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201 records in US in 2005
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2005
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to publish a strategic plan for veterans' long-term care which includes policies and strategies for the delivery of care in domiciliaries, residential treatment facilities, and nursing homes, and for seriously mentally ill veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2005
FHA Energy Efficiency Act - Amends the National Housing Act to require that residential mortgage insurance energy certifications be conducted by an individual certified by an accredited home energy rating system provider.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2005
Rural Housing Opportunity and Enhancement Act of 2005 - Amends the Doug Bereuter Section 502 Single Family Housing Loan Guarantee Act of the Housing Act of 1949 with respect to the single family rural housing loan guarantee program to: (1) eliminate low and moderate income eligibility requirements; (2) reduce maximum guarantee fees paid by lenders; and (3) require any regulation limiting borrower eligibility based upon the borrower's debt-income ratio to provide for a higher income-to-debt ratio for newly-constructed property loans. Revises refinancing loan guarantee provisions to: (1) authorize a specified lender guarantee fee; (2) permit a guarantee to acquire or construct an eligible single-family residence; (3) amend closing cost provisions; (4) eliminate income requirements; (5) prohibit that an appraisal credit report be required in connection with the loan, or that the residence be in a rural area for an existing loan; and (6) require that the borrower is not delinquent with respect to existing loan payments, and that monthly refinance payments be at least $50 less than existing monthly payments. Requires agricultural housing loans to be recorded as Department of Agriculture, rather than conventional, loans. Revises the definition of "rural area." Increases direct loan income limitations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
Amends the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 to revise the (rental) reimbursement levels for expiring project-based section 8 contracts. (Eliminates the existing reimbursement based upon the lesser of adjusted existing, fair market, or market rents for expiring moderate rehabilitation project contracts.)
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
Affordable Housing Tax Credit Enhancement Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase to $3.70 the per capita amount for determining the state housing credit ceiling; and (2) rename the low-income housing credit as the affordable housing credit.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
Safe Housing Identity Exception for the Lives of Domestic Violence Victims Act - SHIELD Act - Amends the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to prohibit disclosure of the personally identifying information of victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
Section 8 Voucher Residential Screening Committees Act - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 with respect to the section 8 rental assistance voucher program to require each public housing agency to establish and maintain a neighborhood review committee which shall: (1) be made up of between three and six agency-area residents, of whom at least three must not be receiving housing assistance other than mortgage assistance; and (2) obtain and review references and certain enforcement-related information respecting assisted families and landlords.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
Community Economic Development Expertise Enhancement Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to increase the capacity and expertise of qualifying community-based economic development organizations. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct an assessment of such organizations' capability needs; and (2) establish the Advisory Council on Community Economic Development. Directs the President to include with each annual budget request a report regarding Federal financial support for community economic development. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a limited housing infrastructure business credit for qualified housing infrastructure property placed in service. Defines such property as property located in an empowerment zone, enterprise community, or renewal community, when substantially all of the use of which is to provide water, sewer, electricity, or natural gas service to residents. Doubles, and extends through 2009 (currently 2005), for employment beginning after the enactment of this Act, the: (1) work opportunity credit; (2) welfare-to-work credit; (3) empowerment zone employment credit; and (4) renewal community employment. Increases, through 2009, the Indian employment credit. Increases and extends, through 2009, deductions for expensing the cost of certain depreciable business assets, commercial revitalization, and environmental remediation. Extends, through 2009, the special deduction for property used on Indian reservations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
Rural Housing Opportunity and Enhancement Act of 2005 - Amends the Doug Bereuter Section 502 Single Family Housing Loan Guarantee Act of the Housing Act of 1949 with respect to the single family rural housing loan guarantee program to: (1) eliminate low and moderate income eligibility requirements; (2) reduce maximum guarantee fees paid by lenders; and (3) require any regulation limiting borrower eligibility based upon the borrower's debt-income ratio to provide for a higher income-to-debt ratio for newly-constructed property loans. Revises refinancing loan guarantee provisions to: (1) authorize a specified lender guarantee fee; (2) permit a guarantee to acquire or construct an eligible single-family residence; (3) amend closing cost provisions; (4) eliminate income requirements; (5) prohibit that an appraisal credit report be required in connection with the loan, or that the residence be in a rural area for an existing loan; and (6) require that the borrower is not delinquent with respect to existing loan payments, and that monthly refinance payments be at least $50 less than existing monthly payments. Requires agricultural housing loans to be recorded as Department of Agriculture, rather than conventional, loans. Revises the definition of "rural area." Increases direct loan income limitations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
