligible, low-income home owners; or (2) new solar projects for low-income households and individuals, including the costs of equipment and job training associated with solar projects.

Housing Assistance Reform Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2015

Housing Assistance Reform Act of 2015 This bill authorizes the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to increase the number of public housing agencies (PHAs) authorized to participate in the Moving to Work demonstration program by adding to it up to 60 high-performing, high-capacity PHAs, for a total of up to 300,000 housing vouchers and public housing units, over five years, to test and evaluate innovative models for improving economic self-sufficiency, mobility, academic performance, and other outcomes for tenants assisted by HUD. Selected PHAs may not receive more funding under low-income housing assistance, the Capital Fund, or the Operating Fund of the United States Housing Act of 1937 than they otherwise would have received without designation as a high performer under the public housing assessment system and the Section 8 (low-income housing assistance) management assessment program. If a PHA participating in the program before enactment of this Act has complied with the terms of its Moving to Work agreement, then HUD: must extend the PHA's agreement under the same terms in effect on the agreement's date of expiration, and may not alter the formula allocation for the agency's funding. There shall no longer be any limitation, under the Rental Assistance Demonstration specified in the Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2012 (as amended), on the number of PHA and certain other multifamily housing units receiving Public Housing Capital and Operating Funds assistance or low-income moderate rehabilitation program assistance that may be converted to tenant-based or project-based rental assistance units.

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 Provides FY2016 appropriations to the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; and related agencies. Department of Labor Appropriations Act, 2016 Provides appropriations to the Department of Labor for: the Employment and Training Administration, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the Wage and Hour Division, the Office of Labor-Management Standards, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Departmental Management. Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations Act, 2016 Provides appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Services for: the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Administration for Children and Families, the Administration for Community Living, and the Office of the Secretary. Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2016 Provides appropriations to the Department of Education for: Education for the Disadvantaged; Impact Aid; the School Improvement Programs; Indian Education; Innovation and Improvement; Safe Schools and Citizenship Education; English Language Acquisition; Special Education; Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research; Special Institutions for Persons with Disabilities; Career, Technical, and Adult Education; Student Financial Assistance; Student Aid Administration; Higher Education; Howard University; the College Housing and Academic Facilities Loan Program; the Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program Account, the Institute of Education Sciences, and Departmental Management. Provides appropriations to Related Agencies, including: the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the National Council on Disability, the National Labor Relations Board, the National Mediation Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, the Railroad Retirement Board, and the Social Security Administration. Sets forth permissible, restricted, and prohibited uses for funds provided by this and other appropriations Acts. Rescinds unobligated balances from prior appropriations.

National Design Services Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015

National Design Services Act of 2015 Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish a loan repayment program for eligible architects who provide certain design services on behalf of a Community Design Center (a non-profit organization operated and managed by a licensed architect that conducts research and provides design services for community development projects). Requires an eligible architect, in order to participate in the loan repayment program, to enter into a written contract with the Department that contains: an agreement under which: (1) the architect agrees to provide eligible design services on behalf of a Community Design Center for at least one year, and (2) the Department agrees to pay the principal and interest of the architect's qualifying educational loans for the period of time the architect provides such services; a provision that any U.S. financial obligation arising out of the contract, and any obligation of the architect, is contingent upon appropriations for the loan repayment program; and a statement of the damages to which the United States is entitled if the eligible architect breaches the contract.

Expressing support for designation of June 21 as National ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Day to promote children's health and gun safety.

United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015

Expresses support for the designation of National ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Day to encourage parents to begin asking the question, "Is there an unlocked gun in your house?" before their child visits other homes.

A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding Srebrenica.

United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2015

Affirms that the policies of aggression and ethnic cleansing implemented by Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 meet the terms of genocide. Urges the Atrocities Prevention Board, a U.S. interagency committee established by the Administration in 2012, to study the lessons of Srebrenica and issue guidance on how to prevent similar incidents from recurring in the future. Encourages the United States to reaffirm its policy of supporting the independence and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, peace and stability in southeastern Europe, and the right of all people living in the region to return to their homes and enjoy the benefits of democratic institutions, as well as to know the fate of missing relatives and friends. Recognizes the achievement of the International Commission for Missing Persons in accounting for those missing in conflicts or natural disasters around the world. Welcomes the arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of all persons indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, particularly those of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Asserts that it is in the U.S. national interest that those individuals who are responsible for these crimes should continue to be held accountable for their actions. Honors the thousands of innocent people killed or executed at Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 1995, along with all individuals who were victimized during the conflict and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995, as well as the foreign nationals who risked and in some cases lost their lives during their defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2015

Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 This bill authorizes appropriations for the Coast Guard for FY2016-FY2017. Specified senior officers of the Coast Guard shall be upgraded, and a plan shall be developed for biennial multirater assessments of Coast Guard officers. The Coast Guard may contract for the acquisition of Polar Icebreakers and associated equipment using incremental funding. The Department in which the Coast Guard is operating (Department in this Act, unless otherwise noted) shall: complete a materiel condition assessment with respect to the USCGC (U.S. Coast Guard Cutter) Polar Sea, and determine whether it is cost effective to reactivate the USCGC Polar Sea when compared with other options to provide icebreaking services as part of a strategy to maintain polar icebreaking services. The Coast Guard may contract on a sole source basis with a tax-exempt nonprofit organization that the Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association may establish in order to apply for and administer federal, state, or other educational research grants on behalf of the Coast Guard Academy. The bill repeals the prohibition against expending appropriated federal funds for the engineering, design, or construction of a National Coast Guard Museum. The Coast Guard shall consult with the Department of Defense anytime a report of allegations of misconduct are made against senior officials (flag officers and Senior Executive Service). Whistleblower protections for seamen reporting possible violations of a maritime safety or environmental protection law or regulation shall extend to those reporting to a vessel owner, a vessel operator, or the seaman's employer. The bill prescribes criminal penalties for destruction of evidence during maritime counter-drug operations and maritime bulk cash smuggling. Requirements and prohibitions for the carriage of liquid bulk dangerous cargoes shall apply to fishing or fish tender vessels of 500 gross tons or less if they carry flammable or combustible liquid cargoes in bulk. The Department and the Department of Transportation shall establish policies and practices to ensure that the authorities, including those for civil and criminal penalties, relating to maritime transportation of hazardous materials are enforced in the same manner and to the same extent. The Department may develop and propose a model for a national recreational vessel training curriculum and education standards for operators of recreational vessels equipped with propulsion machinery of any kind. Freedom of Information requirements for federal agencies shall not apply to a question from any examination for a merchant seamen license, certificate, or document, let alone the answer. The Department shall develop a sample merchant mariner exam and outline of merchant mariner exam topics on an annual basis. The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 is revised with regard to the application to Cape Flattery, Washington, of certain requirements for tank vessel response plans. The Department may treat as one of its own any assessment of the effectiveness of a foreign port's antiterrorism measures conducted by a foreign government or by an international organization if certain requirements are met. In establishing a model year for recreational vessels and associated equipment, the Department shall begin the model year on June 1 of one year and end it on July 31 of the following year, which shall also be the year designated. The Department shall amend regulations relating to weights of outboard motor and related equipment for various boat horsepower ratings to reflect Standard 30-Outboard Engine and Related Equipment Weights published by the American Boat and Yacht Council. The Department shall make a minimum of $59 million of direct loan obligations available each fiscal year for repairs or replacements of fishing vessels according to historic uses. The prohibition against federal direct loans or loan guarantees for the construction or rebuilding of fishing vessels exceeding specified dimensions shall not apply to vessels in specified fisheries. Certain fishing or fish tender vessels of between 50 and 190 feet in length, which are built after January 1, 2016, and which meet other specified criteria shall be exempted from American Bureau of Shipping certification requirements. The Federal Maritime Commission is reauthorized for FY2016-FY2017. Sport Fish Restoration and Recreational Boating Safety Act The Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act is amended to: revise a formula for the amount of unexpended or unobligated funds available for a project; increase percentages in the division of appropriations for coastal wetlands, boating safety, and boating infrastructure, among other things; and require a special set-aside to the Department in charge of the Coast Guard for recreational boating safety. The Internal Revenue Code is amended to extend through FY2023 the exception to the limit on transfers to the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund for payment of certain contracts. The bill repeals specified limitations of the use of funds for certain boating safety activities. The National Boating Safety Advisory Council is reauthorized through FY2023. The Department of the Interior shall convey the surface and subsurface estates of certain tracts on the "Point Spencer Land Retention and Conveyance Map," to the Bering Straits Native Corporation and the estates of another specified tract to Alaska. The Port Coordination Advisory Council for the Port of Point Spencer is established. The Coast Guard shall convey certain federal land in: Point Reyes Station to Marin County, California, for affordable housing or another public benefit, and Tok, Alaska, upon payment to the United States of the property's fair market value. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 is amended to revise the membership of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research. The Department may issue a certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement for the F/V RONDYS. The Coast Guard shall report to Congress on current operations to perform the International Ice Patrol mission as well as alternatives for carrying out that mission, including satellite surveillance technology.

To reform and modernize domestic refugee resettlement programs, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2015

Requires the Government Accountability Office to study the effectiveness of the Office of Refugee Resettlement's domestic refugee resettlement programs. Requires the Office to: (1) ensure that refugee assistance is provided to qualifying refugees who are secondary migrants; (2) report to Congress regarding states experiencing departures and arrivals due to secondary migration; and (3) expand the Office's data analysis, collection, and sharing activities to include data on mental and physical medical cases, housing needs, and refugee employment. Requires the Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services to provide refugee resettlement guidance to appropriate national, state, and local entities.

A bill to preserve the current amount of basic allowance for housing for certain married members of the uniformed services.

United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2015

This bill prohibits any reduction in the amount of basic housing allowance, as of September 30, 2015, for a member of the uniformed services who is married to another member of the uniformed services, unless the member and the member's spouse: (1) undergo a permanent change of station requiring a change of residence, or (2) move into or commence living in on-base housing.

Domestic Refugee Resettlement Reform and Modernization Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2015

Domestic Refugee Resettlement Reform and Modernization Act of 2015 Requires the Government Accountability Office to study the effectiveness of the Office of Refugee Resettlement's domestic refugee resettlement programs. Requires the Office of Refugee Resettlement to: (1) ensure that refugee assistance is provided to qualifying refugees who are secondary migrants; (2) report to Congress regarding states experiencing departures and arrivals due to secondary migration; and (3) expand the Office's data analysis, collection, and sharing activities to include data on mental and physical medical cases, housing needs, and refugee employment. Requires the Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services to provide refugee resettlement guidance to appropriate national, state, and local entities.

Shelter Our Servicemembers Act

United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015

Shelter Our Servicemembers Act Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to jointly establish a two-year pilot program of grants to nonprofit organizations to provide elderly homeless veterans with non-transitional housing. Allows recipients to use such grant to: (1) purchase real property to provide up to 200 homeless veterans with non-transitional housing, and (2) refurbish or renovate such property. Makes eligible for such housing veterans of at least 55 years of age who: (1) have been continuously homeless for a year or more or, during the last three years, had at least four separate periods of living on the streets, in an emergency shelter, or a combination thereof; and (2) have a condition that limits their ability to work or perform activities of daily living. Requires VA to provide case management for elderly veterans receiving such assistance.

Recognizing the importance of providing services to children of incarcerated parents.

United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015

Recognizes the unique challenges facing children who are growing up with one or both parents in prison. Recognizes that more resources and services need to target the specific needs of children of incarcerated parents in order to reduce the cycle of families in the criminal justice system. Supports research and the building of community partnerships to provide a comprehensive plan to meet the needs of individual children struggling to balance the difficulties of academic, social, and economic stability while a parent is incarcerated. Supports strengthening the access parents have to health care, education, housing, and job training services so they can be productive role models for their children post-release from a correctional institution.

Preserving American Homeownership Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 16 June 2015

Preserving American Homeownership Act of 2015 Requires the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Federal Housing Commissioner each to establish a pilot program to encourage the use of shared equity mortgage modifications designed to return greater net present value to investors than other loss-mitigation activities, including foreclosure. Requires a shared equity mortgage modification to: reduce by specified action the loan-to-value ratio of a covered mortgage to 100% or less within 3 years; reduce the interest rate if such a reduction of principal would not result in an affordable reduced monthly payment; reduce to a specified amount any periodic payment the homeowner is required to make; require the homeowner to pay the investor, upon refinancing or selling the real property securing a covered mortgage, up to 50% of the amount of the equity value of the real property, subject to certain conditions; be designed to deliver maximal net present value to the investor; be based on specified factors; and require disclosure to the homeowner, before entering into the shared equity mortgage modification, of the estimated net present value of the equity sharing interest to be determined under this Act.

CARE Act

United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2015

Older Americans Community Access Revitalization and Education Act or the CARE Act Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to direct the Administration on Aging (AoA) of the Administration for Community Living of the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a community care wrap-around support demonstration program of grants to enable eligible entities to: (1) establish community care wrap-around support partnerships; and (2) carry out specified activities, including longitudinal care plans for each eligible older individual as well as medication management and medical nutrition therapy. Directs the AoA to provide funding through area agencies on aging, and other approved entities, to not-for-profit owners or managers of housing for a pilot project service packaged and targeted for residents of federally assisted housing. Directs the AoA, through a coordinated public education and outreach campaign carried out by the National Eldercare Locator Service, and in coordination with other appropriate federal agencies, to promote: (1) enhanced public awareness of the importance of advance planning for integrated long-term care; and (2) the availability of national, state, and local information and resources to assist in such planning, as well as the existence of area agencies and aging service providers to give direct assistance with it.

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding Srebrenica.