Landlord Accountability Act of 2005 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 with respect to the section 8 rental housing voucher program to consider a unit to be in noncompliance with housing quality standards if: (1) the public housing agency (PHA) or authorized inspector determines the unit to be in noncompliance and notifies the owner in writing; and (2) the owner fails to make necessary repairs within 90 days of notice. Directs a PHA to withhold owner assistance until the repairs are completed. Authorizes a PHA to make such repairs and subtract the costs from the amount subsequently released to the owner. Prohibits an owner from terminating a tenant lease because of any such withholding. States that if amounts are withheld, the owner fails to correct the noncompliance, and the lease is not renewed, the PHA shall pay such amount to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
Commends individuals that have participated in volunteer programs that repair the homes of families of deployed members of the Armed Forces, and in particular those of the National Guard and reserves.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2005
Housing Preservation Matching Grant Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make matching grants to States (including the District of Columbia and U.S. commonwealths, territories, and possessions) for low-income housing preservation. Sets forth requirements for projects: (1) with Department of Housing and Urban Development-insured mortgages; (2) with section 8 assistance; or (3) purchased by the residents.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2005
Supports the establishment of September as Campus Fire Safety Month. Encourages administrators and municipalities across the country to: (1) provide educational programs to all students during September and throughout the school year; (2) evaluate the level of fire safety being provided in both on- and off-campus student housing; and (3) take the necessary steps to ensure fire-safe living environments through fire safety education, installation of fire suppression and detection systems, and the development and enforcement of applicable codes relating to fire safety.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2005
Head Start Improvements for School Readiness Act - Amends the Head Start Act to revise and reauthorize Head Start programs. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide financial assistance to Head Start agencies for five-year periods. Extends the authorization of appropriations for Head Start programs through FY 2010. Revises authorized uses of quality improvement funds to include outreach to homeless families, migrant and seasonal farmworker families, and families with children with a limited English proficiency. Directs the Secretary (who is currently authorized) to award collaboration grants for Head Start and other related-agencies within states. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations to require Head Start agencies to ensure that eligible homeless children are identified and prioritized for enrollment. Revises requirements for designation as a Head Start agency. Requires each agency to establish a governing body. Revises the additional educational performance standards included as program quality standards, and performance measures for program monitoring. Requires Head Start agencies to report to the Secretary monthly on enrollment in their Head Start programs. Directs the Secretary to develop plans to reduce or eliminate under-enrollment in program with an enrollment less than 95% of its funded enrollment. Requires each agency to enroll 100% of its funded enrollment, and to maintain an active waiting list and outreach to the community and underserved populations. Establishes a Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood program. Requires Head Start alignment with K-12 education. Changes the Head Start family income eligibility requirement from below the poverty line to below 130 percent of the poverty line. Exempts military housing from being counted as family income in determining a child's eligibility to enroll in a Head Start program. Revises Early Head Start programs, including requiring center-based staff to have specified qualifications. Requires each Head Start agency to ensure that all of its teachers receive ongoing training in language and emergent literacy. Establishes a Tribal Colleges and Universities Head Start Partnership program. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish an independent panel of experts to study research on early childhood; and (2) study the status of children with limited English proficiency and their families in Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Requires Head Start agencies to obtain written parental consent before administering to a child, or referring a child for, a non-emergency intrusive physical examination.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2005
Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2006 - Appropriates funds for FY 2006 for the Department of Defense (DOD) for: (1) military construction for the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and Air Force (military departments), DOD, the Army and Air National Guards, and the Army, Naval, and Air Force reserves; (2) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Security Investment Program; (3) family housing and related operation and maintenance for the military departments and DOD; (4) the Department of Defense Family Housing Improvement Fund; (5) the Department of Defense Base Closure Account 1990 and the Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure Account 2005; (6) basic allowance for housing for the military departments (active-duty and reserve) and the Army and Air National Guard; (7) facilities sustainment, restoration, and modernization for the military departments (active-duty and reserve), DOD, and the Army and Air National Guard; (8) environmental restoration for the Army, Navy, Air Force, DOD, and at formerly used defense sites; and (9) the Defense Health Program. Appropriates funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs for: (1) the Veterans Benefits Administration; (2) readjustment benefits; (3) veterans insurance and indemnities; (4) the Veterans Housing Benefit Program Fund; (5) the Vocational Rehabilitation Loans Program; (6) the Native American Veteran Housing Loan Program; (7) guaranteed transitional housing loans for homeless veterans; (8) the Veterans Health Administration; (9) construction for major and minor projects; and (10) grants for the construction of State extended care facilities and veterans cemeteries. Appropriates funds for: (1) the American Battle Monuments Commission; (2) the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; (3) cemeterial expenses, Army; and (4) the Armed Forces Retirement Home. Specifies restrictions and authorizations regarding the use of funds appropriated in this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2005