United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2015

Affirms that the policies of aggression and ethnic cleansing implemented by Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 meet the terms of genocide. Urges the Atrocities Prevention Board, a U.S. interagency committee established by the Administration in 2012, to study the lessons of Srebrenica and issue guidance on how to prevent similar incidents from recurring in the future. Encourages the United States to reaffirm its policy of supporting the independence and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, peace and stability in southeastern Europe, and the right of all people living in the region to return to their homes and enjoy the benefits of democratic institutions, as well as to know the fate of missing relatives and friends. Recognizes the achievement of the International Commission for Missing Persons in accounting for those missing in conflicts or natural disasters around the world. Welcomes the arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of all persons indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, particularly those of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Asserts that it is in the U.S. national interest that those individuals who are responsible for these crimes should continue to be held accountable for their actions. Honors the thousands of innocent people killed or executed at Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 1995, along with all individuals who were victimized during the conflict and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995, as well as the foreign nationals who risked and in some cases lost their lives during their defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

SHELTER Act

United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2015

Strengthening Homes and Eliminating Liabilities Through Encouraging Readiness Act or the SHELTER Act Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual and business taxpayers a tax credit for 25% of their qualified hurricane and tornado mitigation property expenditures up to $5,000 for any taxable year. Defines such expenditures as expenditures in a dwelling unit or place of business for property to improve the strength of a roof deck attachment, create a secondary water barrier, improve the durability of a roof covering, brace gable-end walls, reinforce the connections between a roof and supporting wall, protect against windborne debris, or protect exterior doors and garages.

THE FUTURE OF HOUSING IN AMERICA: OVERSIGHT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

United States · United States House of Representatives · 11 June 2015

Pet and Women Safety Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2015

Pet and Women Safety Act of 2015 Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit threats or acts of violence against a person's pet under the offenses of stalking and interstate violation of a protection order. Defines "pet" to mean a domesticated animal that is kept for pleasure rather than for commercial purposes. Requires the "full amount of the victim's losses" for purposes of restitution in domestic violence and stalking offenses to include any costs incurred for veterinary services relating to physical care for the victim's pet. Directs the Department of Agriculture to award grants to eligible entities to carry out programs to provide specified housing assistance, support services, and training of relevant stakeholders to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their pets. Expresses the sense of Congress that states should encourage the inclusion of protections against violent or threatening acts against the pet of the person in domestic violence protection orders.

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016

United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2015

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016 Provides FY2016 appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) for military activities. Excludes military construction, military family housing, civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers, and nuclear warheads, which are all considered in other appropriations bills. Provides appropriations for Military Personnel. Provides appropriations for Operation and Maintenance, including: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; Environmental Restoration; Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid; the Cooperative Threat Reduction Account; and the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund. Provides appropriations for Procurement, including for Aircraft, Missiles, Weapons, Tracked Combat Vehicles, Ammunition, Shipbuilding and Conversion, Space, Other Procurement, and Defense Production Act Purchases. Provides appropriations for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation, including for Operational Test and Evaluation. Provides appropriations for Revolving and Management Funds, including Defense Working Capital Funds and the National Defense Sealift Fund. Provides appropriations for Other Department of Defense Programs, including the Defense Health Program, Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction, Drug-Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities, and the Office of the Inspector General. Provides appropriations for Related Agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System Fund and the Intelligence Community Management Account. Provides additional appropriations to specified DOD accounts for Overseas Contingency Operations/ Global War on Terrorism. Rescinds specified unobligated balances from prior appropriations to DOD. Sets forth permissible, restricted, and prohibited uses for funds provided by this and other appropriations Acts.