District of Columbia Personal Protection Act - Amends specified law prohibiting the killing of wild birds and wild animals in the District of Columbia to declare that nothing in it or any other provision of law shall authorize or be construed to permit the Council, the Mayor, or any governmental or regulatory authority of the District to prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden the ability of persons otherwise not prohibited from possessing firearms under Federal law from acquiring, possessing in their homes or businesses, or using for sporting, self-protection or other lawful purposes, any firearm neither prohibited by Federal law nor subject to the National Firearms Act. Denies the District any authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms. Amends the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 to repeal the definition of a machine gun as any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading. (Thus repeals the ban on semiautomatic weapons.) Redefines "machine gun" to include the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person. Repeals the District's: (1) registration requirement for possession of firearms; (2) prohibition on possession of handgun restricted pistol bullets; and (3) requirement that, under certain conditions, firearms in the possession of certain individuals must be kept unloaded, disassembled, or with the trigger locked. Repeals the definition of restricted pistol bullet as any bullet designed for use in a pistol which, when fired from a pistol with a barrel of five inches or less in length, is capable of penetrating commercially available body armor with a penetration resistance equal to or greater than that of 18 layers of kevlar. Maintains the current ban on the possession and control of a sawed-off shotgun, machine gun, or short-barreled rifle. Eliminates criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm. Amends Federal law to eliminate criminal penalties for carrying a pistol whether loaded or unloaded in one's dwelling house, place of business, or on land possessed by such person. Amends the District of Columbia Code to extend to firearms generally (currently, only to pistols) the prohibition against carrying such a weapon either openly or concealed within the District without a license issued pursuant to D.C. law. Specifies exceptions to the prohibition against carrying concealed weapons in the District.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2005
Foster Opportunities for Success Through Higher Education Reform - FOSTER Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to establish a program of foster care youth outreach and housing services. Directs the Secretary of Education to make grants to institutions of higher education to provide: (1) technical assistance and supportive services to foster care youth who are prospective students to prepare for, enter, and remain in such institutions; and (2) basic housing during the regular academic school year, including interim housing during regular periods of dormitory closing other than summer break, for those foster care youth living in college dormitories. Requires program coordination with: (1) the John H. Chafee foster care independence program under the Social Security Act; and (2) TRIO and GEAR UP programs under HEA. Revises HEA financial need analysis to provide fair treatment for foster care youth. Provides, for foster care youth and other students with special circumstances, a simplified determination of independence and a tailoring of electronic applications.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2005
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income gain from the sale of certain residential leased-fee interests to a holder of the leasehold right if such holder is: (1) a lessee of a residential house lot; (2) a lessee of a multi-family residential leasehold unit; (3) an association of apartment owners of a multi-family residential leasehold property; or (4) a cooperative housing corporation for a residential leasehold property.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2005
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Health Center Week (the week of August 7, 2005).
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2005
Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relielf and Emergency Assistance Act to: (1) specify procedures for the conduct of preliminary disaster damage assessments; and (2) increase the associated penalties for fraud. Directs the President to: (1) investigate vigorously any allegations and instances of fraud, including fraud relating to the handling and approval of claims for federal emergency assistance; and (2) refer to the Attorney General appropriate allegations, instances, and investigation results. Requires the Attorney General to: (1) give serious consideration to any allegation or instance of fraud and begin an investigation into it not later than 10 days after the receipt of such a referral; and (2) report on investigation progress and results to the Secretary of Homeland Security within 45 days. Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to propose new inspection procedures that: (1) more accurately identify disaster-related losses of household items for which applicants should be compensated; (2) modify guidelines for individual and housing inspections to require inspectors to specify any item that was not available for inspection; and (3) develop eligibility criteria for funding vehicle damage, taking into consideration damage to a vehicle sustained as a result of a disaster.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 17 May 2005
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2005
Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense (Secretary) and the Secretaries of each military department to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects in specified amounts at specified installations and locations. Authorizes each department Secretary to construct or acquire family housing units and improve existing military family housing in specified amounts. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) and each military department for fiscal years after 2005 for military construction, land acquisition, and military family housing functions. Limits the total cost of authorized construction projects. Modifies certain prior-year construction projects. Authorizes the Secretary to make contributions for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program and authorizes appropriations for fiscal years after 2005 for such Program. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years after 2005 for the Guard and reserve forces for acquisition, architectural and engineering services, and construction of facilities. Terminates all authorizations contained in this Act on October 1, 2008, or the date of enactment of an Act authorizing funds for military construction for FY2009, whichever is later, with exceptions. Extends certain prior-year military construction projects. Authorizes specified military land conveyances.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2005
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 - Authorizes appropriations for the Department of Defense, military construction, and national security programs of the Department of Energy for FY2006. Authorizes appropriations to DOD for: (1) procurement, including aircraft, missiles, weapons and tracked combat vehicles, ammunition, shipbuilding and conversion, and other procurement; (2) research, development, test, and evaluation, including science and technology projects, ballistic missile defense, and manufacturing technology; (3) operation and maintenance, including defense working capital funds, the defense health program, and environmental restoration; (4) active and reserve military personnel, including end strengths; (5) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program; (6) Guard and Reserve forces facilities; and (7) the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Extends certain bonus, special, and incentive pay authorities. Authorizes certain: (1) travel and transportation allowances; and (2) military retired pay and survivor benefits. Sets forth provisions or requirements concerning: (1) active and reserve military personnel policy; (2) military justice, including statutes of limitations with respect to murder, rape, and child abuse, and the establishment of the offense of stalking; (3) defense dependents' education, including assistance to local educational agencies; (4) military health care; (5) acquisition policy and management, including the establishment of defense contract support acquisition centers and certain defense acquisition workforce improvements; (6) DOD organization and management, including an advisory committee on DOD space control, and the authority to exempt from public disclosure certain operational files of the Defense Intelligence Agency; (7) budget and financial matters, including the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for U.S. border reconnaissance, and certain counter-drug activities; (8) DOD civilian personnel policy; (9) matters relating to other nations, including increased assistance for the detection and clearing of landmines; (10) cooperative threat reduction with states of the former Soviet Union; and (11) the national defense stockpile. Authorizes emergency supplemental appropriations for DOD for FY2006 for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the global war on terrorism, specifically for: (1) procurement; (2) operation and maintenance; (3) the defense health program; (4) military personnel; and (5) the Iraq Freedom Fund. Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 - Authorizes military construction, military family housing, and certain military land conveyances.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2005
Matthew Voisbert Help Extend Respect Owed to Every Soldier (HEROES) Act - Requires: (1) the Secretary of Defense to establish minimum uniform standards for postdeployment medical examinations; (2) that such examinations include screening for mental health and substance abuse disorders; and (3) follow-up services in appropriate cases. Directs the Secretary of Defense to foster the early identification and treatment of mental health and substance abuse disorders experienced by members of the Armed Forces, with special emphasis on members who have served in a theater of combat operations within the preceding 12 months. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to employ at least one psychiatrist and a complementary medical team at each Department of Veterans Affairs (Department) medical center to conduct a specialized program for the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, and to employ additional mental health services specialists at such center. Authorizes such Secretary to contract for mental health and substance abuse treatment services in non-Department facilities when such services are not available in Department facilities. Requires the Secretary of Defense to transmit to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs: (1) within seven days the medical records of all military personnel being discharged, released from active duty, or retired; and (2) a roster of all personnel who have served in the theater of operations during Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom. Directs the Secretary of Defense to assist eligible persons in obtaining employment in stable and permanent positions. Requires individualized transitional services to be provided to separating military personnel. Includes additional elements within a program under which the Secretary of Labor provides services and information to separating military personnel and their spouses. Requires the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to: (1) ensure that transition programs are provided at each military installation, National Guard armory and military family support center, and inpatient medical care facility; (2) ensure that military and veterans' service organizations and representatives are permitted to participate in such transition programs; and (3) facilitate the access of such State organizations and representatives to provide preseparation counseling and services to separating members. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to facilitate the access of such organizations and representatives to provide member information on the care and services available. Requires the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to facilitate the sharing between their respective departments of information concerning member duties and assignments, exposures to toxic or hazardous substances, and illnesses or injuries incurred or aggravated in the course of such duties and assignments. Rescinds a Department Memorandum entitled "Status of VHA Enrollment and Associated Issues." Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide mortgage assistance to members who are seriously injured during military service. Repeals the $1,200 reduction in basic pay currently required for participation in the Montgomery GI Bill educational assistance program.