Pathways Out of Poverty Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2015

Pathways Out of Poverty Act of 2015 DIVISION A--EDUCATION TITLE I--STRONG START FOR AMERICA'S CHILDREN Subtitle A--Access to Voluntary Prekindergarten for Low- and Moderate-Income Families Directs the Department of Education (ED) to allot matching grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs), childhood education program providers, or consortia of those entities to implement high-quality prekindergarten programs for children from low-income families. Allots grants to states based on each state's proportion of children who are age four and who are from families with incomes at or below 200% of the poverty level. Defines "high-quality prekindergarten programs." Conditions grant eligibility on a state demonstrating to ED that it: (1) has established or will establish early learning and development standards, (2) has established or will develop the ability to link prekindergarten data with elementary and secondary school data, (3) offers state-funded kindergarten for children, and (4) has established a State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care. Directs ED and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a process to provide Head Start program services to children who are younger than age four in states or regions that provide four-year-olds whose family income is at or below 200% of the poverty level with sustained access to high-quality prekindergarten programs. Subtitle B--Prekindergarten Development Grants Directs ED to award competitive, matching, capacity-building grants to states that assure that they will use their grant to become eligible, within three years of receiving the grant, for this Act's grants for high-quality prekindergarten programs. TITLE II--RESTORING SUMMER PELL GRANTS Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow ED to award a student two Pell Grants during a single award year if the student is enrolled in an associate or baccalaureate degree program or a certificate program at an institution of higher education (IHE) on at least a half-time basis for the equivalent of more than one academic year during the Pell Grant award year. TITLE III--RESTORING TITLE IV ABILITY-TO-BENEFIT ELIGIBILITY Allows students who are not high school graduates or have not met certain home schooling requirements to receive student assistance under title IV of the HEA if they demonstrate that they can benefit from the education or training being offered by an IHE through: (1) their performance on an independently administered examination, (2) a state prescribed process, or (3) their satisfactory completion of six credit hours or the equivalent coursework toward a degree or certificate offered by the IHE. TITLE IV--YOUTH PROMISE/FEDERAL COORDINATION OF LOCAL AND TRIBAL JUVENILE JUSTICE INFORMATION AND EFFORTS Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to establish a PROMISE Advisory Panel to assist the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in assessing and developing standards and evidence-based practices to prevent juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity. Requires the Administrator of the Office to award grants to organizations to collect and use data in designated geographic areas to assess the needs and existing resources for juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention. TITLE V--PROMISE GRANTS Subtitle A--PROMISE Assessment and Planning Grants Authorizes the OJJDP to award grants to local governments and Indian tribes to assist local PROMISE Coordinating Councils (PCCs) with planning and assessing evidence-based and promising practices for juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention, especially for at-risk youth. Subtitle B--PROMISE Implementation Grants Directs the OJJDP to award additional grants to assist PCCs to implement PROMISE plans for coordinating and supporting the delivery of juvenile delinquency and gang prevention and intervention programs in local communities. Subtitle C--General PROMISE Grant Provisions Directs the OJJDP, in conjunction with the PROMISE Advisory Panel, to establish and utilize a system for evaluating applications for PROMISE Assessment and Planning grants and for PROMISE Implementation grants. DIVISION B--HOUSING TITLE VI--COMMON SENSE HOUSING INVESTMENT Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax deduction for mortgage interest, to: allow, in lieu of such deduction, a tax credit for 15% of mortgage interest paid in a taxable year for the taxpayer's principal residence and one other residence; provide for a phaseout of the tax deduction for mortgage interest between 2017 and 2021; allow a deduction for interest and taxes relating to land for dwelling purposes owned or leased by cooperative housing corporations; and increase the state housing credit ceiling for the low-income housing tax credit. Directs the Department of the Treasury to apply the savings from the enactment of this Act to the Housing Trust Fund, for assistance under the Section 8 low-income housing program, and for the Public Housing Capital Fund. TITLE VII--LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT FOR HOMELESS YOUTH Amends the Internal Revenue Code to qualify low-income building units that provide housing for full-time students who were homeless youth or homeless veterans prior to occupying a low-income housing unit for the low-income housing tax credit. TITLE VIII--RENTERS TAX CREDIT Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business-related tax credit for a portion of the rent paid by a qualified renter. Defines "qualified renter" as a family unit with income not greater than the higher of 60% of local median income or 150% of the federal poverty line. Establishes the amount of such credit as the rent reduction amount, which: (1) is the amount by which the fair market rent for a rental unit exceeds the rent charged to the qualified renter; and (2) shall not exceed the excess of the rent charged to the qualified renter (or, if lower, specified modest rent) over 30% of the qualified renter's income (prorated monthly). DIVISION C--NUTRITION TITLE IX--IMPROVING THE TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE TO NEEDY FAMILIES PROGRAM Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require state TANF plans to address whether and how states will give priority to providing assistance in areas with the greatest need. Extends the TANF program. Establishes matching grants to the states for subsidized employment. Sets a flat minimum participation rate of 50% with respect to all families residing in a state that include a work-eligible individual.. Gives TANF recipients the option to have trained personnel assess certain barriers to employment. Revises the contents of individual responsibility plans. Authorizes a state to develop a modified employability plan for a TANF recipient with, or caring for a family member with, a disability. Prohibits a state from imposing a lifetime sanction or full-family sanction on assistance to any individual or family on the basis of a family member's failure to comply with a program requirement. Prohibits sanctioning individuals for failure to engage in work if the failure results from the inability to secure child care or after-school arrangements for a child under age 13. Prohibits imposing a limit of less than 60 months on duration of TANF assistance. Makes the durational limit inapplicable during a recession. Requires that states establish personnel standards through a merit-based system in the administration of TANF programs. Requires TANF assistance to meet basic family economic needs. Makes reducing child poverty a purpose of the TANF program. Requires that states adopt standards and procedures to address domestic and sexual violence suffered by TANF recipients. Requires a state to guarantee child care services to TANF recipients employed or participating in a work activity. Eliminates the ban on providing assistance to families not assigning certain support rights to the state. Gives states the option to extend TANF eligibility to children through age 21. Prohibits considering financial aid tied to education of a child in determining eligibility for or the amount of TANF. Eliminates bars to TANF assistance for persons convicted of drug felonies, unwed teen parents not in school, and teens not in an adult-supervised living arrangement. TITLE X--EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT, RETENTION, AND NAVIGATION ACT Makes it a purpose of TANF to promote employment among needy families. Requires a state to use any funds received under a grant from the TANF Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs solely to support training programs leading to a credential directly linked to the employment opportunities in the local area or region. Eliminates the maintenance of effort requirement, and related administrative penalty, for state use of amounts from the Contingency Fund. Revises the definition of vocational educational training as a work activity to include up to 24 months of such training for any individual participating in a training program leading to a credential directly linked to employment opportunities in the individual's local area or region. Removes from the limitation on the number of persons who may be treated as engaged in work by reason of participation in educational activities all single heads of household or married individuals under age 20 who maintain satisfactory school attendance. TITLE XI--RESTORING SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS FUNDING CUTS INSTITUTED IN FARM BILL (HEAT-AND-EAT) Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to remove restrictions on providing standard utility allowances under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) to certain households based on the receipt of nominal benefits under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 or similar energy assistance programs. TITLE XII--HELPING HUNGRY STUDENTS LEARN Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to expand the school lunch program, provide free breakfast to students, and establish a pilot program to provide commodities to state agencies to assist in providing food to at-risk children on weekends and during school holidays. TITLE XIII--FOOD ASSISTANCE TO IMPROVE REINTEGRATION ACT Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to repeal provisions making individuals convicted of certain drug-related offenses ineligible for SNAP benefits. DIVISION D--LABOR/JOB TRAINING TITLE XIV--ASSISTANCE FOR THE UNEMPLOYED AND PATHWAYS BACK TO WORK Subtitle A--Supporting Unemployed Workers Supporting Unemployed Workers Act of 2015 Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to extend emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) payments for eligible individuals to weeks of employment ending on or before January 1, 2016. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until December 31, 2015, requirements that federal payments to states cover 100% of EUC. Amends the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 to exempt weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and June 30, 2016, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (FSEUCA of 1970) against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law provides for payment of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. Amends FSEUCA of 1970 to postpone similarly from December 31, 2013, to December 31, 2015, termination of the period during which a state may determine its "on" and "off" indicators according to specified temporary substitutions in its formula. Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to extend through December 31, 2015, the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits. Establishes the Reemployment NOW program to facilitate the reemployment of individuals receiving emergency unemployment compensation (EUC claimants). Requires a state to submit for approval by the Secretary of Labor a plan meeting certain minimum requirements in order to be eligible for an allotment of federal funds under such program. Authorizes a state to use its allotted funds to establish: a Bridge to Work program to provide EUC claimants with short-term work experience placements with eligible employers; a wage insurance program to pay, for up to two years, an EUC claimant who obtains reemployment up to 50% of the difference between the wages received at the time of work separation and the wages received for reemployment; and a program of enhanced reemployment services to EUC claimants, including unemployed individuals who have exhausted their EUC rights. Prescribes requirements for federal financing of state short-time compensation programs. Subtitle B--Long-Term Unemployed Hiring Preferences Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an increased work opportunity tax credit for long-term unemployed individuals (individuals who are unemployed and receiving unemployment compensation for six months or more). Subtitle C--Pathways Back to Work Pathways Back to Work Act of 2015 Directs the Department of Labor to make certain allocations of federal funds to states with approved plans, qualifying outlying areas (U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of Palau), and Native American program grantees to provide: (1) subsidized employment to unemployed, low-income adults; and (2) summer and year-round employment opportunities to low-income youth. Requires Labor to award competitive grants to local entities for work-based training and other work-related and educational strategies and activities of demonstrated effectiveness to provide unemployed, low-income adults and low-income youths with skills that will lead to employment. Subjects activities funded under this Act to federal labor standards and nondiscrimination protections. Subtitle D--Prohibition of Discrimination in Employment on the Basis of an Individual's Status as Unemployed Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2015 Makes it an unlawful practice for certain employers to: publish a job advertisement or announcement that includes provisions indicating that an individual's status as unemployed disqualifies the individual for employment or that the employer will not consider or hire an individual for employment based on such status, fail or refuse to consider or hire an individual because of such status, or direct or request that an employment agency take an individual's status into account to disqualify an applicant for consideration for employment or when screening or referring employees. Makes it an unlawful practice for an employment agency to commit similar acts, including to: (1) screen, or fail or refuse to consider or refer, an individual for employment because of the individual's unemployed status; or (2) limit, segregate, or classify any such individual in any manner that would limit access to job information or consideration, screening, or referral for jobs. Makes it unlawful for any employer or employment agency to: (1) interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of any right provided under this Act; or (2) fail or refuse to hire, discharge, or otherwise discriminate against an employee because such individual opposed any practice made unlawful by this Act or asserted any right under it. Prescribes enforcement authorities and legal remedies for violations of this Act. TITLE XV--LIVING AMERICAN WAGE Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage to at least the amount determined by Labor according to the formula prescribed by this Act beginning September 1, 2014. Requires Labor to determine such minimum wage rate by June 1, 2014, and once every four years thereafter. Prohibits any adjustment if the determination would result in a minimum wage lower than the current one. Requires the minimum wage so determined to be the minimum hourly wage sufficient for a person working for it 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, to earn an annual income 15% higher than the federal poverty threshold for a four-person household, with two children under age 18, and living in the 48 contiguous states, as published for each such year by the Census Bureau. DIVISION E--ANTI-POVERTY TAX PROVISION TITLE XVI--CHILD TAX CREDIT PERMANENCY Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the child tax credit, to: (1) make permanent the reduction (from $10,000 to $3,000) of the eligibility threshold for the refundable portion of such credit, and (2) require an annual inflation adjustment to the allowable amount of such credit (i.e., $1,000) after 2015. TITLE XVII--EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the earned income tax credit, to: increase the rate of such credit for individuals with no qualifying children; allow an annual inflation adjustment to the increased phaseout amount of such credit for taxable years beginning after 2016; and expand eligibility for such credit to individuals who have attained age 21 (currently, age 25) but have not attained the full retirement age under the Social Security Act. TITLE XVIII--CHILD CARE ACCESS AND REFUNDABILITY EXPANSION ACT Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for dependent care expenses, to: (1) make such credit refundable, (2) deny such credit to nonresident aliens, and (3) allow an annual cost-of-living adjustment after 2015 to the amounts used to determine an income-based reduction in the amount of such credit. DIVISION F--MISCELLANEOUS TITLE XIX--POVERTY IMPACT TRIGGER Amends Rule XXI (Restrictions on Certain Bills) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to make it out of order to consider a public bill or joint resolution authorizing an appropriation of $10 million or more, unless: (1) the accompanying committee report includes a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Poverty Impact Division impact statement, or (2) the chair of the committee reporting the legislation submits such statement for publication in the Congressional Record before consideration of the measure. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish the CBO Poverty Impact Division to prepare and submit poverty impact statements to the chairs of House committees. TITLE XX--HALF IN TEN ACT TO CREATE A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO REDUCE POVERTY Establishes within HHS a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty, which shall develop a National Strategy to reduce the number of persons living in poverty in America by half within 10 years after release of the 2012 Census report on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011.