United States · United States Senate · 12 May 2005
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2005
Suburban Core Opportunity, Restoration, and Enhancement (SCORE) Act of 2005 - Defines "SCORE project area" as any area that: (1) is ineligible for renewal community designation under the Internal Revenue Code (the Code); (2) is not smaller than a census-designated place; and (3) includes some of the following, proximity to existing development and infrastructure (including mass transit), substandard or underutilized residential, commercial, and industrial properties, or an economically obsolescent regional mall (Greyfield mall), has an average housing cost-burden of at least 50 percent of gross income, or a 30 percent higher than average commercial vacancy rate. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to: (1) designate SCORE project areas from among local government entity-designated areas; (2) make SCORE project area planning and revitalization grants. Requires a local government grantee to establish a SCORE Reinvestment Fund. Sets forth provisions respecting housing units, businesses, and economic development projects in SCORE project areas that are receiving community development block grant funds. Amends the Code to: (1) include SCORE project areas within the work opportunity tax credit; and (2) permit an additional first-year depreciation amount for certain SCORE project area residential real property or residential rental property.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2005
Welcome Home G.I. Bill Act of 2005 - Increases and extends the duration of basic educational assistance for individuals who serve at least six consecutive months (with exceptions from the six consecutive months requirement due to medical, hardship, or involuntary separation ) on active duty outside the United States as part of a combat or contingency operation (including a humanitarian or peacekeeping operation) beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending five years after enactment of this Act. Permits assistance use for student loan repayment. Provides for refund of educational contributions made under the Montgomery G.I. Bill program. Increases and extends the duration of educational assistance for reserve component members called or ordered to active service in response to a war or national emergency who perform active duty service for 180 consecutive days before the five-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act. Permits assistance use for student loan repayment. Provides $5,000 for a residential purchase downpayment for a veteran who: (1) performs active duty service outside the United States as part of a combat or contingency operation (including a humanitarian or peacekeeping operation) for at least six consecutive months (or a lesser time period for an individual with a service-connected disability) after September 11, 2001; and (2) has not previously obtained a veterans' guaranteed or insured housing loan. Makes such benefit available for five years from the date eligible service is completed. Amends the the Internal Revenue Code to exclude such housing benefit from gross income. Provides transitional health care benefits during the five-year period after separation from active duty for an individual who is not covered under an employer-provided or a spouse's employer-provided group health plan who: (1) serves in the active military, naval, or air service; (2) after September 11, 2001, is deployed outside the United States as part of a combat or contingency operation (including a humanitarian or peacekeeping operation) for at least six consecutive months (or a lesser time period for an individual with a service-connected disability); and (3) is discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable. Revises predeployment and postdeployment medical exam provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2005
Suburban Core Opportunity, Restoration, and Enhancement (SCORE) Act of 2005 - Defines "SCORE project area" as any area that: (1) is ineligible for renewal community designation under the Internal Revenue Code (the Code); (2) is not smaller than a census-designated place; and (3) includes some of the following, proximity to existing development and infrastructure (including mass transit), substandard or underutilized residential, commercial, and industrial properties, or an economically obsolescent regional mall (Greyfield mall), has an average housing cost-burden of at least 50 percent of gross income, or a 30 percent higher than average commercial vacancy rate. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to: (1) designate SCORE project areas from among local government entity-designated areas; (2) make SCORE project area planning and revitalization grants. Requires a local government grantee to establish a SCORE Reinvestment Fund. Sets forth provisions respecting housing units, businesses, and economic development projects in SCORE project areas that are receiving community development block grant funds. Amends the Code to: (1) include SCORE project areas within the work opportunity tax credit; and (2) permit an additional first-year depreciation amount for certain SCORE project area residential real property or residential rental property.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 11 May 2005
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2005
Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Amendments of 2005 - Amends Federal Indian law with respect to the Navajo-Hopi land settlement, including: (1) division of land; (2) joint ownership of minerals; (3) actions in District Court; (4) Paiute Indian allottments; (5) partitioned and other designated land; (6) resettlement land for Navajo Tribe; (7) the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation; (8) relocation of households and members; (9) relocation housing; (10) payment for use of land; (11) actions for accounting, fair value of grazing, and claims for damages to land; (12) religious ceremonies and access to religious shrines; (13) exclusion of payments from certain Federal determinations of income; (14) authorization of appropriations; (15) attorney fees and court costs; (16) lobbying; and (17) Navajo Rehabilitation Trust Fund. Amends federal civil service law concerning personnel of the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation. Transfers to the Secretary of the Interior any function of the Office that has not been carried out by the Office on the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2005