Keeping Moving to Work Promises Act

United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2015

Keeping Moving to Work Promises Act This bill directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to renew for a period of 10 years any Moving to Work demonstration program agreement with a public housing agency that: (1) provides for the use of an alternative operating fund formula, and (2) is in effect on the date of enactment of this Act. HUD may not, in renewing an agreement, make any significant change to its financial terms.

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016

United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2015

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016 Provides FY2016 appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) for military activities. Excludes military construction, military family housing, civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers, and nuclear warheads, which are all considered in other appropriations bills. Provides appropriations for Military Personnel. Provides appropriations for Operation and Maintenance, including: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; Environmental Restoration; Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid; the Cooperative Threat Reduction Account; and the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund. Provides appropriations for Procurement, including for Aircraft, Missiles, Weapons, Tracked Combat Vehicles, Ammunition, Shipbuilding and Conversion, Space, Other Procurement, and Defense Production Act Purchases. Provides appropriations for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation, including for Operational Test and Evaluation. Provides appropriations for Revolving and Management Funds, including Defense Working Capital Funds and the National Defense Sealift Fund. Provides appropriations for Other Department of Defense Programs, including the Defense Health Program, Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction, Drug-Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities, and the Office of the Inspector General. Provides appropriations for Related Agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System Fund and the Intelligence Community Management Account. Provides additional appropriations to specified DOD accounts for Overseas Contingency Operations/ Global War on Terrorism. Rescinds specified unobligated balances from prior appropriations to DOD. Sets forth permissible, restricted, and prohibited uses for funds provided by this and other appropriations Acts.

HALT Campus Sexual Violence Act

United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2015

Hold Accountable and Lend Transparency on Campus Sexual Violence Act or the HALT Campus Sexual Violence Act This bill amends the Department of Education Organization Act to require the Department of Education (ED) to make publicly available on its website: a list of the institutions of higher education (IHEs) under investigation, sanctions or investigation findings, and a copy of program reviews and resolution agreements entered into with ED or the Department of Justice (DOJ), under title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) or title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the letter terminating the ED's monitoring of such agreements; and a list of the IHEs under investigation, and a copy of the program reviews, sanctions or investigation findings, and resolution agreements entered into with ED or DOJ, under the provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). ED may impose a civil penalty on an IHE that has violated a law under the jurisdiction of its Office for Civil Rights. The bill amends the Clery Act to direct ED to develop a biennial sexual violence climate survey and include statistics from such survey in the annual campus security report provided to current and prospective students and employees. An individual may allege a violation of the Clery Act in a judicial proceeding. The maximum penalty for substantially misrepresenting the number, location, or nature of the crimes required to be reported under the Clery Act is increased. The IHE's annual statement of its policy regarding domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking must: use simple and understandable language and clear formatting; be made available and posted on its public website and in conspicuous places in and around student housing and other campus buildings; be provided to each student group, team, or organization that has a specified connection to the IHE or is known by the IHE to act on an unaffiliated basis; and ensure that each of those groups distributes a copy of such policy to each of its members or applicants for membership. ED and DOJ are directed to create a joint interagency Campus Sexual Violence Task Force.

Community Lender Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 3 June 2015

Community Lender Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2015 This bill amends the Truth in Lending Act with respect to the presumption of a mortgagor's ability to pay a qualified residential mortgage loan and the insured depository institutions or insured credit unions meeting specified criteria that may be its creditors. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act is amended to exempt from its requirement of annual written privacy notices certain financial institutions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Act is amended to: (1) increase from $500 million to $1 billion the size of certain small insured depository institutions eligible for an 18-month on-site examination cycle, and (2) require private deposit insurers of credit unions to give the Federal Housing Finance Agency copies of independent audit reports within 7 days after the audit is completed. The Federal Home Loan Bank Act is amended to require the treatment of a state-chartered credit union as an insured depository institution even though it is not federally insured if it has applied for membership in a federal home loan bank and has met specified conditions, including insurance application eligibility requirements under the Federal Credit Union Act. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress on the adequacy of insurance reserves held by the private deposit insurer of privately insured credit unions, including the level of compliance with federal regulations regarding disclosure of a lack of federal deposit insurance. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is amended to extend securities registration requirements to savings and loan holding companies. The S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 is amended to: establish a transitional period during which a state, while examining the applicant's submitted background information, may permit a covered registered loan originator applying for a state license as a loan originator to act as one under the supervision of a non-depository firm that engages in loan origination in that state, and grant confidentiality to information shared with state and federal regulatory officials with financial services industry oversight authority. The Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 is amended to cover specified sections of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act as "enumerated consumer laws." The expiration of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 is repealed, and the Act is restored and revived as it was in effect on December 31, 2014.