Public Safety Act - Prohibits funds provided by the federal government to a state or local government for the purpose of providing core correctional services from being used to contract with private contractors or vendors to provide such activities. Defines "core correctional services" as the housing, safeguarding, protecting, and disciplining of persons charged or convicted of an offense. Amends the federal criminal code to require the Bureau of Prisons to provide that: (1) any penal or correctional facility or institution, except a facility for nonprofit community correctional confinement (such as halfway houses), confining any person convicted of offenses against the United States shall be under the direction of the Director of the Bureau and shall be managed and maintained by federal, state, or local government employees; and (2) the housing, safeguarding, protection, and disciplining of any person charged with or convicted of any offense against the United States (with that exception) shall be conducted and carried out by federal, state, or local government employees.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2005
Kinship Caregiver Support Act - Authorizes the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services to make grants for kinship navigator programs to state agencies, metropolitan agencies, or tribal organizations with experience in addressing needs of kinship caregivers or children and connecting them with services and assistance. Amends part E (Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to authorize all states to opt to enter agreements to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments on behalf of children to grandparents and other relatives who have assumed legal guardianship of children for whom they have cared as foster parents and have committed to care for on a permanent basis. Allows states to use part E funds to make such payments under specified conditions. Provides that adoptive parents of children with special needs remain eligible for adoption assistance, even if they receive kinship guardianship assistance. Authorizes kinship guardianship demonstration projects. Requires states to: (1) notify all adult grandparents and other adult relatives (with exceptions due to family or domestic violence) when a child is removed from custody of a parent or parents; and (2) explain the options the relative has to participate in the child's care and placement. Allows state agencies to establish separate standards for foster family homes in which a foster parent is a relative of the foster child.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2005
Urban and Rural Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make matching grants and loans to state and local government agencies and community development public authorities for the development of indoor centers for disease prevention and health promotion that are: (1) used principally as indoor recreational facilities; (2) owned or controlled by the entity receiving the grant; (3) available for use by residents of the jurisdiction free of charge or at a fee necessary to provide for the operation and maintenance of the facility; and (4) subject to legally binding and enforceable commitments as to the availability of the facility for 25 years.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2005
School Readiness Act of 2005 - Amends the Head Start Act to revise and reauthorize Head Start programs. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide financial assistance to Head Start agencies for five-year periods. Revises authorized uses of quality improvement funds to include outreach to homeless families, migrant and seasonal farmworker families, and families with children with a limited English proficiency. Directs the Secretary (who is currently authorized) to award collaboration grants for Head Start and other related-agencies within states. Includes community-based or faith-based organizations among the entities that may be designated as Head Start agencies. Requires Head Start grantees to establish and demonstrate they have met measurable goals for: (1) educational instruction in pre-reading, pre-mathematical, and language skills; (2) provision of health, educational, nutritional, social, and other services; and (3) school readiness standards aligned with state-developed K-12 academic standards. Revises the additional educational performance standards included as program quality standards, and performance measures for program monitoring. Revises requirements for local Head Start agencies, including designation qualifications, coordination and collaboration, and assessment. Requires each agency to enroll 100% of its funded enrollment, and to maintain an active waiting list and outreach to the community and underserved populations. Requires local and state integration of early childhood education, through: (1) Head Start agency partnerships with local educational agencies and state-funded preschool and other early childhood programs; (2) early learning collaboration grants for State Early Learning Councils; and (3) a State Director for Head Start Collaboration. Requires Head Start alignment with K-12 education. Requires Head Start agencies to undergo independent annual audits. Limits to ten percent of total enrollment the permissible participation of children in the area served who would benefit from Head Start programs, including children referred by child welfare agencies, but whose families do not meet prescribed low-income criteria. Exempts military housing from being counted as family income in determining a child's eligibility to enroll in a Head Start program. Revises Early Head Start programs, including requiring center-based staff to have specified qualifications. Requires Head Start agencies to obtain written parental consent before administration of any nonemergency intrusive physical examination of a child in connection with participation in a Head Start program. Revises training and technical assistance provisions. Revises staff qualification requirements for current and new Head Start teachers.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2005
September 11th Assistance Clarification Act - Exempts from Federal taxation specified funds made available to the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act for Further Recovery From and Response To Terrorist Attacks on the United States, the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002, the 2001 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States, and the Department of Defense and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States Act, 2002, that are paid to any person as assistance on account of any property or business damaged by, and for economic revitalization directly related to, the terrorist attacks on the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2005
Declares that the existence of racially restrictive covenants in housing documents is inconsistent with the principles and values embodied in Supreme Court precedent and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, and causes harm to not only property owners but to all members of American society. Commends California and the Missouri State Senate for taking roles in such covenants' removal. Urges States to enact laws that: (1) will more readily permit property owners to remove racially restrictive covenants from their property titles, deeds, or other documents; and (2) require homeowner associations to strike racially restrictive covenants from all declarations or other governing documents.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