A bill to exempt the Indian Health Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and certain other programs for Indians from sequestration.

United States · United States Congress · 3 June 2015

This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to exempt Indian health facilities and services, programs administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and programs under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 from sequestration. Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.

Community Lender Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 3 June 2015

Community Lender Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2015 This bill amends the Truth in Lending Act with respect to the presumption of a mortgagor's ability to pay a qualified residential mortgage loan and the insured depository institutions or insured credit unions meeting specified criteria that may be its creditors. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act is amended to exempt from its requirement of annual written privacy notices certain financial institutions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Act is amended to: (1) increase from $500 million to $1 billion the size of certain small insured depository institutions eligible for an 18-month on-site examination cycle, and (2) require private deposit insurers of credit unions to give the Federal Housing Finance Agency copies of independent audit reports within 7 days after the audit is completed. The Federal Home Loan Bank Act is amended to require the treatment of a state-chartered credit union as an insured depository institution even though it is not federally insured if it has applied for membership in a federal home loan bank and has met specified conditions, including insurance application eligibility requirements under the Federal Credit Union Act. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress on the adequacy of insurance reserves held by the private deposit insurer of privately insured credit unions, including the level of compliance with federal regulations regarding disclosure of a lack of federal deposit insurance. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is amended to extend securities registration requirements to savings and loan holding companies. The S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 is amended to: establish a transitional period during which a state, while examining the applicant's submitted background information, may permit a covered registered loan originator applying for a state license as a loan originator to act as one under the supervision of a non-depository firm that engages in loan origination in that state, and grant confidentiality to information shared with state and federal regulatory officials with financial services industry oversight authority. The Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 is amended to cover specified sections of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act as "enumerated consumer laws." The expiration of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 is repealed, and the Act is restored and revived as it was in effect on December 31, 2014.

BARN Act

United States · United States Congress · 1 June 2015

Better Agriculture Resources Now Act or the BARN Act Revises the H-2A nonimmigrant agricultural worker visa program, including with respect to: (1) agricultural labor and services, (2) application requirements, (3) wages, (4) period of authorized nonimmigrant status, (5) housing, (6) legal assistance, and (7) violations.

Homeless Veterans Assistance Fund Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 1 June 2015

Homeless Veterans Assistance Fund Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish in the Treasury the Homeless Veterans Assistance Fund; (2) allow individual taxpayers to designate on their tax returns a specified portion (not less than $1) of any overpayment of tax, and to make a contribution of an additional amount, to be paid over to such Fund to provide services to homeless veterans; and (3) require the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development, each year beginning with the President's annual budget submission for FY2017, to include a description of the use of funds from the Fund in the previous fiscal year and the proposed use of such funds for the next fiscal year.

Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2577) making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes, and providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2578) making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 1 June 2015

Sets forth the rule for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2577) making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes, and providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2578) making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016.

Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017

United States · United States Congress · 27 May 2015

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 Provides FY2016 appropriations to the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and several related agencies. Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2016 Provides appropriations to DOT for the Office of the Secretary, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, the Maritime Administration, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Office of Inspector General, and the Surface Transportation Board. Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2016 Provides appropriations to HUD for Management and Administration, Program Office Salaries and Expenses, Public and Indian Housing Programs, Community Planning and Development, Housing Programs, Housing Counseling Assistance, the Federal Housing Administration, the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), Policy Development and Research, Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, and the Office of Inspector General. Provides appropriations to related agencies, including the Access Board, the Federal Maritime Commission, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) Office of Inspector General, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. Rescinds specified unobligated balances from prior appropriations. Sets forth permissible, restricted, and prohibited uses for funds provided by this and other appropriations Acts.

Veterans' Entry to Apprenticeship Act

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015

Veterans' Entry to Apprenticeship Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to treat a pre-apprenticeship program as a program of apprenticeship, for purposes of providing educational assistance: (1) if such pre-apprenticeship program is recognized under or compliant with relevant state standards for a postsecondary pre-apprenticeship program, or (2) in the case of a program for which a state does not require any such standards, if the curriculum of the pre-apprenticeship program is approved by a sponsor who certifies that the program will prepare an individual with skills and competencies needed to enroll in a registered apprenticeship program and the pre-apprenticeship program maintains conduct and attendance policies in accordance with such sponsor. A covered individual enrolled in a pre-apprenticeship program must receive the same amount and kind of educational assistance the individual would receive if the individual were enrolled in a program of apprenticeship, with an exception of specified housing assistance if the individual is not paid as part of such pre-apprenticeship program.

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot program to award grants for the provision of furniture, household items, and other assistance to homeless veterans to facilitate their transition into permanent housing, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct a three-year pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of awarding grants to veterans service agencies, veterans service organizations, and nongovernmental tax-exempt organizations with experience assisting veterans or the homeless to provide veterans who are receiving specified VA homeless benefits with furniture, household items, and other assistance to facilitate their settlement into permanent housing. Requires the Secretary to: (1) give grant priority to applicants who serve communities that have the greatest need of homeless services, and (2) inform veterans of their eligibility to receive benefits under the pilot program. Caps the amount of each grant and the amount of each grant that a grantee may use to provide benefits to an individual veteran.

Housing for Homeless Students Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015

Housing for Homeless Students Act of 2015 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to qualify low-income building units that provide housing for homeless students and veterans who are full-time students for the low-income housing tax credit. To qualify for the credit the student must have been a homeless child or youth during any portion of the seven-year period prior to occupying the housing unit and the veteran must have been homeless for a similar five-year period.

Our Communities, Our Choices Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015

Our Communities, Our Choices Act of 2015 Amends the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to require consultation with state and local elected officials and a public hearing before awarding grants or contracts to provide non-federal housing facilities for unaccompanied alien children.

Preservation Enhancement and Savings Opportunity Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2015

Preservation Enhancement and Savings Opportunity Act of 2015 Amends the Low-Income Housing Preservation and Resident Homeownership Act of 1990 (LIHPRHA) with respect to a plan of action the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) may approve for extension of the low-income affordability restrictions on any eligible low-income housing. Entitles the owner of a property subject to a plan of action or use agreement to distribute: annually all surplus cash generated by the property, but only if the owner is in material compliance with the use agreement, including compliance with prevailing physical condition standards established by HUD; and any funds accumulated in a residual receipts account, notwithstanding any conflicting provision in the use agreement, but only if the individual is in material compliance with the use agreement and has completed, or set aside sufficient funds to complete, any capital repairs identified by the most recent third party capital needs assessment. Requires an owner distributing any such amounts to: continue to operate the property in accordance with the affordability requirements of its use agreement for its remaining useful life; continue to renew or extend any project-based rental assistance contract for at least 20 years, as required by the property's plan of action; and have the option to extend the contract to a 20-year term, if he or she has an existing multi-year project-based rental assistance contract for less than 20 years. Declares that neither LIHPRHA, nor any plan of action or use agreement implementing it, shall restrict an owner from obtaining a new loan or refinancing an existing loan secured by a low-income housing project, or from distributing the proceeds of such a loan, except that, in conjunction with such refinancing: the owner shall provide for adequate rehabilitation pursuant to a capital needs assessment to ensure long-term sustainability of the property satisfactory to the lender or bond issuance agency; any resulting budget-based rent increase shall include debt service on the new financing, commercially reasonable debt service coverage, and replacement reserves as required by the lender; and any rent increases resulting from the refinancing transaction for units not covered by a project-based rental subsidy contract shall be limited to 10%, with the following exception. States that any tenant who occupies a dwelling unit as of the time of the refinancing, and gives the owner proof of income, may not be required to pay for rent and utilities, for the duration of the tenancy, any amount exceeding the greater of: (1) 30% of the tenant's income, or (2) the amount the tenant paid for rent and utilities immediately before the refinancing. Directs HUD to issue any guidance necessary to carry out this Act within 120 days after its enactment.