National Guard and Reserves Housing Equity Act of 2005 - Requires that National Guard and Reserve members called or ordered to active duty for a period of more than 30 days receive a basic housing allowance at the same rate as similarly situated members of the regular components of the uniformed services.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
Predatory Mortgage Lending Practices Reduction Act - Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to prohibit any person, in connection with a subprime federally related mortgage loan, from providing mortgage lending services or mortgage brokerage services unless such person is certified by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development as having been adequately trained with regard to subprime lending. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to require lenders to establish a best practices plan, meeting certain criteria, to ensure compliance with such Act for high cost mortgages. Proscribes unfair or deceptive acts or practices in providing mortgage lending services for either a subprime federally related mortgage loan or for mortgage brokerage services for such a loan. Sets forth civil penalties for violations. Consumer Fairness Act - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to declare unenforceable a written provision in any consumer contract or transaction which requires binding arbitration to resolve any controversy arising out of such transaction or contract, or the refusal to perform all or any part of the transaction. (Permits post-controversy arbitration agreements.) Amends the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 to authorize the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to make grants to nonprofit community development corporations to educate and train borrowers and community groups regarding illegal and inappropriate predatory lending practices.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to qualify buildings that provide a community service facility and are located within 1000 feet of a qualified census tract (designated low-income area) for the increased low-income housing tax credit for buildings in high cost areas.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
State and Local Housing Flexibility Act of 2005 - Flexible Voucher Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make grants to public housing agencies to provide tenant-based and project-based rental assistance, and tenant-based first-time homeownership assistance to low-income individuals. (This program replaces the housing choice voucher program.) Sets forth program provisions. Continues the following section 8 (United States Housing Act of 1937) programs for current beneficiaries: (1) tenant-based rental or homeownership assistance; (2) project-based voucher assistance; and (3) elderly and disabled family assistance. Public Housing Rent Flexibility and Simplification Act of 2005 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to revise public housing rental payment provisions to provide that public housing dwelling units shall be rented only to and occupied by low-income families that do not own a significant interest in real property and do not have assets exceeding an amount established by the Secretary at the time of their initial occupancy. Requires income reviews at least once every two years, except for elderly or disabled families who shall be reviewed at least once every three years. Sets forth rent structure guidelines. Authorizes a public housing agency: (1) to allow a police officer who is not otherwise eligible for public housing residence to reside in a public housing dwelling unit in order to increase security for residents; (2) that owns or operates fewer than 250 public housing dwelling units to lease on a month-to-month basis to over-income families if no eligible families apply for housing assistance for that month; and (3) to establish tenant escrow savings accounts. Moving to Work Program Act of 2005 - Amends the Housing Act of 1937 to direct the Secretary to establish the Moving to Work Program, under which eligible public housing agencies may combine operating assistance, modernization assistance, and assistance provided under this Act to provide housing assistance for low-income families and services to facilitate the transition to work. Sets forth program provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
Welcome Home G.I. Bill Act of 2005 - Increases and extends the duration of basic educational assistance for individuals who serve at least six consecutive months (with exceptions from the six consecutive months requirement due to medical, hardship, or involuntary separation ) on active duty outside the United States as part of a combat or contingency operation (including a humanitarian or peacekeeping operation) beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending five years after enactment of this Act. Permits assistance use for student loan repayment. Provides for refund of educational contributions made under the Montgomery G.I. Bill program. Increases and extends the duration of educational assistance for reserve component members called or ordered to active service in response to a war or national emergency who perform active duty service for 180 consecutive days before the five-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act. Permits assistance use for student loan repayment. Provides $5,000 for a residential purchase downpayment for a veteran who: (1) performs active duty service outside the United States as part of a combat or contingency operation (including a humanitarian or peacekeeping operation) for at least six consecutive months (or a lesser time period for an individual with a service-connected disability) after September 11, 2001; and (2) has not previously obtained a veterans' guaranteed or insured housing loan. Makes such benefit available for five years from the date eligible service is completed. Amends the the Internal Revenue Code to exclude such housing benefit from gross income. Provides transitional health care benefits during the five-year period after separation from active duty for an individual who is not covered under an employer-provided or a spouse's employer-provided group health plan who: (1) serves in the active military, naval, or air service; (2) after September 11, 2001, is deployed outside the United States as part of a combat or contingency operation (including a humanitarian or peacekeeping operation) for at least six consecutive months (or a lesser time period for an individual with a service-connected disability); and (3) is discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable. Revises predeployment and postdeployment medical exam provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2005
Amends Federal veterans law to make permanent the pilot program for direct housing loans for Native American veterans.
United States · United States Senate · 26 April 2005
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2005
Efficient Energy Through Certified Technologies and Electricity Reliability (EFFECTER) Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax incentives affecting: (1) energy efficient commercial building property; (2) new energy efficient homes; (3) certain energy efficient property used in business; (4) nonbusiness energy property; and (5) combined heat and power system property. Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to expand the scope of consumer products that fall within the Energy Conservation Program (other than automobiles), including: (1) vending machines and commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment; and (2) commercial refrigerators, freezers, and refrigerator-freezers. Directs the Federal Trade Commission to initiate a rulemaking regarding: (1) the effectiveness of the consumer products labeling program in assisting consumers to make purchasing decisions and to improve energy efficiency; and (2) changes to the labeling rules that would improve the effectiveness of consumer product labels. Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to prescribe guidelines under which the head of an executive agency shall procure either an Energy Star product or a Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)-designated product in order to meet agency requirements for an energy consuming product. Repeals the termination of authority to enter into new energy savings performance contracts (thereby making such authority permanent). Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to direct the Secretary of Energy to establish certain revised Federal building energy efficiency performance standards. Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to include within the mandatory activities funded by the Capital Fund: (1) installing fixtures and fittings to improve energy and water-use efficiency; and (2) integrated utility management and capital planning to maximize energy conservation and efficiency measures. Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate energy efficiency standards for rehabilitation and new construction of certain public and assisted housing. Amends the Federal Power Act to grant the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdiction over the FERC-certified Electric Reliability Organization, including any regional entities, and all users, owners and operators of the bulk-power system for purposes of approving specified reliability standards.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2005
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 - Authorizes appropriations for the Department of Defense (DOD) for FY 2006. Authorizes appropriations to DOD for: (1) procurement, including for aircraft, missiles, weapons and tracked combat vehicles, ammunition, and shipbuilding and conversion; (2) research, development, test, and evaluation; (3) operation and maintenance, including for defense working capital funds, the Armed Forces Retirement Home, the Defense Health Program, and chemical agents and munitions destruction; and (4) active and reserve military personnel, including end strengths. Extends certain bonus, special, and incentive pay authorities. Provides bonus repayment requirements with respect to unserved periods. Sets forth provisions or requirements concerning: (1) active and reserve military personnel, including a special pay incentive for Selected Reserve personnel qualified in a critical military skill or unit, and bonuses for certain military medical officers; (2) military justice, including establishing an unlimited period for prosecution of murder or rape, extending the period for prosecution of child abuse cases, and establishing the offense of stalking; (3) acquisition policy and management, including the revitalization of DOD laboratories; (4) DOD organization and management, including exempting operational files of the Defense Intelligence Agency from public disclosure laws; (5) budget and financial matters; (6) transportation-related matters, including authority to transport family members incident to the repatriation of military personnel or civilians held captive, and a reserve civilian mariners pilot program; (7) DOD civilian personnel, including a science, mathematics, and research for transformation (SMART) defense education program, and a priority placement program for displaced civilian employees; and (8) matters relating to other nations, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Global War on Terrorism. Authorizes U.S. military personnel and DOD civilian employees to provide assistance relating to the detection and clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war. Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 - Authorizes the Secretaries of Defense and the military departments to acquire real property and carry out specified military construction projects. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) military construction, land acquisition, and military family housing functions; (2) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Security Investment Program; and (3) National Guard and reserve forces facilities.
United States · United States Senate · 25 April 2005
United States · United States Senate · 21 April 2005
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2005
Native American Veteran Home Loan Act - Amends Federal veterans law to: (1) convert into a permanent program the pilot program (set to expire after December 31, 2008) under which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may make direct housing loans to Native American veterans; (2) limit the amount of any increase in the principal amount of any direct housing loan made to a Native American; and (3) extend the eligibility for such direct loans to a non-Native American veteran who is the spouse of a Native American.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Second Chance Act of 2005: Community Safety Through Recidivism Prevention or the Second Chance Act of 2005 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to reauthorize, rewrite, and expand provisions regarding adult and juvenile offender reentry demonstration projects, including by authorizing funds to: (1) provide structured post-release housing and transitional housing; (2) facilitate specified collaboration to promote the employment of people released from prison and jail; (3) carry out programs that support children of incarcerated parents; and (4) establish or expand the use of reentry courts. Sets forth grant priorities and requirements, including that each state, territory, tribe, or local government recipient establish a Reentry Task Force or other authority. Authorizes the Attorney General to make a grant to provide for the establishment of a National Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry Resource Center. Directs the Attorney General to establish an interagency task force on federal programs regarding offender reentry. Authorizes the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics to conduct research on offender reentry. Directs: (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review the role of state child protective services at the time of arrest and establish services for the preservation of families impacted by the incarceration of a family member; and (2) the Secretary of Labor to implement a program to educate employers about one-stop centers, existing incentives for the hiring of former prisoners, and tax credits, and to make grants to nonprofit organizations to provide transitional services. Amends the federal criminal code to direct a court to revoke a term of supervised release or a sentence of probation for a defendant who commits a crime of violence against, or an offense of unlawful sexual contact with, a person who has not attained the age of 16 years.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Revitalizing Cities Through Parks Enhancement Act - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make grants to qualified community organizations to develop as open space municipally owned vacant lots in urban areas.