Financial Transparency Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2015

Financial Transparency Act of 2015 This bill directs the Office of Financial Research of the Department of the Treasury and the following financial regulatory agencies to adopt data standards for all information collected or received by them, including corporate financial data: the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The Financial Stability Act of 2010 is amended to direct the Office of Financial Research (OFR) to promulgate data standards, including common identifiers and data formats, for the information reported to member agencies or collected on behalf of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. The OFR must publish any public information (with specified exceptions) as open data, freely available for download in bulk, accessible via application programming interface where appropriate, and offered without any registration requirement or reuse restriction (open data publication). The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 is amended to require the SEC to adopt data standards incorporating those promulgated by the OFR and apply them to: investment advisers reports and registration statements, information submitted by nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, asset-backed securities disclosures, corporate disclosures in registration statements and prospectuses, periodic and current corporate disclosures, corporate proxy and consent solicitation materials, and security-based swap reporting. The SEC, like the OFR, must publish all public information as open data. The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and national securities associations must likewise adopt OFR-promulgated data transparency standards. The SEC must, by rule, adopt a data standard that is both human-readable and machine-readable, and that complies with this Act regarding corporate financial data for which it was using the eXtensible Business Reporting Language standard. The SEC shall also establish a program to improve the quality of corporate financial data furnished by issuers. The Federal Deposit Insurance Act is amended to require the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to adopt the data standards and open data publication requirements prescribed in this Act and apply them to all information received from a depository institution or financial company. The Revised Statutes of the United States, the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, the Commodity Exchange Act, the Federal Credit Union Act, and the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 are amended to direct the Comptroller of the Currency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the National Credit Union Administration Board, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, respectively, to adopt, for all information regularly submitted to them, the data standards and open data publication requirements prescribed by this Act.

Student Veterans Housing Support Act

United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2015

Student Veterans Housing Support Act This bill provides a full monthly housing stipend, eliminating the current 50% stipend, for a veteran pursuing a program of education on a more than half-time basis solely through distance learning. An individual pursuing a degree program on a more than half-time basis shall receive a monthly housing stipend for the month immediately preceding the first month of the program, and in an amount equal to one for a month during which the individual pursues the program. Housing allowances paid to veterans and eligible persons enrolled in courses may continue during periods: when the schools are temporarily closed; between consecutive school terms where such veterans or persons transfer from one approved educational institution to another approved educational institution if the period between such consecutive terms does not exceed 30 days; or between school terms if the period between them does not exceed 8 weeks, and both the preceding and following terms are not shorter than such period, or if the period falls between consecutive spring and fall semesters and the eligible veteran or person resides during such period within the educational institution's ZIP code area. Benefits provided under this Act shall be in addition to any other veterans' educational benefits provided to an individual.

THE FUTURE OF HOUSING IN AMERICA: OVERSIGHT OF THE RURAL HOUSING SERVICE

United States · United States House of Representatives · 19 May 2015

A bill to amend the Federal Home Loan Bank Act with respect to membership eligibility of certain institutions.

United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2015

Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to treat certain privately (but not federally) insured credit unions as insured depository institutions for purposes of determining eligibility for membership in a federal home loan bank. Permits a credit union which lacks federal deposit insurance and has applied for membership in a federal home loan bank to be treated as meeting all the eligibility requirements for federal deposit insurance if specified conditions are met, including: (1) that the supervisor of the chartering state has determined that the credit union meets all federal deposit insurance eligibility requirements; (2) the state supervisor of the credit union's private deposit insurer receives annual independent actuarial opinions that the private insurer has sufficient reserves for losses, as well as periodic actuarial studies of the insurer's capital adequacy; and (3) the credit union's financial information is made available to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) or to the federal home loan bank. Deems such a credit union to have met the eligibility criteria for federal home loan bank membership if, 12 months after its application date, the state supervisor has failed to act upon the application. Prohibits the application of a state law authorizing a conservator or liquidating agent of a credit union to repudiate contracts to any: (1) extension of credit from a federal home loan bank to a credit union which is a member of that bank, or (2) security interest in the assets of the credit union securing such extension of credit. Declares that if a federal home loan bank makes an advance to a state-chartered credit union that is not federally insured: (i) the bank's interest in any collateral securing such advance has the same priority and is afforded the same standing and rights that the security interest would have had if the advance had been made to a federally-insured credit union, and (2) the bank has the same right to access such collateral that it would have had if the advance had been made to a federally-insured credit union. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to require private deposit insurers of credit unions that are members of a federal home loan bank to submit copies of their audit reports within seven days to the FHFA. Directs the Government Accountability Office to study: (1) the adequacy of insurance reserves held by a private deposit insurer that insures deposits in an insured credit union or any credit union eligible to apply to become one, and (2) such credit unions' compliance with federal regulations governing disclosure of a lack of federal deposit insurance.

Closing the Digital Divide for Students Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2015

Closing the Digital Divide for Students Act of 2015 Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to require high-speed Internet service costs to be included in public housing utility allowances for households with children who qualify for free and reduced price school lunches. Prohibits a dwelling unit's Internet cost allowance from: (1) exceeding the lowest cost available in the area, and (2) including costs for cable or satellite television or for joint packages for Internet service together with cable or satellite television. Conditions Internet cost allowances on the service including technology to block visual depictions that are obscene or harmful to minors.

A bill to clarify that nonprofit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity can accept donated mortgage appraisals, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2015

Amends the Truth in Lending Act with respect to the compensation of fee appraisers to state that, in the case of an appraisal for which the appraiser voluntarily does not receive a fee, the appraiser is not, and shall not be construed to be, with respect to the donated appraisal, a fee appraiser subject to appraisal independence requirements.

Veterans Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Improvement Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2015

Veterans Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Improvement Act of 2015 Allows a veteran to pursue a course of education and training as part of a rehabilitation program only if the course is approved under Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) vocational rehabilitation requirements. Makes veterans enrolled in a VA vocational rehabilitation program eligible for VA specially adapted housing. Bars dual eligibility for home adaptation services. Authorizes the VA to prioritize vocational rehabilitation services based on need and upon consideration of disability ratings, the severity of employment handicaps, qualification for a program of independent living, income, and other appropriate factors. Directs the VA to reduce information technology redundancy and inefficiencies in the rehabilitation claims process.

Lead Exposure Reduction Amendments Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2015

Lead Exposure Reduction Amendments Act of 2015 This bill amends the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to exclude from the definition of "abatement" any activity: (1) the primary purpose of which is to repair, restore, or remodel target housing, public buildings constructed before 1978, or commercial buildings; and (2) that incidentally results in a reduction or elimination of lead-based paint hazards. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), no later than one year prior to proposing any renovation and remodeling regulation, must study the extent to which persons engaged in such activities: (1) are exposed to lead, and (2) disturb lead and create a lead-based paint hazard. The bill exempts from such a regulation an emergency renovation carried out in response to an event that is an act of God as defined by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, that presents a risk to the public health or safety, or that threatens to cause significant damage to equipment or property if not attended to immediately. A regulation may not require post-abatement clearance testing. The EPA must promulgate regulations to permit a resident owner of a dwelling that is target housing to authorize a contractor to forego compliance with such a regulation if the owner certifies that: (1) the renovation or remodeling project is to be carried out at such dwelling, (2) no pregnant woman or child under the age of six resides or will reside in such housing, and (3) the owner acknowledges that the contractor will be exempt from the requirements of such regulation. The EPA may not hold a contractor responsible for a misrepresentation made by the owner of such dwelling unless the contractor has actual knowledge of such a misrepresentation. The EPA must: (1) recognize a qualifying test kit for use under TSCA, and (2) suspend enforcement of any regulation relating to renovation and remodeling of target housing and commercial buildings constructed after January 1, 1960, and public buildings constructed between January 1, 1960, and January 1, 1978, until a specified period after the EPA recognizes such a test kit.

Jobs for Veterans Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2015

Jobs for Veterans Act of 2015 Establishes in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) a Veterans Economic Opportunity and Transition Administration (VEOTA), headed by the Under Secretary for Veterans Economic Opportunity and Transition, to administer VA programs of economic opportunity assistance to veterans and their dependents and survivors. Requires VEOTA to administer the following VA programs: (1) vocational rehabilitation and employment programs; (2) educational assistance programs; (3) veterans' housing loan and related programs; (4) veterans' small business programs, including the program to increase participation in VA contracts by small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans who have service-connected disabilities and by veterans who do not have such disabilities; (5) homeless veterans reintegration programs; (6) job counseling, training, and placement services; and (7) employment and employment rights of members of the uniformed services. Limits the aggregate number of full-time equivalent employees authorized for VEOTA for FY2017-FY2018. Transfers, as of October 1, 2016, to VA specified veterans-related programs of the Department of Labor, including: (1) job counseling, training, employment, and placement services; (2) administration of employment and reemployment rights of members of the uniformed services; and (3) homeless veterans reintegration programs. Directs the President, for FY2017 and thereafter, to include in the budget request funding for the VA for such functions. Establishes a Deputy Under Secretary for Veterans' Employment, Training and Transition.

Equity in Government Compensation Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2015

Equity in Government Compensation Act of 2015 Requires the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to: (1) suspend immediately the compensation packages approved for 2015 for the executive officers of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (government-sponsored enterprises or GSEs); and (2) establish, in lieu of such packages, a compensation system for such officers in accordance with the rates of pay for positions in the Executive Schedule and the Senior Executive Service of the federal government. Establishes requirements for determining compensation rates for GSE employees according to the General Schedule for federal civil service employees.

A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent and expand the temporary minimum credit rate for the low-income housing tax credit program.

United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2015

Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the low-income housing tax credit, to make permanent the minimum 9% credit rate for new buildings that are not federally-subsidized and to establish a minimum 4% credit rate for existing buildings that are not federally-subsidized.

Point Reyes Coast Guard Housing Conveyance Act

United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2015

Point Reyes Coast Guard Housing Conveyance Act This bill directs the Coast Guard to convey 32 acres of federal land (including all buildings, structures, utilities, and facilities on the land) known as CAMSPAC Housing in Point Reyes Station to Marin County, California, to be used for affordable housing or to provide a public benefit approved by the County. The property must be sold at fair market value. The Coast Guard may deposit the proceeds in the Coast Guard Housing Fund. The Coast Guard's authority to convey the property expires after four years.

Data Security Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2015

Data Security Act of 2015 Requires individuals, corporations, or other non-government entities that access, maintain, communicate, or handle sensitive financial account information or nonpublic personal information to implement an information security program and to notify consumers, federal law enforcement, appropriate administrative agencies, payment card networks, and consumer reporting agencies of certain data breaches of unencrypted sensitive information likely to cause identity theft or fraudulent transactions on consumer financial accounts. Directs entities to require their third-party service providers by contract to implement appropriate safeguards for sensitive information. Allows an entity to delay notifications upon the request of a law enforcement agency. Provides special notification procedures for: (1) third-party service providers that maintain data in electronic form on behalf of another entity, and (2) certain electronic data carriers. Allows financial institutions to communicate with account holders regarding breaches at third-party entities with access to their account information. Sets forth alternative compliance procedures for: (1) financial institutions and affiliates under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and (2) entities complying with certain health record privacy laws. Requires this Act to be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, or a state insurance authority depending on the type of entity handling the sensitive information. Prohibits certain state laws from being imposed for information security and breach notification purposes. Sets forth requirements concerning the application of this Act to entities regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.

Public Housing Tenant Protection and Reinvestment Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2015

Public Housing Tenant Protection and Reinvestment Act of 2015 Public Housing One-for-One Replacement and Tenant Protection Act of 2015 Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 with respect to: (1) demolition, disposition, or both pursuant to conversion of any public housing unit; and (2) the taking of public housing units through the use of eminent domain. Exempts from specified requirements for demolition and disposition of public housing any public housing projects removed from a public housing agency (PHA) inventory under the program for conversion of demolished or distressed public housing dwelling units to tenant-based assistance. Excludes real property containing dwelling units in public housing from federal regulations of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or any substantially similar regulations, with respect to: certain real estate; and implementing HUD requirements for demolition or disposition of public housing projects, and conversion of public housing to tenant-based assistance. Public Housing Preservation and Rehabilitation Act of 2015 Reauthorizes for FY2016-FY2025 the public housing Capital and Operating Funds. Authorizes HUD to guarantee notes or other obligations issued by PHAs to finance: (1) the rehabilitation of PHA public housing; (2) the modernization of such housing through energy efficiency improvements; or (3) the construction, rehabilitation, purchase, or conversion of public housing units to replace any demolished, disposed of, or converted. Prescribes requirements for PHAs that utilize housing tax credits under the Internal Revenue Code for rental housing units. Removes a specified limitation on the use of amounts from the Capital Fund or Operation Fund by a PHA to construct new public housing units. Choice Neighborhoods Initiative Act of 2015 Requires HUD to make competitive grants to local governments, PHAs, or nonprofit entities owning a major housing project to implement transformational programs in eligible neighborhoods with a concentration of extreme poverty and severely distressed housing. Together We Care Act of 2015 Requires HUD to establish a competitive grant pilot program for eligible entities to train public housing residents as home health aides and as providers of home-based health services for residents of public housing or federally-assisted rental housing who are elderly, disabled, or both.